JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE EARTH

- Tishani Doshi
1. How do geological phenomena help us to know about the history of mankind?

Ans: It is geological phenomena that help us to know about the history of mankind.
Geologists say about 650 million years ago a giant „amalgamated‟ super continent,
Gondwana existed in the South. At that time India and Antarctica were parts of the same
landmass. Gondwana had a warm climate and a huge variety of flora and fauna. This
supercontinent survived for 500 years till the age of mammals got underway.

2. What kind of indications do we get while visiting Antarctica to save Earth?

Ans: Tishani Doshi‟s entire experience of visiting Antarctica was nothing short of a
revelation. It made her wonder about the “beauty of balance in play on our planet”. She hopes
the new generation will understand their planet better and save it from annihilation. The
planet‟s ecosystem and its balance that took millions of years to form can be soon destroyed.
Scientists warn that a further depletion in the ozone layer will affect the activities of the
phytoplankton. The lives of the marine animals and birds of the region will be affected. But
the school students‟ visit to the Antarctica may make human beings handle their planet in a
better way.

3. How can a visit to the Antarctica be an enlightening experience?

Ans: By visiting the Antarctica we can understand the earth‟s past, present and future. A visit
there can teach the next generation to understand and value our planet. Antarctica also holds
within its ice-cores half-million-years old carbon records which will help us to study climatic
changes by global warming.

4. What was the objective of the „Students on Ice Programme‟?

Ans: The objective of the „Students on Ice‟ programme was to take High School students to
the limits of the world and provide them not only with inspiring opportunities in education
but also enable them to understand and respect our planet. The idea was to provide them a
life-changing experience at an age when they are ready to absorb, learn and most importantly
act. According to Geoff Green, the High School students are the future policy makers and
through this programme they would save this planet from ecological hazards and the harmful
effects of global warming.

5. What are the indications for the future of humankind?

Ans: A fast and steady rise in human population in proportion to the limited natural resources
is exerting pressure on land. Forests are being cut and fossil fuels are being burnt and these
factors are increasing the global temperature. Melting of glaciers, depletion of ozone layer
and global warming are endangering man‟s existence on earth. This is bound to adversely
affect marine life, birds and mankind.
6. How did the Antarctica amaze the writer when he first saw it?

Ans: When the writer first saw Antarctica he was amazed by its vastness and immense white
landscape. It was an endless blue horizon and the fact that it was isolated from the rest of the
world created an added sense of wonder and mystery about the continent.

7. How was Antarctica a chilling prospect for a South Indian, Tishani Doshi?

Ans: Tishani Doshi is a sun-worshipping South Indian and for her to spend two weeks in a
place where 90 per cent of the Earth‟s total ice volumes are stored is a chilling prospect, not
just for circulatory and metabolic functions, but also for the imagination.
 ON THE FACE OF IT
- Susan Hill

1. What qualities of Mr. Lamb attracted Derry to him?

Ans: Derry suffers from a terrible complex. But his meeting with Mr. Lamb is a turning point
in his life. He gives confidence to Derry and encourages him to develop a positive attitude
towards life. Derry‟s life now has a new meaning and purpose and for this all the credit goes
to Mr. Lamb‟s motivation and words of encouragement.

2. What did Derry‟s mother think of Mr. Lamb?

Ans: Derry‟s mother did not think very highly of Mr. Lamb and claimed to have heard not
really good things about him. She had been told and warned by people about Mr. Lamb and
so she tells Derry not to go back to him. She also tried to hold him back but he does go back
to Mr. Lamb.

3. What consolation did people give when they saw his acid burnt face?

Ans: Derry‟s face was burnt by acid on one side. When people saw Derry‟s acid burnt face
they tried to console him by telling him fairy tales. They said that it was not important what
he looked like. Derry knew that people lied and showed sympathy only to comfort him and
that he would not change and would continue to look like a „monstrous beast‟.

4. Mr. Lamb told Derry the story of a man who hid himself in his room. Why did the man
do so and with what result?

Ans: Mr. Lamb told Derry the incident of a timid man who hid himself in his room and
refused to come out lest he should meet some fatal accident. But, ironically, he died in his
room itself because a picture hanging on the wall fell off it, landed on his head and killed
him.

5. Why does Mr. Lamb leave his gate always open?

Ans: Mr. Lamb always keeps his gate open because he does not mind strangers entering his
house. He is an extremely social person and is ever ready to welcome anyone who enters his
garden.

6. How does Mr. Lamb keep himself busy when it is a bit cool?

Ans: When it gets a bit cool Mr. Lamb pulls down the ripe crab apples from the trees with the
help of a ladder and a stick. He then makes jelly from them as that is a good time of the year
to pick and make jelly out of orange and golden crab apples.
7. What peculiar things does Derry notice about the old man, Lamb?

