Weathering the Storm in Ersama | Class IX

Theme :

• The story deals with courage and resolution of mind in the face of adversity.

• The story highlights the cyclone-hit Orissa in 1999 with a heavy toll on human life and property.

• The protagonist of the story, Prashant, was away in his friend's house in a nearby village when the cyclone struck.

• He started rehabilitation work with the help of volunteers.

• They extended their helping hands and cleaned the shelter, provided food for the survivors, and helped the grieving widows and children to begin their life afresh.

• The story thus revolves around Prashant who helped the people of his village recover and rehabilitate themselves after the devastation caused by the super cyclone that killed thousands of people in Orissa in 1999.

NCERT Solution:

Think About It

1. What havoc has the super cyclone wreaked in the life of the people of Orissa?

Ans: The following are the havoc scenes that super cyclone has caused in the life of the people of Orissa.

• Incessant rain uprooted the trees and weak houses. Only a few cement houses withstood the storm.

• Bloated animal carcasses and human corpses floated everywhere.

• There were human bodies and carcasses of dogs, goats, and cattle floating all around .

• Eighty-six lives were lost in the village and ninety-six houses had been washed away.

• At the Red Cross shelter near Prashant's village, a deathly gloom could be sensed settling over the survivors.

2. How has Prashant, a teenager, been able to help the people of his village?

Ans: Prashant has shown great courage and strength of character to help the people of his village in their hour of crisis.

• He gathered a group of youths and elders and jointly pressurises the merchant to part with rice. They succeeded in their effort and the villagers could eat something in four days.

• He then organized a team of youth volunteers to clean up the shelter of filth and floating carcasses and to serve the injured.

• When on the fifth day the military helicopter dropped a few food packets and did not return, the children were deputed to lie on the sand with empty utensils on their bellies to signal the passing helicopters and then they started getting regular air-dropped food and provisions.

• Prashant set up a shelter for the orphaned children and mobilized women to look after them while men were asked to secure food and other essentials for the shelter.

• He then persuaded women to start working in the food -for- work programmes started by an NGO.

• He also organised sport events and cricket matches for children. He engaged other volunteers in helping the widows and children to come to terms with their situation and move on.

• Prashant and his group also resettled orphans in their own community in foster families made up of childless widows and orphaned children.

Q3. 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 helped one another in the following ways:

• They jointly pressurize the merchant to give rice to the starving survivors.

• They gather branches from fallen trees to light a fire to cook the rice.

• A team of youth volunteers gets together and cleans up the shelter and tends to the wounds and fractures of the people who have been injured.

• When the military helicopter does not return after dropping some food parcels, the youth task force gathers empty utensils from the shelter and deputes the children to lie on the sand with the utensils on their bellies to communicate to the passing helicopters that they are hungry.

The women of Kalikuda played the following roles during the crisis phase:

• They looked after orphaned children while the men arranged for food and other essentials.

• They worked in the food-for- work programme started by an NGO.

• Childless widows agree to set up foster families with orphaned children and contributed towards providing emotional security to the orphaned children.

Q4. Why do Prashant and other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows? What alternatives do they consider?

Ans: They resisted the plan because if the orphans and widows were rehabilitated in those institutions, they would grow up without love and warmth in an alien environment. The widows would also suffer from stigma and loneliness. Therefore, Parashant and other volunteers facilitated settlement of orphans in their own community in the company of childless widows.

Q5. Do you think Prashant is a good leader? Do you think young people can get together to help people during natural calamities?

Prashant is certainly a role model for all the youth. He has sacrificed his own comfort, ignored his own grief and came forward to serve humanity in general. With his relentless effort to serve the people of his village, he turned out to be an exemplary leader. He mobilized other people and together they redressed the suffering humanity to a great extent.

Yes, young people if mobilized properly can be a great unifying force to reckon with. They can contribute a lot with their innovative ideas, zeal and commitment and render social service in any crisis situation.