Short Questions
1. Where was Abdul Kalam born?
Answer: He was born in Rameswaram, in the erstwhile Madras State.
2.What was the name of Abdul Kalam’s father?
Answer: His father’s name was Jainulabdeen.
3.What was his mother’s name?
Answer: Her name was Ashiamma.
4.What did Kalam’s father do for a living?
Answer: He was not wealthy or highly educated but was a wise and generous man.
5.How was Kalam’s childhood home described?
Answer: It was a large pucca house made of limestone and brick on Mosque Street in Rameswaram.
6.What kind of life did Kalam’s father lead?
Answer: He led a simple and austere life, avoiding all luxuries.
7.How did Kalam earn his first wages?
Answer: He helped his cousin Samsuddin catch newspaper bundles from the moving train.
8.What was the name of the newspaper mentioned in the text?
Answer: The newspaper was Dinamani.
9.Who were Kalam’s three close friends?
Answer: Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan, and Sivaprakasan.
10.What was special about Kalam’s friendship with Ramanadha Sastry?
Answer: They were from different religions but never felt any difference between them.
11.What did the new teacher ask Kalam to do in class?
Answer: He asked Kalam to sit on the back bench away from Ramanadha Sastry.
12.Who rebuked the teacher for his behaviour?
Answer: Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, the high priest of the Rameswaram temple.
13.Who was Kalam’s science teacher?
Answer: His science teacher was Sivasubramania Iyer.
14.What did Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife do the second time Kalam visited?
Answer: She served him food with her own hands.
15.What did Kalam’s father quote to his mother when Kalam wanted to study away from home?
Answer: He quoted Khalil Gibran: “Your children are not your children… They have their own thoughts.”
Long Questions
1. Describe Abdul Kalam’s parents.
Answer: Kalam’s father, Jainulabdeen, was a simple and wise man who believed in generosity and honesty. His mother, Ashiamma, was kind and often fed many people every day. Both lived a simple but noble life.
2.What kind of childhood did Abdul Kalam have?
Answer: Kalam had a secure and happy childhood. His family provided all necessities, and he grew up with love, discipline, and values of kindness and honesty.
3.How did the Second World War affect Rameswaram and Kalam’s life?
Answer: Though Rameswaram was far from the war, the train halt was stopped, and newspapers were thrown from the train. Kalam helped his cousin collect them, earning his first wages and feeling proud.
4.What values did Abdul Kalam inherit from his parents?
Answer: He inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father and faith in goodness and kindness from his mother.
5.Describe the incident that happened in Kalam’s classroom.
Answer: A new teacher could not bear to see a Muslim boy sitting with a Brahmin boy and made Kalam sit at the back. This made both boys sad, and their fathers later corrected the teacher’s mistake.
6.What lesson did the incident with the new teacher teach?
Answer: It showed that social inequality and communal intolerance should not be spread among children. It also taught the importance of equality and friendship beyond religion.
7.How did Sivasubramania Iyer try to break social barriers?
Answer: He invited Kalam, a Muslim boy, to his house for a meal, even when his wife objected. Later, his wife herself served Kalam, showing that change is possible through patience and kindness.
8.What message did Sivasubramania Iyer give Kalam?
Answer: He told Kalam to develop himself and be equal to highly educated people, encouraging him to break barriers and face challenges bravely.
9.Why did Abdul Kalam want to leave Rameswaram?
Answer: He wanted to study at Ramanathapuram to gain more knowledge and continue his education after India’s independence was near.
10.What did Kalam’s father say when he wanted to go away to study?
Answer: His father said that children are like seagulls-they must fly on their own. He quoted Khalil Gibran, saying that children have their own dreams and must follow their own paths.
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