Comprehension Check - Page 18
Q1. Where did the ceremonies take place? Can you name any public buildings in India that are made of sandstone?
Ans: The ceremonies took place in the campus of the Union Building of Pretoria.
The
Parliament House in New Delhi, the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, the
Supreme Court of India in New Delhi and Madras High Court in Chennai
are some examples of Indian public buildings that are made of sandstone.
Q2. Can you say how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?
Ans: 10
May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa because on this day there was
the largest gathering of international leaders on South African soil for
the installation of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial
government.
Comprehension Check - Page 19
Q3.
At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions “an extraordinary
human disaster”. What does he mean by this? What is the “glorious …
human achievement” he speaks of at the end?
Ans: By
human disaster, Mandela means to say that coloured people have suffered
a lot due to discrimination at the hands of whites. He considered it as
a great glorious human achievement that a black person became the
president of a country where the blacks are not considered as a human
being and are treated badly.
Ans: Mandela felt privileged to be the host to the nations of the world because not too long ago, the South Africans were considered outlaws. He thus thanked all the international leaders for having come to witness his investiture as President since this event could be considered as a common victory for justice, peace and human dignity.
Q5. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?
Ans:
Mandela set out the ideals of poverty alleviation, removal of the
suffering of people. He also set the ideal for a society where there
would be no discrimination based on gender or racial origins.
Oral Comprehension Check - Page 21
Q1. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why?
Ans: The
highest military generals of the South African defence force and police
saluted Mandela and pledged their loyalty. Their attitude towards
blacks had taken great change. Instead of arresting a black, they
saluted him.
Q2. Why were two national anthems sung?
Ans:
On the auspicious occasion of the inauguration ceremony, two national
anthems were sung – the Whites sang ‘Nkosi Sikelel –iAfrika’ and the
Blacks sang ‘Die Stem’ that was the old anthem of the Republic. Both the
anthems symbolized the equality of rights between Whites and Blacks.
Q3. How does Mandela describe the systems of government in his country
(i) in the first decade, and
(ii) in the final decade, of the twentieth century?
Ans:
(i)
In the first decade of the twentieth century, the white-skinned people
of South Africa patched up their differences and erected a system of
racial domination against the dark-skinned people of their own land,
thus creating the basis of one of the harshest and most inhumane
societies the world had ever known.
(ii) In
the last decade of the twentieth century, the previous system had been
overturned forever and replaced by one that recognized the rights and
freedoms of all peoples, regardless of the colour of their skin.
Q4. What does courage mean to Mandela?
Ans: For
Mandela courage does not mean the absence of fear but a victory over
fear. According to him brave men need not be fearless but should be able
to conquer fear.
Q5. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
Ans: For Mandela, love comes more naturally to the human heart than hate.
Oral Comprehension Check - Page 24
Q1. What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?
Ans: Mandela
mentions that every man has twin obligations. The first is to his
family, parents, wife and children; the second obligation is to his
people, his community and his country.
Q2.
What did being free mean to Mandela as a boy, and as a student? How
does he contrast these “transitory freedoms” with “the basic and
honourable freedoms”?
Ans: Like
any other kid for Mandela also the freedom meant a freedom to make
merry and enjoy a blissful life. Once anybody becomes an adult, then
antics of childhood looks transitory because most of the childish
activity is wasteful from an adult’s perspective. Once you are an adult
then someday you have to earn a livelihood to bring the bacon home, then
only you get an honourable existence in the family and in the society.
Q3. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not?
Ans: Mandela
does not feel that the oppressor is free because according to him an
oppressor is a prisoner of hatred, who is locked behind the bars of
prejudice and narrow-mindedness. He feels that both the oppressor and
the oppressed are robbed of their humanity.
Thinking about the Text
Q1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?Ans: The presence of a large number of international leaders was a gesture of solidarity from the international community to the idea of the end of apartheid. It signified the triumph of good over evil, the triumph of the idea of a tolerant society without any discrimination.
Q2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots” who had gone before him?
