Class Notes

Class: IX Topic: My Childhood( An extract from

‘Wings of Fire’)
Subject: ENGLISH ◼ A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Date: 29/10/2020

Summary of My Childhood:
‘My childhood’ talks about the early days of Kalam. Furthermore, the chapter
gives us an idea of how the childhood of Abdul Kalam prepared him to become a
successful scientist and president in the future.
APJ Abdul Kalam was born into a Muslim family that was middle class.
Furthermore, he had three brothers. Moreover, Kalam also had one sister.
Furthermore, his father and mother were of good nature. Kalam’s childhood house
was ancestral.

The father of APJ Abdul Kalam lived an austere and simple life. Nevertheless, his
father made all the necessities available to his children. Furthermore, his parents
didn’t have any education and they were also not rich. many outsiders ate with the
family every day. Kalam also inherited the qualities of self-discipline and honesty
from his parents.

Kalam’s family was secular in nature. His family gave an equal amount of respect
to all the religions. Furthermore, there was participation from his family in Hindu
festivals. Moreover, Kalam heard stories of the Prophet and Ramayana from his
grandmother and mother. All these clearly show the secularism present in his
family.

Friendship was influential in Kalam’s childhood. Furthermore, he had three

friends. Their religious backgrounds were different. Moreover, there was not a
trace of feelings of discrimination among those friends. All these friends,
including Kalam, went into different professions.

In 5th standard, a new teacher came to the class of Kalam. In class, Kalam was
wearing a cap. This cap certainly gave Kalam a distinct Muslim identity.
Moreover, Kalam always sat near Ramanandha, a Hindu priest son. This was
something that the new teacher was not able to tolerate. Consequently, Kalam was
required to sit on the backbench. After this incident, both the friends felt very sad
and told this to their parents.

Ramanandha’s father met with the teacher to inform him not to spread the social
inequality and communal hatred. He made a demand that the apology must come.
Furthermore, in case of refusal, the teacher must quit. Consequently, there was
reformation the nature of the teacher and an apology came from him.

On one occasion, a science teacher of Abdul asked him to come to his home for
dinner. However, the wife of this science teacher didn’t agree to serve Kalam due
to her belief in religious segregation. Consequently, the science teacher made a
decision to serve food to Kalam. The teacher himself sat beside Kalam to eat a
meal. The wife of the science teacher was observing all this behind the door. The
science teacher gave the second invitation to Kalam for a meal next weekend. This
time, the wife served with her own hands.

1. Where was Abdul Kalam’s house?

A. Abdul Kalam’s house was located on the Mosque Street in the town of
Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu state.

2. What do you think Dinamani is the name of? Give a reason for your answer.
2. Dinamani is the name of a newspaper. It is a vernacular daily, printed in Tamil
language. I think so because Kalam says that he traced the stories of the war in
the headlines of the Dinamani.

3. Who were Abdul Kalam’s school friends? What did they later become?
A. During his childhood, Abdul Kalam had three friends. Their names are
Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. When they grew up,
Ramanadha Sastry became the priest of the Rameswaram temple, Aravindan
started a business of transporting pilgrims to and from the Rameswaram temple
and Sivaprakasan became a caterer for the railways.

4. How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?

A. Abdul Kalam earned his first wages by catching the bundle of newspapers
thrown out of the moving train at the Rameswaram station. He helped his cousin
in distributing newspapers in Rameswaram.

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

A. When the second World War started, there was a great demand for tamarind
seeds. Kalam would collect them and sell them to a grocery store located on
Mosque street. He would earn an anna which was a meagre sum but for him, it
was a handsome sum of money.

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?

A. (i) Kalam’s father’s name was Jainulabdeen. He was not educated and was not
a wealthy man. Kalam says that despite this, his father possessed innate wisdom,
honesty and was a generous man. He did not believe in wasting money on luxuries
but provided them with all the necessities of life like food, clothing and medicine.

(ii) Kalam’s mother’s name was Ashiamma. She supported her husband in his
decisions. She was a kind – hearted woman. Kalam recollects that his mother
would feed meals to numerous people. He inherited faith in goodness and deep
kindness from her.

(iii) Kalam was short and had ordinary looks while his parents were tall and
looked handsome. He was brought up in a secure atmosphere. He grew up to
become and honest and self – disciplined man. He believed in goodness and deep
kindness.

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

A. Kalam’s inherited honesty and self – discipline from his father. His mother
imbibed in him faith in goodness and deep kindness.

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 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)?
A. The social groups mentioned by Kalam were the Hindu Brahmins and the
Muslims. Yes, these groups were easily identifiable by the way they dressed. As
Kalam was a Muslim, he wore a cap which distinguished him from his Hindu
Brahmin friends who wore the sacred thread.

