9th std WEATHERING THE STORM IN ERSAMA

WEATHERING THE STORM IN ERSAMA

By– Harsh Mander

Short Answer Type Questions  (30 to 40 words)

 1. Where were Prashant and his friends during the two days of the super cyclone? What did they live on? Where did they get their ‘food’ from?

Ans. The rainwater was entering the house during the super cyclone. So, Prashant and his friend’s family remained on the roof of the house for two days. Two coconut trees had fallen on the roof of the house. Prashant and his friend’s family lived on them. They got their food from these tender coconuts.

2. (i) Why was it difficult for Prashant to travel back to his village?

 Ans. There was water everywhere. He had to use his stick to locate the road. At some places, it was waist deep and the progress was slow. Sometimes, he lost the road and had to swim. After some distance, he found two friends of his uncle. They decided to move ahead together. They had to push away many human bodies floating on the water.

(ii) “His heart went cold’ when he reached his village. Why?

Ans. At last Prashant reached his village Kalikuda. His heart sank. His house was gone. His family was nowhere. In order to look for his family, Prashant went to the Red Cross Shelter. Fortunately, his family was alive. They were very glad to see Prashant. He came to know that eighty-six lives were lost in his village and all the ninety-six houses had been washed away.

Q.3.What were the two important tasks Prashant did after deciding to be the leader of the village? 

Ans. The first task was that he organised a group of youths and elders to make the merchant give them rice. They succeeded in their mission. Secondly, he made a team of youth volunteers. They cleaned the shelter of the dirt, urine, vomit and floating carcasses.

 Q.4. How did the villagers make the helicopters drop regular quantities of the flood?

 Ans. Prashant and others devised a plan to attract the attention of the helicopters. They deputed children to lie there with empty utensils on their stomachs. This was done to communicate to the helicopters that they were hungry. The scheme worked and the helicopters started dropping food regularly.

Q.5. How did Prashant and his friend’s family pass two days of the super cyclone?

Ans. As the flood water was rising, Prashant and his friend’s family sat on the open roof of the house. They froze in the cold and continuous rain. Two coconut trees had fallen on the roof. They proved to be a blessing in disguise. They survived by eating the tender coconuts.

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS

Q1 Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.

(a) It was a journey he would never forget. He constantly had to use his stick to locate the

road, to determine where the water was most shallow.

i. Who is referred to as ‘he’? Where was ‘he’ going?

Prashant, a nineteen year old boy is referred to as ‘he’. He was going to his

village, Kalikuda from Ersama.

ii. What disaster had struck the area? Where was ‘he’ at that time?

The area had been struck by a severe cyclone. Prashant had been at his friend’s

house in Ersama and had spent two days huddled with his friend’s family on the

roof top.

iii. What made the journey ‘unforgettable?

Prashant armed with a long sturdy stick undertook the eighteen kilometre long

journey through swollen flood waters. Fortunately, he met two friends of his

uncle. They could barely see any house standing in any village that they passed.

They had to push away human bodies and animal carcasses as they moved

ahead.

iv. Give the antonym of the word ’shallow’.

deep

(b) The message got through, and after that the helicopter made regular rounds of the

shelter.

i. Who was trying to send a message and to whom?

The youth task force at the shelter in the cyclone hit village of Kalikuda were

trying to send a message to the military helicopter that dropped food parcels,

five days after the cyclone.

ii. What message was they trying to send and why?

They were trying to send the message to the military helicopters that they were

hungry. The military helicopter had dropped the food parcels one day and then

did not return.

iii. What did they do to send the message?

The youth task force gathered the empty utensils from the shelter and then

deputed the children to lie in the sand around the shelter with the utensils on

their stomach.

iv. Explain the meaning of the phrase-‘got through’.

succeeded in making oneself understood

Q2 Answer each of the following questions in about 30-40 words.

(a) How were the two coconut trees that fell on the roof of his friend’s house, a blessing

in disguise?

The two coconut trees that fell on the roof of his friend’s house were a blessing

in disguise because the tender coconuts from the trees kept the trapped family

from starving in the several days that followed.

(b) Why did Prashant resist the government’s plan to set up institutions for the orphans

and widows?

He resisted the government’s plan to set up institutions for the orphans and

widows because he felt that in such institutions the children would grow up

without love and the widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness. He

believed that the widows and the orphans should be resettled in their own

community.

