My Chidhood - Reading Comprehension Passages

AP/ NCERT Board-Based Reading Comprehension Passages Grade 9 Beehive 

Chapter 6 My Chidhood

Reading Comprehension 1

I WAS born into a middle-class Tamil family in the island town of Rameswaram in the erstwhile Madras State. My father, Jainulabdeen, had neither much formal education nor much wealth; despite these disadvantages, he possessed great innate wisdom and a true generosity of spirit. He had an ideal helpmate in my mother, Ashiamma. I do not recall the exact number of people she fed every day, but I am quite certain that far more outsiders ate with us than all the members of our own family put together.

I was one of many children — a short boy with rather undistinguished looks, born to tall and handsome parents. We lived in our ancestral house, which was built in the middle of the nineteenth century. It was a fairly large pucca house, made of limestone and brick, on the Mosque Street in Rameswaram. My austere father used to avoid all inessential comforts and luxuries. However, all necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes. In fact, I would say mine was a very secure childhood, both materially and emotionally.

1. What was the economic background of Abdul Kalam's family during his childhood?

   a. Affluent

   b. Middle-class

   c. Poor

   d. Upper-class

2. Where was Abdul Kalam born and raised in his early years?

   a. Mumbai

   b. Rameswaram

   c. Madras

   d. Delhi

3. What was the material composition of Abdul Kalam's ancestral house?

   a. Wood and mud

   b. Steel and concrete

   c. Limestone and brick

   d. Adobe and straw

4. How would you describe Abdul Kalam's father's attitude towards comforts and luxuries?

   a. Lavish

   b. Moderate

   c. Extravagant

   d. Austere

5. In terms of emotional and material aspects, how would Abdul Kalam characterize his childhood?

   a. Challenging

   b. Insecure

   c. Affluent

   d. Secure

Reading Comprehension 2

The Second World War broke out in 1939, when I was eight years old. For reasons I have never been able to understand, a sudden demand for tamarind seeds erupted in the market. I used to collect the seeds and sell them to a provision shop on Mosque Street. A day’s collection would fetch me the princely sum of one anna. My brother-in-law Jallaluddin would tell me stories about the War which I would later attempt to trace in the headlines in Dinamani. Our area, being isolated, was completely unaffected by the War. But soon India was forced to join the Allied Forces and something like a state of emergency was declared. The first casualty came in the form of the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station. The newspapers now had to be bundled and thrown out from the moving train on the Rameswaram Road between Rameswaram and Dhanuskodi. That forced my cousin Samsuddin, who distributed newspapers in Rameswarm, 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. Half a century later, I can still feel the surge of pride in earning my own money for the first time.

1. During the Second World War, what unusual market demand arose in Abdul Kalam's area?

   a. Wheat

   b. Tamarind seeds

   c. Cotton

   d. Rice

2. How did Abdul Kalam earn money during the war by collecting tamarind seeds?

   a. Selling them to a toy shop

   b. Trading them for goods

   c. Selling them to a provision shop

   d. Donating them to charity

3. What significant event led to the suspension of the train halt at Rameswaram station during the war?

   a. Natural disaster

   b. Allied Forces victory

   c. State of emergency declaration

   d. Economic downturn

4. How did Abdul Kalam contribute to the distribution of newspapers during the war?

   a. Writing articles

   b. Bundling newspapers

   c. Editing headlines

   d. Selling newspapers

5. True or False Statement:

Abdul Kalam's area in Rameswaram was directly affected by the Second World War.

Reading Comprehension 3

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. I had three close friends in my childhood — Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and Sivaprakasan. All these boys were from orthodox Hindu Brahmin families. As children, none of us ever felt any difference amongst ourselves because of our religious differences and upbringing. In fact, Ramanadha Sastry was the son of Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, the high priest of the Rameswaram temple. Later, he took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father; Aravindan went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims; and Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways.

During the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony, our family used to arrange boats with a special platform for carrying idols of the Lord from the temple to the marriage site, situated in the middle of the pond called Rama Tirtha which was near our house. Events from the Ramayana and from the life of the Prophet were the bedtime stories my mother and grandmother would tell the children in our family.

1. What qualities did Abdul Kalam inherit from his father?

   a. Faith and kindness

   b. Honesty and self-discipline

   c. Business acumen

   d. Priesthood skills

2. Who was Ramanadha Sastry, one of Abdul Kalam's childhood friends?

   a. Businessman

   b. Priest's son

   c. Catering contractor

   d. Transport arranger

3. What was Aravindan's profession as mentioned in the passage?

   a. Priest

   b. Businessman

   c. Transport arranger

   d. Catering contractor

 4. Where did the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony take place?

   a. Rameswaram temple

   b. Rama Tirtha pond

   c. Southern Railways

   d. Mosque Street

5. True or False Statement

Abdul Kalam and his childhood friends felt differences among themselves due to religious upbringing.

