VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY READER) MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD

VISTAS (SUPPLEMENTARY READER)

                                MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD                               ZITKALA-SA & BAMA

SHORT-ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

Q.1.How did Zitkala-Sa feel when a large bell rang for breakfast?

Ans:- Zitkala-Sa felt the loud metallic sound crashing through her ears. There was an annoying clatter of shoes on the bare floors. There were harsh noises in an unknown tongue. Zitkala-Sa’s spirit pined for its lost freedom.

Q.2. Why did Zitkala-sa feel uncomfortable in the dining Room?   (2014,2015)

Ans:- There were tables and chairs arranged in the dining room. Boys and girls entered the hall from opposite doors. Zitkala-sa feeling uncomfortable in her new dress when she entererd in the dining hall. A small bell was tapped. Each of the pupils drew a chair from under the table. Zitkala-Sa, too, pulled her chair and slipped into it. But all others were still standing. Then there was a second bell rand and all were seated. Then a third bell was tapped. Everyone picked up their knife and fork and began eating. Zitkala-Sa began crying instead. This ‘eating by formula’ was too hard a trial for her.

                                                                 

Q.2. How were the Indian girls dressed?

Ans:- The Indian girls were in stiff shoes and closely clinging dresses. The small girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair. It was Zitkala-Sa first day in school. She was not yet in the school dress. She was dressed in the modest dress of her tribe.

Q.3. Why did Zitkala-sa in tears on the first day in the land of apples?        2019

Ans:- Judewin said to Zitkala-sa we have to submit because they are strong.” So Zitkala fear and when no one noticed, she found a large room with three beds in it. She crawled under the bed, and huddled herself in the dark corner. From her hidden place she dragged out and her hair was cut so she was in tears.

Q.4. what did Annan say about his community to the narrator?      2016. 2018

Ans:- Annan said the narrator that they belonged to a minority community. We are born in to community; we are never given an honour or respect. But if we study and make progress, we can throw away these indignities. So study with care, learn all you can. If we are always ahead in our lesson, people will come to me of their own accord and attach themselves.

Q. 5. How did Zitkala-Sa compare her own dress with that of ‘the other girls ?

Ans:- The other girls wore stiff shoes and closely clinging dresses. Zitkala-Sa thought it was immodest to dress like that. She was wearing soft flat shoes and the loose clothes of her tribe. Even without her blanket on her shoulders, she was feeling very shy.

Q. 6. “I felt like sinking to the floor,” says Zitkala-Sa. When did she feel so and why ?

Ans:-A native American girl traditionally wears a blanket on her shoulders. It is considered immodest if a girl is without a blanket on her shoulders. But when Zitkala-Sa was marching in a line to the dining room, her blanket was stripped from her shoulders. In her shame, Zitkala-Sa felt like sinking to the floor.

Q.7. How did the girls and the boys enter the dining room ? Who did Zitkala-Sa watch for among the boys?

Ans:- All the girls were placed in a line before entering the dining room. While the girls entered from one door, the boys came in from the opposite door. Zitkala-Sa watched for the three boys of her tribe who had come in the same group. They were feeling as uncomfortable as Zitkala-Sa was.

Q.8. Who was Judewin ? What warning did she give to Zitkala-Sa?

Ans:- Judewin was a friend of Zitkala-Sa. She knew a few words of English. She had overheard a white woman saying that they would cut her long, heavy hair. She said that Zitkala-Sa would have to submit to it.

Q.9. What did Judewin tell Zitkala-Sa ? How did she react to it ?

Ans:- Judewin told her that they would cut her long heavy hair, and that she would have to submit to it. At this, Zitkala-Sa said that she would not submit to it. When no one was looking, she ran up the stairs and hid herself under a bed.

Q. 10.  What did the mothers of Zitkala-Sa’s tribe teach their children about their hair?

OR

           What was Zitkala-sa idea regarding short, shingled hair?  (2016, 2017)

Ans:-The people of Zitkala-Sa’s tribe had a tradition of keeping long, heavy hair. Mothers taught their children that only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. Short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards.

Q. 11. What did Zitkala-Sa do when she heard that they were going to cut her long, heavy

hai ?

                                                                 Or

 How did Zitkala-Sa try to prevent the shingling of her hair ?

