12th std THE LOST SPRING

 12th std THE LOST SPRING 

Question Answers

1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?

Ans. Saheb is looking for any precious thing which he cannot afford to buy. Things like a rupee, silver coin or a pair of shoes. He has come to the garbage dump in the writer’s neighborhood. He lives in Seemapuri in Delhi and has come from Dhaka.

2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?

Ans. One explanation offered by the author is that it is a tradition to stay barefoot. It is not lack of money. He wonders if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty. He also remembers the story of a poor body who prayed to the goddess for a pair of shoes.

3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.

Ans. No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea-stall. He is no longer his own master. His face has lost the carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder. The bag was his and the canister belongs to the man who owns the tea-shop.

4. 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 industry. Families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for the women in the land.

5. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

Ans. Boys and girls with their fathers and mothers sit in dark hutments, next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps. They weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. They often end up losing eyesight before they become adults. Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles is injurious to eyes. Many workers have become blind. The furnaces have very high temperature and therefore very dangerous.

6. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?

Ans. Mukesh’s grandmother thinks that the god-given lineage can never be broken. Her son and grandsons are born in the caste of bangle makers. They have seen nothing but bangles. Mukesh’s father has taught them what he knows, the art of making bangles. But Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic. He will go to a garage and learn, though the garage is far away from his home.

7. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?

Ans. People migrate from villages to cities in search of a better life. They want to earn money so that they can lead a good life and rear their children in a better way. As cities have more opportunities for work, this makes them migrate from the villages to these big cities.

8. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?

Ans. Yes, I agree that the promises made to poor children are rarely fulfilled. In the story the writer jokingly offers the rag picker boy to join a school that she would open. In fact, she does not intend to open a school. She speaks mindlessly but the boy takes it to be true and later asks her if the school has opened. There are many such hollow promises in the boy’s life because the person who makes the promise never intends to fulfil it.

9. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?

Ans. The writer tells us that the bangle – makers of Firozabad are poverty – stricken. They are burdened by the fact of the particular caste in which they are born – bangle – makers. They have to continue the traditional profession. Further, the society has formed a harsh circle around them. The money – lenders, middlemen, policemen, law – keepers, officers and politicians altogether form a barrier around them and tie them in the grip of poverty. They cannot escape from it.

10. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?

Ans. Mukesh is the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad. Most of the young men of Firozabad have no initiative or ability to dream, but Mukesh is an exception. He has the capacity to take courage and break from the traditional family occupation. He has strong will power also. He does not want to be a pawn in the hands of the middlemen or moneylenders. He insists on being his own master by becoming a motor mechanic.

He can realise his dream by joining a garage and learn the job of repairing cars and driving them. He will have to overcome many hurdles before he succeeds. Then comes transport problem. Money is the first one. He will have to earn some money himself. The garage is a long way from his home. He will have to cover it twice everyday anyhow—by walking on foot.

Patience, hardwork, firm will and the determination to learn will help him realise his dream.

11. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

Ans. The glass bangles industry has many health hazards. It usually employs small children. It is illegal to employ very young children in hazardous industries, but certain forces like, middlemen, moneylenders, police and politicians combine to entrap the poor workers.

Let us first consider the places where bangle makers work. It is a cottage industry. They work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures. The dingy cells are without air and light. Boys and girls work hard during day next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps.

They weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why, they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.

Glass blowing, welding and soldering pieces of glass are all health hazards. Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles adversely affects the eyes and even adults go blind. Thus, the surroundings, prevailing conditions and the type of job involved-all prove risky to the health of the workers.

12. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

Ans. Child labour should be eliminated because the children employed at tender age as domestic servants, dish-washers at road-side dhabas and in hazardous industries making glass bangles, biris, crackers etc. lose the charm of the spring of their life. While doing this their childhood is stolen and burdened by the responsibility of work, they become adults too soon. Most of them are undernourished, ill-fed, uneducated, and poor. They have a stunted growth.

Child labour can be eliminated only through concerted efforts on the part of government agencies, Non-Government Organisations, co-operative societies and political leaders. 

Also, forcing a child to work is a crime. This is so in order to prevent exploitation of children. If forced to work, Children cannot enjoy their childhood. They cannot get proper education. Also, when they are forced into hazardous works, they get ailments at a young age. This destroys their future. Their parents overlook all these facts as they need money. So, the government has to become proactive and take measures to check child labour and enforce the law strictly.

Mere passing of law will not help. Laws should be enacted faithfully. The children thrown out of work should be rehabilitated and given proper food, clothes, education and pocket money. Their feelings, thoughts and emotions should be respected. Let them enjoy sunshine and fresh air.

