NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Chapter 11 - My Childhood

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On the Mosque Street in Rameshwaram.

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‘Dinamani’ is the name of a newspaper. Kalam used to look at its headlines to know about the war.

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Abdul Kalam’s school friends were Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. Ramanadha took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father. Aravindan went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims. Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.

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Kalam’s cousin was a news-agent. Those were the days of war. The train halt at Rameswaram was suspended. Bundles of newspapers were thrown on the road from the running train. Kalam helped his cousin to collect these bundles. He was given some money for it. Thus Kalam earned his first wages.

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The second World War started in 1939. The demand for tamarind seeds increased suddenly. Abdul Kalam would collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop. Thus he would earn one anna daily.

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1. Kalam says his father didn’t have much formal education. But he had natural wisdom. He didn’t have much wealth. But he was very generous. He was an austere person. But he gave his children all they needed. He took all care of their food, medicine and clothes. But he was a man of discipline. He avoided inessential comforts and luxuries.
2. Kalam says that his mother was an ideal wife. She was a kind and gentle lady. She used to feed at her house a number of outsiders daily. Kalam says that he learnt from his mother to be good and kind to others. His sister and his brother also learnt these qualities from their mother.
3. Kalam tells us about his childhood days. He tells how he used to earn an anna a day by selling tamarind seeds. He tells us about his three friends at school. They were all Hindu Brahmins. Kalam had very good relations with them. He also tells about a Brahmin teacher who was very kind to him. He tells us of some unpleasant experiences also. But he never had any ill-feeling in his mind.

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Kalam says that he inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father. From his mother, he inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness.

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The author mentions the Hindus and Muslims living in Rameswaram. These groups could be identified easily. The Muslims could be identified by their cap; the Hindus by their sacred thread.

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The Hindus and the Muslims were aware of the differences between them. But they lived together in a friendly manner. For example, Kalam had three good friends who were all Brahmins. His mother used to tell him bedtime stories from the Ramayana. During the annual wedding ceremony of Rama and Sita, their family used to arrange boats for carrying the idols of Rama. All this shows that the two communities lived together in harmony.

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The author mentions two of his teachers. One of them was a new teacher. He knew from Kalam’s cap that he was a Muslim. He saw him sitting in the front row with a Brahmin boy. He at once asked Kalam to go and sit on the back bench.
The other teacher was Kalam’s science teacher. He was a Brahmin. He was against all social barriers. He wanted to break these barriers. One day he invited Kalam to his house for a meal. The teacher’s wife was a conservative lady. She refused to serve Kalam in her kitchen. The teacher served Kalam with his own hands. But the next time, the teacher’s wife took Kalam inside her kitchen. She served him there with her own hands.
Thus the author shows that there were both kinds of people. There were those who were aware of the differences. There were also those who tried to bridge those differences.

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The author narrates two incidents from his school days. A new teacher had joined Kalam’s school. He knew from Kalam’s cap that he was a Muslim. He saw him sitting in the front row with a Brahmin boy. He at once asked Kalam to go and sit on the back bench. But Kalam’s science teacher was quite the opposite. He was against all social barriers. He wanted to break them. His wife was a conservative lady. One day the teacher invited Kalam for a meal at his house. His wife refused to serve Kalam in her kitchen. The teacher did not get angry. He served Kalam with his own hands. The next time Kalam noticed a great change in the teacher’s wife. She took Kalam inside her kitchen. She served him there with her own hands. These two incidents show how differences can be created and how they can be resolved. By following the way of Kalam’s science teacher, people can change their attitude. We are all the children of the same God. We all eat and drink in the same manner.

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(i) After the second World War, it seemed certain that India would have her freedom. Gandhiji had said, ‘‘Indians will build their own India.’’ Everybody was feeling inspired. Kalam decided to go to Ramanathapuram for further studies. That was why he wanted to leave Rameswaram. And he asked for his father’s permission.
(ii) Kalam’s father was very happy at this. He at once gave his consent. He knew that it would help Kalam to grow. Kalam’s mother was a little hesitant. But the father said to her, ‘‘Your children are not your children. They come through you but not from you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts.’’ The father believed that a child must have his own independent thoughts. They should not copy others blindly.
(iii) The father’s words are full of deep wisdom. The young one of a bird can never learn to fly until and unless it leaves its nest. The father wanted his son not to be confined to his own home. He wanted him to belong to the entire humanity.

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Kalam’s house was in the Mosque Street of Rameswaram. It was an ancestral house. It was quite a large one. It was built in the middle of the 19th century. It was a pucca house. It was made of limestone and brick.

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Kalam is not criticising his father. He has great respect for his father. He calls him a man of discipline. Kalam’s father was very generous. He gave his children all they needed. He took all care of their food, medicine and clothes. But he avoided inessential comforts and luxuries. He wanted his children also to live a life of discipline.

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Kalam had three friends in his childhood. They were Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. They were all from Brahmin families. But they felt themselves no different from Kalam. They treated Kalam as their equal. Ramanadha’s father was the high priest of Rameswaram temple. Later, Ramanadha also became a priest of this temple. Aravindan started a business of his own. He arranged transport for visiting pilgrims. Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.

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They used to arrange boats for the ceremony. A special platform was built on these boats. Idols of the Lord were placed on the platform. They were carried from the temple to the marriage site. The place of the ceremony used to be in the middle of a pond. It was near Abdul Kalam’s house. It was called Rama Tirtha.

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Kalam was sitting on the same bench with Ramanadha Sastry. Ramanadha was the son of a Hindu priest. The new teacher didn’t like a Muslim boy sitting with a Hindu boy in his class. He asked Kalam to go and sit on the last bench. Ramanadha felt very bad. He began to weep. His father was very angry when he came to know of it. He called the teacher. He asked the teacher to apologize or leave the school. The teacher felt sorry and reformed himself.

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Kalam says that his science teacher was a Brahmin. He didn’t believe in social barriers. He wanted people to mix freely with each other. Once he invited Kalam to dine at his house. The teacher’s wife refused to serve a Muslim in her kitchen. The teacher acted very wisely. He did not get angry with his wife. He served Kalam with his own hands. He ate his own meal also by Kalam’s side. This brought about a great change in the teacher’s wife. The next time, she served Kalam in her kitchen with her own hands.