LOST SPRING
Anees Jung
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK
SOLVED
Q1.What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he
and where has he come from?
Ans: Saheb
is a ragpicker. He is always looking for gold in the garbage dumps. Sometimes
he finds a rupee, even a ten rupee note in the garbage dump. Moreover there is a
always hope for finding more. Because garbage is wrapped in wonder for them.
Now Saheb is living in
Seemapuri. It is situated on the periphery of Delhi. But he is mainly from
Dhaka of Bangladesh.
Q2. What explanations does
the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Ans: Travelling
across the country, the author has seen children walking barefoot on village
roads or even in cities also. In one explanation, it is said that it is not
lack of money but it is their tradition to stay barefoot. But the author doubts
it. According to the author the real cause is a perpetual state of poverty.
Because when Saheb gets a pairs of shoes of some rich boy, even a hole on one
of them, he used it eagerly.
Q3.
Is Saheb
happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
Ans: No, Saheb
doesn’t seem to be happy in the tea-stall. Working in the tea-stall, he feels
bound and burdened. He has lost his carefree look. The steel canister
which he carried now is very heavy. But
the plastic bag which he used to carry on his shoulder earlier was very light.
Moreover the bag was his own whereas the steel canister belongs to the man who
owns the tea-shop where Saheb is no longer his own master.
Q4.Who is Saheb? What
is the meaning of his name?
Ans: Saheb
is a young ragpicker who lives in Seemapuri with his parents. But he is mainly
from Dhaka of Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, there were many storms that swept away
their fields and homes. That is why they left Dhaka.
The full name of Saheb is Saheb-e-Alam which means ‘lord of the
universe’.
Q5. Where does the author/narrator encounter Saheb every
morning?
Ans: The
narrator encounters Saheb every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage
dumps of her neighborhood.
Q6) What is the story ‘Lost Spring for’?
OR
What does the author analyse in her story ‘Lost Spring’?
Ans: The
author analysis in the story acute poverty which compels the little aids to
look for some coins in the garbage dumps.
Q7. “Garbage to them is gold” Why does the author say so about
the ragpicker?
Ans:
Small children scrounge heaps of garbage. They expect to get some coin, note or
valuable thing in it. Sometimes they find a rupee or even a ten rupee note.
This gives the hope of finding more. They search it excitedly. For children ,
garbage is wrapped in wonder whereas for elders, it is a mean of survival.
Q8. What job did Saheb take up?
Ans:
Saheb took up the job at a tea-stall.
Q9. How has ‘a dream come true’ for Saheb but what is ‘out of
his reach’?
Ans:
Saheb is wearing discarded tennis shoes.
One of them has a hole. Saheb doesn’t bother about the hole. For one who has
walked barefoot, even shoes with a hole
is a dream come true. But tennis, the game he is watching so intently, is out
of his reach.
Q10.How does Saheb’s life change when he starts working at the tea-stall?
Ans:
Saheb has a regular income now. He is paid 800 rupees and all his meals. Thus,
food is no problem. But his face has lost the carefree look. The steel canister
in his hand now seems a burden. He is no longer his own master. He may have to
work for longer hours. The helplessness of doing things at his own will makes
him sad.
Q11)What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Ans: The city of Firozabad is famous for its
bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is
the centre of India’s glass-blowing industries. Families have spent their
generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for the
woman in the land.
Q12) Mention the hazards of the working in the glass-bangles
industry?
Ans: People
who work in the glass bangles industry have to suffer in sub-human conditions.
In such industries, they have to face many health hazards. As Mukesh’s grandmother
informs her husband goes blind with the dust from polishing the glass of
bangles. They work in dark hutments and flames of flickering oil lamps. As a
result, they have to lose their eye sight in their early age of life. Moreover,
the temperature around the furnaces always remains unbearably high.
Q13. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from
his family?
Ans:
Mukesh belongs to a family of bangle-makers. All other members of his family
are engaged in making of bangles. But Mukesh’s attitude to his situation is
different from that of his family. He has no fascination for bangle making.
Instead of being a bangle maker, he insists on being his own master. He
wants to be a motor mechanic. Though the garage is a long away from his home,
he wants to go to the garage and get the required training for the job.
Q14. Which two distinct
worlds does the author notice among the bangle-making industry?
Ans: The
families of the bangle-makers belong to one of these worlds. These workers are
caught in the web of poverty. They are also burdened by the stigma of the caste
in which they are bom. They know no other work. The other world is the vicious
circle of the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of the
law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.
Q15. Where is Mukesh’s house
located? What is he proud of?
Ans: Mukesh’s
house is built in a slum-area. The lanes stink with garbage. The homes there
are hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. These are crowded
with families of humans and animals. Most of these houses are shacks or huts.
Mukesh is proud that his house is being rebuilt. His eyes shine as he
volunteers to take the author to his home.
Q16. What forces conspire to
keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Ans: The
unfavorable/unfavourable social and legal system, the deceptive middlemen and their own sad destinies keep the workers
in the bangle industry of Firozabad in perpetual poverty.
Q17. What are most of the
bangle-makers ignorant of? What would happen if law were enforced strictly?
Ans: Most
of the bangle-makers are ignorant of the fact that employing children in bangle
making is illegal. This is a hazardous industry. Many children become blind
before reaching their adulthood. If the law were enforced strictly, 20,000
children would be released from working hard throughout the day at hot furnaces
with high temperatures.
Q18. What contrast do you notice between the colours of the
bangles and the atmosphere of the the place where these bangles are made?
Ans. The
bangles are of every colour bom out of the seven colours of the rainbow. These
are sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink and purple. Boys and girls work
in dark hutments, next to the flickering flames of oil lamps around furnaces,
blowing glass, welding and soldering it to make bangles.
Q19. Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?
Ans:
Mukesh is a son of a poor bangle maker of Firozabad, where every other family
is engaged in making bangles. His poor father has failed to renovate his house
or send his two sons to school. Mukesh insists on being his own master. His dream is to be a
motor-mechanic. He wants to drive a car. Given the conditions of existence, his
dream looks like a mirage amidst the dust.
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