LESSON – 6

MEMORIES OF CHILD
About the author

BEFORE YOU READ

This unit presents autobiographical episodes from the lives of two women from marginalised
communities who look back on their childhood, and reflect on their relationship with the
mainstream culture. The first account is by an American Indian woman born in the late
nineteenth century; the second is by a contemporary Tamil Dalit writer.
Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, born in 1876, was an extraordinarily talented and educated
Native American woman who struggled and triumphed in a time when severe prejudice
prevailed towards Native American culture and women. As a writer, she adopted the pen
name ‘Zitkala-Sa’ and in 1900 began publishing articles criticising the Carlisle Indian school.
Her works criticised dogma, and her life as a Native American woman was dedicated against
the evils of oppression.
Bama is the pen-name of a Tamil Dalit woman from a Roman Catholic family. She has
published three main works: an autobiography, ‘Karukku’, 1992; a novel, ‘Sangati’, 1994;
and a collection of short stories, ‘Kisumbukkaaran’, 1996. The following excerpt has been
taken from ‘Karukku’. ‘Karukku’ means ‘Palmyra’ leaves, which with their serrated edges on
both sides, are like double-edged swords. By a felicitous pun, the Tamil word ‘Karukku’,
containing the word ‘karu’, embryo or seed, also means freshness, newness.

CHARACTERS AND PLACES

Gertrude Simmons : The narrator of the story
Zudewin : A friend of Gertrude Simmons (Zitkala-Sa)
A pale-faced woman : A teacher or a member of staff at the Carlisle Indian Industrial
School in Carlisle.
Bama : The narrator of the story
Annan : Elder brother of bama

INTRODUCTION (PART – I)
This account relates to an American Indian woman who becomes the victim of racial
discrimination. She is admitted to a school where native Indians do not get respect, honour,
dignity and due weightage in America. She is forced by the whites to follow their traditions and
traits. Simmons is dragged out and tied to a chair to shingle out her long hair. She cries,
struggles, kicks, resists, shows reluctance and she ultimately feels like one of the many
animals driven by a herder.

SUB- TITLE: “THE CUTTING OF MY LONG HAIR”

She was shocked to know that the school authorities were going to cut her long hair as it was
the system of that school. But in her community shingled hair was worn only by cowards. So,
she hid herself under a bed in a large room. The loss of her hair was the worst indignity that
she went through.

INTRODUCTION (PART – II)

The lesson describes the story of a fun loving little girl. She loves to observe every bit of thing
happening in and around her street. But one day she while noticing an incident comes to know
about the reality of a social evil in our country that is the practice of untouchability.

SUB-TITLE: “WE TOO ARE HUMAN BEINGS”

The sub-title “We Too Are Human Beings” by Bama is an extract from her autobiography
‘Karukku’. It is a loud piercing cry of a small child who cannot bear to see the people of her
caste being segregated and ill-treated. She is shocked when she learns from her brother that
there are two classes of people in their set up-the upper and lower-and that the upper caste
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people consider themselves to be superior and those of so called lower caste to be inferior.
Sometimes the latter are given inhuman treatment, too. They have been taught from their
childhood that if they touch the lower caste people, they will be polluted. The sensitive child is
unable to digest it, because she feels that every human being is equal and her class justifiably
deserves to be treated as human beings. Thus she takes her brother’s advice seriously and
works very hard to stand first in the examinations.

TITLE OF THE LESSON

The title 'Memories of Childhood' is very appropriate and suggestive. The chapter aims to
showcase the bitter memories of the childhood of two women of different cultures through
their autobiographical extracts of social discrimination and oppression and the resulting
feelings of rebellion in them later in life. Zitkala-Sa and Bama, both look back at their
childhood reflecting upon the indignities and conflict between races and cultures respectively,
which they had to face as children. Though the women were young, they knew well of the
injustice and oppression that prevailed and were determined to face the odds and stand
against it. The atrocities they faced as children, propelled them into becoming rebels against
the marginalisation of the underprivileged section of the society, and they went on with their
fight against injustice.