Ans:- She crept up the stairs when no one was noticing. She went into a room. The windows were covered with dark green curtains. It made the room vety dim. Zitkala-Sa went down on her hands and knees and crawled under a bed. There she lay huddled in the dark corner.

 Q.12.How was Zitkala-Sa found from her hiding place? OR How did she hide? Did She succeed? 2013

Ans:- Zitkala-Sa heard voices calling her name. She knew they were searching for her. Some women and girls entered her room. Someone threw back the curtains. The room was filled with light. She was found hiding under a bed. She was dragged out.

Q. 13.How did Zitkala-Sa feel after her long hair had been: shingled (Cutting of her hair)? 2018

Ans:- Zitkala-Sa was terribly shocked. She was in tears. She moaned for her mother. But no one came to comfort her, No one came to reason with her as her mother used to do. Now she felt herself as one of many little animals driven by a herder.

Q.14. What advice did annan offer Bama?

Ans:-Annan advised Bama to study hard with care and learn all she could. He said that only by studying and by making progress, could they throw away their indignities.

Q.13. Why did the landlord’s man ask Bama’s brother on which street he live? What was its significance?

Ans:-The landlord’s man wanted to ascertain if Bama’s brother was an untouchable or not. Untouchables were segregated to live in a particular street only. Thus by knowing the name of the street, the landlord’s man could know about the boy’s caste also. That was why he asked Bama’s brother on which street he lived.

Q.14. What does Bama say about untouchaility when she was in the third class?

Ans:- Bama says she had not till then heard people speak openly about untouchability. But she had already experienced the humility because of her being a Dalit. She had seen it and felt it many a time.

Q.15. How much time did Bama take walking home from school?

Ans:- Actually, it was possible to walk the distance in ten minutes. But usually, Bama took thirty minutes at the very least to reach home. It could even take her from half an hour to an hour because she came watching every little thing on the way.

Q.16. What were the articles: in the stalls and shops that fascinated Bama on her way back from school ? (2013)

Ans:- While coming back from school, there were many things on the way that fascinated Bama. There were a number of stalls on the way that sold dried fish, sweets, fried snacks, etc. Bama would look at the various things being sold at these shops. There she would also see the gypsy hunter with his wild lemurs in cages. He sold needles, clay beads and instruments for cleaning out the ears.

Q.17. Which activities of the people would Bama watch keenly in the bazaar ?

Ans:- While coming back home from school, Bama would watch a juggler showing his tricks with a monkey. Sometimes, she would watch a puppet show or a magic show. She would watch a snake-charmer displaying his snake kept in a basket. In fact, she would stop at every point where she felt there was something interesting to watch.

Q.18. What was going on at the opposite corner when Bama came to her street one day ?

Ans:- A threshing floor had been set up there. Some people of Bama’s community were hard at work. They were driving cattle round and round in pairs. They were treading out the grain from the straw.

Q.19. Why did Bama want to laugh on seeing an elder of her street?

An:- The elder was carrying a small packet by its string. He was holding it out so as not to touch it. There seemed to be vadais in the packet because it was stained with oil. Bama wanted to laugh because that way the packet could get undone and the vadais could fall out.

Q.20. When did Bama first come to know of the social discrimination faced by the people of her community? OR When did the narrator experience untouchability? (2013, 2015, 2017)

Ans:- Bama saw an elder of her community carrying a packet of vadais by its string. The packet was for the landlord. For Bama, it was a funny sight. But her brother told her that they were not supposed to touch the upper caste people. Their touch could pollute them. It was only then that Bama knew of the social discrimination faced by their community.

Q.21. How did the elder hand over the packet to the landlord?

Ans:- The elder went straight to the landlord. He bowed low and extended the packet towards him. He cupped the hand that held the string with his other hand. The landlord opened the packet and began to eat the vadais.

Annan advised Bama to study hard with care and learn all she could. He said that only by studying and by making progress, could they throw away their indignities.

Q.22. Why did the landlord’s man ask Bama’s brother on which street he lived ? What was its significance?

Ans:- The landlord’s man wanted to ascertain if Bama’s brother was an untouchable or not. Untouchables were segregated to live in a particular street only. Thus by knowing the name of the street, the landlord’s man could know about the boy’s caste also. That was why he asked Bama’s brother on which street he lived.

