Solved
1. What was the sight that the narrator found amusing? Was it really so?
The narrator found the sight of a big man carrying a parcel that was attached with a string,without actually touching the parcel itself very amusing. It was amusing to her as she didn't understand why the person was holding the parcel in such a fashion, but the moment she narrates this funny incident to her brother Anan he makes it clear to her that it was done so because a Pallas wouldn't eat the food touched by a Paraya, this incident was clearly showing the continuity of untouchability in her society. It really wasn't as funny as she thought of it a first.
2. Why was the narrator's Anan not amused by the story?
Narrator's Anan wasn't amused by the story of how the man was holding the parcel because he knew the real reason of why that was being done and he himself was a paraya and had faced many incidences as of how they weren't supposed to touch anything of the pallas or else it was thought of as polluted.
3. What feeling did the realization of truth evoke in the narrator?
The realization of the truth evoked a series of emotions in her. At first she was sad of how could people think of a paraya as someone who could pollute the food and that emotion quickly escalated to the feeling disgust which soon turned into that of anger, that she wanted to go and touch the food herself.
4. What humiliation did the lower castes have to face?
The lower castes people(paraya) was looked down upon just because they were parayas. The first humiliation the story highlights is, how the paraya weren't supposed to touch the food, that was about to be given to a higher caste person, in case it was done so the food was considered as polluted and would no longer be consumed. Then we see the oldest lady of the paraya had to call the youngest member of the high caste family as master, while the latter would call her by name. The food that was ready to be thrown was considered fit to be eaten by the low caste people. Drinking water was prohibited unless they drank in their hands, which was poured upon from a great height. You could be considered the culprit just because you were a paraya.
5. Naiker was furious. Why? Was this justified?
When Anan replied to all the question the Naicker asked without hesitating and without giving him the respect he thinks he deserves just on the basis that he is from upper caste and Anan was supposed to bown down just because he was from the lower caste. No,this wasn't justified as one has to earn the respect he gets rather than forcing someone to respect them on the basis of ones' caste.
6. What discrimination did narrator undergo on a daily basis at school?
The discrimination continued in school as we are shown how the narrator and her people are always talked ill about, they were always the victim and treated as the culprit even when they had nothing to do with the matter being talked about. They were looked down and were ripped off of the respect they deserved. On the other hand people from the upper caste who would discriminate them, did not hold themselves back when they had some work to be done.
7. Justify the title of the story.
The title of the story is "Can We Change This?" The story deals with the story of a charcter who suffers the act of untouchability from a very young age. She sees how her life and the life of her people is different than those of the people belonging to upper caste. She sees how she is treated in different circumstances and gets blamed most of the time just because she is from the lower caste. So the title wants us to realise whether we could make the situation/life of little girls like the narrator's as well as of the people who have suffered just because they were born as a lower caste, better.
2.1 What socio-economic strata did the narrator belong to? Quote words and phrases from the text to support your answer.
(It refers to a society's categorization of its people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race )
The narrator belongs to the lower strata of socio-economic strata. The words and phrases that shows that she belongs to the lower strata are:
1. "came to my street, the street of the Parayas"
2. "our people were hard at work"
3." bowed low"
4. "must not touch anything touched by Parayas"
5."if they did,they would be polluted"
6." But we are human beings too"
7."call the little boy Master"
8."bringing home unwanted food"
E.t.c