THEME OF THE LESSON

Memories of Childhood explore a common universal theme of prejudices and humiliation faced
by marginalized communities from mainstream culture and how both brave girls use their
talent, understanding, wit and education to stand up for their own and community rights. Both
use the power of pen to fight oppression.

MESSAGE OF THE LESSON

The lesson 'Memories of Childhood' is a portrayal of two autobiographical accounts. One by
American Indian woman and the second by a Tamil Dalit writer. Both stories highlight the
women's oppression, class barriers, racialism, discrimination and exploitation that tend to pull
them down.

GIST OF THE LESSON

 The story begins with the introduction of the Carlisle Indian School. The narrator
describes her first day at school. It was very cold and unpleasant as there was a lot of
snow around. The entire extract deals with Zitkala-Sa’s shingling of hair. When she
came to this school, she found it a strange place where everything seemed to be
mechanical. A very loud and metallic bell rang for breakfast. There was an annoying
clatter of feet on the entire bare floor. She is unnerved because of so much noise.
 Here, she finds that all the girls start marching to the dining room after hearing the
bell. They have been supervised by a pale-faced woman. Small girls wore aprons and
had shingled hair. The girls were dressed in clinging clothes. The breakfast was served
and eaten very mechanically. There was a bell to stand, another to sit, next to pray and
after that another to start the breakfast. All this was totally new for the narrator.
 Her friend Judewin warned her that the pale-faced woman was talking about the cutting
of her long hair. The narrator did not want her hair to be shingled because, in her
community, shingling of hair was considered as inauspicious and undignified. Only the
traitors or the mourners had their hair shingled. Though her friend told her that they
would have to submit as others were stronger. The narrator decided to struggle and not
to submit. She creeps upstairs unnoticed and hid herself under the bed in a dark
corner. But finally, she was discovered and dragged out. She scratched and kicked but
was forcibly taken downstairs and was tied fast to a chair. Her thick braids were cut off.
And with this, she lost her spirits. She realised the indignities suffered by her after she
was separated from her mother. She was tossed here and there like a wooden puppet
and felt humiliated like a coward. She was treated like an animal and no one came to
comfort her.

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We Too Are Human Beings
 In this story, Bama narrates the experiences of a young Dalit school girl in a south
Indian village. The narrator had never heard of untouchability being talked about openly
by anyone but she felt, experienced and was humiliated by what she saw. While coming
back from school, she used to spend a lot of time watching all the fun and games,
entertaining novelties, oddities, shops in the bazaar on the way. She used to watch
performing monkeys, a man pedalling for days, the activities at Maariyaata temple, the
statue of Gandhiji, the sweets and snacks, hunter gipsy and wild lemurs in cages. She
used to hear the political parties giving speeches, saw the puppet show, street plays,
coffee shops, fruit trees and peddlers selling fruits, snacks, halwa and iced lollies.
 While on the way, she saw an interesting scene outside the landlord’s house. Here a
threshing floor was set up with the landlord watching the proceedings. Some people
were driving cattle for threshing the corn. She saw an elder of her community carrying
a big packet in a funny manner which made her laugh. He gave this packet which
contained vadais to the landlord without touching it and the landlord opened the packet
and ate the vadais.
 Bama narrates this incident to her brother with all the comic details. But to her
surprise, her brother is not amused. The narrator is told that the landlord was of upper
caste and their touch would pollute the food. This made the narrator sad and angry and
felt outraged at the exploitation. She condemns it as a curse against humanity. She
strongly believed that their community should boycott and refuse to do petty errands.
She came to know that despite being so educated, her brother was questioned about
his caste. All the Dalits used to live together in a separate place away from the upper
class.
 Annan, her brother, told the narrator that they are not respected or given dignity due to
their community.
 He said that education is the only way to gain respect. The narrator was advised to
work hard and learn. She obeyed her brother with great determination and studied
hard. She stood first in her class. Many people tried to befriend her.

Answer the following questions in 30 to 40 words.

