Lost Spring by -Anees jung
Short Answer
Type Question
Q.1. Why did 'Anees Jung'
ask Saheb about the school? What was its impact on Saheb?
Ans:
'Anees Jung' asked Saheb
about the school because she wanted to know about the intention of Saheb
regarding studies.
Q 2. Why did Saheb and
other ragpickers not wear chappals? What excuse did they give for it?
Ans:
Saheb and other ragpickers
did not wear chappals because it was their tradition to wander barefoot and they
didn't like to wear also. They excused that their mother didn't give them from
the shelf.
Q.3. How many ragpickers
used to live in Seemapuri, Delhi? How did they settle there?
Ans:
More
than 10,000 ragpickers used to live in Seemapuri. They settled there for more than thirty
years as they are the squatters who came from Bangladesh in 1971.
Ans:
For children, garbage means wonder. They found a rupee, even a ten rupee note in it.
Q.5. Why did Saheb join the job at milk booth? What was he paid for his service?
Ans:
Saheb joined the milk booth due to poverty. There he was paid 800 rupees and all his meals but he had to work harder and boundedly there because he was no longer his own master.
Q.6. Who was Mukesh?
Where did he belong and what was his ambition?
Ans:
Mukesh was a young boy who belonged to the bangle- making family from Firozabad. His ambition was to become a motor mechanic.
Q.7. Why did Mukesh
volunteer to take the narrator home? Who were there in the home?
Ans:
Mukesh volunteered to take
the narrator to his home because his house was being rebuilt and he wanted to
show it to her. There was Mukesh's elder brother,
his (brother's) wife, Mukesh's father, grandmother and few animals in the home.
Q.8. "It is his
Karam, his destiny." Who said this and why?
Ans:
"It is his Karama,
his destiny." Mukesh's grandmother said this because she has watched her
own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles.
Q.9. What does the
bangles symbolize? What is the role of bangle makers of Firozabad?
Ans:
The bangles symbolize an
Indian woman's 'Suhaag'. The bangle makers of Firozabad produce largest
quantity of bangles in the country and export bangles to all over the world.
Q.10. Why could the bangle makers not organize themselves into a cooperative? What do the face if they do so?
The bangle makers could not organise themselves into a cooperative because they were trapped in the vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen, policemen, up bureaucrats and politicians. If they tried to organise themselves, they would be beaten by up the police and put in jail.
Q.11. What was importance of garbage for children in seemapuri?
For the children of Seemapuri, garbage is something wrapped in wonder as at times they find a ten or a one rupee note in it.
Q.12. What explanation does the author offer for children not wearing footwear?
Ans:
The author offers various explanation given to her by the children like, simply not caring to take the trouble of taking their slippers down from the shelf to wear them, not wearing footwear tradition. As against this, the ragpickers in the author's neighbourhood still remain barefoot.
Q.13. Why did children in Seemapuri stay barefooted?
Ans:
Some of the children in seemapuri want to wear shoes. But a large number of them have to stay barefoot as they cannot afford to buy a pair of shoes. They state that it is a tradition to stay barefoot as an excuse to hide there grinding poverty.
Or
What does Mukesh want to become in life?
Ans:
Mukesh belongs to the family of bangle makers in Firozabad. He wants to be a motor mechanic and learn to drive a car". Thus he wants to be his own master.
Q.15. What do the inhabitants of Seemapuri do for their survival?
Ans:
The inhabitants of Seemapuri do for their survival to collect rubbish. Their only means of livelihood's finding saleable items from rubbish.
Q.16. Describe the life of rag pickers at Seemapuri.
Ans:
Seemapuri is settlement of more than 10,000 rag pickers. Rag pickers live in structures of mud. They have roofs of tin and tarpaulin. There is no sewage, drainage or running water.
Q.17. Where is Seemapuri
situated?
Ans:
Seemapuri is a place on
the outskirts of Delhi border.
Q.18. What was the
importance of garbage for children in Seemapuri?
Ans:
The garbage for children
in Seemapuri is very important because the garbage becoming a means of survival
to children of Seemapuri and for their parents. It is providing them their
daily bread and a roof over their heads.
Q.16. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Or
Why did children in Seemapuri stay barefoot?
Ans:
One explanation is that it has become a tradition for them to stay barefoot. Children in Seemapuri stayed barefoot as they said that their mother did not get them down from the shelf.
Q.17. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Ans:
Glass blowing industry and bangles make Firozabad famous. Besides this Every other family here is engaged in making bangles.
Q.18. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Or
What are the hazards of working in the glass bangle industry?
Ans:
Workers work in dingy cells without air and light. They lose the brightness of their eyes. The powder from the polishing of bangles also blinds them. These
Q.19. Why did Saheb join the job at the milk booth ?
Ans:
Saheb joined the job at milk booth because he got 800 rupees for his service and all his meals.
