The extreme geography and range of essential services explain ‘invaluable’.
Gramin Dak Sewaks connect settlements that ordinary transport and communication do not reach. Khetaram walks across dunes beyond the last railhead, phone line and motorable road, sometimes covering twenty kilometres for one delivery in temperatures near 50°C. GDS workers perform similar service in Ladakh, Lakshadweep and riverine communities of the northeast. They carry letters, money orders and savings services, making the state and distant families present in places otherwise accessible only on foot.
The text explicitly contrasts the two mandates.
The British system was created mainly to relay company mail between administrative centres. After Independence, India Post adopted the public mandate of bringing the entire population within the postal network. The growth from about 25,000 post offices in 1947 to more than one and a half lakh, including remote GDS territories, reflects a change from serving colonial administration to providing universal communication and financial access.
Any two of the savings, private-letter and rejected-transfer examples support the claim.
Rural depositors entrust their monthly savings to local post offices through the GDS, and the many operational accounts demonstrate confidence in the system. Villagers also allow Khetaram to sit at any threshold, read private letters aloud and write replies for those who cannot do so. Their rejection of a proposal to transfer delivery to patwaris further shows that they trust the Sewak’s reliability and personal bond.
The inference combines his statement about famine and income with his pride in service.
The job gives Khetaram both livelihood and purpose. A good year produces only one bajra crop, insufficient to feed his family of five, so the assured GDS income prevents starvation. After fifteen years he also identifies strongly with serving neighbours and carrying their family news. Permission to work until sixty-five lets him remain economically useful and socially connected rather than being forced to stop solely because of age.
The conclusion follows the accumulated evidence of endurance, trust and social support.
People like Khetaram turn an institution into a human relationship. They endure dangerous heat and difficult terrain to deliver money, news and contact, read and write letters for villagers, and handle even death messages with cultural sensitivity. Their labour supports survival and holds scattered communities within a shared social fabric, although it is physically taxing and easily overlooked. The author’s salute recognises this quiet public service.
The answer interprets the simile in the opening stanza.
The poet compares many words that fail to offer genuine feeling with summer birds that depart and leave only air behind. Such words briefly occupy the mind or space but produce no lasting comfort or action. The image stresses their insubstantial nature when they are not sincere and heartfelt.
The response follows the explicit contrast in the third and fourth stanzas.
The poem says that ‘a little said, and truly said’ can bring deeper joy than ‘hosts of words’ that reach the head but never touch the heart. Value comes from truth, emotional connection and the ability to cheer a lonely home, not from quantity. A few sincere words therefore leave more benefit than elaborate but empty speech.
The model evaluation cites the poem’s recurring paired opposites.
Yes. Words can be numerous yet worthless like weeds, or few yet capable of bringing deep joy. They may reach only the head or touch the heart; make a gaudy show without fruit or genuinely cheer loneliness. These contrasts distinguish superficial speech from sincere communication and establish the poem’s argument.
The response identifies the pilgrim heart and lonely-home images.
The heart is called ‘a pilgrim upon earth’, an image of solitary wandering and unmet need. It often seeks comfort but finds words worth no more than weeds. Most directly, the poet describes a voice finding its sunny way into ‘a lonely home to cheer’. These images show that sincere words matter because they can bridge emotional isolation.
The answer connects the poem’s natural similes with its preference for a few sincere words.
He compares empty words to departing birds, useless weeds and showy plants that blossom to the root but cannot bear even one particle of fruit. They produce appearance and sound without comfort or consequence. The remedy is to say less but speak truthfully and with feeling, choosing words that touch the heart and are supported by genuine care or action.