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4. How did Abdul Kalam earn his first wages?
Ans4. Abdul Kalam earned his first wages by catching the bundle of newspapers thrown out of
the moving train at the Rameswaram station. He helped his cousin in distributing newspapers in
Rameswaram.

5. Had he earned any money before that? In what way?
Ans5. When the Second World War started, there was a great demand for tamarind seeds.
Kalam would collect them and sell them to a grocery store located on Mosque Street. A day’s
collection would fetch him a princely sum of one anna.

Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (about 30 words):-
1. How does the author describe: (i) his father, (ii) his mother, (iii) himself?
A. (i) Kalam’s father’s Jainulabdeen neither had much formal education nor much wealth. Kalam
says that despite this, his father possessed innate wisdom, honesty and was a generous man.
He was an austere man who did not believe in wasting money on luxuries but provided them
with all the necessities of life like food, clothing and medicine.

(ii) Kalam’s mother’s name was Ashiamma. She supported her husband in his decisions and was
an ideal helpmate. She was a kind – hearted and generous woman. Kalam recollects that his
mother would feed meals to numerous people. He inherited faith in goodness and deep
kindness from her.

(iii) Born into a middle class Tamil family, Abdul Kalam was a short boy with rather
undistinguished looks (ordinary looks) while his parents were tall and looked handsome. He was
brought up in a secure atmosphere and his material and emotional needs were always fulfilled.
He grew up to become an honest and self – disciplined man. He believed in goodness and deep
kindness.

2. What characteristics does he say he inherited from his parents?
A. Kalam’s inherited honesty and self – discipline from his father. His mother imbibed in him
faith in goodness and deep kindness.

III) Discuss these questions in class with your teacher and then write down your answers in
two or three paragraphs each.
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)?
A. The social groups mentioned by Kalam were the Hindus and the Muslims. Yes, these groups
were easily identifiable by the way they dressed. As Kalam was a Muslim, he wore a cap which
distinguished him from his Hindu Brahmin friends who wore the sacred thread.