NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 6 My Childhood

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 6 My Childhood are given below. This chapter contains many questions that are essential for exams. Our expert teachers answered all the questions with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments and homework. We have also provided NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Chapter 6 My Childhood in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.

My Childhood NCERT Questions and Answers

Thinking about the Text

I. Answer these questions in one or two sentences each. 

Question 1. Where was Abdul Kalam’s house?

Answer: Abdul Kalam’s house was on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram.

Question 2. What do you think Dinamani is the name of? Give a reason for your answer.

Answer: Dinamani is the name of a local newspaper. It is so because Kalam traced the stories of the war in the head lives in Dinamani. 

Question 3. Who were Abdul Kalam’s school friends? What did they later become?

Answer: Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Shivaprakasan were Abdul Kalam’s school friends. Ramanadha Shastry became the high priest of the Rameshwaram temple, Aravindan a transport businessman and Shivprakasan was the catering contractor for the southern railways. 

Question 4. How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?

Answer: Abdul Kalam earned his first wages by catching bundles of the newspapers thrown out from the moving train on the Rameswaram Road between Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi and distributing them.

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

Answer: Yes, he had earned money before that too. He used to collect the tamarind seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque Street. A day’s collection would let him earn one anna.

II. Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words). 

Question 1. How does the author describe: (i) his father, (ii) his mother, (iii) himself?

(i) The author, Abdul Kalam describes his father as an honest and generous man. He had neither much formal education nor much wealth. However, he possessed great innate wisdom and a kind heart. He was self-disciplined and avoided all inessential luxuries.

(ii)  He describes his mother, Ashiamma as an ideal helpmate to her husband. She was a woman with a big heart who fed many people everyday.

(iii) He describes himself as a short boy with undistinguished looks. He possessed the qualities of honesty, self-discipline and kindness which he inherited from his parents.

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

Answer: He says that he inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father; and faith in goodness and deep kindness from his mother.

III. Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in two or three paragraphs each. 

Question 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)?

(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.)

(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?

(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:

(i) He mentions two social groups of Rameshwaram – orthodox Brahmins and Muslims. Yes, these groups were easily identifiable. For example, by the way they dressed; Kalam wore a cap which marked him as a Muslim. Ramanadha Sastry wore a seared thread which marked him a Hindu. 

(ii) They were not aware only of their differences. They also naturally share friendships and experiences. Kalam’s mother and grandmother would tell events from the Ramayana and from the life of the Prophet as bedtime stories. All his friends belonged to orthodox Hindu families. During the annual Sita Rama Kalyanam Ceremony, his family would 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 his 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. Yes, we can identify such people in the text.

The new school teacher and Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife were very aware of the differences among the social groups but Sivasubramania Iyer and Lakshamana Sastry tried to bridge these differences.

(iv) The first incident to show that how differences can be created is that when the new young teacher found a Muslim student sitting beside a Hindu student, he asked Kalam to sit in the last raw. His friend Ramanadha Sastry was heartbreaken. They informed their respective parents Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher and conveyed the strong sense of conviction which ultimately reformed him. The other incident shows that how differences can be resolved. The author’s science teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer, though an orthodox Brahmin with a very conservative tried to bridge these differences. People can change their attitudes by observing no difference in the way of Hindu’s and a Muslim’s eating of meals, drinking of water and cleaning of the floor. 

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

Answer: Kalam wanted to leave Rameswaram for further studies. He wanted to study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram.  

(ii) What did his father say to this? 

Answer: His father said, ““Abul ! I know you have to go away to grow. Does the seagull not fly across the sun, alone and without a nest?”

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

Answer: Abdul Kalam’s father’s words bear great meanings. First, he inspired his son to go ahead above giving the example of the seagull. Secondly, he explained Kalam’s mother to give his son opportunities to get higher education and to make progress. I think he spoke those words to encourage Abdul Kalam and to control the emotional attachment of his wife for Kalam.