NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Beehive Chapter 6 : My Childhood

This is a famous biography of APJ Abdul Kalam.' My Childhood' deals with the early life of APJ Abdul Kalam. He was born in the town of Rameshwaram. His father's name is Jainulabdeen, and his mother's name is Ashiamma. They were very generous people. His father avoided any luxuries, but they have all the necessities in their house. Kalam's family was not rich, but they still had dinner with some outsiders every day. When the Second World War broke out, there was good demand for tamarind seeds. Kalam used to accumulate these seeds and sell them at an anna. His cousin used to distribute newspapers to the town, and he needed a helping hand, so he employed Kalam. Kalam took great pride in earning his first salary. Kalam had three best friends Ramananda Sastry, Aravindan and Shivaprakasan.

All of them were from Hindu brahmins family. When he was in the fifth standard, he sat with Ramananda. A new teacher and he did not like a Muslim boy sitting with a Hindu boy, so he made Kalam sit at the back. They both felt terrible and told about the incident at their home. For this, the teacher had to listen to Ramananda father's scolding. Another incident was when a science teacher invited Kalam for a meal. The teacher was a Brahman, so her wife refused to serve a Muslim boy from her hands, so his teacher Iyer served the meal with his own hands. These incidents had a deep impact on Kalam's mind. He wanted to go to Ramanathapuram for his studies, and his father allowed him to go because he wanted his son to grow.