Q.20. What was the importance of garbage for children in Seemapuri?
Ans:
Finding unexcepted things suchas a ten rupee note etc was the importance of garbage for children in Seemapuri. Thus garbage was wrapped in wonder for them.
Q.21. What was the meaning of garbage for children? What did they find in it?
Ans:
Looking for something valuable in heaps of garbage was the meaning of garbage for children. They found just one rupee or at times even a ten rupees note in it.
Q.22. Where is Seemapuri situated?
Ans:
Seemapuri is situated in the east of New Delhi. Poverty is widely prevalent in this area.
Q.23. What do the inhabitants of Seemapuri do for their survival?
Ans:
Seemapuri is a slum area located in the east Delhi The majority of the residents of Seemapuri are ragpickers who earn their livelihood by collecting and selling recyclable waste.
Q.1.Who was Saheb? What was the plight that compelled him to wander in the streets of Delhi for ragpicking?
Ans:
Saheb was a boy who belonged to the family of ragpickers. He was wandering in the streets of Delhi with his friends. They were the squatters from Dhaka, Bangladesh where the storm has destroyed their green fields and homes. They were so poor that they could not go to school. Their parents were depend on ragpicking only for their livelihood and unable to bear any other expense except foodings.
Q.2. Children like Saheb often go for private jobs in very small age. Is this their final destiny? How can such situation be overcome?
Ans:
Children like Saheb often go for private jobs in very small age and the only reason behind it is their poverty. This becomes their final destiny because when they engage themselves in such jobs once, then it seems very hard and impossible to run out of those. So, till their age, they got trapped in such jobs and deprived of real education.Such situation can only be overcomed by the combined efforts of parents and government both. Every section of the society will have to work commonly and dedicately to fight with this evil of our society.
Q.3. Who was Mukesh? What did he want to do in his life and what did he not want to follow?
Ans:
Mukesh was a member of the family from Firozabad, engaged in bangle making. Because of family trade, he himself too had to do the same work but Mukesh never wanted to follow that tradition. Actually, he wanted to be a motor mechanic for which he had to take a great pain going against his family tradition and members, without support taking the training, going very far from his house for learning etc.
Q.4. What did the narrator notice in the locality where Mukesh lived? What was the condition of bangle makers?
Ans:
The narrator noticed a lot of things as children illegally working in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light; stinking choked lanes with garbage; past homes that remain hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors; humans and animals living together; The condition of bangle makers was very pitiable. They were very poor. Even after having the lunch, there was no surety of dinner. The labour of bangle makers was very hard whereas their income was too low that they were unable to send their children to the school. They were continuously fighting with poverty.
Q.5. Every other house in Firozabad is engaged in glass industry. In every other yard, there finds the spiral of bangles. Even then the makers remain in miserable condition. What are the reasons? Explain with the suggestions to overcome this situation.
Ans:
Every other house in Firozabad is engaged in glass industry. In every other yard, there finds the spiral of bangles Even then the makers remain in miserable condition.The reasons behind it are a lot, in many ways as since generations, they've been engaged in only bangle making and not seen any other thing ever so they are totally dependent on this trade, whenever they think or effort for any other trade; they are stopped and hauled up by the police and other persons like middlemen, sahukars, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.Their condition can only be reformed by the combined efforts of bangle makers and the government both. Their products should be given 'Hallmark' and kept free from taxes. They should be given opportunity to sell their products directly to the companies and the mediators must be removed. Even the government can give subsidy and easy low interest loan to these poor bangle makers.
Q.6.What is the vicious circle of middlemen ? How are they trapped since the time of their forefathers ? Can they get organised ? If not, only why ? Explain.
Answer. The vicious circle of middleman is surely vicious. Actually, whenever these bangle makers step out to come forward for any other works, they are hauled up and stopped by the policemen and Sahukars, middleman, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Whenever, they even think of any other trade, their thinking and abilities are killed. And this vicious circle of so called gentlemen of the society seems more powerful than a web of spider. They have been trapped since the time of their forefather due to the same reason because this legacy is being transferred to every next generation. And due to this naturally felt and given legacy, the child accept it very ordinarily. They can never be organised to easily because the middlemen, and others do not let them organised because of their own greed and selfishness. These so called important persons of the society thinks only of themselves and do the fake promises showing the false sympathy. So, their ( bangle makers ) reform remains a challenge for them as well as for government.
Q.7. How is Mukesh different from the other bangle makers of Firozabad?
Ans:
Mukesh's attitude to his situation is different from that of his family because he is determined to become a car mechanic. His father, a bangle maker could not do anything for his family except teach them the art of making bangles.
Mukesh is an ambitious person because he wants to breaking free from the vicious web of generation of families being involved in bangle- making.
Q.8. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Or
Describe the deplorable plight of bangle-makers.
