This post of KhulkarSeekhen provides solutions for Class 10th English First Flight Chapter 2, ‘Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’. I recommend first read the summary of Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom to understand the questions of this chapter better.
Before You Read Questions
Q. Which of the three countries had apartheid?
Ans. (ii) South Africa
Activity: Match Column A with Column B
| Column A | Meaning |
|---|---|
| (i) A rainbow gathering of different colours and nations | A beautiful coming together of various peoples, like the colours in a rainbow |
| (ii) The seat of white supremacy | The centre of racial superiority |
| (iii) Be overwhelmed with a sense of history | Feel deeply emotional, remembering and understanding all the past events that have led up to the moment |
| (iv) Resilience that defies the imagination | A great ability (almost unimaginable) to remain unchanged by suffering, not losing hope, goodness or courage |
| (v) A glimmer of humanity | A sign of human feeling: goodness, kindness, pity, justice |
| (vi) A twilight existence | A half-secret life, like a life lived in the fading light between sunset and darkness |
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 18)
Q.1. 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 sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa. Indian buildings of sandstone: the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, the Red Fort, Agra Fort, Jama Masjid, Humayun’s Tomb and Fatehpur Sikri.
Q.2. Can you say how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?
Ans. South Africa lies in the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are the opposite of ours. When India has summer, South Africa has winter, so May there falls in autumn.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 19)
Q.3. What does Mandela mean by “an extraordinary human disaster”? What is the “glorious… human achievement” he speaks of at the end?
Ans. The “extraordinary human disaster” is apartheid, the cruel system of racial discrimination under which the black people of South Africa were oppressed, humiliated and denied basic rights for decades. The “glorious human achievement” is the end of apartheid and the birth of a free, democratic, non-racial South Africa, in which all citizens are equal regardless of the colour of their skin.
Q.4. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?
Ans. He thanks them for coming to take possession, along with the people of South Africa, of what is a common victory for justice, for peace and for human dignity, that is, for coming to share in the triumph and to honour the newborn freedom of his nation.
Q.5. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?
Ans. He pledges to free his people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination. He declares that never again shall one group oppress another in that land, and prays that freedom may reign.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 21)
Q.1. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed, and why?
Ans. The highest generals of the South African defence force and police, their chests covered with medals, saluted Mandela and pledged their loyalty to him.
Earlier they would not have saluted him; they would have arrested him, since he was treated as a criminal under apartheid. Their attitude changed because apartheid had ended and a freely and fairly elected non-racial government had come to power; the military was now showing its loyalty to democracy.
Q.2. Why were two national anthems sung?
Ans. Two anthems were sung to mark the end of racial division and the beginning of equality. The whites sang ‘Nkosi Sikelel–iAfrika’, the anthem of the blacks, and the blacks sang ‘Die Stem’, the old anthem of the Republic. Each group thus honoured the anthem it had once despised; a symbol of reconciliation and of one united nation.
Q.3. 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) First decade: Soon after the Anglo-Boer war, the white-skinned peoples patched up their differences and set up a system of racial domination over the dark-skinned people of their own land. It became the basis of one of the harshest and most inhumane societies the world has ever known.
(ii) Final decade: That system was overturned forever and replaced by a government that recognised the rights and freedoms of all peoples, whatever the colour of their skin.
Q.4. What does courage mean to Mandela?
Ans. Courage, for Mandela, is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not the one who feels no fear, but the one who conquers his fear. He learnt this from his comrades, who faced attack and torture without breaking.
Q.5. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
Ans. To love. No one is born hating others for their skin, background or religion; people have to learn to hate. And if hate can be learnt, love can be taught, because love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 24)
Q.1. What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?
Ans. Every man has two obligations: one to his family, his parents, wife and children; and one to his people, his community and his country. In a civil and humane society a man can fulfil both, but in apartheid South Africa a man of Mandela’s birth and colour found it almost impossible to fulfil either without sacrificing the other.
