I was born into a middle-class Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in the erstwhile
Madras state. My father, Jainulabdeen, had neither much formal education nor much wealth;
despite these disadvantages, he possessed great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He
had an ideal helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she
fed every day, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the members of
our own family put together.
My parents were widely regarded as an ideal couple. My mother’s lineage was the more
distinguished, one of her forebears having been bestowed the title of ‘Bahadur’ by the British. I
was one of many children—a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and
handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in the middle of the 19th
century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in
Rameswaram. My austere father used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all
necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine
was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.
Answers
Explanation:
I was born into a middle-class Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in the erstwhile
Madras state. My father, Jainulabdeen, had neither much formal education nor much wealth;
despite these disadvantages, he possessed great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He
had an ideal helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she
fed every day, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the members of
our own family put together.
My parents were widely regarded as an ideal couple. My mother’s lineage was the more
distinguished, one of her forebears having been bestowed the title of ‘Bahadur’ by the British. I
was one of many children—a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and
handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in the middle of the 19th
century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in
Rameswaram. My austere father used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all
necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine
was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.