1. What does Zitkala-Sa remember about her ‘first day in the land of apples’?
Ans. It was a bitter-cold day. The snow still covered the ground. The trees were bare. A large
bell rang for breakfast. Its loud metallic sound crashed through the belfry overhead and
penetrated into their sensitive ears.

2. How did Zitkala-Sa react to the various sounds that came when the large bell rang
for breakfast?
Ans. The annoying clatter of shoes on bare floors disturbed the peace. There was a constant
clash of harsh noises and an undercurrent of many voices murmuring an unknown tongue. All
these sounds made a bedlam within which she was securely tied. Her spirit tore itself in
struggling for its lost freedom.

3. Where were the girls taken and how?

Ans. The girls were marching into the dining room in a line. The Indian girls were in stiff
shoes and tightly sticking dresses. The small girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair. They
did not seem to care that they were indecently dressed.

4. “I felt like sinking to the floor”, says Zitkala-Sa. When did she feel so and why?
Ans. It was her first day at school. She was marching into the dining room with other girls in
a line. She walked noiselessly in her soft moccasins. But she felt that she was immodestly
dressed, as her blanket had been removed from her shoulders. So, she felt like sinking to the
floor.

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5. “But this eating by formula was not the hardest trial in that first day”, says
Zitkala-Sa. What does she mean by ‘eating by formula’?
Ans. The ringing of a large bell summoned the students to the dining room. Then a small bell
tapped. Each pupil drew a chair from under the table. Then a second bell was sounded. All
were seated. A man’s voice was heard at one end of the hall. They hung their heads over the
plates. The man ended his mutterings. Then a third bell tapped. Everyone picked up his/her
knife and fork and began eating.

6. How did Zitkala-Sa find the ‘eating by formula’ a hard trial?

Ans. She did not know what to do when the various bells were tapped and behaved unlike
others. When the first bell rang, she pulled out her chair and sat in it. As she saw others
standing, she began to rise. She looked shyly around to see how chairs were used. When the
second bell was sounded, she had to crawl back into her chair. She looked around when a man
was speaking at the end of the hall. She dropped her eyes when she found the paleface
woman looking at her. After the third bell, others started eating, but she began to cry.

7. What did Judewin tell Zitkala-Sa? How did she react to it?
Ans. Judewin knew a few words of English. She had overheard the paleface woman. She was
talking about cutting their long, heavy hair. Judewin said, “We have to submit, because they
are strong.” Zitkala-Sa rebelled. She declared that she would not submit. She would struggle
first.

8. ‘Why, do you think, was Zitkala-Sa so opposed to cutting of her hair?

Ans. Zitkala-Sa had heard from her m other that only unskilled warriors, who were captured,
had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among their people, short hair was worn by mourners,
and shingled hair by cowards. Since she was neither, she was dead against cutting of her long
hair.

9. How did Zitkala-Sa try to avoid the inevitable loss of her long hair?
Ans. She crept up the stairs and passed along the hall. She did not know where she was
going. She turned aside to an open door. She found a large room with three white beds in it.
The windows were covered with dark green curtains. She went to the corner farthest from the
door and crawled under the bed in the darkest corner.

10. How was the search made for Zitkala-Sa?

Ans. First, they called out her name in the hall in loud voices. Then the steps were quickened.
The voices became excited. The sounds came nearer. Women and girls entered the room. They
opened closet doors. They peeped behind large trunks. Someone threw up the curtains. The
room was filled with sudden light. Someone stooped, looked under the bed and found her
there.

11. How was Zitkala-Sa treated on being traced from her hiding place?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa was dragged out. She tried to resist by kicking and scratching wildly. But she
was overpowered. She was carried downstairs and tied fast in a chair. She cried aloud and
kept shaking her head.

12. What did Zitkala-Sa feel when her long hair was cut? ‘
Ans. When she heard them remove one of her thick braids, she lost her spirit. She had
suffered utmost indignities there. People had stared at her. She had been tossed about in the
air like a wooden puppet and now her long hair was shingled like a coward’s. In her anguish,
she moaned for her mother. She felt herself as one of the many little animals driven by a
herder.

