NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 2 Nelson Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
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Activity:
Q. In Column A are some expressions you will find in the text. Make a guess and match each expression with an appropriate meaning from Column B.
| A | B |
| A rainbow gathering of different colours and nations | A great ability (almost unimaginable) to remain unchanged by suffering (not losing hope, goodness or courage). |
| The seat of white supremacy | A half-secret life, like a life lived in the fading light between sunset and darkness. |
| Be overwhelmed with a sense of history | A sign of human feeling (goodness, kindness, pity, justice, etc.) |
| Resilience that defies the imagination | A beautiful coming together of various peoples, like the colours in a rainbow. |
| A glimmer of humanity | The centre of racial superiority. |
| A twilight existence | Feel deeply emotional, remembering and understanding all the past events that have led up to the moment. |
Ans: (i)-(d), (ii)-(e), (iii)-(f), (iv)-(a), (v)-(c), (vi)-(b)
Oral Comprehension Check :
Q. 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 lovely sandstone amphitheatre formed by the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Humayun’s Tomb and Parliament House are some buildings in India which are made up of sandstone.
Q. Can you tell how 10 May is an ‘autumn day’ in South Africa?
Ans: Lencho called the raindrops ‘new coins’ because indirectly they meant money for him. With the approaching rain, the crop would turn out to be good and he would earn some money.
Q. At the beginning of his speech, Mandela mentions “an extraordinary human disaster”. What does he mean by this? What is the “glorious human achievement” he speaks of at the end?
Ans: The oppression of the blacks by the white rule for over 300 years is what Mandela calls ‘an extraordinary human disaster’. The liberation from the oppression has been termed as the ‘glorious human achievement’.
Q. What does Mandela thank the international leaders for?
Ans: Mandela thanks the international leaders for joining his countrymen in the common victory for peace, justice and human dignity.
Q. What ideals does he set out for the future of South Africa?
Ans: He pledges that they will liberate all the people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination.
Q. What do the military generals do? How has their attitude changed and why?
Ans: The military generals saluted Mandela and pledged their loyalty to him. Earlier, under the white regime, they would have arrested him. Now, under the new democratic rule, Mandela is the President and so their attitudes have changed.
Q. Why were two national anthems sung?
Ans: The whites and the blacks had equal rights in the Republic of South Africa. That is why the national anthems of both the communities were sung.
Q. 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: The system of government in the first decade of the twentieth century was that of discrimination, oppression and cruelty. In the final decade, it had changed to a system based on equality and justice.
Q. What does courage mean to Mandela?
Ans: Courage, to Mandela, means the triumph over fear and not the mere absence of fear.
Q. Which does he think is natural, to love or to hate?
Ans: Mandela believes that love comes to us naturally and we have to learn to hate.
Q. What “twin obligations” does Mandela mention?
Ans: The twin obligations are : one towards our family and near and dear ones, the other to our community, society and the country.
Q. What did being free means 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, freedom to Mandela meant being able to run in the fields near his mother’s hut. As a student, it meant being able to read what one wanted, do what one wanted and go where one wanted. These were transitory freedoms. He contrasts these with the basic freedom to live a life of dignity and self respect, not under any oppression. He realised that he and his people did not have these basic and honourable freedoms.
Q. Does Mandela think the oppressor is free? Why/ Why not?
Ans: Mandela does not think that the oppressor is free. He believes that the oppressor is a prisoner of hatred. He is locked behind the bars of prejudice
and narrow-mindedness.
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