My Childhood

Textual questions and answers

I. 1. Where was Abdul Kalam’s house?

Answer: Abdul Kalam’s house was located on Mosque Street, in Rameswaram, Tamil Naidu.
2. What do you think Dinamani is the name of? Give a reason for your answer.
Answer: Dinamani is the name of a newspaper. Kalam mentions attempting to trace the events of
World War II in the headlines of Dinamani, implying that it is a newspaper.
3. Who were Abdul Kalam’s school friends? What did they later become?
Answer: Abdul Kalam’s school friends were Ramanadha Sastry, Aravndan and Sivaprakasan.
Ramanadha went on to become the high priest of Rameswaram temple, Aravindan began arranging
transportation for visiting pilgrims, and Sivaprakasan worked as a catering contractor for the
Southern Railways.
4. How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?
Answer: The train halt at Rameswaram was cancelled due to the declaration of emergency during
World War II. Newspapers were thrown from the moving train. Kalam’s cousin, Samsuddin, the
newspaper delivery boy, now needed assistance catching these bundles of paper. He hired Kalam
for this, and thus Kalam earned his first wages.
5. Had he earned any money before that? In what way?
Answer: Yes, Abdul Kalam had earned money before that.
When World War II broke out, there was a surge in demand for tamarind seeds. Abdul Kalam
gathered these seeds and sold them to a provision store. He received one anna for each day’s
collection.

II. 1. How does the author describe:

(i) his father
Answer: Abdul Kalam describes his father, Jainulabdeen, as having little formal education and little
wealth, but great innate wisdom and true generosity of spirit. His father was self-disciplined, honest,
and austere, avoiding all unnecessary comforts and luxuries.
(ii) his mother
Answer: Abdul Kalam describes his mother, Ashiamma, as a generous woman who was an
excellent helpmate to his father. Every day, she fed a large number of people, including many
strangers. She was kind-hearted and believed in goodness.
(iii) himself?
Answer: Abdul Kalam describes himself as a short boy with average looks who was born to tall and
good looking parents. He inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father; and faith in goodness
and deep kindness from his mother.
2. What characteristics does he say he inherited from his parents?
Answer: In the words of Abdul Kalam, he inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father and
deep kindness and faith in goodness from his mother.
III. 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)?
Answer: Hindus and Muslims are two of the social groups mentioned by Kalam. Yes, these groups
were easily distinguished because Kalam, a Muslim, wore a cap and his Hindu friend Ramanadha
wore the sacred thread, each displaying his religion.
(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.)
Answer: Rameswaram’s residents were aware of their communal differences, but they naturally
shared friendships and experiences. During a religious Hindu festival, Kalam’s family arranged for
the boats used to transport the idols. Even in Kalam’s home, children were told stories from both the
Prophet’s life and the Ramayana.
(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?
Answer: The new teacher and Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife were both acutely aware of their
differences. The new teacher arrived at Kalam’s school and separated him from his Hindu friend, but
he is changed by the temple priest, Lakshmana Sastry’s strong opinions. Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife
was initially offended by the idea of a Muslim boy dining in her kitchen, but she, too, came around
and served him. Lakshmana Sastry and Sivasubramania Iyer were two people who tried to bridge
such divides by being open-minded and reforming the rigidly orthodox believers.
(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: Two incidents from the text that show how differences can be created are:
i. A new teacher arrived at Kalam’s school and directed him to the last bench, deeming him unfit to
sit on the same bench as the priest’s son.
ii. Sivasubramanium Iyer’s wife refused to serve Kalam a meal in her kitchen because Abdul Kalam
was Muslim and did not share the same religious beliefs as her.
Two incidents from the text that show how differences can be resolved are:
i. Lakshmana Sastry chastised the teacher for sowing the seeds of communal intolerance among
children and demanded that he apologise or leave the school.
ii. Sivasubramanium Iyer remained polite to Kalam and even invited him back to dinner, served him
with his own hands, and sat beside him to eat. Sivasubramanium’s wife too was gradually
transformed.
People can improve their attitudes by acknowledging that they have a problem and deciding to take
action.
2. (i) Why did Abdul Kalam want to leave Rameswaram?
Answer: Abdul Kalam wanted to leave Rameswaram and relocate to the district headquarters at
Ramanathapuram in order to fulfil his desire to pursue his higher education.
(ii) What did his father say to this?
Answer: His father stated that he knew Kalam needed to be alone in order to grow, much like how a
seagull flies across the sun alone and without a nest. In a quote from Khalil Gibran, he told Kalam’s
mother that their children were not theirs, but the result of life’s longing for itself. They had arrived
through their parents, but not through them. They could be showered with affection, but their
thoughts would be completely their own.
(iii) What do you think his words mean? Why do you think he spoke those words?
Answer: Abdul Kalam’s father meant that in order to grow and develop as an individual, Kalam
would have to step out of his father’s shadow and leave the comforts of his home to make his way in
the world. He consoled his wife by quoting Gibran, implying that just because they had given birth to
their children did not mean the children belonged to them. Each child was an individual in his or her
own right, developing and growing with his or her own ideas. When Kalam decided to leave home
and pursue further education, he said these words to console himself and his wife.