Q.2. 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. As a boy he believed he was born free, free to run in the fields near his mother’s hut, to swim in the clear stream, to roast mealies under the stars and to ride on the backs of slow-moving bulls, so long as he obeyed his father and the customs of his tribe.
As a student he wanted freedom only for himself, the small, passing freedoms of staying out at night, reading what he pleased and going where he chose.
He calls these transitory because they are temporary and self-centred. The basic and honourable freedoms are far greater: achieving one’s potential, earning one’s keep, marrying and raising a family, the freedom not to be obstructed in a lawful life. Later he realised even these were meaningless while his people remained in chains.
Q.3. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/Why not?
Ans. No. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is himself a prisoner of hatred, locked behind the bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. Mandela says he is not truly free if he is robbing someone else of freedom; the oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity. That is why the oppressor too must be liberated.
Nelson Mandela Thinking about the Text Question Answer
Q.1. Why did such a large number of international leaders attend the inauguration? What did it signify the triumph of?
Ans. Leaders and dignitaries from more than 140 countries came because it was a historic occasion: the fall of apartheid and the birth of South Africa’s first democratic, non-racial government. Their presence was a mark of respect for the long struggle of the South African people and a way of sharing in their joy.
It signified the triumph of justice, peace and human dignity over racial oppression, the victory of good over evil.
Q.2. What does Mandela mean when he says he is “simply the sum of all those African patriots” who had gone before him?
Ans. He means that his achievement was not his alone. Thousands of patriots had struggled, suffered and died before him, and their sacrifices, which can never be counted or repaid, made that day possible. He was only the latest link in a long and noble line, carrying their hopes forward. He was pained that he could neither thank them nor let them see what their sacrifices had achieved.
Q.3. Would you agree that the “depths of oppression” create “heights of character”? How does Mandela illustrate this? Can you add your own examples?
Ans. Yes. Extreme suffering often brings out extraordinary strength in people. Mandela illustrates this by saying that the decades of oppression and brutality had one unintended effect: they produced men like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu, Chief Luthuli, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer and Robert Sobukwe, men of such courage, wisdom and generosity that their like may never be seen again. As he puts it, perhaps such depths of oppression are needed to create such heights of character.
Own examples: British rule in India produced Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose; racial segregation in America produced Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks; the fight for girls’ education in Pakistan produced Malala Yousafzai.
Q.4. How did Mandela’s understanding of freedom change with age and experience?
- As a child: he thought he was free, because he could run, swim and play as he pleased. He later realised this boyhood freedom was an illusion.
- As a student: he wanted freedom only for himself, the transitory freedoms of staying out at night, reading and going where he liked.
- As a young man in Johannesburg: he longed for the basic and honourable freedoms, to achieve his potential, earn his living, marry and have a family.
- As a mature man: he saw that not only he but all his brothers and sisters were unfree. His hunger for his own freedom then became the greater hunger for the freedom of his people, and he joined the African National Congress. He concluded that freedom is indivisible; the chains on any one of his people were chains on all of them.
Q.5. How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?
Ans. It transformed him completely. The desire for his people to live with dignity and self-respect turned a frightened young man into a bold one, drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal in the eyes of the state, turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home, and forced a life-loving man to live like a monk. He gave up personal comfort and family life, and spent thirty years in prison for the cause.
Nelson Mandela Thinking about Language
I.1. Noun–Verb pairs from the text
| Noun | Verb |
|---|---|
| rebellion | rebel |
| constitution | constitute |
| formation | form |
| government | govern |
| inauguration | inaugurate |
| installation | install |
| discrimination | discriminate |
| oppression | oppress |
| domination | dominate |
| emancipation | emancipate |
| deprivation | deprive |
| achievement | achieve |
| imagination | imagine |
I.2. Fill in the noun forms
Martin Luther King’s contribution … came to the assistance of Rosa Parks … would mean subjugation and humiliation by the police … Beatings, imprisonment and sometimes death … involved non-violent resistance to racial injustice.