13. Which words of her brother made a deep impression on Bama?

Ans. While returning home, Bama’s elder brother told her that although people do not get to
decide the family they are born into, they can outwit the indignities inflicted upon them. It left
a deep impression on her.
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14. Name some of the novelties and oddities in the streets that attracted Bama?
Ans. These included the performing monkey, the snake charmer’s snake, the cyclist who had
kept on biking for three days, the spinning wheels, the Maariyaata temple and the huge bell
hanging there. She also noticed the pongal offerings being cooked in front of the temple.

15. What were the articles in flit stalls and shops that fascinated Bama?
Ans. She saw the dried fish stall by the statue of Gandhiji; the sweet stall, and the stall selling
fried snacks. There were many other shops next to each other. Then there was the
narikkuravan hunter gypsy. He had his wild lemur in cages. He sold needles, clay beads and
instruments for cleaning out the ears.

16. What sort of shows or entertainments attracted the passers-by?

Ans. Sometimes various political parties put up a stage. They addressed people through their
mikes. There might be a street play, a puppet show, or a “no magic, no miracle” stunt
performance. There was some entertainment or the other happening there from time to time.

17. Which actions of the people would Bama watch keenly in the bazaar?
Ans. She watched how each waiter in the various coffee clubs would cool the coffee. He would
lift a tumbler high up. Then he would pour its contents into another tumbler held in the other
hand. She observed how the people, chopping up onion, would turn their eyes elsewhere to
avoid irritation in their eyes.

18. Why was Zitkala-Sa in tears on the first day in the land of apples?
Ans. On the first day in the land of apples, Zitkala-sa was in tears. The main reason of tears
was that her hair was mercilessly cut. She had heard from her m other that only unskilled
warriors, who were captured, had their hair shingled by the enemy. That is why she shook her
head in resistance.

19. Which fruit or sweet delicacies did she observe in the bazaar?
Ans. There would be mango, cucumber, sugar-cane, sweet potato, palm-shoots, gram, palm -
syrup, palm-fruit, guavas and jack-fruit, according to the season. She would see people selling
sweet and savoury fried snacks, payasam, halva, boiled tamarind seeds and iced lollies each
day.

20. How were the threshing proceedings going on in the corner of the street?
Ans. There was a threshing floor set up in the comer of the street. People were hard at work.
They were driving cattle in pairs, round and round, to tread out the grain from the straw. The
animals were muzzled so that they couldn’t eat the straw. Bama stood there watching for fun.
The landlord was watching the proceedings. He was seated on a piece of sacking spread over a
stone ledge.

21. What, do you think, made Bama want to double up and shriek with laughter?
Ans. Bama saw an elder of their street coming along from the direction of the bazaar. He was
a big man. He was carrying a small packet, holding it out by its string. The manner in which he
was walking along ma de Bama want to double up. She wanted to shriek with laughter at the
funny sight.

22. How did the elder approach the landlord and offer him the packet?
Ans. The elder went straight up to the landlord. Then he bowed low and extended the packet
towards him. He cupped the hand that held the string with his other hand. The landlord opened
the parcel and began to eat the vadais.

23. What explanation did Bama’s elder brother Annan give her about the elder’s
“funny” behaviour?
Ans. Annan told Bama that the man was not being funny when he carried the package by the
string for his landlord. The upper caste people believed that others must not touch them. If
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they did, they would be polluted. That was the reason why he (the elder man) had to carry the
package by its string.

24. How did Bama react on learning about untouchability?

Ans. Bama became sad on listening how the upper caste people behaved towards low caste
persons like them. She felt provoked and angry. She wanted to touch those vadais herself. She
wondered why their elders should runerrants for the miserly rich upper caste landlords and
hand them over things reverently, bowing and shrinking all the while.

25. How did the landlord’s man behave with Annan?

Ans. The man thought that Annan looked unfamiliar, and asked his name respectfully.
However, his manner changed as soon as Annan told his name. The man immediately asked
the name of the street he lived in. The purpose was to identify his caste from the name of the
street.

