Can We Change This?

 

Reading 1

1. What was the sight that the narrator found amusing? Was it really so?

An elderly paraya man was carrying a snack packet with the help of a string. He could easily hold the packet with his hands. Instead, he was bringing it without touching it. The manner in which he carried the parcel made the narrator laugh. The narrator found it amusing.

No. There is nothing amusing in the incident. The elderly man was treated as an untouchable. People thought that anything an untouchable person touches gets polluted.

2. Why was the narrator’s Annan not amused by her story?

The narrator’s Annan understood the meaning of the incident. He knew that the elderly paraya man had to be humble and humiliated before a higher caste person. It is not funny and the narrator’s Annan was not amused.

3. What feeling did the realization of truth evoke in the narrator?

The narrator felt provoked and got angry after realizing the truth that lower caste people were being humiliated.

4. What humiliation did the lower castes have to face?

The lower castes had to do all the chores of the household without touching things. They had to do all the hard work like sweeping cow sheds, collecting cow dung. They had to eat the leftovers. They had to treat upper caste people including children with respect. They had to be humble. They had to do whatever the higher caste people demanded. They were treated badly.   

5. ‘Naicker was furious.’ (Page 73, paragraph 1) Why? Was this justified?

Annan, a paraya boy, a grandson of one of his servants had the courage to talk to the Naiker disrespectfully. So the Naicker was furious.

No. It was not justified.

6. What discrimination did the narrator undergo on daily basis at school?

The narrator along with other children of her caste had to do all the hard work at school. They carried water to the teacher’s house. They watered the plants. They did all chores of the school. If something unwanted had happened in the school, the lower caste children were blamed.

7. Relate the humiliating incident that the narrator experienced at school?

There was a coconut tree that grew at a convenient slant in the narrator’s school. One day, the children were playing a game on the tree. They ran up the tree and touched the coconuts and came back. The coconut bunch was twisted by some excited children. Just as the narrator was about to touch the coconuts, when her turn came, the coconuts had fallen down with a thud. Everybody scattered but the narrator, being a lower caste girl, was blamed.

During the school assembly the following day, she was humiliated. She was not allowed to attend her classes.

8. Justify the title of the narration?

The title of this lesson, ‘Can we change this?’ tells us about certain bad practices in our society. We have to put a stop to such practices as untouchability. The title challenges us and asks us to do something to change the bad practices of our society. The title is justified and appropriate.

Reading 2

1. What socio-economic strata did the narrator belong to? Quote words and phrases from the text to support your answer.

The narrator belonged to a lower caste known as paraya. They were poor and treated as untouchables. The word ‘paraya’ means ‘the other people’. The narrator was from Cheri Street where parayas lived. She says ‘parayas’ as ‘our people’. These words and phrases support that the narrator belonged to paraya community.

2. How was the narrator different from others who faced discrimination?

While the others who faced discrimination suffered silently, the narrator felt provoked and became angry. She was inspired by her Annan’s suggestion and concentrated on her studies. She studied well and achieved the top rank in her class.

3. What alternative did Annan suggest to the narrator? Do you agree with him?

Annan suggested the narrator that the best way to be respected and accepted among her friends was through learning and education. Yes. I agree with his suggestion.

4. As the narrator, write a page in your diary after a humiliating day at school.

Day:

Date:

Dear diary,

Today was the most sorrowful day in my life. I was blamed without any reason. I was humiliated before our class. All this is because I am a lower caste student.

Pardhu, an upper-caste student had lost his new pen. The pen was really beautiful. Every student was jealous. During the last period, Pardhu complained that he had lost his pen. He said that somebody stole it.

Everyone in the class, including the class teacher blamed me and called me a thief. They said that lower caste people are thieves by nature. They searched my bag thoroughly, but the pen is not in the bag. How could it be? I wept silently. Later they found the pen in the playground.

So, this was the saddest day of my life.

Bye, bye dear diary.

 

Vocabulary

Unscramble the words in brackets to discover more about an anti-apartheid activist.

Stephen Biko (1946-1977) was an illustrious anti-apartheid __________ (tactivis) in South Africa. He began as a student leader, and went on to found the Black Consciousness Mvment which he hoped would __________ (peomrwe) and mobilize much of the urband black population.

He was arrested on 18 August 1977 and died in police custody on 12 September. He is often called the greated __________ (artrym) of the anti-apartheid movement. He was famous for his slogan ‘Black is beautiful’. His __________ (uteqs) for black identity continues to __________ (nirisep) people to this day.

Answers

activist, empower, martyr, quest, inspire