Class 12 English Chapter 2 Lost Spring

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Class 12 English Chapter 2 Lost Spring

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Lost Spring

PROSE SECTION

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Think as you read

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

Ans. Saheb looks for some bits of wonderful findings like currency notes in the garbage dumps. He lives in Seemapuri on the outskirts of Delhi with his parents. He, with his parents, had come from Dhaka.

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

Ans. Moving barefoot has almost become a tradition for children moving in most Indian villages and cities. But the author explains that the tradition is a consequence of their grinding poverty.

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

Ans. Though Saheb is having a better life working at a tea-stall where he even gets his food beside a salary, yet his face has lost its carefree look. He is no longer his own master.

4. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?

Ans. Firozabad is famous for its glass bangle industry.

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

Ans. The people in glass bangle industries have to work in glass furnaces with high temperatures in small rooms without ventilation or sunlight. Such conditions lead to permanent blindness at a very young age.

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

Ans. Mukesh belonged to a family where people never thought anything beyond bangle making. They accepted it as a god – given lineage though they achieved nothing but grinding poverty from the trade. Mukesh wanted to break the tradition by becoming a motor mechanic and was determined to follow his dream.

Understanding the text

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

Ans. The primary reason for migration is opportunity to earn a livelihood. Better working conditions, infrastructure, better lifestyle, broader job opportunities etc. are secondary reasons.

2. 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. In a country like ours which is steeped in corruption and hypocrisy, promises made for the uplift of poor children are rarely kept. Child labour is blatantly evident everywhere. Infact, the place that the author writes about here is the outskirt of the country’s capital. Even in Delhi, crimes against children are galore. There are no schools for these children and even if schools exist, they are without teachers. Funds allocated by organisations like UNICEF are pilfered and diverted. The fireworks factories of Sivakashi is a burning example of how hollow the promises against child labour are in this country. Young children work as domestic helps, in tea stalls, garages, carpet factories, bangle factories etc. in the most hazardous of conditions.

There are numerous other examples of broken promises. Children are compelled to work in such deplorable conditions because of the utter poverty and thus become soft targets for exploitation. Poverty, however, is a result of the exploding population.

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

Ans. There is a strong nexus of policemen, the middlemen, politicians, bureaucrats and also the keepers of the law that works hand in glove to keep the workers of the bangle industry in the state of utter poverty so that they can never raise their voice in revolt. The police have often tortured those who tried to form a cooperative of these workers.

S.L. No.	CONTENTS
	PROSE SECTION
1	The Last Lesson
2	Lost Spring
3	Deep Water
4	Indigo
5	Going Places
6	Memoirs Of A Chota Sahib
	POETRY SECTION
1	My Mother At Sixty-Six
2	Keeping Quiet
3	Notes A Thing Of Beauty
4	A Roadside Stand
	VISTAS
1	The Tiger King
2	The Enemy
3	On The Face Of It
4	Memories Of Childhood
5	Magh Bihu Or Maghar Domahi

Talking about the text

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

Ans. Mukesh can realise his dream if he just keeps his focus on it. Having been born to a poor family in Firozabad, he was destined to become another pair of hands in the bangle factory. But he had other plans and was decided and determined to follow his dream. He would need a strong resolve to break away from the tradition because he would obviously face family pressure to continue with their lineage.

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

Ans. Working in the glass bangles factory is hazardous not only to physical health but mental health as well. Constantly exposed to the high temperature of the furnace, the glass dust everywhere, broken glass pieces piercing through the barefoot, the workers in these dingy rooms lose their eyesight at a very young age. Cuts and burns are regular happenings. Workers suffer from asthma, bronchitis, liver ailments, severe eye problems and mental retardation.

3. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

Ans. Child labour is a crime and defies basic human rights. Childhood is the formative stage in a person’s life. That is why children should go to school and efforts are to keep them away from violence and crime so that they grow up to be good citizens. To become a healthy adult, a child needs to have a healthy childhood. But when a child is put to work in glass factories, carpet industry, firecracker factory and other such hazardous places which are mostly without sunlight, ventilation and basic amenities, their childhood is already squashed. They can neither grow up as healthy adults nor become good citizens. Exposed to a ruthless world, most of them develop criminal traits in them.

