My childhood by Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam

My Childhood By Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam

Introduction :

            This lesson "My Childhood" was taken from "The Wings of Fire", the autobiography of Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. Now in this lesson, we are going to see about his childhood days in Rameshwaram. 

Characters in this lesson : 

• Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam
• Jainulabdeen - kalam's father
• Ashiamma - kalam's mother 
• Brother in law - Jallaluddin 
• Friends - ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and sivaprakasan
• Ramanadha Sastry's father - lakshmanana Sastry
• Science teacher - Sivasubramanian Iyer. 

Family structure: 

      

            Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam was born in Rameshwaram. He belongs to a middle-class family. His father was always helpful to his mother. Even though they belonged to a middle-class family, they offered food to the people. 

Address : 

Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam, 

Mosque Street, 

Rameshwaram.

            Their family lived in their ancestor's house which was built in the 19th century. It was called a pucca house, built with the help of limestone and brick. His life was very secured by his father both materially and emotionally. 

First earning : 

            

            The second world war was broken out all over the world. At first, it was not that much affected in Rameshwaram. In-between there was a sudden demand for tamarind seeds. Due to the demand for tamarind seed, Kalam used to collect the seed and sell them in provision shop on masque street. Per day he gains one anna. And his brother in law Jalaluddin used to tell stories about the second world war which he was read in the Dinamani newspaper. Later when India was forced to join in allied force in ll world war, in Rameshwaram there was a sudden change happened. The train was not stopped at Rameshwaram station. They just through the bundle of newspapers from the running train on the Rameshwaram road between Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi. His cousin  Samsuddin has distributed the newspaper in his areas. That forced his cousin, for helping hand to catch the bundle. So this was his first salary in his life. Even though it was half-century later, he proudly recollects his first salary.

His character: 

            

            Every child has some inborn quality which was come from their parents. Like this, Kalam also having some inherited quality in his like. His inherited honesty and self-discipline came from his father. His goodness and deep kindness were inherited from his mother and also from his brother and sisters. 

Kalam's friends: 

            Kalam had three friends. They are, 

1. Ramanadha Sastry

2. Aravindan

3. Sivaprakasan

            They all belonged to the Oxford Brahmin family. Even though they belonged to different religion and caste, there was no difference among themselves.

• Ramanadha Sastry - son of Pakshi Lakshmanana Sastry, the highest priest in Rameshwaram temple. Later he took over the priest position from his father. 
• Aravindan - He went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims.
• Sivaprakasan- He becomes the catering contractor for the southern railways. 

Kalam's family in Shri Sita Rama kalyanam: 

            Every year, they were celebrating Shri Sita Rama kalyanam in the middle of the pond called Rama Tirtha which was very near to his home. For this, Kalam's father arranged the boat for this festival. His father's boat only carrying the idol of Ram and Sita. Kalam's grandmother and mother used to tell bed stories about Ramanayam. 

The clash between Ramanadha Sastry and school teacher : 

            One day when Kalam has studied the fifth standard in Rameshwaram elementary school, a new teacher arrived in his school. He used to wear a cap and Ramanadha Sastry used to wear a thread that was marked as which religion they belonged to. They both sat together in the first row. When the new teacher found out that they both are two different religion, so he asked Kalam to sat on that last row. Due to this Ramanadha Sastry was so much worried and cried. After they finished their school they went to their respective home and told the incident which was happened in the school. Lakshmanana Sastry has summoned the new teacher and he asks the teacher to apologize for his action. He boldly said to the teacher that because of his position he should not spread the poison to the children in the name of caste and religion. The new teacher was regret to his action. 

The incident happened in kalam's science teacher home : 

            One day Kalam's science teacher Sivasubramanian Iyer invited Kalam for a meal. He too went his home, when Kalam was get inside the kitchen his teacher's wife was too horrified. And she refused to serve Kalam due to his religion and caste. This made him very sad. Then his teacher served him and he too sat near to him and eat. When he was eating, the teacher's wife watched him. He thinks that his wife saw any difference while he ate , drank water or cleaned the floor after the meal. When he left the house, again Sivasubramanian Iyer invited his house for dinner. But he was hesitant to come to his home due to his wife's behaviour. But he asked Kalam to come to his home and says, "once you decided to change the system, such problems have to be confronted."  Then again he visited his home, his wife itself served him with his own hands. 

Second world war over: 

            When the second world war was over, Gandhiji declared, " Indians will build their own India ". The whole country was so much happy. In that time Kalam asked permission to his father that he wanted to leave from Rameshwaram and continued his studies in Ramanathapuram District.

He stated, " Abul! I know you have to go away to gro. Does the seagull not fly across the sun, alone and without a nest?" And continued with this he called his wife and said, "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". 

Important dates : 

1939 - II World war, that time he was 8 years old. 

Important points: 

1. Born in a middle-class family 

2. Address: Dr A.P.J.Abdul Kalam,

                      S/o, Jainulabdeen,

                       Masque street,

                       Rameshwaram,

                       Ramanadhapuram District.

3. Father name: Jainulabdeen

4. Mother name: Ashiamma

5. House was made with limestone and brick

6. House was build in the 19th century

7. 1939 - II World war, when he was 8. 

8. Second Word war impact in Rameshwaram are: tamarind seeds demand, newspaper were thrown from running train because there was no stop in Rameshwaram.

9. His brother in law Jallaluddin helped him to earn his 1st salary.

10. Honesty and self-discipline inherited from his father 

11. Goodness and kindness inherited from his mother.

12. Friends- Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan and sivaprakasan

13. Ramanadha Sastry - son of Lakshmana Sastry worked as a high priest in the Rameshwaram temple

14. Ramanadha Sastry - become a priest in Rameshwaram temple

15. Aravindan - become business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims. 

16. Sivaprakasan - become a catering contractor for the southern railways

17. Sita Rama kalyanam boat was arranged by kalam's father. 

18. Pond name - Rama Tirtha

19. 5th standard - new teacher changed kalam's and Ramanadha Sastry's place due to the religion.

20. Lakshmanana Sastry warned the new teacher.

21. Kalam's science teacher- Sivasubramanian Iyer

22. Sivasubramanian's wife refused to serve Kalam 

23. At dinner time, she served Kalam with her own hands 

24. When India got freedom, Kalam asked permission from his father to continued his education I. Ramanathapuram District.