Moments Weathering the Storm in Ersama - NCERT Solutions

CBSE Class 09 English Language and Literature
NCERT Solutions
Moments Chapter 6
Weathering the Storm in Ersama

Page No: 42   Think About It
1. What havoc has the super cyclone wreaked in the life of the people of Orissa?
Ans: The super cyclone devastated everything in Ersama,a small town in coastal Orissa. As a result, majority of the houses were destroyed,people lost their families and belongings,trees were uprooted. Only the strong cement houses were spared. The air was filled with screams .As far as the eye could see,the land was seen covered with dirty brown with bloated animal carcasses and human corpses floating on that water.The scenes were gruesome.People could be seen trying to save whatever they could lay their hands on. There was shortage of food. People were sad and helpless and a pall of gloom had descended on the people all around.

2. How has Prashant, a teenager, been able to help the people of his village?
Ans: Prashant showed the true leadership qualities. The first thing he could do was to take a grip over himself because initially he himself was shocked to witness the destruction all around.Then he decided to step in as the leader of the village and motivated other people for self help. He organized a group of youths and elders to jointly pressurize the merchant to give rice for the people living in the shelter. He was successful in this task. His next task was to organize a team of youth volunteers to clean the shelter of filth and to tend to the wounds and fractures of the people who had been injured because of the cyclone.Prashant also brought a number of orphaned children together and constructed a polythene shelter for them. While women were mobilized to look after them, the men secured food and other essentials for the shelter. When he realized that the women were becoming too grief-stricken, he persuaded them to start working in the food-for-work program, which was initiated by an NGO. He also organized sports events for children.This way Prashant ,with the help of other volunteers,helped the other people in picking up the broken pieces of their lives.

3. How have the people of the community helped one another? What role do the women of Kalikuda play during these days?
Ans: 
The people of the community joined hands and began to help one another under the leadership of young Prashant. They succeeded in pressurizing the merchant to part with his rice for the people in the shelter. They gathered branches from fallen trees and lit a fire, on which they cooked rice for all to eat.When the military helicopter dropped some food parcels but did not return, the youth task force gathered empty utensils from the shelter and made the children lie in the sand with the utensils on their stomachs to communicate to the passing helicopters that they were hungry. The message went through and the helicopter made regular rounds of the shelter, air dropping food and other basic needs.
Women were mobilized to look after the orphans, while the men secured food and materials for the shelter. In spite of being grief stricken, the women started working in the food-for-work program started by an NGO.

4. What do Prashant and other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows? Why alternatives do they consider?
Ans: Prashant and other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows  because they believed that in such institutions children will grow up without love and affection and widows would suffer from stigma and loneliness. Instead, Prashant and his group suggested that the children and widows should be resettled in their own community where they can get a homely environment. To create a sense of belongingness and to foster love and affection, they planned to complement the needs of orphaned and childless people. They brought them under one roof to heal their mental wounds.

Page No: 43
5. Do you think Prashant is good leader? Do you think young people can get together to help people during natural calamities?
Ans:
 Yes, Prashant is a very good leader. Though he himself was too grief-stricken, yet he got a hold of himself and decided to step in as the leader of the village.He understood the need of the hour and acted accordingly.He also motivated other people of the village to come forward and join him in helping the people gather themselves.
Yes,young people can definitely get together to help people during natural calamities and otherwise. If they come together then it gives them a sense of strength to tide over the crisis. They can use their strength and vigor to help people.