Ans: Derry thinks that the old man, Mr. Lamb, is peculiar and says peculiar things. Derry
notices that although Mr. Lamb talks about his friends he has not seen anyone visiting the old
man, who lives all by himself. Even when he asks Mr. Lamb to name his friends, Mr. Lamb
fails to give him any name. Mr. Lamb refuses to admit his loneliness. Also he asks Derry
questions he does not understand. There are no curtains at the windows in his house. He likes
the light and darkness and hears the wind with the window open.

8. Why did Mr. Lamb help Derry?

Ans: Mr. Lamb and Derry are united by the bond of loneliness and alienation they share on
account of their physical disabilities. Mr. Lamb lost a leg in the war and has a tin leg while
Derry has an acid burn on one side of his face. Mr. Lamb inspires Derry by telling him not to
focus on the shortcomings of life and his handicap and instead he should try to enjoy the
blessings of life. He persuades him to develop a positive attitude and move forward in life.

9. Why did Derry insist that he would go back to Mr. Lamb?

Ans: Derry insisted that he would go back to Mr. Lamb as he opened a new world of thought
and wisdom for Derry. Derry was comfortable and happy in Mr. Lamb‟s company and
completely forgot his handicap. He felt he too could live an independent life as he had all his
faculties intact.

10. What does Mr. Lamb try to tell Derry through the example of a weed and a flower?

Ans: Through the example of a weed and a flower Mr. Lamb speaks against discrimination
and the futility of appearance. He tells Derry that people should have a broader perception
and positive attitude towards life. He does not want Derry to feel an outcast so he says all
living things are the same and should be given respect.
 MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD
- Zitkala-Sa and Bama
1. How did Zitkala-Sa try to prevent the shingling of her hair?

Ans: Zitkala-Sa disappeared unnoticed and entered a large room with three beds. She crawled
under the beds and cuddled herself in a dark corner. She could not hide there for long and
was soon dragged out. She resisted by kicking and scratching wildly but then she was tied
fast in a chair and her long and heavy hair was shingled.

2. Why was Zitkala-Sa terrified when Judewin told her that her hair would be cut short?

Ans: Zitkala-Sa was terrified because she had got to know that the authorities wanted to cut
her long hair. In her community hair of mourners, prisoners of war and cowards were cut and
therefore she made a vain attempt to prevent her hair from being shingled by hiding herself.

3. What did Zitkala-Sa feel when her long hair was cut?

Ans: Zitkala-Sa felt rather anguished and indignant when her long hair was cut. She lost her
spirit and felt as helpless as a puppet. She got the feeling of being an animal driven by a
herder and desperately looked for some comfort. With her hair being shingled like a
coward‟s, she moaned in anguish. She also felt she had lost her distinct cultural recognition
and identity.

4. “I felt like sinking to the floor,” says Zitakala-Sa. When did she feel so and why?

Ans: Zitkala-Sa felt like sinking to the floor when the blanket she had donned over her
immodest - looking dress was stripped from her shoulders. She felt uncomfortable in her
tight-fitting clothes and because she was ill at ease.

5. At the dining table why did Zitkala-Sa begin to cry when others started eating?

Ans: As Zitkala-sa glanced at the long chain of tables, she caught the eyes of a pale face
woman upon her. She wondered why she was being so keenly watched by the strange
woman. She was not used to eating by formula. When the third bell tapped and the others
started eating, she felt out of place and began crying instead.

6. When did Bama first come to know of the social discrimination faced by the people of
her community?

Ans: Bama was in the third standard and she used to walk from her school to her home. One
day she saw an elderly man carrying a small packet that contained some eatables. He held the
packet 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 but Annan, her elder brother, told her that
the man was not being funny and he was in fact from a low caste because of which he
couldn‟t touch the food packet.
7. Why did the landlord‟s man ask Bama‟s brother, on which street he lived? What was
the significance?

Ans: The landlord‟s man asked Bama‟s brother on which street he lived in order to find out
his caste. During those times, when untouchability was prevalent, each caste lived in a
particular street and by enquiring about the street where one lived, helped to determine his
caste.

8. What advice did Annan offer Bama?

Ans: Annan loves his sister Bama dearly and acts as her true guide and philosopher. He told
her that being Dalits they would never be given any dignity or respect. He advised her to
study and make progress to throw away these indignities. He advises to his sister about the
indigenous method of outdoing the upper class by winning laurels in their examinations and
thus earning their admiration.

9. What is common between Zitkala-Sa and Bama?

Ans: Zitkala-Sa and Bama have a lot in common as far as their suffering is concerned. They
both belonged to marginalised communities. Zitkala-Sa was a victim of cultural invasion
where her own cultural identity was being threatened and Bama was a victim of
untouchability that is a form of struggle for class.