Chapter 4 — Environment

Unit 4, titled "Environment", contains three texts: "The Cherry Tree" by Ruskin Bond, "Harvest Hymn" by Sarojini Naidu, and "Waiting for the Rain" by Kamakshi Balasubramanian. All three explore humans' relationship with the natural world — nurturing it, celebrating it, and learning from its wisdom.

"The Cherry Tree" in Poorvi Class 8 Unit 4 was written by Ruskin Bond.

The story shows that personal effort and care make something truly special. Grandfather tells Rakesh, "Nothing is lucky if you put it away; if you want luck, you must put it to some use." Rakesh plants the seed himself, nurtures the tree through hardships, and at the end feels a deep sense of wonder at what he has grown.

The cherry tree faces several setbacks: a goat enters the garden and eats all its leaves when the tree is about two feet high; later a woman cutting grass on the hillside cuts the tree in two with her scythe. Despite both incidents, the tree recovers and continues to grow.

The story is set in the Himalayan foothills near Mussoorie, where Rakesh lives with his grandfather on the outskirts of town, just where the forest begins. The text describes stony soil, dry cold winds, forests of oak and deodar, early monsoon rains, and heavy snowfall in winter.

"Harvest Hymn" was written by Sarojini Naidu. The poem presents farmers — men, women, and all voices together — offering songs, garlands, grain, and fruit as tribute to Surya (the Sun), Varuna (Rain/lord of the main), Prithvi (the Earth), and Brahma (the Lord of the Universe), celebrating a rich harvest with cymbal, flute, pipe, drum, and prayer.

In the poem, Surya represents the Sun — the giver of light and warmth that ripens the crops; Varuna represents Rain and mercy that nourishes the furrows and fosters the grain; Prithvi represents the Earth as an omnipotent mother whose womb gives birth to all riches.

"Waiting for the Rain" by Kamakshi Balasubramanian is about Velu, a farmer who has worked his land for nearly six years growing jowar and dhal. One year the rains fail to come, leaving the fields cracked and barren. Velu goes to the weather office but gets no answers. He meets an old woman who tells him Nature is simply letting the land rest, so it can spring back fresh when rain finally arrives — and as Velu walks home, clouds gather and rain begins.

The old woman tells Velu that the earth is old and has worked for centuries, so Nature — like a mother — gives the land the rest it needs. When it rains, the rested land will spring back into activity, fresh and ready for crops. The drought is not punishment but nature's way of caring for the soil.

The textbook uses 'Harvest Hymn' to identify alliteration ("bright and munificent lord of the morn"), imagery ("the wealth of our valleys, new-garnered and ripe"), metaphor ("Thou art the Seed and the Scythe"), personification (the Earth as "sweet and omnipotent mother"), repetition ("Thine is the bounty / Thine is the mercy"), and symbolism (Prithvi, Surya, Varuna).

Unit 4 covers Simple Past, Past Progressive, and Past Perfect tenses (from 'The Cherry Tree'); Simple Present, Present Progressive, and Present Perfect tenses (from 'Waiting for the Rain'); punctuation marks (full stop, comma, colon, semicolon, apostrophe, quotation marks, dash); homophones (peace/piece, weather/whether, sun/son, rain/reign); determiners (articles, demonstrative, possessive, numeral, distributive); syllables; and silent letters.

The unit asks students to write an article for a school magazine on "Trees — Our Lifeline" using given words and phrases, draft a creative slogan expressing gratitude to farmers, and write a formal letter to a Municipal Councillor requesting installation of a rainwater harvesting unit.

Yes. The Poorvi Class 8 PDF, including Unit 4 (Environment), is available for free on CBSE PrepMaster — no sign-up or payment required. You can read or download it directly from the app or website.