Question

Chapter 6 childhood summary

Answer 1

Hey There! In this chapter . Prof. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam tells us about his childhood. He was born in the town of Rameswaram.  His father’s name was Jainulabdeen and his mother’s name was Ashiamma. Kalam’s father was neither educated nor rich. Yet he was wise and generous. His mother was also very kind. A number of outsiders daily ate with their family. Abdul Kalam had three brothers and one sister. They lived in their ancestral house in the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. It was a large pucca house. His father avoided all luxuries. However, the house had all things of daily necessities. Abdul Kalam was eight years old when the Second World War broke out. Suddenly, there was a great demand for tamarind seeds. He would collect those seeds and sell them in the market. He got one anna (about six paise) for a day’s collection. It was a good amount in those days. His cousin, Samsuddin distributed papers in Rameswaram. He needed a helping hand and employed Abdul Kalam. Kalam still remembers the pride that he felt on earning his own money for the first time. Abdul Kalam was greatly influenced by his parents. He learnt honesty and self-discipline from his father. He inherited goodness and kindness from his mother. He had three close friends in his child nod. They were Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. All these boys belonged to orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. As children, they never felt any religious differences among themselves. During the annul Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony. Kalam’s family arranged boats for carrying idols of the Lord. At bey time, his father and grandmother told the children stories from the Ramayana. Once when Abdul Kalam was in the fifth standard, a new teacher came. Abdul Kalam was sitting with his close friend Ramanadha Sastry in the first row. The new teacher could not tolerate a Muslim boy sitting with a Hindu priests son lic asked Abdul Kann to sit on the back bench. Both Abdul Kalam and Ramanadha Sastry became sad Later . Sastry’s father rebuked the teacher and he realised his mistake. Sivasubramania Ayyyer was a high caste Brahmin. But he did not believe in social and religious barriers. One day, he invited Abdul Kalam to his home for a meal. ayer’s wife was very conservative. She refused to serve a Muslim boy in her kitchen. But ayyyer served Abdul Kalam with his own hands and sat down beside him to eat his meal. After meals, his teacher invited him again for dinner the next week. When Kalam went to his teacher’s house the next week, his wife took him inside her kitchen and served him food with her own hands. Then the Second World War was over and India’s freedom was imminent. The whole country was filled with a mood of joy. Abdul Kalam asked his father’s permission to go and study at Ramanathapuram. His father gladly allowed him to go.