(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.)

A. No, they were not aware of any differences. Kalam and the other children
listened to bedtime stories from their mother and grandmother. These were from
both the Ramayana and from the life of Prophet. The family participated in the
Hindu festival of Shree Sita Rama Kalyanam by arranging boats for transporting
the idols from the temple to the pond located near their 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?

A. The people who were aware of these differences were the young teacher who
came to teach Kalam’s class in fifth standard. He ordered Kalam to sit on the last
bench as he belonged to a lower caste. His science teacher Sivasubramania Iyer’s
wife was an orthodox Hindi Brahmin. She refused to serve him food as she felt
hat his presence would render the kitchen impure.
The people who bridged these differences were Ramanadha Sastry’s father
Lakshmana Sastry and Sivasubramania Iyer. Lakshmana Sastry was the priest of
the Rameswaram temple. He scolded the young teacher and asked him to
apologise for sowing the seeds of religious discrimination into the innocent minds
of the children. Upon his wife’s refusal to serve, Sivasubramania Iyer served food
to Kalam and sat beside him to eat which reformed his wife.

2. (i) Why did Abdul Kalam want to leave Rameswaram?

A. Abdul Kalam wanted to leave Rameswaram and go to Ramanathapuram for

higher studies.

(ii) What did his father say to this?

A. His father said that he knew Kalam had to leave home as he had to fulfil his
dreams. He gave the example of the Seagull bird which flies endlessly over long
distances and does not have a nest too. He pacified Kalam’s mother by quoting a
few lines from the poem ‘Your children’ by Khalil Gibran. He said that her
children were not her possession but were life’s desire for itself. She should not
impose her thoughts on them but should allow them to fulfil their thoughts.

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

A. Abdul Kalam’s father’s words had a deep meaning. He inspired Kalam to

follow his dreams, to fly high like the seagull. He wanted him to pursue higher
studies and so, allowed him to go to Ramanathapuram. He explained to Kalam’s
mother to allow him to go and pursue higher education. He spoke these words to
encourage Abdul Kalam and to control the emotional attachment of his mother.

Extra questions:

What lesson did the priest Lakshmana Sastry teach the new teacher?
Answer:
The young teacher asked Abdul not to sit in the front row with the son of the
priest as he was a Muslim. When Lakshmana Sastry came to know about this,
he scolded the teacher and told him not to spread the poison of social inequality
and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children.

How was Abdul treated by the wife of his science teacher when he was invited
to have meal?
Answer:
Sivasubramania’s wife was a conservative lady. She did not like the idea that a
Muslim boy should come and eat in her ritually pure kitchen. She didn’t allow
Abdul to eat in her kitchen. However, for the second time she changed her stand
and gave food to Abdul by her own hands.

Once you decide to change the system, such problems have to be confronted.
What system is this sentence referring to? What are such problems?
Answer:
Abdul Kalam’s science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer, was a rebel by nature. He
was deadly against the prevalent social system. He did his best to break social
barriers so that people from varying backgrounds could mingle easily. When he
invited Abdul Kalam to his home, his wife, in keeping with the customs, refused
to serve him food. But Iyer not only served him food himself but also invited
him the next week again.

Next week, Iyer’s wife served Kalam food with her own hands. He told Abdul
Kalam that when one decides to go against the age-old social barriers, one has
to face many problems. He proved that if one is determined to face problems
and change the system, one succeeds. He also tried to teach him that sometimes
it is good to rebel.

Question 3.
Subramania Iyer was a rebel by nature. Discuss.
Answer:
Mr. Subramania Iyer did not believe in social barriers and wanted to break
them. When he invited Abdul Kalam to his house, his conservative wife refused
to serve food to a Muslim boy. But Iyer served him with his own hands and ate
his meals sitting beside him. He proved it by serving Abdul food with his own
hands. He inspired his wife also tcTserve food when Abdul Kalam visited the
second time. When Iyer’s wife refused to serve him food, Abdul was hesitated.
Iyer remarked, “Once you decide to change the system, such problems have to
be confronted.” He was a rebel and persistence in his efforts. He was not
orthodox. He proved that an individual can bring change in the system.

Question 4.
Narrate the incident of new teacher’s behaviour in the classroom. Was his
action appropriate?
Answer:
When Abdul Kalam was in the fifth standard, a new teacher came to their class.
He had a conservative and narrow outlook. He saw Abdul Kalam sitting in the
front row with Ramanadha Sastry. He identified Abdul Kalam as a Muslim boy
from the cap he was wearing. The teacher could not digest a Muslim boy sitting
with a Brahmin boy. He immediately asked Abdul to get up and sit in the last
row.

