MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD

1. “ I felt like sinking to the floor” , says Zitkala-sa. When did she
feel so and why?
- Zitkala-Sa felt like sinking to the floor when her blanket
was snatched from her shoulders. She felt embarrassed
because she was forced to wear immodest dresses. She
felt uncomfortable in her tight fitting dresses.
2. What were the different noises that seemed to upset little
Zitkalasa?
- The different noises that seemed to upset little Zitkala-Sa
was the constant metallic sound from the large bell
hanging from the belfry and the annoying clatter of stiff
shoes which gave her no peace.
3. What are the views of Zitkala-Sa about the dress code in the
school?
- Zitkala-Sa’s noticed that the young girls were very
immodestly dressed. They were wearing tight dresses.
They wore the pair of stiff shoes which produced an
annoying clatter . She also noticed the small girls wearing
sleeved aprons and shingled hair, which was inappropriate
according to native American Indian tradition.
4. What did Judewin tell Zitkala-sa ? What was Zitkala-sa’s
reaction to this?
- Judewin knew few words of English. She had overheard
the pale faced women talking about the cutting of the
long hair of the freshers. Judewin urged Zitkala-Sa to
submit as the authority was stronger than them.
Zitkala-sa rebelled as she declared that she would
not cut her hair because according to native American
tradition, short hair was worn by mourners and shingled
hair by cowards.
5. What were the indignities faced by Zitkala-sa?
- Zitkala-sa faced various indignities in the Indian Boarding
School as she belonged to the Native American
community. She was forced to wear tight fitting clothes
and her hair was shingled by the school authorities. Even
her scarf was stripped among all . She had suffered
extreme embarrassment as she felt that she had been
tossed in the air like a wooden puppet which had no will of
its own.
6. Who is Bama? When did Bama experience untouchability?
- Bama is the pen name of a Tamil Dalit woman from a
Roman Catholic family.
 Bama experienced untouchability when she saw an
elderly man of her caste walking along the street from the
direction of the bazaar with a packet of snacks held by a
string. The elder meekly served the landform and resisted
touching the packet in the fear of polluting the food and
turning them impure. The upper caste believed that the
touch of the lower caste will make them impure.
7. What is meant by Karukku?
- Karukku means ‘Palmyra leaves’ which were used to make
baskets, fans, hats etc. It has sharp points on the edge
which look like double edged swords. The tamil word
‘Karukku’ is also derived from the word ‘Karu’, which
means embryo or seed, meaning freshness and newness.
8. Why did it take Bama thirty minutes to reach home instead of
ten minutes?
- Bama , on her way back home, used to observe various
activities like the performance of the performing monkey,
the snake charmer and the cyclist who kept pedaling hard
for three days. She observed people preparing food infront
of the Maariyata temple. She observed the Narikkuravan
hunter gypsy who was selling needles, clay ornaments and
other instruments. All these made her stand still the
market area.
9. What did the political parties do in the streets , as mentioned
in the prose piece “ The Memories of childhood” ?
- The political parties used to deliver speeches through the
mikes among the public. They would do their campaigning.
Sometimes there were street play, puppet show or ‘no
miracle no magic’ stunt performance.
10. What food items were available on the street as mentioned
in “ Memories of childhood”?
- The food items which were found according to the season
were mango, cucumber, sugarcane, sweet-potato,
palm-shots, gram, palm-syrup, palm-fruit, guavas and
jackfruit. As mentioned in the prose, everyday she would
see people selling sweet and savoury fried snacks,
payasam, halva, boiled tamarind seeds and ice lollies.
11. What made Bama shriek with laughter?
- Bama while returning home from school, saw an elder of
her street carrying a packet of food by holding its strings
without touching it. The funny way the elder was carrying
the packet made her shriek with laughter.
12. What change came over Bama after hearing what Annan
had told her about the landlord and the elder of their
community?
 - After hearing from her brother Annan about the upper
caste people who believed that lower caste people
shouldn’t touch them, Bama was filled with rage and
embarrassment. Her laughter changed into ange as she
thought about the embarassment faced by the elder man
of her community.
13. What were the inspiring words of Bama’s elder brother?
- Bama’s elder brother explained her that as they were born
in the lower community so they were never given the
respect and honour. He suggested his sister to study hard
and to make progress so that they could get rid of these
indignities. Annan advised Bama that if she performs well
in her studies, people will come to her of their own will
and attach themselves to her. He suggested that education
is the only tool which can alleviate them from their present
condition. His words had a deep impression on Bama, who
begun working hard immediately.
14. What lesson do you learn from the episode “ We too are
human beings”?
- ‘We too are human beings’ provides us a lesson that all
human beings are equal in every respect. Everyone has the
self dignity, self respect in them. It also provides us a clear
idea about the evils such as untouchability, discrimination
 between castes which could be removed from the society
through education, empowerment and economic growth.
15. What was common between Zitkala-Sa and Bama?
- Both Zitkala-Sa and Bama belonged to the marginalised
section of the society. Zitkala-Sa was threatened on the
basis of her cultural identity. Bama, who belonged to the
Dalit caste was a victim of untouchabilty . Both of them
suffered from extreme indignities in their life due to the
caste and race they were born in. Both Zitkala-Sa and
Bama began writing against the prejudice that exists
among men.
16. What sort of shows or entertainment attracted Bama?
- The shows like the performing monkey, the snake charmer
with his snake, the cyclist who was pedalling hard, street
plays, puppet shows and other stunt performances
attracted Bama and all these made her linger around the
streets.
17. Why did the landlord’s men ask Bama’s brother on which
street he lived?
- The landlord’s men asked Bama’s brother on which street
he lived in order to find out his caste as Annan seemed to
be unfamiliar to the man. The landlord’s men enquired
 about the street he lived in, so that he can identify the
caste of Bama’s elder brother.
18.

ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS:

1. Describe how zitkala-Sa tried in vain to save her hair from
being cut. Why did she want to save her hair?
- Zitkala-Sa tried in vain to resist against the school
authority as her friend Judewin warned her that her hair
was going to be cut by the authorities. Judewin knew a few
words of English and had overheard the pale face woman
talking about cutting the native Indian girl’s long hair.
Zitkala-Sa was shocked and decided to rebel. Her friend
told her to accept her fate, but she was not ready to
submit and decided to fight against this oppression. She
disappeared and went upstairs as quietly she could. She
went into a room where she crawled and hide herself
under a bed, cuddling herself in a dark corner. But she was
caught and dragged out. She then resisted by kicking and
scratching wildly as she was carried down and tied fast to a
chair. She lost her spirit when her hair was shingled by
them.
 Zitkala wanted to save her hair because she heard
from her mother that short hair was kept by mourners and
shingled hair by cowards. So, she did not want her long
hair to be cut, but to no avail.
2. When did Bama first come to know of the social
discrimination faced by the people of her community?
- When Bama was in the third standard she did not
know about class distinction and discrimination
because she never heard people openly speaking
about untouchability. She used to walk home from her
school. While returning home one day she saw an
elderly man, who was her neighbour, carrying a small
packet that contained some eatables. It made her
shriek with laughter. He held the packet holding by its
strings without touching it and extended it to the
landlord who opened it and began to eat. She thought
it was something funny as she felt the person was
walking in such a dramatic way. But Annan, her elder
brother, told her that the man was not being funny and
he was infact from a low caste because of which he
could not touch the food packet. By hearing that she
felt and experienced for the first time the social
discrimination in the society.
3. Assess the character of Bama.
 - Bama is a prominent Dalit women writer of Tamil Nadu,
India. She has a multi talented personality. She is a women
with extraordinary courage who not only sensitized the
society on caste discrimination but she has also
established herself as the voice of the Dalit people. Her
writings highlight the importance of social and gender
equality in all spheres of life and aspire towards creating a
large global village of equality. Bama has primarily
discussed about the pain and agony of the lower section
people as they were discriminated in the society. She also
focuses on the atrocities against the women within her
society and fights for the liberation of the entire
community. Thus, she speaks for both men and women.
Karukku focuses on how Bama brings out
her own feelings and experiences. When Bama was in the third
standard, she saw an elderly man, who was her neighbour,
carrying a small packet that contained some eatables. It made
her shriek with laughter. He held the packet holding by its
strings without touching it and extended it to the landlord who
opened it and began to eat. She thought it was something
funny as she felt the person was walking in such a dramatic way.
But Annan, her elder brother, told her that the man was not
being funny and he was infact from a low caste because of
which he could not touch the food packet. By hearing that she
felt and experienced for the first time the social discrimination
in the society. Bama was filled with disgust and decided to
alleviate from the social constraints of her caste through
education. Bama began writing against casteism and exposing
the various prejudices existing among men.

4. Elucidate the social issues and the commonality of the theme

raised in these two units- “ The cutting of my long hair” and
“We too are human beings” by the respective writers.
- Both “The cutting of my long hair “ and “ We too are
human beings” are based in two distant culture. Both the
writers are from marginalised communities who look back
on their childhood days.
The discrimination, oppression, humiliation, suffering
and insults that they faced as young members of the
marginalised communities are common to both. Zitkala-Sa
highlights the severe evils of oppression that prevailed
towards the Native American culture and women. She felt
ashamed among all when her blanket was stripped from her
body. The cutting of her long hair reduces her to the status
of a defeated warrior as in her culture shingled hair are
worn only by cowards. The replacing of her moccasins by
stiff squeaking shoes and “eating by formula” at breakfast
table are means of obliterating her traditional ways of life
and beliefs.
Bama highlights the discrimination faced by the
untouchables who were never given any honour, dignity or
respect as they were born in lower classes. She felt and
experienced the distinctions when an elder person of her
community bought a parcel holding by its strings to the
landlord. She tried to rebel against those evils through
education, as guided by her brother. The sense of rebellion
against the existing state of affairs and decision to improve
them are also some common grounds between Zitkala-Sa
and Bama.
5.

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