Questions Answers

1.  Answer the following questions in one or two sentences based on your understanding of the lesson.

a.  What thoughts troubled Dr. Christiaan Barnard as he neared the end of his career as a heart surgeon?

Dr.Christiaan Barnard thought that suffering seems so cruelly prevalent in the world today. The 125 million children bom this year, 12 million are unlikely to reach the age of one. Another 6 million will die before the age of 5. These thoughts troubled Dr. Christiaan Barnard as he neared the end of his career as a heart surgeon.

b.  What were Dr. Barnard’s feelings when he was hospitalized after an accident?

Dr. Barnard experienced not only agony and fear but also anger. He asked himself why should this happen to them.

c.  When and where did the accident occur?

Few years ago Dr. Barnard and his wife met with an accident while crossing the street.

d.  How did the hospitalization of Dr. Barnard and his wife affect their routine?

There were patients waiting for Dr.Barnard to operate on them. His wife had a young baby, who needed her care. Thus the hospitalization of Dr. Barnard and his wife affect their routine.

e.  How was Dr. Barnard’s attitude to suffering different from that of his father’s?

Dr. Barnard’s father believed that Suffering was God’s will. But Dr.Barnard did not see nobility in a patient’s thrashing around in a sweat-soaked bed, mind clouded in agony.

f.  How was the unattended trolley put to use?

Among the patients in the hospital, a boy with amputated left hand and a mechanic with amputated shoulder and arm, fearlessly moved the trolley and served the food to the patients.

g.  What roles did the duo take up?

The two boys took up the roles of driver and a mechanic of the food trolley.

h.  Why did the choice of roles prove to be easy for them?

The mechanic, who provided motor power with his head to the trolley, was totally blind and the driver, who steered the trolley by scraping his foot on the floor, had only arm So the choice of roles proved to be easy for them.

i.  Who encouraged them and how?

The rest of the patients in the hospital encouraged them. They encouraged them by the laughter and shouts of encouragement.

j.  What does Dr. Barnard compare this entertainment to?

Dr. Barnard compares this entertainment to Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 car race.

k. What happened in the grand finale?

There was a grand finale of scattered plates and silverware. The nurse and ward sister caught up with them, scolded them and put them back to bed.

l. How does Dr. Barnard know the boy who played the trolley’s driver?

A few years earlier, Dr.Barnard had successfully closed a hole in the boy’s heart. As he had a malignant tumour, he came back to the hospital. Thus Dr. Barnard knows the boy who played the trolley’s driver.

m. What was the profound lesson that Dr. Barnard learnt from the boys?

Dr.Barnard realised that the joy of living is most important in the world. The children showed him what we have lost is not important but what we have left is important. This is the lesson he had leamt from the two boys.

2. Answer the following questions in three or four sentences.

a. Detail the statistics Dr. Barnard has provided in his speech.

Dr. Barnard mentions that 125 million children are born that year. Among them 12 million are unlikely to reach the age of one and another six million will die before the age of five. And, of the rest, many will end up as mental or physical cripples.

b. What happened when the doctor couple were crossing the street?

When the doctor was crossing the street with his wife, a car had hit them and knocked him into his wife. She was thrown into the other lane and struck by a car coming from the opposite direction.

c. What injuries did they sustain in the accident?

Dr.Bamard had eleven broken ribs and a perforated lung. His wife had a badly fractured shoulder.

d. Dr. Barnard couldn’t find any nobility in suffering. Why?

Dr. Barnard couldn’t find any nobility in suffering. As a doctor, he saw nothing noble in a patient’s thrashing around in a sweat-soaked bed, mind clouded in agony. He could not see any nobility in the crying of a lonely child in a ward at night.

e. Why does Dr. Barnard find suffering of children heartbreaking?

Dr. Barnard finds suffering of children heartbreaking. Because he felt sympathetic towards them and he knew about their total trust in doctors and nurses. They believe that the doctors and nurses are going to help them.

f. How did the boy who played the mechanic lose his eyesight?

When the boy was seven years old, his drunken mother threw a lantern at his father. It missed and hit the boy. Then he suffered severe third-degree bums on the upper part of his body, and lost both his eyes.

g. Why does Dr. Barnard describe the blind boy as a ‘walking horror’?

He was a walking horror, with a disfigured face and long flap of skin hanging from the side of his neck to his body. As the wound healed around his neck, his lower jaw became gripped in a mass of fibrous tissue. The only way this little boy could open his mouth was to raise his head. So Dr. Barnard describes the blind boy as a ‘walking horror’.

h. What were the problems the trolley driver suffered from?

The trolley driver had a hole in his heart. Dr.Barnard had successfully closed the hole in the boy’s heart. As he had a malignant tumour, he came back to the hospital. A few days before the race, his shoulder and arm were amputated. There was little hope of his recovery.

3. Answer the following in a paragraph of 100 – 150 words each.

a. Give an account of the medical problems for which the two boys were hospitalized.