26. How, according to Annan, was the caste system discriminatory? How can one
overcome the indignities?
Ans. Annan said that the lower caste people were never given any honour or dignity or
respect. They were deprived of all that. Thus, the caste system was discriminatory. But, if they
studied and made progress, they could throw away those indignities.

27. What advice did Annan offer Bama? What was the result?
Ans. Annan advised Bama to study with care and learn all that she could. If she was always
ahead in her lessons, people would come to her of their own accord and attach themselves to
her. Bama followed her brother’s advice and studied hard. She stood first in her class, and
because of that, many people became her friends.

Answer the following questions in 100 words.

1. Why did Zitkala-Sa feel oppressed in new establishment?
Ans. Since the day, the author was taken away from her m other, she had suffered extreme
indignities. People had stared at her. She had been tossed about in the air like a wooden
puppet. Her blanket had been removed from her shoulders. She felt that she was immodestly
dressed. She was so shocked and oppressed that she felt like sinking to the floor. Later, her
soft moccasins were taken away. These were the traditional footwear of the local Indian
American. They were replaced by squeaking shoes. She saw other Indian girls in stiff shoes
and tightly sticking dresses. The small girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair. The worst
indignity she suffered was the cutting of her long hair. The coward’s shingled hair ma de her
moan with anguish. She felt she was not a human being but one of the little animals driven by
a herder. The systematic erosion of their culture and disrespect to women was quite
oppressive.

Q2. “But this eating by formula was not the hardest trial in that first day”, says
Zitkala- Sa. What do you understand by ‘eating by formula’ and how did she find it a
hard trial?
Ans. There was a fixed procedure laid down for breakfast. Zitkala-Sa calls it ‘eating by
formula’. The ringing of a large bell summoned the inmates to the dining room. Boy s and girls
entered the dining room in lines from separate doors. Then a small bell was tapped. Each of
the pupil drew a chair from under the table. The writer also did so. She supposed this act
meant they were to be seated. So she slipped into the chair. She found others standing. Just
when she began to rise, looking shyly, the second bell sounded and all sat down. Then she
heard a man’s voice at one end of the hall. She looked around to see him. But all the others
hung their heads over their plates. She found the paleface woman watching her. When the
man ceased his muttering s, a third bell was tapped. Everyone picked up his knife and fork and
began eating. She began to cry. She was so afraid that she could not do anything further. Her
discomfiture was caused by her unfamiliarity with the procedure. However, she found it a
difficult experience—a sort of trial.

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3. “I will not submit! I will struggle first!” says Zitkala-Sa. What was she going to
resist and why? What efforts did she make and what was the outcome?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa had long, heavy hair. Her Mend Judewin had overheard the paleface woman
talk that their hair was to be shingled. Zitkala-Sa decided to resist it. Among their people,
short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by cowards. Unskilled warriors captured by
the enemy also got their hair shingled. Cutting a woman’s long hair was thus against their
tradition and culture. She tried to avoid it. She crept up the stairs quietly and hid herself under
the bed in a room with darkgreen curtains. She had crawled to the comer farthest from the
door and lay close in the darkest comer. Soon she heard her name shouted in the hall. Then
the steps were quickened and voices became excited. Women and girls entered the room. They
opened closet doors and peeped behind large trunks. Someone threw up the curtains. The
room was filled with sudden light. Someone stooped, looked under the bed and saw her there.
She was dragged out though she resisted by kicking and scratching wildly. She was carried
downstairs and tied fast in a chair. She cried aloud and kept shaking her. head till the scissors
cut her long hair.

