Class 12 English Vistas Chapter 6 – Memories of childhood Short question answers

 

NCERT Solutions For Class 12 English

Vistas

Chapter 6 – Memories of childhood

Short question answers

Q1. What does Zitkala-Sa remember about her ‘first day in the land of apples’?
Ans. It was a bitterly cold day. The snow was still on the ground. The trees were barren. A huge bell rung for breakfast. Its harsh metallic sound pierced the belfry overhead and reached their sensitive ears.

Q2. How did Zitkala-Sa react to the various sounds that came when the large bell rang for breakfast?
Ans. The unpleasant clatter of sneakers on bare flooring disrupted the serenity. There was a steady clash of harsh noises and an undercurrent of countless voices whispering in an unknown language. All of these noises created a commotion in which she was tightly bound. Her spirit tore itself apart in the struggle for its lost independence.

Q3. Where were the girls taken and how ?
Ans. The females filed into the dining room in a queue. The Indian girls wore stiff shoes and tight-fitting skirts. The little girls had sleeved aprons and shingled hair. They did not seem to mind that they were poorly dressed.

Q4. “I felt like sinking to the floor”, says Zitkala-Sa. When did she feel so and why ?
Ans. It was her first day of school. She was marching into the dining room with the other females in a line. She strolled silently in her comfortable moccasins. However, she felt she was immodestly clad because her blanket had been pulled from her shoulders. She felt like sinking to the floor.

Q5. How did Zitkala-Sa find the ‘eating by formula’ a hard trial?
Ans. She didn't know what to do when the numerous bells were rung and behaved differently than others. When the first bell rang, she took out her chair and sat. As she watched others standing, she began to rise. She cautiously looked around to see how chairs were used. When the second bell rang, she had to crawl back into her chair. She looked around as a man spoke at the end of the hall. She dropped her gaze as she noticed the pale-faced woman staring at her. After the third bell, others began to eat, but she started crying.

Q6. What did Judewin tell Zitkala-Sa? How did she react to it?
Ans. Judewin knew a few words in English. She'd overheard the pale-faced woman. She was discussing cutting their long, heavy hair. Judewin stated, "We must submit because they are strong." Zitkala-Sa revolted. She stated that she would not submit. She would struggle first.

Q7. How was the search made for Zitkala-Sa?
Ans They began by calling out her name loudly in the hallway. Then the steps were accelerated. The voices grew excited. The sounds became closer. Women and girls entered the room. They opened the closet doors. They peered beneath the big trunks. Someone threw up the curtains. The room was filled with unexpected brightness. Someone stooped, peered under the bed, and discovered her there.

Q8. What did Zitkala-Sa feel when her long hair was cut? ‘
Ans. When she heard them pull one of her thick braids, she lost her spirit. She had undergone the worst indignities there. People had been staring at her. She'd been tossed around in the air like a wooden puppet, and her long hair was shingled like a coward's. In her pain, she lamented her mother. She imagined herself as one of the countless small animals led by a herder.

Q9. Name some of the novelties and oddities in the streets that attracted Bama?
Ans. These featured the performing monkey, the snakecharmer's snake, the biker who had continued to bike for three days, the spinning wheels, the Maariyaata temple, and the massive bell hanging there. She also noted that pongal offerings were being cooked in front of the shrine.

Q10. Which actions of the people would Bama watch keenly in the bazaar?
Ans. She saw how each server in the numerous coffee shops cools the coffee. He'd lift a tumbler high up. Then he'd pour the contents into another tumbler held in the opposite hand. She noticed how people who were slicing onions would divert their eyes away to avoid eye irritation.

Q11. What, do you think, made Bama want to double up and shriek with laughter?
Ans. Bama noticed an older on their street approaching from the bazaar. He was a big man. He was carrying a little packet and holding it out by the string. The way he walked made Bama want to double up. She wanted to yell with laughter at the amusing sight.

Q12. How did Bama react on learning about untouchability?
Ans. Bama were sorry after hearing how upper caste people treated low caste people like them. She felt irritated and outraged. She wanted to touch the vadais personally. She pondered why their elders should run errants for the miserly rich upper caste landlords and hand them over solemnly, bowing and shrinking the whole time.