My Childhood Extract Based Questions MCQ that have been written by experts can help you find confidence and add value to your education.

My Childhood Extract Based Questions MCQ

Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow in one or two lines each.

(I)

In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.

 (a) In what way was Kalam’s childhood ‘secure’?

Ans: Kalam was provided with all the necessities in terms of food, medicine and clothes. Apart from it, his parents loved him a lot and took good care of him. They also encouraged him to grow in life.

 (b) What does Kalam mean by ‘material security’?

Ans: By material security, Kalam means all the necessities of life that one needs while growing up.

(c) What is ’emotional security’, according to Kalam?

 Ans:‘Emotional security’, according to Kalam, is the love and care that one needs to lead a stress-free life.

 (d) Who provided Kalam with material and emotional security?

Ans: Kalam’s parents provided him with material and emotional security. They gave him a relaxed environment at home and arranged all the necessities of life for him.

(II)

 I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque Street.

(a) Who is ‘I’ in this extract? Which seeds did he collect?

Ans:I’ here stands for Kalam. He collected the seeds of tamarind that were in great demand in the market during the Second World War.

(b) Why were these seeds collected?

Ans: These seeds were collected by Kalam as they could be sold easily and a good amount of money could be earned.

 (c) What was done to the collected seeds?

Ans: Kalam would sell off the collected seeds to a provision shop on Mosque Street thus earning the princely sum of one anna.

 (d) What light does the extract throw on the speaker?

 Ans: The extract shows that the speaker, Kalam, was very enterprising and hard-working. His faith in the dignity of labour prompted him to collect the seeds and sell them off.

(III)

Samsuddin, helped me earn my first wages.

 (a) Who was Samsuddin?

Ans: Samsuddin was Abdul Kalam’s cousin. He used to distribute newspapers in Rameswaram.

(b) How did Samsuddin help Kalam to earn his first wages?

Ans: The train’s halt at Rameswaram station was suspended during the Second World War. Hence the newspaper bundles had to be thrown off the moving trains. Samsuddin appointed Kalam as a helping hand to catch these bundles. Thus Kalam earned his first wages with the help of his cousin.

(c) What light does the extract throw on Kalam’s character?

Ans: The extract shows that Kalam was grateful to Samsuddin for having helped him earn his first wages.

(d) How did Kalam feel on earning his first wages?

 Ans: Kalam experienced a sense of pride in earning his own money for the first time.

(IV)

I felt very sad, and so did Ramanadha Sastry. He looked utterly downcast as I shifted to my seat in the last row.

(a) Who is ‘I’ in this extract? Why did he feel sad?

 Ans:‘I’ here is Kalam when he was in the fifth standard at the Rameswaram Elementary School. He felt sad because his new teacher did not let him sit with his Hindu friend in the front row of the class.

 (b) Who looked utterly downcast?

Ans: It was Ramanadha Sastry, Kalam’s close friend, who looked utterly downcast.

 (c) Why did ‘he’ feel utterly downcast?

 Ans: Ramanadha Sastry felt utterly downcast because he was separated from his dear friend Kalam. They always used to sit together and the difference in religion had never affected their friendship.

 (d) Why was the seat shifted?

Ans: The new teacher had his own notion of social ranking. He could not tolerate seeing a Muslim boy sitting along with a Hindu Priest’s son. So he shifted the seat of Kalam to the last row.

(V)

Sivasubramania lyer was not perturbed, nor did he get angry with his wife, but instead, served me with his own hands and sat down beside me to eat his meal.

(a) What could have perturbed Sivasubramania lyer?

 Ans: His conservative wife’s refusal to serve Kalam, a Muslim, could have perturbed Sivasubramania lyer.

(b) Why did Sivasubramania Iyer not get angry with his wife?

Ans: Sivasubramania lyer did not get angry with his wife because he knew that if he wished to change any system he would have to encounter problems.

 (c) What light does the extract throw on Sivasubramania’s character?

Ans: The extract shows that Sivasubramania was a very tolerant and a broadminded person who treated everybody as equal. He exercised tremendous self-control and calm. He didn’t get angry with his wife for not serving his guest.

(d) Why do you think he sat with Kalam to eat his meal?

Ans: Sivasubramania wished to make his wife realize that irrespective of their religions all human beings are equal and they all deserve to be treated as we would like to be treated by them.

(VI)

 “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”

 (a) To whom do these words originally belong? Who quotes them in this extract?

Ans: These words originally belong to Khalil Gibran. Here they are quoted by Jainulabdeen, Kalam’s father.

(b) Whom are these lines addressed to?

Ans: These lines are addressed to Ashiamma, Kalam’s mother.

 (c) In what context have these lines been spoken?

Ans: After finishing his elementary education, when Kalam sought his father’s permission to leave Rameswaram and stay at district headquarters in Ramanathapuram, his father said these words to Kalam’s mother who was a bit reluctant to send her young son away.

(d) What opinion do you form about Kalam’s father from these lines?

Ans: These lines show that Kalam’s father was a wise man. He didn’t believe in obstructing his children’s progress. He was of the view that children ought to be allowed to live life according to their own wishes.