Laws against child labour have to be more stringent. Exemplary punishment will instil some fear in those who put children to labour. Though, doing just that will not solve the problem. It is due to utter poverty that parents put children to work and others find it an excuse to exploit them. So poverty has to be eradicated, and here we come to the root of it all – population. Simply taking away children from factories will lead them to starvation. Who will feed them when their parents cannot? The issue needs a holistic approach and fool proof solution. Otherwise child labour will prevail in some torn or the other in our country.

Thinking about language

Although this text speaks of factual events and situations of misery it transforms these situations with an almost poetical prose into a literary experience. How does it do so? Here are some literary devices:

• Hyperbole is a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better or more exciting than it really is.

For example: Garbage to them is gold.

• A Metaphor, as you may know, compares two things or ideas that are not very similar. A metaphor describes a thing in terms of a single quality or feature of some other thing; we can say that a metaphor “transfers” a quality of one thing to another. For example: The road was a ribbon of light.

• Simile is a word or phrase that compares one thing with another using the words “like” or “as”. For example: As white as snow.

Carefully read the following phrases and sentences taken from the text. Can you identify the literary device in each example?

1. Saheb-e-Alam which means the lord of the universe is directly in contrast to what Saheb is in reality.

Ans. Hyperbole.

2. Drowned in an air of desolation.

Ans. Metaphor.

3. Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically.

Ans. Metaphor.

4. For the children it is wrapped in wonder; for the elders it is a means of survival.

Ans. Hyperbole.

5. As her hands moved mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make.

Ans. Simile.

6. She still has bangles on her wrist, but not light in her eyes.

Ans. Irony.

7. Few aeroplanes fly over Firozabad.

Ans. Metaphor.

8. Web of poverty.

Ans. Metaphor.

9. Scrounging for gold.

Ans. Hyperbole.

10. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art.

Ans. Hyperbole.

11. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulders.

Ans. Metaphor.

Things to do

The beauty of the glass bangles of Firozabad contrasts with the misery of people who produce them. This paradox is also found in some other situations, for example, those who work in gold and diamond mines, or carpet weaving factories, and the products of their labour, the lives of construction workers, and the buildings they build.

• Look around and find examples of such paradoxes.

• Write a paragraph of about 200 to 250 words on any one of them. You can start by making notes.

Here is an example of how one such paragraph may begin:

You never see the poor in this town. By day they to, working cranes and earthmovers, squirrelling deep into the hot sand to lay the foundations of chrome. By night they are banished to bleak labour camps at the outskirts of the city…

Ans. It is indeed a sad story that is repeated every moment in our lives. We see houses built all around us with the most modern fittings and floorings. People take pride in the house they have built, spending their life’s earnings. But the mason who built it, the carpenter who did the fine wood work, or the plumber who fitted the expensive bathroom/kitchen fittings can never enjoy any of them. From the marble floor he had so painstakingly polished, the worker returns to the mud floor of his hut. The plumber does not even have proper sanitation facility or the carpenter may not even have a chair in his hut. Once the house is done up and occupied by the owner, the workers do not get an excess beyond the front door. The children and parents engaged in construction of big school buildings will not be allowed to enter the premises where only children from affluent families come to study. Similar is the case with young children made to work in gold or diamond mines. Their employers write their destiny to wallow in poverty and servility all their life.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS

Short answer type questions

1. What is ironical about Saheb’s name? 

Ans. Saheb’s name is Saheb-e-Alam which, ironically, means lord of the universe. Unaware of its meaning, he roams the streets barefoot, scrounging the garbage heaps.

2. Why do children remain barefoot on the streets?

Ans. The author observed that poor children in cities and villages roamed barefoot on the streets. Some say it was more due to tradition than lack of money. But it was probably an excuse to explain their grinding poverty.

3. What did the author see on her visit to Udipi?

Ans. When the author visited Udipi, she saw the deserted temple and the priesť’s house nearby. However, the present priest’s son wore neat school uniform with shoes and socks unlike the old priest’s son she had met.

4. Was an identity important for the rag-pickers of Seemapuri?

Ans. For the rag-pickers of Seemapuri, food for the family was more important than an identity. They were provided ration cards with which they could buy grains at a nominal price and they were content with it.

5. Where did Saheb get his shoes and how did he feel about it?

Ans. Saheb was given a pair of discoloured shoes by some rich boy. To Saheb, who had moved barefoot till now, getting a pair of shoes, though with a hole, was beyond his dreams. He was very happy about it.