The teacher believed in the prevalent social ranking. Abdul Kalam and
Ramanadha Sastry, both, felt very sad. Ramanadha Sastry was weeping when
Kalam was asked to sit on the last bench. The new teachers action was not
appropriate at all, because his behaviour spreads the poison of social inequality
and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children.

Question 5.
Do you think the qualities of Kalam’s father made Kalam what he was? How?
What characteristics have you inherited from your parents?
Answer:
Yes, I think that the qualities of Kalam’s father made Kalam what he was. He
possessed all the qualities from his father. There are some qualities like innate
wisdom, truth, generosity of spirit, honesty and self-discipline that make us a
good human being.

Abdul became a successful scientist and a great leader because of all these
qualities. He had been a focussed student and a hardworking scientist. I have
also learnt all these qualities from my father. I have inherited honesty,
humbleness and self-discipline. All the inherited qualities make us determined
and focussed in our work. I was motivated by my father, both mentally and
emotionally.

Question 6.
A secure childhood like Kalam’s is very important for a child’s growth. Do you
agree?
Answer:
A secure childhood like Kalam’s is very important for a child’s growth.
Childhood experiences go a very long way. If one is brought up in a good
environment, one learns good values and these values, help in a long way.
Secured childhood is very important for growth. Kalam had a secure childhood.
He inherited good values from his parents. He had a good environment at home.
He was secured both materially and emotionally. Children with insecure
childhood do not grow properly. They never inculcate good values. They have
insecure life.

Question 7.
Abdul Kalam was disturbed by the behaviour of the new teacher in the class. Do
you appreciate the way Lakshman Shastri treated the new teacher?
Answer:
Abdul was emotionally disturbed. He never felt like this. Nobody made him feel
that he was a Muslim. He always got respect and love from his friends who
were Hindus. There was no such feelings. But his new teacher behaved
strangely. He came to his class and asked him to sit in the last row. He could not
tolerate sitting of a Muslim boy with the son of a Hindu priest.

The matter was reported to Lakshman Shastry. He immediately called the new
teacher and warned him not to repeat such an act In future. Yes, it is appreciable
that he handled the situation in a mature way. He reformed the teacher too. He
taught the teacher that one should not honour only one’s own religion but
respect other religions. One should work for communal harmony.
Question 8.
Write a letter to your friend telling him how you earned your first wage. You
are Abdul Kalam. Describe your feelings expressively.
Answer:
28 February 20XX
Dear Raman
Hope this letter of mine finds you in the best of your health and spirits.
You know today I earned my first wage at my own. My joy knew no bounds for
this. My uncle Samsuddin sells newspapers. He gets them through the train. But
nowadays, the train does not stop here so someone has to throw the bundles
from the moving train. My uncle gave me the work to catch those bundles. I did
it and distributed the newspapers in Rameshwarm. I had to distribute five
hundred newspapers daily. He paid me for this. This was my first wage. It was
so satisfying that I loved this job. I had a feeling of pride in earning my own
money for the first time.
Convey my regards to elders and love to young ones.
Your friend
Abdul

Reference-to-Context(EBQ):

Read the following extracts carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Question 1.
I was one of many children short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to
tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in
the middle of the 19th century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of
limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. My austere father
used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries.

(a) …………..was a short boy with undistinguished looks.

Answer:
Dr. Abdul Kalam

(b) In contrast his parents were

Answer:
tall and handsome

(c) His father used to provide him all inessential comforts. (True/False)
Answer:
False
(d) ‘Strict or stern’ means the same as in the above lines.
Answer:
‘austere’

Question 2.
A day’s, collection would fetch me the princely sum of one anna. My brother-
in-law Jallaluddin would tell me stories about the War which I would later
attempt to trace in the headlines in Dinamani. Our area, being isolated, was
completely unaffected by the War.

(a) Dinamani is the name of a ………

Answer:
newspaper

(b) Jallaluddin was the brother-in-law of …………….

Answer:
Abdul Kalam

(c) Their area was not touched by the war as it was a remote area. (True/False)
Answer:
True

(d) The word in the passage that means the same as ‘grand or royal’ is
Answer:
‘princely’

Question 3.
That forced my cousin Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers in
Rameswaram, to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles and, as if
naturally, I filled the slot. Samsuddin helped me
earn my first wages. Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of pride in
earning my own money for the first time.

(a) Samsuddin was the cousin of

Answer:
Abdul Kalam

(b) ………. helped him earn his initial wages.

Answer:
Samsuddin
(c) Samsuddin was quite proud of his first earning. (True/False)
Answer:
False

(d) ‘Artificially’ is the opposite of the word in the passage.

Answer:
‘naturally’

Question 4.
I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my father; from my mother, I
inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness and so did my three brothers and
sister. I had three close friends in my childhood — Ramanadha Sastry,
Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu
Brahmin families.

