Mention the daily chores of the poet, APJ Abdul Kalam during his childhood days.
Answers
Answer:
By his early childhood, Kalam's family had become poor; at an early age, he sold newspapers to supplement his family's income. In his school years, Kalam had average grades but was described as a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. He spent hours on his studies, especially mathematics
Explanation:
Question-
Mention the daily chores of the poet, APJ Abdul Kalam during his childhood days.
Answer-
Kalam was bom in a middle-class Tamil family in Rameswaram. Although he had three brothers and one sister, they had a secure childhood both materially as well as emotionally. His parents, Jainulabdedn and Ashiamma, despite their limited means, were very generous people and Kalam inherited the values of honesty, self-discipline, goodness and kindness from his parents. Though Kalam came from a large family, but their kitchen fed far more outsiders than all his family members put together.
They lived in their ancestral house, a fairly large pucca house, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. Though they did not have any inessential comforts and luxuries but Kalam’s father made sure that all necessities like food, medicine and clothes were provided to the family.
In 1939, Kalam was only 8 years old when the Second World War broke out. There was a sudden demand for tamarind seeds in the market. Kalam collected these seeds and sold them to a provision shop on Mosque Street to earn an anna which was a big amount for a small boy like him. His brother-in-law Jallaluddin would tell him stories about war which Kalam would try to trace in the headlines of Dinamani. Rameswaram was an isolated place and while the war didn’t have a direct impact on life there, the train’s halt at the station was stopped. As a result, the bundles of newspapers were now thrown off running trains. Kalam’s cousin Samsuddin, who used to distribute these newspapers in Rameswaram, sought Kalam’s help to catch the bundles. Thus, Kalam earned his first wages which gave him immense self-confidence and a sense of pride.
Kalam’s three friends—Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan—were very close to him. Though the boys came from different religious backgrounds—Kalam as a Muslim while the other three were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families—yet their religious differences and upbringing did not stand in the way of their friendship. Later in life, the boys adopted different professions. Ramanadha Sastry took over the priesthood of Rameswaram temple from his father, Aravindan took up the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims, and Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.
Kalam’s family used to arrange boats with a special platform during the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony. The platform was used for carrying idols of Lord Rama from the temple to the wedding site ‘Ram Tirtha’ which was a pond near Kalam’s house. Kalam grew up listening to the stories both from the Ramayana and the life of the Prophet from his mother and grandmother at bedtime.
Certain incidents of his childhood left a deep impression on Kalam’s young mind. When he was in fifth standard, a new teacher did not like Kalam, a Muslim boy, sitting next to Ramanadha Sastry, a Brahmin. He sent Kalam to the back seat simply in accordance with the social ranking of Muslims. Both Kalam and Ramanadha Sastry felt sad at this action of their teacher. Sastry wept and this had a deep impact on Kalam. When Sastry’s father heard of the incident, he summoned the teacher and told him not to spread the poison of social inequality and communal intolerance in young minds. He told the teacher to either apologise or leave the school. The teacher regretted his action and he was reformed by this incident.
Another memorable incident of his childhood was when Sivasubramania Iyer, Kalam’s science teacher, invited him home for a meal. Sivasubramania Iyer was an orthodox Brahmin and his wife was very conservative. She was horrified at the idea of a Muslim boy dining in her ritually pure kitchen. When she refused to serve Kalam, Iyer did not lose his cool and not only served the boy with his own hands but also sat and ate with him. He invited Kalam the next weekend as well. Noticing Kalam’s hesitation in accepting his invitation, Iyer told the child to be prepared to face such situations if he wished to change any system. When Kalam visited Iyer’s house again, his wife took him to her kitchen and served him food with her own hands.
The freedom of India was in the offing when the Second World War ended. Following Gandhiji’s plea, the entire nation was hopeful of building their country themselves. Kalam too sought his father’s permission to go and study further in Ramanathapuram. His father permitted him willingly because he wanted his son to grow. He even convinced Kalam’s mother by telling her that parents should not thrust their ideas upon their children as they have their own way of thinking.