Q3 Answer each of the following questions in about 100-150 words.

(a) What did Prashant sense wrong with the people at the shelter? How did he solve the

problem?

Prashant could sense the feeling of a deathly grief settling fast upon the 2500

people in the shelter. They mourned for the people who died due to the flood

and the property they lost. It was their fourth day at the shelter. So far they had

survived on tender coconuts but they were not many to feed all.

Prashant decided to step in as the leader. First he organized a group of youths

and elders to jointly pressurize the merchant to give rice. Next he organized a

team of youth volunteers to clean the shelter and tend to the wounds and

fractures of the injured.

(b) How did Prashant help the widows and the orphans of his village?

Prashant was quick to realize that the widows and orphans were sinking deeper

into their grief.

Prashant set up a polythene shelter for the orphans. Women were mobilised to

look after them while the men secured food and materials for the shelter. He

organized sports events to help the children recover from their grief.

He persuaded the widows to start working in the food-for-work programme

started by an NGO. He helped them set up foster families for orphans

He believed orphans should be resettled in their own community, in foster

families made up of childless widows and children without adult care. With the

help of other volunteers, Prashant helped the orphans and widows pick up the

broken pieces of their lives.

He helped them emotionally and psychologically.

 Value-based questions:-

ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Describe the destruction caused by the super cyclone as narrated in the story *Weathering the Storm in Ersama’.

Ans. On 27th October 1999, Prashant went to meet one of his friends who lived in Ersama. The place was eighteen kilometres from his village. In the evening, a super cyclone came. Winds beat against the houses with great fury. There was heavy and continuous rain. Houses and people were washed away in the flood. His friend’s house was made of bricks and cement. It was strong enough to survive the wind blowing at 350 km per hour. hut one uprooted tree fell on their house and damaged some part of its roof and walls. To escape the waters rising in the house, Prashant and his friend’s family took refuge on the roof. For the next two days, Prashant sat huddled with his friend’s family on the rooftop. They froze in cold and rain. In the early morning, Prashant saw the destruction caused by the cyclone. There was a sheet of water everywhere. Only parts of cemented houses were still visible. All other houses had been washed away. Even huge trees had fallen. Bloated dead-bodies of animals and human beings were floating everywhere.

Q.2. Describe how Prashant reached his village after the cyclone?

Ans. The destruction caused by the cyclone and the waves of the ocean continued for the next thirty-six hours. Two days later, the rain ceased and the rainwater slowly began to recede. Prashant was worried about his family. He took a long stick and started on the eighteen kilometres long and difficult journey to his village. There was water everywhere. He had to use his stick to locate the road. At places, it was waiting deep and the progress was slow. Sometimes, he lost the road and had to swim. After some distance, he found two friends of his uncle. They decided to move ahead together. They had to push away many human bodies floating on the water. There were also carcasses of dogs, goats and cattle. In every village they passed, they could barely see a house standing. Ile feared that his family could not have survived the cyclone. At last, he reached his village Kalikuda. His heart sank. His house was gone. His family was nowhere. In order to look for his family, Prashant went to the Red Cross Shelter. Fortunately, his family was alive. They were very glad to see Prashant. He came to know that eighty-six lives were lost in his village and all the ninety-six houses had been washed away.

Q.3. Describe how Prashant helped himself and others at the time of the natural calamity?

Ans. The cyclone caused a lot of damage in Prashant’s village and surrounding areas. Prashant decided to help his own family and the others. He organised a group of youths. They pressurized the local merchant to give rice to the starving villagers. They burnt a fire and cooked the rice, although it was rotten; His next step was to clean the place of filth, dirt, urine and floating dead bodies. They tended the wounds and fractures of many who had been injured. On the fifth day, a military helicopter dropped food. But it did not return. Prashant and others devised a plan to attract the attention of the helicopters. They deputed children to lie there with empty utensils on their stomachs. This was done to communicate to the helicopters that they were hungry. The scheme worked and the helicopters started dropping food regularly.

The Prashant brought the orphaned children and made a shelter for them. He asked the woman to look after them. But he found that women and children were sinking deeper and deeper into their grief. A non-government organization had started a food for work programme. Prashant persuaded them to join it. He eng..get other volunteers to help widows start their lives again. The orphaned children were resettled in their own community.