Q.23. Why did Bama Feel Terribly sad and provoked?  (2014)

Ans:- when Bama learnt that the upper caste people would not touch anything touched by them and that they avoided them as they thought they would get polluted so she felt terribly sad and provoked.

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS

Q.1.The two accounts that you read above are based in two distant cultures. What is the commonality of theme found in both of them?

Ans:- The first account is that of Zitkala-Sa. She is a Native American. She belongs to a tribe of people who were the original inhabitants of America. The white-skinned European settlers had a bitter prejudice against the Native Americans. They treated them like herds of animals. The second account is that of Bama who was a Tamil Indian. She belonged to the Dalit community. She was pained to see how the upper caste people treated the Dalits in a humiliating manner; they thought that even the touch of Dalit would pollute them. Thus we see that though Zitkala-Sa and Bama belonged to different cultures, there was much commonality in their sufferings. Both the communities suffered from the racial prejudice of those who considered themselves to be superior to them.

Q.2. It may take a long time for oppression to be resisted, but the seeds of rebellion are sown early in life. Do you agree that injustice in any form cannot escape being noticed even by children?

Ans:-  Elders become used to the kind of life they have been living. They stop grumbling or protesting because they take it as their destiny. But children are far more sensitive than elders. They acutely feel whatever they think is wrong or unjust. They’ may be physically weak but are emotionally quite awake. They feel quite disturbed when they see injustice being done to someone. Thus the seeds of rebellion are sown early in life. And when they grow up, they stand in open rebellion against the oppressor.

Q. 3. Bama’s experience is that of a victim of the caste system. What kind ‘of discrimination does Zitkala-Sa’ experience depict? What are their responses to their respective situation?    2017

OR

Discuss the forms of discrimination projected in the narrations of Zitkala-Sa and Bama?2018(7marks)

Ans:-  Zitkala-Sa was a victim of social discrimination. She belonged to a tribe of Native Americans. The white-skinned settlers from Europe looked down upon the local tribes. They treated them like animals. Both Bama and Zitkala-Sa refuse to bow to the injustice they are subjected to. Both of them protest in their own way. Zitkala-Sa does not want her hair to be shingled. Among her tribe, shingled hair is considered to be a sign of cowardice. She struggles with all her might when she is tied in a chair. But at last the little one has to give herself up. Bama, on her part, decides to work hard in her studies so that others realise her worth and come to her as friends.

LONG-ANSWER QUESTION:

Q.1. What was the scene that first amused Bama but then filled her with anger and revolt?

OR

Describe the experience Bama had on her ay back home which made her feel sad?     2013

Ans:- A threshing floor had been set up at a corner of the street. It was a street where the Dalits lived. Some men of the street were working hard to separate the grain from the straw. The landlord was sitting on a piece of sacking spread over a stone ledge. Bama saw an elder man of the street coming from the side of the bazaar. He was holding out a packet by its string. The packet was stained with oil. It had probably vadais in it. Bama thought it was funny to carry the packet in that manner, because the packet could get undone and the vadais could fall out. But Bama’s elder brother explained to her that there was nothing comic about it, The landlord and his people were believed to be of upper caste. The Dalits were not supposed to touch them. It could pollute the upper caste people. On hearing this, Bama was filled with anger and revolt. She said, “We too are human beings. Our people should never do these humiliating things for them. We should work in their fields, take home our wages, and leave it at that.”

Q.2. How long did Bama take to reach home from school and why ? Write briefly what she did on her way.

Ans:- From Bama’s school to home, it was actually possible to walk the distance in ten minutes. But _ usually, it took her thirty minutes at the very least to reach home. It could even take her from half an hour to an hour. She came watching all the little things happening on the way. There could be a performing monkey. There could be a snake-charmer with his snake kept in a basket and which he displayed from time to time. There could be a cyclist who had not got off his bike for three days. She would watch the huge bell hanging at the temple. She would watch the Pongal offerings being cooked in front of the temple. She would look at the various things being sold at the shops. Each thing would pull her to a standstill and not allow her to go any further. Then there could be some entertainments going on the way — a street play, a puppet show or a magic show. All these sights would tether her legs and stop her from going home.