A summary:

At the age of five, and a half, Santha Rama Rau and Premila, her eight-year-old sister,
are sent to an Anglo-Indian school. There, their names are changed to “Cynthia” and
“Pamela.” As Indians, they are looked down upon and are expected to adopt British
cultural norms. When Premila is told that Indian children cheat on tests, she takes
herself and Santha out of school. Santha is not upset, however, for she has separated
herself from “Cynthia” from the start
The headmistress smiles helplessly, shakes her head, and shrugs to show
that she has given up on ever being able to pronounce the girls’ names. It’s
clear that she doesn’t consider learning their names worth the effort she
would have to make.

-Name two ways in which the Indian girls who have been at the school for
a while imitate the English girls. How do these examples reflect the
historical context of the memoir?
The other Indian girls at the school wear cotton dresses like the British girls;
they also bring sandwiches for lunch, not Indian food. They do these things
because at that time, prejudice against Indian customs was strong.
The British had an insular attitude;they do not respect schools
that they do not run. The headmistress ignores the sisters’
birth names and gives them “pretty English names” instead.

Because of what the headmistress has told her, Santha is

faced with a challenge from yet another stranger. The
author can’t answer because the name that the teacher
expects to hear [Cynthia] is different from the author’s
true name [Santha].
-The effects or importance of various settings:
The pleasant details and loving environment of home
create a stark contrast to the cold, unfriendly school
environment

Santha chooses to consider the conflict as something that

happened to someone else—a girl named—Cynthia, and
Santha is not “really particularly interested in her.” This
approach suits the author’s purpose because it creates a
distance from the event that shows how strange it was.
 -Name three things that Santha sees while walking home:

(Answers include dusty hedges, a tonga, and Indian women carrying

baskets of vegetables on their heads.)
These details help readers visualize the setting outside of the school

Santha is discouraged from doing any of the things she normally would do,
she doesn’t feel like herself at school. She’s happier to not consider that
short-lived but negative experience
Premila’s teacher has passed on a prejudice to her students:
What the teacher says and does sends a message that Indian children, unlike
the British children, can’t be trusted. She’s an authority figure, so she
communicates to the students that it’s okay to think and say things like that.

The values Santha’s mother passes on to her children:

Santha’s mother passes on a love of learning and the importance of
protecting the vulnerable. Her support for Premila’s decision to leave school
passes on a sense of respect. These messages suggest that one theme of the
story is that every individual deserves respect.
scan paragraph 27
and then paraphrase the rest of the sentence that follows the word “
apparent”:

(There was no way that we were going to be able to be friends with the
children who were British or even partly British)

The young Indian children consider this a fact because they have
been treated as inferior to the other children.