The author saw two boys driving a food trolley happily in the hospital. One of them acts as a mechanic. When he was seven years old, one night, his mother and father were drunk. His mother threw a lantern at his father. It missed and the lantern broke over the child’s head and shoulders. He suffered severe third-degree bums on the upper part of his body, and lost both his eyes. He was a walking horror, with a disfigured face. The long flap of skin hanging from the side of his neck to his body. As the wound healed around his neck, his lower jaw became gripped in a mass of fibrous tissue. The only way this little boy could open his mouth was to raise his head. The other boy acts as a trolley driver. He had a hole in his heart. Dr. Barnard had successfully closed the hole in his heart. Again he had come to the hospital because he had a malignant tumour of the bone. A few days before the race, his shoulder and arm were amputated. There was little hope of his recovery.

b. “These two children had given me a profound lesson …” Elucidate.

The author saw two boys driving a food trolley happily in the hospital. One of the boys was a seven-year old, and he was blind. The other boy had a heart surgery. But the two boys were driving a trolley and scattered plates, cups and saucers on the way. It was like a “Grand Prix”. All the other patients enjoyed the scene and laughed. Dr.Barnard realises that the joy of living is most important in the world. This is the lesson he had learnt from the two boys. He realises that as we are suffering, we don’t become a better person. If we experience suffering, we will become a better person. If we don’t know darkness, we can’t appreciate light. Unless we suffer chillness, we can’t appreciate warmth. Thus the children showed him what we have lost is not important but what we have left is important.

c. Describe the ‘Grand Prix’ at Cape Town’s Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

Grand Prix means International car race. Once Dr.Christiaan Barnard visited Cape Town’s Red Cross Children’s Hospital. There he came across a ‘Grand Prix’ of two boys driving a food trolley happily in the hospital. It opened his eyes to the fact which was full of solace for him. A nurse in the hospital had left a trolley unattened. This trolley was commandeered by an intrepid driver and a mechanic. The mechanic provided motor power behind the trolley with his head down. The driver seated and steered with one hand. He was scraping his foot on the floor. The mechanic was totally blind, and the driver had only one arm. The rest of the patients encouraged them by laughter and shouts. It was a better entertainment than the Indianapolis 500 race. Plates, cups and saucers were thrown around. Thus thegrand finale of the Grand Prix came to an end.

d. How did a casual incident in a hospital help Dr. Barnard perceive a new dimension of life?

The trolley driver had a hole in his heart. Dr. Barnard had successfully closed a hole in his heart. Again he had come to the hospital because he had a malignant tumour of the bone. A few days before the race, his shoulder and arm were amputated. There was little hope of his recovery.The driver informed him that the trolley’s wheels were not properly oiled. It showed his confidence in the mechanic. He realises that as we are suffering, we don’t become a better person. If we experience suffering, we will become a better person. If we don’t know darkness, we can’t appreciate light. Unless we suffer chillness, we can’t appreciate wannth. Thus the children showed him what we have lost is not important but what we have left is important.

e. Life is unjust and cruel to certain people. Do they all resign themselves to their fate? Can you think of some who have fought their disabilities heroically and remained a stellar example for others? (for e.g. the astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, a paraplegic). Give an account of one such person and his/her struggle to live a fruitful life.

Life is not unjust and cruel to the physically challenged people. They do not resign themselves to their fate. Stephen William Hawking was a theoretical physicist and a cosmologist. He was suffering from a rare and life threatening disease ‘Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis’ (ALS). He suffered a lot in his whole adult life. His illness started, when was 21. For major part of his later life, he was almost paralyzed and communicated through a speech generating device. He devoted all his life to his work and research. His main focus of research was theoretical cosmology, focusing on the evolution of the universe and laws of general relativity. He believed that human life is at risk and said that, “a sudden nuclear war, or other dangers we have not yet thought of’ can wipe us off the earth. He wrote the books ‘Cosmology in 2001’, ‘The universe in Nutshell’, ‘A Brief history of Time’, ‘God Created the Integers’, and ‘God’s secret to the universe’. Though he suffered from sclerosis, he never gave up his determination.

ESSAY

❖ Introduction

❖ After the accident

❖ At the Children’s Hospital

❖ The lesson the author learnt

❖ Conclusion .

Introduction:

Dr. Christiaan Banard gives an account of being alive to be a boon in the human life. He narrates an experience which has changed his perspective of life.

After the accident:

Few years ago, Dr. Barnard and his wife met with an accident while crossing the street. A car had hit them and knocked him into his wife. Dr. Barnard experienced not only agony and fear but also anger. He asked himself why should this happen to them.

At the Children’s Hospital:

Once Dr.Christiaan Barnard visited Cape Town’s Cross Children’s Hospital. There he came across a ‘Grand Prix’ of two boys driving a food trolley happily in the hospital. A nurse had left a trolley unattened. This trolley was commandeered by the two boys, an intrepid driver and a mechanic. The mechanic provided motor power behind the trolley with his head down. The driver seated and steered with one hand. He was scraping his foot on the floor. The mechanic was totally blind, and the driver had only one arm. The rest of the patients encouraged them by laughter and shouts.

The lesson the author learnt:

From this incident, Dr.Barnard realised that the joy of living is most important in the world. The children showed him what we have lost is not important but what we have left is important. This is the lesson he had leamt from the two boys.

Conclusion:

Thus the boys had given a profound lesson in getting on with the business of living.

Strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from indomitable will - Mahatma Gandhi