Weathering the Storm in Ersama
1.
How did
Prashant escape the fate of his village people during the rain?
Ans. Prashant was at his friend’s house when the storm struck
Orissa. Prashant had to spend two nights on the open rooftop in the rain due to
the flood. He survived by eating the coconuts from a tree that had fallen on
the roof. However, his village people had to face the fury of the storm. They
lost their houses and had to take shelter at the Red Cross shelter.
2.
What shocked
Prashant? Why?
Or
What did
Prashant see around him after the rain? How did he feel then?
Ans. After the rain, Prashant saw a raging, deadly, brown sheet
of water everywhere around him. A few fractured cement houses were the only
things visible. Bloated animal carcasses and human corpses floated in the
water. The trees including the huge ones had fallen down. Prashant felt worried
about his family.
3.
What was ‘the
miracle’ and how?
Ans. On his way back to his village, Prashant saw the havoc
caused by the rain and the flood. He saw the villages swept away by the flood
and the carcasses and corpses floating in the water. He had to wade through the
water. He could see no house in any of the villages. It disappointed and
despaired him. He started crying loudly.
4.
What was ‘the
miracle’ and how?
Ans. Prashant’s family had been worried about him. When he did
not return for days, they thought they had lost him. But when Prashant’s family
found him alove at the Red Cross shelter, they were extremely happy. They took
it to be ‘a miracle’ because it wasn’t easy to survive the rains and the flood.
5.
What did
Prashant sense wrong with the people at the shelter? How did he solve the
problem?
Ans. Prashant could sense the feeling of a deathly grief
settling fast upon the people in the shelter. They mourned for the people who
died due to the flood and the property they lost. They also had nothing to eat.
Prashant formed teams to resolve these problems. He also organized matches to
lift their spirits.
6.
How did
Prashant communicate to the government that they were hungry?
Ans. There was acute shortage of food at the shelter. The
children were hungry. The helicopters once dropped some food parcels but then
did not come again. Prashant made the children lie on the ground with empty
utensils on their stomachs. It very successfully conveyed the message to the
authorities that they were hungry. Due to his efforts, the helicopters started
dropping food regularly.
7.
How did
Prashant infuse the people with the new life?
Ans. Prashant could not only the physical but the emotional and
the psychological needs also. He made a separate shelter for the orphans. He
encouraged women to look after the children. He further encouraged them to come
out of the stigma. He organized some amusement activities to lighten up their
lives. With his leadership quality, he managed to infuse a new life in them.
8.
What did the
Government do to improve life in Orissa? Why did Prashant resist the plan?
Ans. To improve the life in Orissa, the Government also decided
to set up institutions for orphans and the women. Prashant resisted the plan as
he felt these institutions would increase the stigma and loneliness in widows.
Instead, he encouraged the foster families.
9.
What havoc had
the super cyclone wreaked in the life of the people of Orissa?
Ans. The super cyclone completely devastated the coastal Orissa.
It was followed by heavy rains and floods. Together they gutted hundreds of
houses, killing thousands.
10. How has
Prashant, a teenager been able to help the people of his village?
Ans. He formed a group of youth and elders and together they
helped themselves in arranging the food and cleaning the shelter and tending
the injured ones.
11. How had the people of
the community helped one another? What role did the women of Kalikuda play
during those days?
Ans. The young people under Prashant’s command cleaned the
shelter and tended to the injured. The elders helped them in arranging for food
and other things. Merchants gave food. Women of Kalikudu looked after the
orphans.
12. Why do Prashant and
other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows?
What alternatives do they consider?
Ans. They feel that in such institutions women suffer from stigma
and loneliness and children would grow up without love. So they consider the
alternative of ‘setting foster families’.
13. Do you consider
Prashant to be a good leader? Do you think young people can get together to
help people during natural calamities?
Ans. Yes, Prashant definitely is a good leader. He organized
people and raised their morale. He could get the ration dropped for them,
encouraged windows to look after the orphans and to tend the indired. He also
pleaded with the elders to become foster parents. Yes, young people can help
people together during natural calamities.
14. What hit Orissa on
27th October, 1999?
Or
What happened
when Prashant had gone to visit his friend in Ersama?
Ans. On that day, a super cyclone with a speed of 350 km per
hour hit the coastal areas of Orissa. It was followed by continuous heavy rains
for two days. Raging ocean waves flooded Orissa.
15. How did Prashant
contribute to improve the condition of the shelter?
Ans. He formed a team of volunteers to clean the shelter of all
the fifth, urine, vomiting, and carcasses etc. he uplifted the spirits of the
inhabitants emotionally, physically and psychologically.
16. How did Prashant help the children affected by the cyclone
and flood?
Ans. He set up a polythene shelter for orphans, helped them
resettle in their own societies through adoptions and foster families. He
organized matches etc to help them recover.
17. How did Prashant help
the women affected by the devastating cyclone?
Ans. He helped them by providing food and other basic needs. He
made them work for NGOs and to look after orphans. He helped them set up foster
families. He helped them emotionally and psychologically.