II. Using the Definite Article with Names
1. Mr Singh invites people of the type of Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan — that is, big film stars and celebrities in general, not only those two men.
2. Madhuri Dixit is as beautiful and as great an actress in our times as Madhubala was in hers.
3. History is not only the story of great conquerors and powerful rulers of that kind, but also of ordinary people.
III. Idiomatic Expressions
| Phrase | Nearest meaning |
|---|---|
| 1. I was not unmindful of the fact | (i) had not forgotten; was aware of the fact |
| 2. when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits | (iii) felt that we could not endure the suffering any longer |
| 3. to reassure me and keep me going | (ii) help me continue to live in hope in this very difficult situation |
| 4. the basic and honourable freedoms of… earning my keep | (i) earning enough money to live on |
Speaking
Two-minute speech: “True liberty is freedom from poverty, deprivation and all forms of discrimination.”
Points to build your speech on:
- Political freedom alone is not real freedom. A man who is free to vote but cannot feed his children is not truly free.
- Poverty is caused by unemployment, illiteracy, unequal distribution of land and wealth, and large families with small incomes. It can be fought through free and compulsory education, skill training, fair wages, and honest implementation of welfare schemes.
- Discrimination on the basis of gender, caste, religion or class keeps millions from developing their potential — girls pulled out of school, workers denied entry to certain places, communities kept apart.
- Our Constitution guarantees equality before the law (Article 14), abolishes untouchability (Article 17), and grants the right to freedom, education and constitutional remedies. But laws alone cannot change hearts.
- Conclusion: liberty is complete only when every citizen has food, education, work and dignity. As Mandela pledged, political emancipation is only the first step; the real task is to free people from the bondage of poverty and prejudice.
Writing
I. Looking at Contrasts — complete the sentences
- It requires such depths of oppression to create such heights of character.
- Courage was not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.
- The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid but he who conquers that fear.
- If people can learn to hate they can be taught to love.
- I was not born with a hunger to be free. I was born free.
II. Contrasts using coordinated clauses
| No. | Completed contrast | Words that signal the contrast |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | For decades the Union Buildings had been the seat of white supremacy, and now it was the site of a rainbow gathering of different colours and nations. | For decades … and now |
| 2 | …not so many years before they would not have saluted but arrested me. | Only moments before … not so many years before; not … but |
| 3 | Although that day neither group knew the lyrics of the anthem, they would soon know the words by heart. | Although … soon |
| 4 | My country is rich in minerals and gems beneath its soil, but its greatest wealth is its people, finer and truer than the purest diamonds. | but |
| 5 | The Air Show was not only a display of pinpoint precision and military force, but a demonstration of the military’s loyalty to democracy. | not only … but |
| 6 | …that transformed a frightened young man into a bold one, that drove a law-abiding attorney to become a criminal, that turned a family-loving husband into a man without a home. | the paired opposites in each clause |
III. Expressing Your Opinion — colour prejudice in our own country (100–150 words)
Sample paragraph: Yes, colour prejudice certainly exists in our country, even though we rarely admit it. Fair skin is treated almost as an achievement. Matrimonial advertisements openly ask for a “fair, beautiful bride”; a dark-complexioned girl is pitied at home and teased at school; and the market is flooded with fairness creams that promise success in love and career within four weeks. Film heroes and heroines are almost always light-skinned, which quietly teaches children that beauty has one colour. People from the North-East and from southern India often face unkind remarks about their appearance in other parts of the country. All this is absurd, because the colour of a person’s skin is decided by geography and heredity, not by merit. Real fairness lies in one’s conduct, and until we accept that, our prejudice is no better than the apartheid Mandela fought against.
Homophones (from the page-28 box)
- wound (past tense of wind, /waʊnd/ — wrapped around) / wound (/wuːnd/ — an injury).
- desert (/dɪˈzɜːt/ — to abandon) / dessert (/dɪˈzɜːt/ — a sweet dish) / desert (/ˈdezət/ — a dry sandy region).
