CHAPTER 6 MY CHILDHOOD
Thinking about the Text
III. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher, and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each
QUESTION-1
“On the whole, the small society of Rameswaram 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
identifiable (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 people in the text?
(iv) Narrate two incidents that show how differences can be created, and
also how they can be resolved. How can people change their attitudes?
ANSWER:
(i) The social groups that he mentions are Hindus and Muslims. Yes, these
groups were easily identifiable by their dressing, tradition, culture, etc. For
instance, Kalam used to wear a cap on his head which identified him as a
Muslim. Ramanadha Sastry wore a sacred thread.
(ii) They were not aware only of their differences. They also naturally share
friendships and experiences. Kalam’s mother and grandmother would tell
events from the Ramayana and from the life of the Prophet as bedtime
stories. All his friends belonged to orthodox Hindu families. During the
annual Sita Rama Kalyanam Ceremony, his family would arrange boats
with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple to the
marriage site situated in the middle of the pond called Rama Tirtha, which
was 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.
Yes, we can identify such people in the text.
The new school teacher and Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife were very aware of
the differences among the social groups, but Sivasubramania Iyer and
Lakshamana Sastry tried to bridge these differences.
(iv) Two incidents that show how differences can be created, and also how
they can be resolved are explained below:
When Lakshamana Sastry got to know about the way the new school
teacher had made Kalam sit on the back bench because he was a Muslim,
he asked the teacher to apologize or quit the school. The new teacher not
only regretted his behaviour but also was reformed by Lakshamana
Sastry’s strong sense of conviction.
Kalam’s science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer, asked Kalam to his home
for a meal. His wife was horrified at the idea of a Muslim boy being invited
to her pure kitchen. Sivasubramania Iyer served Kalam food with his own
hands and sat down beside him to eat his meal.
The next time he invited Kalam to his home, Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife
served him food with her own hands inside the kitchen.