The ethnic and cultural diversity in India has always been bound by the thread of unity. Discuss the major factors that have contributed to the cultural unity of India.

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Q. 5. Study the following poem and answer the questions which follow. Each answer should be in around 60-80 words : 10x5=50 Vanity Be assured, the Dragon is not dead But once more from the pools of peace Shall rear his fabulous green head. The flowers of innocence shall cease And like a harp the wind shall roar And the clouds shake an angry fleece. 'Here, here, is certitude,' you swore, 'Below this lightning-blasted tree. Where once it strikes, it strikes no more. 'Two lovers in one house agree. The roof is tight, the walls unshaken. As now, so must it always be.' Such prophecies of joy awaken The toad who dreams away the past Under your hearth-stone, light forsaken, Who knows that certitude at last Must melt away in vanity — No gate is fast, no door is fast — That thunder bursts from the blue sky, That gardens of the mind fall waste, That fountains of the heart run dry. (a) Examine the imagery of the second stanza. 10 (b) What do the lovers imply when they say 'so must it always be' ? 10 (c) What is meant by saying that the toad (in stanza 5) 'dreams away the past' ? 10 (d) What is implied by the line 'No gate is fast, no door is fast' ? 10 (e) Consider the implications of the title 'Vanity'. 10