Reading

A Story of My Childhood

Working with words

A. Match the words in column ‘A’ with their meanings in column ‘B’.

a. expectantly = iv. in a way that shows you are hoping for something, especially something good or exciting

b. beckon = viii. to give signal to somebody to move nearer or to follow you

c. grapple = v. to try hard to find a solution to a problem

d. texture = ii. the way food or drink tastes or feels in your mouth

e. cobbled = vii. having a surface that is made of small round stones

f. flimsy = iv. thin and easily torn

g. attire = i. clothes, especially fine or formal ones

h. marvelous = ix. extremely good; wonderful

i. dynamics = iii. the science of the forces involved in movement

B. Use a dictionary and find the meanings of the following words related to people’s life stories.

hagiography = a book about the life of a person that praises them much

psychobiography = comprehensive examination of a person’s whole life span utilising historical, behavioral and anthropological techniques in a sociocultural

pathography = a biography focusing on a person’s negative aspects like failure, unhappiness, illness, etc.

chronicle = a chronological account of events in writing

obituary = an article about somebody’s life and achievement, that is printed in a  newspaper soon after they have died

character sketch = written summary of a person’s traits, characteristics, and so on.

profile = a description of somebody / something that gives useful information

memoir = a documented narrative of someone’slife, a location or an event

Comprehension

A. Put the following events in the life of Abdul Kalam in a chronological order.

a. Abdul Kalam attended an elementary school at Rameswaram. 

b. One day Abdul Kalam’s teacher visited them to share his pride and pleasure about his performance.

c. They celebrated happiness with poli.

d. A new teacher in the school forbade Abdul Kalam to sit together with his Bramhin friend.

e. Many students did not understand well of Sivasubramania Iyer’s lecture.

f. He then took the students to the seashore for a practical class.

g. Abdul Kalam was determined that he would make a future study about flight and flight systems.

B. Answer the following questions.

a. What were the causes of Abdul Kalam;s happiness?
Ans: Abdul Kalam was happy because his mathematics teacher came to his house to discuss his results where he was praised for his good results in Math’s exam.

b. Which two places did Abdul Kalam visit before going to school?
Ans: Before going to school, Abdul Kalam visited the Arabic tuition class and mathematics teacher’s house.

c. What did he like about mathematics?
Ans: All he liked about mathematics were the numbers, their rulers and how they might be used in different ways.

d. Why was the new teacher unhappy?
Ans: The new teacher was unhappy because a Hindu and a Muslim boy were sitting together.

e. Why did Abdul Kalam have to split with his intimate friend?
Ans: The school at Rameswaram only offered courses up to the secondary level, thus Abdul Kalam and his close friend were focused to part ways since further education was only available in the surrounding larger cities.

f. What was the topic of Sivasubramania Iyer’s class?
Ans: The topic of Sivasubramania Iyer’s class was birds’ flight. He was teaching how birds fly.

g. How was the teacher’s reaction when the students told him that they did not understand his lecture?
Ans: Teacher was neither irritated nor furious with them when they reported that they didn’t understand his lecture. 

h. Why did Sivasubramania Iyer take his students to the seashore?
Ans: Sivasubramania Iyer took his students to the seashore to give them the concept of flight dynamics in birds.

Critical thinking

a. APJ Abdul Kalam became a renowned aerospace scientist in his later life. Do you find any association of his childhood days in shaping his career? Explain with specific instances from the text.
Ans: APJ Abdul Kalam was a renowned aerospace scientist who played a leading role in the development of India’s missile and nuclear weapons programs. He was president from 2002 to 2007.

There is an association of Kalam’s childhood days in shaping his career. Once his mathematics teacher visited the family to share Kalam’s result. He was very happy to hear the result. But he was even more happy because his teacher had taken the trouble to come all the way to his house to tell his family about the result.

Another teacher named Sivasubramania Iyer taught him when I was ten years old and in the fifth standard. He was a great teacher and all of them loved to attend his class and listen to him. One day, he was teaching how birds fly. Kalam as well as other students told him that they had not understood what he taught. He took them to the seashore to explain the flight of birds practically.

b. Kalam mentions an instance of discrimination against him in his school life. What picture of society does he want to depict by mentioning the incident? Discuss.
Ans: There was a teacher in Kalam’s school who used to impose religion in class. His stomach couldn’t take the idea of a Hindu kid and a Muslim child becoming friends, so he banned Abdul from sitting with him. Abdul didn’t know that Hindus and Muslims face different levels of treatment because of their religion. This behavior infuriated Abdul.