Ans: Mandela wants to pay his tribute to all the people who had sacrificed their lives for the sake of freedom. he feels that he is the sum of all those African patriots who had gone before him because those heroes of yesterday years had paved the path of co-operation and unity for him. Therefore, he got the support of his people to be able to come to power to bring equality for his own people.
Q3. Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples to this argument?
Ans: Yes, I agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”. Nelson Mandela illustrates this by giving examples of great heroes of South Africa who sacrificed their lives in the long freedom struggle. India is full of such examples.
During our freedom struggle, there was a galaxy of leaders of great characters. Probably the oppression of British rule created so many men of such characters. If we compare this with the quality of political leaders India is having today, then Nelson Mandela seems to be absolutely right.
Q4. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
Ans: With age, Nelson Mandela realised that he had a lot of responsibilities for his people, his community and his country. As a boy, Mandela did not have a hunger for freedom because he thought that he was born free. He believed that as long as he obeyed his father and abided by the customs of his tribe, he was free in every possible manner.
He had certain needs as a teenager and certain needs as a young man. Gradually, he realized that he was selfish during his boyhood. He slowly understands that it is not just his freedom that is being curtailed, but the freedom of all blacks. It is after attaining this understanding that he develops a hunger for the freedom of his people.
Q5. How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?
Ans: Mandela realized in his youth that it was not just his freedom that was being curtailed, but the freedom of all blacks. The hunger for his own freedom became the hunger for the freedom of his people. This desire for a non-racial society transformed him into a virtuous and self-sacrificing man. Thus, he joined the African National Congress and this changed him from a frightened young man into a bold man.
2023
Q1: Mandela said, "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love.” Discuss. (2023)
Ans: When Mandela said "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love,” he is making an observation that people don’t start hating other people the moment they are born, they learn to hate others as they go by. People are born without prejudice, it is our conditioning that teaches us to discriminate. Mandela is hopeful that if people can be taught to hate so can they be taught to love. He expresses his confidence that behaving lovingly comes naturally to humans, and so it will be easier for them to love one another. He derived his confidence from his experiences in prison. He was treated harshly in prison and faced much torture, but even during those dark times, he would find one of the guards pitying him. It taught him that even oppressors have a heart and can change if given a chance.
Q2: 'No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background or his religion’. Do you agree? Elaborate on the basis of the chapter "Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom”. (2023)
Ans: Nelson Mandela believes that freedom is indivisible. He also says that no one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Even in the grimmest times in prison, when his comrades and he were pushed to their limits, he would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but it was enough to reassure him and keep him going. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished.
2021
Q1: 'and now it was a gathering of different colours’. (Term I, 2021-22)
What does the author mean by the underlined phrase?
(a) A multi-coloured rainbow in the sky
(b) Decoration of different colours
(c) Leaders of different nations gathered there
(d) African people wearing different colours
Ans: (c)
2020
Q1: What did Nelson Mandela remember on the day of the inaugural ceremony? (2020)
Ans: On the day of the inaugural ceremony, Nelson Mandela was overwhelmed with a sense of history. He remembered the birth of their Apartheid, its effect on his people and their long fight for freedom, the racial discrimination dark-skinned people suffered on their own land. He also remembered the freedom fighters who suffered and sacrificed their lives for freedom. Then he remembered how the system had been over-turned forever and ever and replaced by one that recognised the right and freedom of all people, regardless of the colour of their skin.
Q2: What does Mandela refer to as 'so glorious a human achievement'? (2020 C)
Ans: Nelson Mandela considers the fact that a black person became the President of India in a place where blacks were not treated even treated equally as human beings as 'so glorious a human achievement'.
2019
Q1: Which two obligations, according to Nelson Mandela, does every man have in life? How could a man not fulfill these obligations in a country like South Africa? (2019 C)
Ans: In this lesson, Nelson Mandela talks about two obligations that are there in every man’s life. The first obligation is towards the family, parents, his wife, and children. The second obligation is towards his community and his parents. Mandela says that a man is free to do one’s duties only when he has his freedom. A person of color in South Africa was oppressed and not allowed or free to perform his obligations and was punished if he tried to do that. The author says that he never thought of these things before as a child, but after he grew up and began to think about it, he fought for the people and their freedom to perform their personal and social duties.