4. What diversions in the streets, shops and the bazaar attracted Bama, tethered her
legs and stopped her from going home?
Ans. There were many novelties and oddities that attracted Bama. These included the
performing monkey, the snake charmer’s snake, the narikkuravan huntergypsy’s wild lemur in
cages, -the cyclist who had been pedalling for three days, the spinning wheels, the Maariyaata
temple and its huge bell. She also noticed the pongal offerings being cooked in front of the
temple. There was a dried fish stall near the statue of Gandhiji. There was a sweet stall and a
stall selling Med snacks. There were many shops next to each other. The public meetings of
political parties, street plays, puppet shows, and stunts were other entertainments. She would
watch how the waiters would pour coffee from a tumbler held high to another low down to cool
it. Then she saw people who chopped onion kept their eyes to another side to avoid irritation.
She admired the various fruits that cam e to the bazaar according to the season. She also
noticed people selling sweet and savoury fried snacks. These were the usual scenes and sights
that tethered her legs and stopped her from going home.

5. How did Bama react to the threshing proceedings in a corner of their street and
the spectacle of a big man carrying a packet by its string?
Ans. Bama watched the threshing floor, people working with cattle to tread out the grain and
the muzzled animals with a child’s curiosity. She stood there watching the fun. The landlord
was also watching the proceedings. He was seated on a piece of sacking spread over a ledge.
Then she saw a big man, an elder of her street, coming along from the direction of the market.
The manner in which he was walking along made her want to double up. She wanted to shriek
with laughter at the sight of such a big man carrying a small packet by its string, without
touching. She thought that the package might come undone and its contents fall out. ‘Then the
elder went straight upto the landlord, bowed low and extended the packet towards him. He
cupped the hand that held the string with his other hand. The landlord opened the parcel and
began to eat the vadais. She found the whole scene quite funny and amusing. She related it to
her brother in all its comic details.

6. How did Bama’s brother explain the elder’s behaviour to her? What was her
immediate reaction?
Ans. Bama’s elder brother, Annan, told her that the big man was not being funny when he
carried the package by the string for his landlord. The upper caste people believed that others
must not touch them. If they did so, they (people belonging to upper caste) would be polluted.
That was why he did not touch the contents but held the packet by its string. Bama didn’t want
to laugh any more now. She felt terribly sad. She could not understand how the vadai, first
wrapped in a banana leaf and then parcelled in a paper, would become disgusting if one of
them held that package in his hands. She felt so provoked and angry that she wanted to touch
those vadais herself straightaway. She wondered why they had to fetch and carry for these
people. She was infuriated that an important elder of theirs went meekly to the shops to fetch
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snacks and then handed them over reverently, bowing and shrinking to the fellow who sat
there and stuffed them in his mouth. She felt that they too were human beings. Their people
should not do petty jobs for the miserly rich upper castes. They should work in their fields,
take home their wages and leave it at that.

7. What indignities did the caste system heap on the lower castes? How could they
end the discrimination? How did Bama react to her brother’s advice?
Ans. According to Annan, the caste system was highly discriminatory. It put the lower castes
in a very disadvantageous position. They were never given any honour, dignity or respect.
They were deprived of all that. The only way to end this social discrimination was self-
improvement. They should study hard and make progress. Then they could throw away all
those indignities. He advised Bama to study with care and learn all that she could. If she was
always ahead in her lessons, people would come to her of their own accord and attach them-
selves to her. The words “work hard and learn” became the guiding principles of Bama’s life.
She studied hard with all her breath and being. She was almost in frenzy. She stood first in her
class and, because of that, many people became her friends. This was the beginning of her
illustrious career.

8. What oppression and discrimination did Zitkala-Sa and Bama experience during
their childhood? How did they respond to their respective situations?
Ans. Zitkala-Sa was a victim of social and cultural oppression by the victors who had
overpowered them by their sheer strength. They were prejudiced towards Native American
culture and women. They adopted force and oppression to compel the natives to shed their
age-old traditions and custom s. The cutting of the long hair of Zitkala-Sa is a symbol of their
oppression. She opposed this prejudice and oppression by rebelling against it. She protested
with all her strength. Bama was a victim of caste system. She had seen, felt and experienced
the evils of untouchability when she was studying in the third standard. She felt humiliated by
what it was. She struggled hard against this social discrimination. She studied hard and topped
in her class. Many students became her friends. Thus, both Zitkala-Sa and Bama fought the
existing circumstances with courage and determination and ended the prejudice, discrimination
and oppression.

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