Chapter 6 Weathering the Storm in Ersama

NCERT Solutions for Weathering the Storm in Ersama, Chapter 6 Class 9 English Moments

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

Answer The havoc that the super cyclone was wrecked was that it caused high speed winds and floods which took many lives and left many people injured. It also uprooted many trees, destroyed the houses and killed the cattle and domestic animals of the people of Orissa. The people who survived in the super cyclone were left homeless, wounded and hungry.

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

Answer Prashant took the initiative to help the people of his village and became the leader of his village. He organised a group of youth and elders and they jointly pressurised the merchant to give rice for the hungry people. Then his group collected the branches of the fallen trees to cook the rice and fed the victims. The group cleaned the shelter of filth, urine, vomit and floating bodies. They also tended the wounds and fractures of the injured people. The youth task force deputed children to lie down on the sand with utensils on their stomach so that the passing helicopters could be communicated that they are hungry. Prashant persuaded the women in the camp to look after the orphaned children and work for the food-for-work programme started by an NGO. In these ways, he had been able to help the people of his village.

Question 3 How have the people of the community helped one another? What role do the women of Kalikuda play during these days?

Answer The people of community got together and began to help one another under the leadership of Prashant. Together they pressurised the merchant to give rice for the hungry people. The group cooked food by collecting the broken branches of trees and cleaned the shelter. They also helped the injured people. During these days women of Kalikuda play an important role. They took care of the orphaned children. They also worked for the Food For Work Programme of an NGO.

Question 4 Why do Prashant and other volunteers resist the plan to set up institutions for orphans and widows? What alternatives do they consider?

Answer Prashant and other volunteers resisted the plan of the government to set up institutions for orphans and widows as they felt that in such institutions children would grow up without love and widows would suffer from loneliness. Prashant’s group believed to resettle the orphans in their own community as an alternative. They planned to create foster families made up of childless widows and children without adult care.

Question 5 Do you think Prashant is a good leader? Do you think young people can get together to help people during natural calamities?

Answer Yes, I think that Prashant is a good leader. Although he was a teenager, he took the initiative to come forward and lead his village. He was courageous, confident and had good persuasion and communication skills. He becomes a kind of saviour for these cyclone-hit people of Ersama. I do think that young people can get together to help people during natural calamities. They are energetic and enthusiastic. If they put their energies in helping people in distress, it would help in removing the pain and sufferings of the people.