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Question I:

Answer these Questions in one or two sentences each.

1.                 Where was Abdul Kalam's house?

2.                 What do you think Dinamani is the name of'? Give a reason for your Answer.

3.                 Who were Abdul Kalam's school friends? What did they later become?

4.                 How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?

5.                 Had he earned any money before that? In what way?

Answer I:

1.                 Abdul Kalam 's house was situated in Mosque Street in Rameswa ram in state of Madras.

2.                 Dinamani was probably the name of a newspaper because. Abdul Kalam made an effort so that he could trace the stories of the Second Worl d War, told by his brother-in-law, which made headlines in Dinamani.

3.                 Abdul Kalam had three close friends in school - Ramanandha Shastry, Aravinda n and Sivaprakasan. Ramana ndha Shastry inherited priesthood from his father in Rameswa ram temple; Aravinda n had setup a business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims and Sivaprakasa n was a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.

4.                 The Second World War led to the suspension of the train-halt at Rameswara m station. As a result of this the newspapers had to be tied up in bundles and thrown out from the moving train. This forced Kalam 's cousin Shamsuddin, a newspa per distributor in Rameswaram, to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles of newspa per. Abdul Kalam decided to act as helping hand and earned his first wages in the process.

5.                 Yes, he had earned some money in the process of helping his cousin.A sudden rise in demand for tamarind seeds could be seen in the market after Second World War broke out. He collected the seeds and sold them at a provi sion shop on Mosque Street. Usually he earned up to one anna from daily sales.

Question II:

Answer each of these Questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words)

1.                 How does the author describe:

(i) his father,

(ii) his mother,

(iii) himself'?

   2.        What characteristics does he say he inherited from his parents?

Answer II:

1.

a.     Kalam's father, Jainulabdeen didn't have much formal education or much financial wealth. Despite these hurdle, he possessed qualities of great wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He tried to avoid all inessen tial comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes.

b.     Kalam 's mother, Ashiamma was a perfect support to her husband. She fed many people every day of her life. The author was quite sure that many more outsiders ate with them than all the members of their own family put together.

c.      The author considers himself one amongst many children. He was a short boy with rather undisguised looks, born to tall and handsome parents. His childhood was very secure, both materially and emotionally.

2.       The author inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father and faith in goodness and deep kindness from his m other.

Question III:

Discuss these Questions in class with your teacher and then write down your Answers in two or three paragraphs each.

1. "On the whole, the small society of Rameswa ram was very rigid in terms of the segregation of

different social groups," says the author.

(i)               Which social groups does he mention? Were these groups easily iden tifi able (for example, by the way they dressed)?

(ii)             Were they aware only of their differences or did they also naturally share friendships and

experiences? (Think of the bedtime stories in Kalam's house; of who his friends were; and of what used to take place in the pond near his house.)

(iii)          The author speaks both of people who were very aware of the differences among them and

those who tried to bridge these differences. Can you identify such peopl e in the t          ext?

  (iv)    Narrate two incidents that show how differences can be created, and also how they can be resolved. How can people change their attitudes?

2.

(i)      Why did Abdul Kalam want to leave Rameswa ram?

(ii)     What did his father say to this?

(iii)    What do you think his words mean? Why do you think he spoke those words?

Answer III:

1.

(i)      The social groups mentioned by author were the Hindus and the Muslims. Yes, these groups were identifiable easily. Abdul Kalam identically wore a cap, which marked him as a Muslim. His friend, Ramanadha Sastry, wore the sacred thread as he was a Hindu.

(ii)     As a child, none of them felt any difference amongst themselves because of their religious differences and upbringing. They shared special friendship and experiences. Abdul Kalam was a Muslim and lived on the Mosque Street and his friends belonged to orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. However, they had very close friendship. During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, Kalam 's family arranged boats with a special arrangement of platform to carry idols of the Lord from the temple to the marriage site. They listened to stories of the Ramayana and life of the Prophet at bedtime from mother and grandmother of their family. All these incidents show that different social groups naturally co-inhabited Ram eswaram.

(iii)    Two people were very aware of the differences among them. One of them was the new teacher who came to the class when Kalam was in the fifth standard and did not allow him to sit with Ramanadha  Sastry, who  was  a  Brahmin  and  the  son of a  Hindu  pri est. Also,  the wife  of

Sivasubraman ia Iyer (his science teacher) was very orthodox and conservative an d did not allow Kalam to eat in her pure Hindu kitchen. The people who tried to dissolve these differences were Lakshmana Sastry (Ramanadha's father) and Sivasubramania Iyer (his science teacher).

(iv)    When Kalam was in the fifth standard, a new teacher came to his class. Kalam used to sit in the front row next to Ramana ndha Sastry. The  teacher  was  not  able  to  digest  the  fact  that  a Hin du priest's son was sitting next to a Muslim boy. The teacher imm ediately asked Kalam to sit on the back ben ch. This made both Kalam and Ramanandha were  sad  and  disappointed. When they told this story to their parents, Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher and told him that he should not spread social inequality amongst the children. He also said that the thought of communal intolerance should not be instigated in the min ds of innocen t children. The teacher apologized and felt sorry his behaviour.

In another incident, Kalam's science teacher Sivasubramania Iyer invited him for a meal to his house. His wife was very conservative, so did not like this idea of a Muslim boy eating in her ritually pure Hindu kitchen. She refused to serve Kalam in her kitchen. However, Iyer decided to serve Kalam with his own hands and sat down beside him to eat his meal. When Kalam was going from his house, he again invited him for a dinner next weekend. But Kalam was hesitant .Still Kalam told him not to get upset and said that once one has decided to change the system, su ch problemswill be solved. When Kalam visited his teacher's house the next week, his teacher's wife took him inside her kitchen and served him food with her own hands. So, differences could be resolved and many people's attitudes could be changed.

2.

(i)      Kalam wanted to leave Rameswaram for further studies. He wanted  to study  at the  district hea dquarters in Ramanathapuram.

(ii)     Kalam's father said that he knew that to grow further, Kalam had to go away one day. He gave him the example of a seagull which flies across the sun alone and lives without a nest. He also gave an example of Khalil Gibran to Kalam's mother saying that her children are not their own children. They were the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. The children come through their parents, but not from them. He was determined that children have their own thoughts and parent can give them love, but cannot impose their though ts on them.

(iii)    His words meant that children have to become independent, be separated from their parents at some stage of life. They need to be independen t, to be set free at a point of their life. Then only they can understa nd the world, realize their thoughts, goals and dreams. He gave him the example of a seagull which flies alone an d finds its own food and nest. Parents can give uncon ditional love to their children but they cannot give them their thoughts. The children have their own dreams, thoughts their thoughts. Kalam 's father spoke these words because Kalam's mother was reluctant about him leaving Rameswa ram.