My Childhood
NCERT Solution
Part 1
Answer these questions in one or two sentences each
Question 1: Where was Abdul Kalam’s house?
Answer: Abdul Kalam’s house was on mosque street in Rameshwaram.
Question 2: What do you think Dinamani is the name of? Give a reason for your answer.
Answer: The fact that Abdul Kalam used to read headlines, to know about the WWII and the fact that he assisted his cousin in collecting newspaper bundles thrown from the train indicate that Dinamani is the name of a newspaper.
Question 3: Who were Abdul Kalam’s school friends? What did they later become?
Answer: One of his friends Ramanadha Shastry became a priest in Rameshwaram, Arvindam went into a business of tour operator and Shivaprakasham became a catering contractor with Southern Railways.
Question 4: How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?
Answer: When stoppage of trains was cancelled at Rameshwaram because of WWII, then his cousin asked him for help in collecting newspaper bundles which were thrown from the moving train. This task helped Abdul Kalam earn his first wages.
Question 5: Had he earned any money before that? In what way?
Answer: Before the newspaper episode there was unusually huge demand of tamarind seeds. Abdul Kalam used to collect tamarind seeds and used to sell them for a princely some of one annah a day.
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?
Answer: The author has described his father as a man following austerity, but giving due care to all needs of his family. He has described his mother as a woman with a large heart who used to cook for everyone visiting the household. Moreover, Abdul Kalam has described himself as a short and thin boy from tall and handsome parents.
Question 2: What characteristics does he say he inherited from his parents?
Answer: He inherited honesty and self discipline from his father. From his mother he inherited a sense of kindness and faith.