Page 6 - MODULE- MY CHILDHOOD

halt: stop

The first impact of World War II on the people of Rameswaram was the
cancellation of the train stoppage at the Rameswaram station. Earlier,
the train which came from India used to stop at Rameswaram station
and then, went further to Dhanushkodi. But now, the halt was cancelled,
and the train went from India to Dhanushkodi without stopping at
Rameswaram. With this, the newspaper bundle which used to come for
Rameswaram, was thrown out of the moving train as it reached
Rameswaram road.

That forced my cousin Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers in
Rameswaram, to look for a helping hand to catch the bundles and, as if
naturally, I filled the slot.
Samsuddin helped me earn my first wages.

filled the slot – fit into a place easily

APJ Abdul Kalam‟s cousin Samsuddin, used to distribute the
newspapers in Rameswaram. As the train stoppage was cancelled, and
the newspaper bundle was thrown out of the moving train, he needed
someone to help him catch it. APJ helped Samsuddin by catching the
bundle and distributing the newspapers. In return, Samsuddin paid him a
salary which was APJ‟s first earning.

Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of pride in earning my own
money for the first time.

pride: sudden increase in the feeling of satisfaction derived from one‘s
own achievements.
Half a century later means after a period of 50 years.

This incident happened 50 years ago. Even now, i.e. when he wrote the
book, he could feel satisfied and proud of himself. APJ says that
whenever someone earns his own money with his hard work, he feels it
the same way as he did.

Every child is born, with some inherited characteristics, into a specific
socio-economic and emotional environment, and trained in certain ways
by figures of authority. I inherited honesty and self-discipline from my
father; from my mother, I inherited faith in goodness and deep kindness
and so did my three brothers and sister.