6. Was Saheb happy with his job at the tea stall?

Ans. Saheb’s job at the tea stall earned him not only money but a regular meal. Yet, when the author met him, his face no longer had the brightness or cheer. The steel canister he carried was far heavier than the plastic bag he had over his shoulder. Moreover, he was no longer his own master.

7. What was Mukesh’s ambition and how did he plan to fulfil it?

Ans. Mukesh’s ambition was to become a motor mechanic. He would even learn to drive a car. HHe had everything planned out about where he would learn the trade. The garage was far away but he was determined to walk down every day.

8. “It is his karam, his destiny” who says this and about whom is it said?

Ans. This was said by Mukesh’s old grandmother who considered bangle making as a god-given lineage which every family member should naturally follow even though it drowned them in poverty and a miserable life. She said this of Mukesh who wanted to break away from the tradition.

9. Little has moved with time. Why?

Ans. The author observed that in Firozabad, little had moved with time. While the rest of the world had made unimaginable development, here in firozabad people still were without food or shelter. Generation after generation remained poor and exploited. Relentless toil and drudgery killed their initiative and the ability to dream.

10. Do you think Mukesh has a realistic dream?

Ans. Though he was a young boy in a poor family of bangle makers, Mukesh dared to dream of doing something different. He was determined to follow his dream. When the author asked whether he would want to fly a plane one day, he immediately said he didn’t. He decided to do What was more realistic and within his reach.

Long answer type questions

1. Who was Saheb? Where did he come from and why?

Ans. Saheb was one of the rag-pickers the author had come to know in Seemapuri. His full name was Saheb-e-Alam, meaning lord of the universe. On the outskirts of Delhi, he lived with his parents who had migrated from Dhaka. Though set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, their home and fields get washed away by the frequent floods. Thus, the fields gave them no grain. In the city, rag-picking became a source of survival. They could even acquire a roof over their heads, though it may be a leaking one.

2. Though Seemapuri was on the periphery of Delhi, yet it was miles away from it. Why?

Ans. Seemapuri is situated just on the border of Delhi. It was a dry wasteland but now fully occupied by illegal settlers who migrated from Bangladesh way back in 1971. Around ten thousand rag-pickers dwell there in the most deplorable conditions. Tin or tarpaulin covered structures of mud without any provision of sewage, drainage or running water. Though situated on the fringe of the country’s capital, the place is decades away from development. The comfort, glitter and glamour of Delhi seems a fairy tale which is far removed from their reality. Thus, the author comments that despite the geographical proximity, they are miles away from Delhi in terms of development and living standards.

3. How do the children and adults interpret garbage?

Ans. Scrounging the garbage heaps has been a regular occupation with the slum dwellers of Seemapuri like that in many other places. With a bag on their shoulder they appear in hordes in the morning and disappear at noon. Through years of practice, they have mastered the art of rag-picking. For the elders it is their means of survival. It brings them food and a roof over their heads. Garbage to them is gold. But to the children it means something even more. It is a discovery and a wonderful surprise as they even find money on these dumps. A single silver coin kindles their hope of finding even more and motivates them to keep digging.

4. Describe the bangle makers of Firozabad. Why have they not been able to liberate themselves from the vicious circle?

Ans. The dry and dusty town of Firozabad is famous for its glass bangle industry. Every family is somehow related to the trade. The people who work in the factories are the poor section. Every member of the family picks up the trade as naturally as a family lineage. The working conditions are hazardous and living conditions are deplorable. Around 20,000 children work at the hot furnaces all through the day without light or ventilation. The glass dust and the unhygienic condition often lead them to loss of eyesight along with other physical and mental ailments.

The workers have not been able to form a cooperative due to lack of leadership. The middlemen are very powerful and have the police on their side. Anybody trying to raise his voice is arrested and tortured. There is a powerful nexus of police, middlemen, law keepers, bureaucrats and politicians who form the impenetrable vicious circle.

5. What difference does the author find in Mukesh? Is it positive or negative?

Ans. Mukesh belonged to a family of poor bangle makers. He lived with his family in a half built shack. The author saw in the house an entire family of emaciated people with just a roof over their heads. Mukesh was also supposed to carry the family tradition of bangle making, but he had different ideas. He wanted to become a motor mechanic and even learn to drive a car. The garage where he would work was far from his home, yet Mukesh was determined to walk the distance. 

Mukesh’s decision was a positive one. He had the dare to think differently and break from the tradition. People like Mukesh could probably bring in the change which they so desperately need.

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