Ans:
The condition of hazards of working in the glass bangles industry is very pitable. They have to walk down stinking lanes choked with garbage. Their houses are hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. These slums are crowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in the same house. Parents and their children work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light. In the dark barracks, next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps, sit boys and girls with their fathers and mothers, they weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. The workers often lose their eye before they become adults.
Q.9. Write an account of
Bangladeshi squatters in Seemapuri as described by the author of 'Lost Spring'.
Ans:
Seemapuri is situated in the east of New Delhi. Some people from Bangladesh came here in 1971.
Saheb's family is among them. At that time Seemapuri was a wilderness. These
people squatted here. They made structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin.
This area is devoid of sewage, drainage or running water: Here 10,000
ragpickers are living. They have been living here since then without an
identity, without permits but with ration cards that got their names on voters'
lists. They are authorised to buy grain at their ration cards. Food is more
important for survival than an identity.
Wherever they find food,
they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow up in them and
become partners in survival. Ragpicking is the means of their survival. It is
their daily bread and gives them a roof over their heads.
Q.10. Which two distinct
worlds does the author notice in the bangle-making industry?
Ans:
The author notices the two distinct worlds in the bangle-making industry. She sees one of the family of the workers caught in a web of great poverty. They are unable to lead a normal life of an average family. On the other hand she sees a vicious circle of the Sahukars as the middlemen, the policemen as the keepers of law and order, the bureaucrats and the politician. They are engaged in their own mean interests and find pleasure in keeping the other class in poor condition in their own interests.
Q.11. What could be some of
the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Ans:
Some of the reasons for
the migration of people from villages to cities could be :
(i) For better lifestyle
(ii) For earning more
livlihood
(iii) For better
facilities
(iv) For education
(v) For change of
profession
Q.12. Why should child
labour be eliminated and how?
Ans:
Child labour should be
eliminated for the future of the nation. It also should be done because every
child has the right to education. It can be eliminated by the following
methods:
(i) Though the government
has made the law for the children under the 14 years of age against the child
labour, but it must be implicatedforcefully and lawfully.
(ii) Through the campaign,
every child should be
connected with the
national education system.
(iii) Financial and
physical, both types of
punishment must be awarded
for the persons
engaged in child labour.
(iv) Awareness program for
parents must also be
started.
(v) Middle & upper
sections of the society must contribute for the program.
Q.13. Describe the
deplorable plight of bangle-makers.
Ans:
The bangle-makers of
Firozabad are exposed to multiple health hazards while working. Many of them
are children who work near hot furnaces during daylight, often losing their
eyesight before adulthood. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all
initiative and the ability to even think of taking up another profession. They
are not able to organise themselves into a cooperative due to bullying and
exploitation by the politicians, authorities. moneylenders and middlemen.
They live in stinking
lanes choked with garbage, having homes with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no
windows, overcrowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in a
primeval state. They have not even enjoyed even one full meal in their entire
lifetime because of their poverty.
MCQs
1. The narrator asked one
ragpicker, "Why aren't you wearing __________ ?"
(a) shoes
(b) chappals
(c) sandals
(d) sport shoes
2. My acquaintance with
the___________ ragpickers leads me to Seemapuri.
(a) poor
(b) shoeless
(c) barefoot
(d) young
3. In Seemapuri, Delhi,
there live _________ ragpickers.
(a) 10,000
(b) 1,00,000
(c) 1,000
(d) None
4. Wherever they find
food, they pitch their tents that become _________homes.
(a) permanent
(b) temporary
(c) new
(d) transit
5. Saheb says, "I
sometimes find a rupee, even a ______ -rupee note.
(a) hundred
(b) ten
(c) one
(d) five
6. At milk booth, Saheb
was paid _______ rupees and all his meals.
(a) 600
(b) 700
(c) 800
(d) 1000
7. Every other family in
Firozabad is engaged in making ________.
(a) glass products
(b) spirals
(c) gift items
(d) bangles
8. About ________ children
work day and night in the glass furnaces with high temperatures.
(a) 10,000
(b) 20,000
(c) 30,000
(d) None
9. As custom demands,
daughters-in-law must veil their _____ before male elders.
(a) eyes
(b) head
(c) body
(d) faces
10. Bangles symbolise an
Indian woman's ___________auspiciousness in marriage.
(a) suhaag
(c) bridegroom
(b) husband
(d) marriage
11. The narrator asked a
group of young men, "Why not organise yourselves into a ____________
?"
(a) team
(b) co-operative
(c) group
(d) small industry
12. There is no ________
among them, no one who could help them see things differently.
(a) trainer
(b) helper
(c) supporter
(d) leader
13. "I want to be a ___________
mechanic." Mukesh repeats.
(a) bike
(b) car
(c) motor
(d) airplane
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