(a) Abdul’s father was known for his________ and_________

Answer:
honesty, self-discipline

(b) Abdul acquired deep kindness and________ from his________

Answer:
faith in goodness, mother

(c) All the three close friends of Abdul belonged to orthodox Hindu Brahmin
families (True/False)
Answer:
True

(d) The word in the passage that means the same as ‘conservative’ is ……….
Ans.
‘orthodox’

Question 5.
During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, our family used to
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 our house.
(a) ……….. ceremony used to take place annually.
Answer:
Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam

(b) …………….was located close by Abdul’s home.

Answer:
Rama Tirtha

(c) Kalam’s family never arranged boats for carrying idols. (True/False)
Answer:
False

(d) The opposite of the word ‘special’ can be

Answer:
‘ordinary’

Question 6.
I used to wear a cap which marked me as a Muslim, and I always sat in the front
row next to Ramanadha Sastry, who wore a sacred thread. The new teacher
could not stomach a Hindu priest’s son sitting with a Muslim boy. In
accordance with our social ranking as the new teacher saw it, I was asked to go
and sit on the back bench.

(a) Abdul’s partner in the class was ……….

Answer:
Ramanadha Sastry

(b) The new teacher asked Abdul to sit on the back bench corresponding to
Answer:
their social ranking

(c) Abdul was clearly noticeable as a Muslim because of his cap. (True/False)
Answer:
True

(d) The phrase in the above passage that means the same as ‘couldn’t stand the
sight of something’ is
Answer:
‘could not stomach’
Question 7.
After school, we went home and told our respective parents about the incident.
Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher, and in our presence, told the teacher
that he should not spread the poison of social inequality and communal
intolerance in the minds of innocent children. He bluntly asked the teacher to
either apologise or quit the school and the island.

(a) ‘We’ in the above lines has been used for and
Answer:
Abdul Kalam, Ramanadha Sastry

(b) After facing social inequality at school, both the children informed
………… about the school incident.
Answer:
their parents

(c) The parents ordered the teacher to either apologize or quit the school.
(True/False)
Answer:
False

(d) The word that means the same as ‘not being able to bear’ in the passage is
Answer:
‘intolerance’

Question 8.
On the whole, the small society of Rameswaram was very rigid in terms of the
segregation of different social groups. However, my science teacher
Sivasubramania Iyer, though an orthodox Brahmin with a very conservative
wife, was something of a rebel. He did his best to break social barriers so that
people from varying backgrounds could mingle easily. He used to spend hours
with me and would say, “Kalam, I want you to develop so that you are on a par
with the highly educated people of the big cities.”

(a) The small society of Rameswaram was inflexible as far as …………..was

concerned.
Answer:
the segregation of social groups
(b) Kalam was taught science by________
Answer:
Sivasubramania Iyer

(c) His science teacher wanted his best to break social barriers so that people
could socialize easily. (True/False)
Answer:
False

(d) Pick a pair of synonym from the above lines.

Answer:
orthodox and conservative.

Question 9.
One day, he invited me to his home for a meal. His wife was horrified at the
idea of a Muslim boy being invited to dine in her ritually pure kitchen. She
refused to serve me in her kitchen. Sivasubramania Iyer was not perturbed, nor
did he get angry with his wife, but instead, served me with his own hands and
sat down beside me to eat his meal.

(a) ……….. was invited by ………….. for a meal.

Answer:
Abdul, Sivasubramania Iyer

(b) ‘She’ refers to …………..

Answer:
Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife

(c) The lady was welcoming the idea of a Muslim boy invited for a meal.
(True/False)
Answer:
False

(d) The opposite of the word ‘pure’ is …………

Answer:
‘impure’

Question 10.
The whole country was filled with an unprecedented optimism. I asked my
father for permission to leave Rameswaram and study at the district
headquarters in Ramanathapuram.
(a) ‘I’ in the above lines is
Answer:
Abdul Kalam

(b) The district headquarters was located in …………

Answer:
Ramanathapuram

(c) The country was filled with optimism because of India’s freedom.
(True/False)
Answer:
True

(d) The word ………… means the same as ‘never done or known before’.
Answer:
‘unprecedented’

Question 11.
Does the seagull not fly across the sun, alone and without a nest? He quoted
Khalil Gibran to my hesitant mother, ‘Your children are not your children. They
are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.’

(a) ‘Your children are not your children!’ The speaker of the above line
is____________
Answer:
Kalam’s father

(b) Kalam’s mother was hesitant as he was leaving for higher studies.
(True/False)
Answer:
True

(c) Kalam’s father was teaching his mother the values of __________
Answer:
Detachment

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