| Class | 12th |
| Book | Vistas (NCERT) |
| Category | Important Questions |
| Subject | English |
Memories of Childhood Class 12 English Chapter 6 Important Question Answer
Short Questions
Q1. How does Bama describe the scene of threshing ?
Ans – A threshing floor had been setup 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.
Q2. How were Zitkala Sa’s hair cut ? Most Important
OR
How was Zitkala-Sa’s long hair shingled ?
Ans – Zitkala-Sa was tied fast in a chair. She cried aloud. She kept shaking her head all the while. She felt the blades of the scissors against her head. She heard them cut off one of her thick braids. Then she lost her spirit and stopped struggling. Thus her long hair was shingled.
Q3. Why did Zitkala-Sa resist the cutting of her hair so fiercely ?
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.
Q4. 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 window were covered with dark green curtains. It made the room very dim. Zitkala-Sa went down on her hands and knees and crawled under a bed. There she lay huddled in the dark corner.
Q6. Why was the girl tied to a chair in Memories of Childhood ?
Ans – The girl name Zitkala-Sa admissioned in school. Here everyone must have short hairs. Zitkala-Sa had long and thick hairs. Zitkala-Sa tried to escape, but caught and tied fast to a chair so that her long hair could cut easily. She cried aloud and keep shaking her head. But she was unable to protect her hairs.
Q7. How were the Indian girls dressed ? (Memories of Childhood)
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’s first day in school. She was not yet in the school dress. She was dresses in the modest dress of her tribe.
Q8. Why and how did Bama take thirty minutes to one hour to reach home instead of ten minutes ?
Ans – It was hardly ten minutes walk from Bama’s school to her home. But she would come watching all the little things happening on the way. Everything would pull her to a standstill. It was for this reason why she took thirty minutes to one hour to reach home instead of ten minutes.
Long Questions
Q1. By looking at Zitkala-Sa and Bama’s life, one can say that it may take a long time for oppression to be resisted but seeds of rebellion are sowed early in life. Additionally, injustice in any form can have a permanent impact on children too. Justify.
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 really 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.
Q2. How could the dalits throw away humiliation and earn respect according to Bama’s brother ? (Memories of Childhood)
Ans – The village landlord sends the elderly man to get some vadai for him. The man comes holding out the packet by its sting. He is not supposed to touch the packet because his touch could pollut6e the vadail. When Bama’s elder brother , Annan, explains to why he has to carry the packet by its string. Bama’s mind filled with revolt. Her elder brother advised her when he came on holdiay. He says to her, “Study with care and learn all you can. If you are always ahead in your lessons, people will come you of their own accord and attach themselves to you. ” Bama followed this and many people became her friends and earned respect.
Q3. What message do we get from the story – We Too are Human Beings ?
Ans – This is a story of Tamil Dalit girl named Bama. She describes how an elder of their street has to act in a humiliating manner simply because he belongs to the Dalit community. She was pained to see how the upper castle people treated the Dalits in a humiliating manner. They thought that even the touch of a Dalit would pollute them. Dalit communities suffered from the racial prejudice of those who considered themselves to be superior to them.
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