how does the poem described the slum children?
The poem describes the slum children in contrast to other children in society. The condition of the children in a slum school is pathetic. Their world is far removed from the open, healthy environment. The brightness, verve and animation that are usually present in other children in the society are missing from faces of these slum children. The slum children are like ‘rootless weeds’ unwanted by and not belonging to society. Their hair is unkempt and they have pale faces which clearly indicate their deprived and under-nourished condition. There is a tall girl whose head is weighed down with sadness, disinterestedness or shame or a mixture of all the three. She is probably over-aged for the class. Another boy is thin, emaciated like paper and his eyes pop out from his thin body having a scared look. These unfortunate beings have inherited only disease and bad luck from their parents. One of diseased ones cannot even get up from the desk to recite his lesson. Right at the back of the badly lit room is an unnoticed young boy. He is probably too young for poverty to have stifled his childish imagination. He daydreams of the squirrel’s game and about the tree house, absent mentally from the classroom. Apparently gloom has still not enveloped him.