CUET English Chapter For Comprehension-Memories of Childhood

Zitkala Sa was the pen-name of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. She was an American- Indian born in the late nineteenth century who suffered racial discrimination at t he hands of Christians.

Zitkala recalls that it was a bitter cold day and there was snow on the ground. The trees were bare. There was a large bell that rang for breakfast and its loud metallic sound crashed through the belfry overhead and penetrated through their sensitive ears.

‘Bama was the pen-name of a Tamil Dalit woman from a Roman Catholic family. She published three main works, Kurukku, an autobiography, Sangati a novel and Kisumbukkaaran a collection of short stories. Kurukku is an account of the discrimination faced by Tamil Dalit women.

Zitkala-Sa did not know how to conduct herself in the dining hall. As the bell was tapped, all the pupils pulled out their chairs and kept standing. Zitkala also pulled out her but sat on it. When, a second bell rang and all the students were seated, she had to crawl back to her chair. A man’s voice was heard and she noticed that all the pupils had bent their heads over their plates. The third bell was tapped and they picked up their forks and began eating. Zitkala felt extremely embarrassed and started crying.

The ringing of the large bell was an indication for all students to assemble in the dining room. Then as the second bell was tapped, they drew out chairs from under the table. As the second bell sounded loudly, they were all seated. As the second bell sounded loudly, they were all seated. A man’s voice and mutterings were heard at the end of the table. Everyone had to bend their heads over the plates. Then a third bell tapped. Everyone picked up the knives and forks and started eating.

Zitkala-Sa saw a line of Indian girls wearing closely clinging dresses and stiff shoes. The crashing of the third bell and the noise of shoes and voices were like a harsh bedlam for her in which she was tied. The blanket had been taken off from her shoulders and bells were used as instructions for students.

Judewin, her friend, who knew a few words of English, told her that she had overheard the pale-faced woman talk about cutting their long, heavy hair. Her mother had told her that shingled hair were worn by cowards. This was a big blow to her.

As soon as Zitkala came to know about the decision of cutting her hair, she decided to struggle. Quietly, she crept up the stairs into a large empty room which was dim due to the dark green curtains. She moved to the farthest corner from the door and then crawled under a bed. She did not come out even when she heard Judewin calling her name. They found her and dragged her out. Although she resented by kicking and scratching wildly and shaking her head, they cut her long hair.

Zitkala-Sa was dragged out and she was carried down kicking and scratching and then tied to a chair. She cried a lot shaking her hair until she felt that the scissors had ‘gnawed’ off her thick braids. She then lost her spirit and moaned for her mother but nobody came to comfort her. From then on she experienced extreme indignities.

Zitkala-Sa had been made to believe by her mother that only unskilled warriors, who had been captured, had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among their own native people, only mourners kept short hair and shingled hair was kept by cowards. She was therefore, dead against cutting of her hair as she didn’t belong to any of the categories.

Zitkala had hidden under the bed. She was found, and dragged out. She tried to resist by kicking and scratching wildly. She was overpowered and carried downstairs. She was tied fast to a chair. She kept crying loudly and shaking her head continuously.

Bama was fascinated by the dried fish stall near the statue of Gandhiji. The sweet shop and the fried snacks shops also attracted her. There were many shops and huntergupsy narikkuravan fascinated her too. He had his wild lemur in cages. He sold needles, clay, beads and instruments for cleaning out the ears.

The passers-by were attracted by various political parties who had put up a stage and addresses people through their mikes. There might be a street play, a puppet show, or a ‘no magic, no miracle’ stunt performance. There were other happenings there also, from time to time.

Bama would watch the waiter in coffee clubs cooling the coffee, with a lot of interest. He would lift the tumbler high and pour the coffee into another tumbler held in the other hand. She also observed how people would turn their eyes away to avoid irritation in their eyes, while chopping onions.

Bama saw an elderly man of her street walking with a small packet, holding it by its strings without touching it. When she saw him she felt like laughing aloud. He went straight to the landlord, bowed to him and extended the packet to him, cupping his hands that held the string with his other hand.