Reading Comprehension 4

One day when I was in the fifth standard at the Rameswaram Elementary School, a new teacher came to our class. I used to wear a cap which marked me as a Muslim, and I always sat in the front row next to Ramanadha Sastry, who wore the sacred thread. The new teacher could not stomach a Hindu priest’s son sitting with a Muslim boy. In accordance with our social ranking as the new teacher saw it, I was asked to go and sit on the back bench. I felt very sad, and so did Ramanadha Sastry. He looked utterly downcast as I shifted to my seat in the last row. The image of him weeping when I shifted to the last row left a lasting impression on me.

 After school, we went home and told our respective parents about the incident. Lakshmana Sastry summoned the teacher, and in our presence, told the teacher that he should not spread the poison of social inequality and communal intolerance in the minds of innocent children. He bluntly asked the teacher to either apologise or quit the school and the island. Not only did the teacher regret his behaviour, but the strong sense of conviction Lakshmana Sastry conveyed ultimately reformed this young teacher.

1. In which standard was Abdul Kalam when a new teacher arrived at Rameswaram Elementary School?

   a. Fourth

   b. Fifth

   c. Sixth

   d. Seventh

2. Why did the new teacher ask Abdul Kalam to move to the back bench?

   a. Due to academic performance

   b. Religious differences

   c. Classroom disruption

   d. Social ranking

3. Who was Ramanadha Sastry in relation to Abdul Kalam?

   a. Brother

   b. Friend

   c. Cousin

   d. Teacher

4. How did Lakshmana Sastry, Ramanadha Sastry's father, react to the incident?

   a. Asked Abdul Kalam to leave the school

   b. Supported the teacher's decision

   c. Summoned the teacher and demanded an apology

   d. Ignored the situation

5. What does the term "bluntly" mean in the context of Lakshmana Sastry's actions?

   a. Tactfully

   b. Abruptly

   c. Secretly

   d. Cautiously

 Reading Comprehension 5

On the whole, the small society of Rameswaram was very rigid in terms of the segregation of different social groups. However, my science teacher Sivasubramania Iyer, though an orthodox Brahmin with a very conservative wife, was something of a rebel. He did his best to break social barriers so that people from varying backgrounds could mingle easily. He used to spend hours with me and would say, “Kalam, I want you to develop so that you are on par with the highly educated people of the big cities.”

One day, he invited me to his home for a meal. His wife was horrified at the idea of a Muslim boy being invited to dine in her ritually pure kitchen. She refused to serve me in her kitchen. Sivasubramania Iyer 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. His wife watched us from behind the kitchen door. I wondered whether she had observed any difference in the way I ate rice, drank water or cleaned the floor after the meal. When I was leaving his house, Sivasubramania Iyer invited me to join him for dinner again the next weekend. Observing my hesitation, he told me not to get upset, saying, “Once you decide to change the system, such problems have to be confronted.” When I visited his house the next week, Sivasubramania Iyer’s wife took me inside her kitchen and served me food with her own hands.

1. Who was Abdul Kalam's science teacher in Rameswaram, known for breaking social barriers?

   a. Ramanadha Sastry

   b. Lakshmana Sastry

   c. Sivasubramania Iyer

   d. Aravindan

2. What was Sivasubramania Iyer's approach to social barriers in the small society of Rameswaram?

   a. Upheld segregation

   b. Encouraged mingling

   c. Ignored the issue

   d. Enforced strict rules

3. How did Sivasubramania Iyer's wife initially react when Abdul Kalam was invited for a meal?

   a. Welcomed him warmly

   b. Refused to serve him in her kitchen

   c. Invited him without hesitation

   d. Showed indifference

4. What was Sivasubramania Iyer's advice to Abdul Kalam when faced with challenges?

   a. Avoid confrontation

   b. Embrace the system

   c. Seek revenge

   d. Confront problems to bring about change

5. True or False Statement:

Sivasubramania Iyer's wife eventually served Abdul Kalam food with her own hands in her kitchen.

 Reading Comprehension 6

Then the Second World War was over and India’s freedom was imminent. “Indians will build their own India,” declared Gandhiji. The whole country was filled with an unprecedented optimism. I asked my father for permission to leave Rameswaram and study at the district headquarters in Ramanathapuram.

He told me as if thinking aloud, “Abul ! I know you have to go away to grow. Does the seagull not fly across the sun, alone and without a nest?” He quoted Khalil Gibran to my hesitant mother, “Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.”

1. What event marked the end of the Second World War in the passage?

   a. Gandhiji's declaration

   b. India's imminent freedom

   c. Abdul Kalam's departure

   d. Khalil Gibran's quote

2. Where did Abdul Kalam request permission to study after the Second World War?

   a. Rameswaram

   b. District headquarters in Ramanathapuram

   c. Southern Railways

   d. Big cities

3.  Kalam's father use to convey the idea of growth and independence?

   a. The eagle soaring alone

   b. The lion hunting in a pack

   c. The fish swimming in a school

   d. The owl staying in a nest

4. Whose quote did Abdul Kalam's father share with his hesitant mother?

   a. Mahatma Gandhi

   b. Rabindranath Tagore

   c. Khalil Gibran

   d. Jawaharlal Nehru

5. What does the term "imminent" mean in the context of the passage?

   a. Distant

   b. Unavoidable

   c. Ambiguous

   d. Optional