13. “But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.” What promise does the author recall? In what context was it made? Was it fulfilled?

Ans. The author asked Saheb about going to school. Saheb explained that there was no school in his neighbourhood. He promised to go to school when they built one. Half joking, the author asked whether he would come in case she started one. Saheb smiled broadly and agreed to come. After a few days, he ran upto the author and asked if the school was ready. The author felt embarrassed. She had made a promise that was not meant.

14. Explain: “For children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents. ”

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.

For the elders it is a means of survival. Thus, garbage has two different meanings.

15. 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 does not 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.

16. 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. 

17. Give a thumb-nail sketch of the “frail young woman” in the chapter ‘Lost Spring’.

Ans. The young woman is the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. Her eyes are filled with the smoke of firewood. Though not much older in years, she commands respect as the daughter- in-law of the house. She adheres to customs and traditions. She veils her face before male elders. She gently withdraws behind the broken wall to do so.

18. Give a thumb-nail sketch of the “frail young woman” in the chapter ‘Lost Spring’.

Ans. The young woman is the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. Her eyes are filled with the smoke of firewood. Though not much older in years, she commands respect as the daughter- in-law of the house. She adheres to customs and traditions. She veils her face before male elders. She gently withdraws behind the broken wall to do so.

19.What do bangles symbolise? When, according to the author, will Savita know “the sanctity of the bangles she helps make?” How is the Indian bride dressed? 

Ans. Bangles symbolise auspiciousness in marriage for an Indian woman. Savita will come to know “the sanctity” of the bangles when she becomes a bride. The head of a bride is draped with a red veil. Her hands are dyed with red henna. Red bangles are rolled on to her wrists.

20. “She still has bangles on her wrist but no light in her eyes.” What exactly does the author want to convey through this?

Ans.  'She’ is an elderly woman who became a bride long ago. Since her husband, an old man with a flowing beard is still alive, she still has bangles on her wrist. She has, however, not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime. So, there is no light in her eyes. This is just a comment on the abject poverty and helplessness of the bangle-makers.

Value based questions

Q1.Hunger knows no friend but its feeder. The downtrodden lead a miserable life. Elucidate the dictum keeping in mind the following lines:

“survival in Seemapuri means rag picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread a roof over their heads, “

Ans.                                                       

 Poverty: A Vicious Circle

It is a well known saying that poverty is the root cause of all evils. Corruption, loot, begging and incidents of theft are the offspring of abject poverty. The destitute lead a pitiable and miserable life. They do not get sufficient food. Lack of funds constrain them to take recourse to illegal activities. Slum dwellers always feel themselves dejected. They recognise only those beings who help them and feed them. Political leaders take undue advantages of their poverty. They are misused to win elections. Humanity, mankind, honesty, trust and love become significant when an individual succeeds in satisfying his hunger. Hungry people need only food. There is a dearth of people who are capable of converting obstacles into opportunities. These poor people are exploited ruthlessly by industrialists, politicians and other middlemen. They scrounge for gold in the garbage dumps to earn their livelihood. The hiatus between the rich and the poor seems difficult to be bridged. It is increasing day by day. The poor are becoming poorer and the rich richer. There is no human being who would like to work for their welfare. Their plight is pitiable and horrible. The residential areas of these people are packed with filth. They become habitual of foul smell. Poverty is a vicious circle. It never comes to an end. The unemployed youth are heading towards destruction. They do not remember anything except the help they receive from the opportunistic people who feed them to materialise their vested interests.

Q2. Child abuse is a very serious problem in our country. Children are forced by circumstances to work in various factories. Write an article, on the topic ‘Child Abuse’. Take ideas from the following lines:

“None of them knows that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces 1 with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light; that the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight /hours, often losing the brightness of their eyes.”

Ans.              CHILD ABUSE

Child abuse is a grave problem in India. Many children work for dhabas, factories and tea stall owners. These are those unfortunate children of this country who don’t get even . meals three times a day. It is a blemish on our nation. It is the duty of the governments to make arrangements of education for these children. Child labour is common in the fields of agriculture, domestic service, sex industry, carpet and textile industries, quarrying, bangle making and brick making. These children are forced to work in horrible conditions. There are no set working hours for these children. They are given low wages.

In some cases poverty of the household and low level of parental education are responsible , for child labour. Employing children in factories implies that the nation’s future is in dark. These children never feel happy. They become devoid of human emotions. They adoptillegal ways to earn their bread and butter when they become able-bodied. It gives rise to .violence and corruption. Child labour should be stopped and the governments should educate these children free of cost. At least elementary education should be given to all children.