The elder held the packet from its strings without touching the packet. Bama’s brother explained that people believed that the landlord was of upper caste and the elder belonged to the lower caste. The lower caste people could not touch the packet as the material in it would become polluted. That is why he had to carry the packet by its strings.

The old man went straight up to the landlord. He bowed low and extended the packet towards him. He cupped the hand that held the string with his other hand. The landlord opened the packet and started eating the vadais.

Bama felt sad and infuriated. She felt angry and wanted to touch those wretched ‘Vadais’ straightaway. It was disgusting to do the chores for those people who did not even consider them as humans. She wondered why the upper caste people thought so much of themselves only because they had collected money. Bama hated this discrimination and felt they should never run errands for these people.

The landlord’s man, not recognizing Annan, asked him his name with a lot of respect. On getting the answer and realizing that he was from a lower caste and an untouchable, his manner of talking changed. He got to know about Annan as soon as he knew which street e lived in.

Annan told Bama that being born in the low caste; they were stripped of all honour, dignity and respect. He added that education could gain them respect in society. He advised her ‘to study hard and learn’. If they studied and made progress, they would be able to throw away the indignities. His words had a profound impact on Bama. She was inspired to study hard and always stood first in her class and because of this, many people became her friends.

ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS

Both of the accounts are based upon on the distant cultures and of two educated women from marginalized communities who look back on their childhood and reflect on their relationship with the mainstream culture. Gertrude Simmons was an extraordinary talented Native American who struggled and was successful at a time when severe prejudice prevailed towards the Native Americans and women. Bama is a Tamil Dalit woman from a Roman Catholic family. She was disgusted as the lower caste people were stripped of all honour, dignity and respect which she managed to regain through her education.

Both these women have pains inflicted upon them by their societies and cultures. They fought against this social and cultural discrimination and their efforts got recognition. Gertrude Simmons wrote under the pen-name of Zitkala-Sa and criticized dogma and oppression. Similarly, Bama is a pen-name and in her autobiography she recreates her childhood and its painful memories. Both these women have used writing as an effective means of battling discrimination and evils of oppression. Even the usage of pen-names is common to both these writers.

When Bama was in class three, she walked home from school each day. She would loiter along, watching all the fun and games and the entertaining novelties that would attract her innocent eyes. She usually took thirty minutes as she would watch performing monkeys, the snake of the snake charmer or the cyclist to continue his performance of the past two or three days. The Maariyaata Temple with the huge bell hanging there and the Pongal offerings being cooked in front of the temple fascinated her. She would sometimes look at the dried fish stall by the statue of Gandhi and other stalls selling snacks, sweets, etc.

She paused to look with wonder at the stage put up by people of political parties. She would pause for a street play or puppet shop or a ‘no magic no miracle’ stunt performance. In fact there was always something attractive which caught her attention even if it were the coffee clubs and the way in which the waiters cooled the coffee or the people who cut onions. She even gazed in wonder at the people selling sweet and savoury snacks, payasam or iced lollies. Her account presents a child like joy in simple activities which is brought alive to the readers.

a) An autobiographical episode

d) American woman

a) Racial prejudice

c) Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

b) A Tamil Dalit

b) Tied to a chair

a) A pale face

d) Dining room

a) Clinging dresses

d) Sleeved aprons

b) Drew a chair from under the table

b) She slipped into it from one side

d) The author

c) Thrice

c) Cried

c) Unskilled warriors

a) Mourners

a) Cowards

b) Judewin

a) Under the bed

c) Had suffered extreme indignities

b) Class three

d) Untouchability

b) Thirty minutes to an hour

c) Distracted by lots of things on the way

b) A standstill

c) In the bazaar

a) Almond tree

c) Cattle treading out the grain from straw

d) Want to shriek with laughter

d) Vadai or green banana bhaji

d) Elder brother

a) Making a game out of carrying the parcel

b) Terribly sad

c) University

c) From a library

a) Infuriated her

a) His name and street

b) Study

a) Deep impression on her