The teacher was warned by Kalam’s father and the temple’s chef priest not to bring religion into the classroom, so there must have been some glimmer of hope for religious tolerance. However, the teacher was influenced by profound religious doctrine, although representing educated and intelligent individuals. He had to obey the social norms since he was a part of society. The event serves as a reminder of the religious divisions that existed in India at the time.

Hindus and Muslims were treated quite differently back then because of this severe religious segregation. Abdul hopes that this event would paint an image of a society divided between Hindus and Muslims. He wants to flash the fact that the majority of people, even those with higher educational levels of education, believed in such partitions, and only a small minority disagreed. I would say – Abdul Kalam describes a painful incident of religious intolerance in his school memoirs.

Writing

Write a short biography featuring your childhood life using the following guidelines.

I was born on 10th September, 1995. I was born in a small town in Sunsari District which is located in eastern part of our country. There are many memorable experience and activities which I have collected in childhood periods. I used to play and enjoy whole day. 

My parents work hard everyday and fulfill my every wishes and needs. They were used to love to very much. My mother made me tea early morning which was the beautiful moment of my life. The tea and food made by my mother is the delicious food. I enjoy it a lot. I used to play with cycle and went to friends home. 

When my mother left me in school, I used to cry and was forced to sit in the class. But when the school hour will finished, I quickly ran over my home and sit with my parents. The time spending with my parents was the beautiful and memorable moment. My favorite teacher was English and Nepali teacher and I loved English and Nepali subjects. The poems and stories of them were very much interesting and enjoyable. I used to play and spend my time with my friends in free time of my school hour. 

The childhood memories are the beautiful memories of my whole life. 

Grammar

Connectives

A. Study the following sentences and underline the connectives.

a. Although she spoke very fast, I understood what she meant to say.

b. In spite of her hard labour, she failed her exam.

c. Though he had all the required qualifications, he did not get the job.

d. Despite having all the qualification, he did not get the job.

B. Join the following pairs of sentences twice, using although/though/even though and despite/in spite of as in the example.

a. He is a millionaire. He lives in a simple house.

i. Although he is a millionaire, he lives in a simple house.

ii. In spite of his richness, he lives in a simple house.

b. The weather was extremely bad. The pilot landed the plane safely.

i. Though the weather was extremely bad, the pilot landed the plane safely.

ii. Despite the fact that the weather was extremely bad weather, the pilot landed the plane safely.

c. We study in the same college. We hardly see each other.

i. Even though we study in the same college, we hardly see each other.

ii. Despite studying in the same college, we hardly see each other.

d. It rained heavily. We enjoyed our holiday.

i. Even though it rained heavily, we enjoyed our holiday.

ii. In spite of heavy rain, we enjoyed our holiday.

e. I had an umbrella. I got wet in the rain.

i. Although I had an umbrella, I got wet in the rain.

ii. In spite of having an umbrella, I got wet in the rain.

f. I was really tired. I could not sleep for a moment.

i. Although I was really tired, I could not sleep a moment.

ii. Despite the fact that I was really tired, I could not sleep a moment.

g. She has very good accent in English. She failed the interview of a newsreader.

i. Although she has a very good accent in English, she failed the interview of a newsreader.

ii.In spite of a very good accent in English, she failed the interview of a newsreader.

h. Lhasa has extremely cold weather in winter. Millions of tourists go there in January.

i. Although Lhasa has extremely cold weather in winter, millions of tourists go there in January.

ii.Despite the fact that Lhasa has cold weather in winter in Lhasa, millions of tourists go there in January.

i. He was badly injured in the first round of the boxing match. He was victorious in the third round.

i. Although he was badly injured in the first round of the boxing match, he was victorious in the third round.

ii. In spite of his injury in the first round of the boxing match, he was victorious in the third round.

C. Complete each sentence in an appropriate way.

a. He passed the exam although he did not study well.

b. She climbed the mountain in spite of her tiredness.

c. He didn’t give any alms to the beggars even though he was very rich.

d. In spite of his poor eyesight, he could read the newspaper.

e. She never helps other though she is very sociable.

f. He didn’t get success in that job in spite of his ten attempts.

g. He refused to eat anything despite his hunger.

h. He could not score good grades in the SEE exam in spite of his hard efforts.

i. She accepted the job although she didn’t like it.

j. Even though we had planned everything carefully, we didn’t succeed.