LOST SPRING

1. Give short answer of the following questions.

a) Who is the author of the prose-piece ' Lost Spring ' ?

= The author of the prose-piece ' Lost Spring' is Anees Jung.

b) Name the place which is famous for its bangles.

= The place Firozabad is famous for its bangles.

c) What does the 'garbage' mean for the elders of Seemapuri ?

= For the elders of Seemapuri the garbage is a means of survival.

d) Who is Mukesh?

= Mukesh is a child labour of a bangle making family of Firozabad.

e)Where was Saheb originally hail from?

= Saheb was originally hail from Dhaka of Bangladesh.

f) What does Mukesh want to be ?

= Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic.

g) What is Lost Spring about ?

= Lost spring is about those innocent children who have to lose their spring days of childhood due to the poverty of their families.

h) Where does Mukesh live ?

= Mukesh live in Firozabad town, the centre of glass-blowing industry of India.

i) What has killed all initiative and ability to dream ?

= Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.

j) Is Mukesh's dream of flying a plane?

= No, Mukesh's dream is not of flying a plane.

k) Who is in charge of Mukesh's household ?

= Mukesh's elder brothers wife is in charge of Mukesh's household.

l) Name the place in Delhi where the squatters live ?

= Seemapuri is the place in Delhi where the squatters live.

m) What does Saheb's name signify ?

= Saheb's name signifies 'the lord of universe' .

n) Who is Saheb ?

= Saheb is a ragpicker  who came from Bangladesh back in 1971.

o) What does the author of 'Lost Spring' find Saheb doing every morning?

= Every morning the author of Lost Spring finds Saheb scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of his neighbourhood.

p) Whom did Saheb observe standing at the fence gate of the neighbouring club?

= Standing at the fence gate of the neighbouring club Saheb observed two young men dressed in white, playing tennis.

        

         QUESTION FOR TWO MARKS

a) What did Saheb's mother say about leaving their homes in Dhaka and coming to Seemapuri ?

= Saheb's mother said some pathetic words about leaving their homes in Dhaka and coming to Seemapuri. She said that the green field of Dhaka gave them no grain. There they could not feed their families at the end of the day and had to go to bed with an aching stomach. But here in Seemapuri they are able to feed their families at the end of the day. That is why they left their homes in Dhaka and settled here in Seemapuri.

b) Why according to the author, the advice she gave to Saheb seems hollow ?

= Going to school for a rag-picker like Saheb is out of his reach. A boy like him who has not enough money to buy his daily bread and wearing , who often remains with an empty stomach; how he can think of going to school. Furthermore, he belongs to a so backward place where there is not a primary school.  So, according to the author the advice she gave to Saheb seems hollow.

3) What was the promise made by Anees Jung to Saheb ?

= The author Anees Jung made a false promise to Saheb. It was that she was going to start a school in his neighborhood and asked him to come to her school.

4) "Garbage to them is gold." Why does the author say so about the ragpickers ?

= The author says that garbage to the ragpickers is gold because it is the only earning source for them. It is their daily bread. Actually, the garbage is more valuable for them than the pure gold. That is why, the author says so about the ragpickers.

5) Why did Saheb migrate to Seemapuri ?

= Saheb lived in Dhaka of Bangladesh. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes. So, Saheb migrated to Seemapuri  just for food.

6) Why is Mukesh an exceptional one ?

= All other peoples living in Firozabad can not think of doing something but making bangles. They have been making bangles generation after generation. Only Mukesh thinks different. He does not want to make making bangles as his profession. He wants to be a motor mechanic. From this point of view Mukesh is an exceptional one.

7) Cite the reason why do the children of Firozabad suffer from losing their eyesight.

= The children in Firozabad have to slog their daylight hours in the dingy cells of the glass furnaces with high temperature without air and light. Their eyes are more adjusted to dark than to the lights outside. This is the reason why the children of Firozabad suffer from losing their eyesight.

8) Cite the reason as to why do the young men of Firozabad fail to organize themselves into a co-operative?

= The young men of Firozabad fail to organize themselves into a co-operative because there is no leader among them and they have no one who can help them see things differently. Even if they get organized, they will be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal.

9) Can Mukesh realise his dream ?

= Yes, Mukesh can realise his dream. Because he dreams what is within his limit. He does not dream what is beyond of his limit. He dreams to be a motor mechanic and becoming a motor mechanic is within his limit, but he would have to work hard to fulfill his dream.

10) Why did Mukesh's dream look like a mirage amidst the dust of the street of Firozabad ?

= Mukesh dream is to become a motor mechanic. His dream looked like a mirage amidst the dust of the street of Firozabad because though he dreams to be a motor mechanic , it would not be so possible for him to fulfill his dream as he belongs to so backward place like Firozabad where all the families are engaged only in making bangles, where people can not think of doing something but making bangles and where survival  means making bangles.

11) Describe the kinds of bangles made in Firozabad.

= The different kinds of bangles made in Firozabad are - sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink , purple etc. .

12) What are the two different worlds in Firozabad ?

= Listening to the plight of the people of Firozabad the author has seen two distinct worlds in Firozabad. One of them  is the world of the bangle making families, caught in a web of poverty burdened by the stigma of caste in which they are born. The another world is of the vicious circle of the sahukars, the middleman, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. 

13) What was the sanctity of bangles in an Indian society ?

= In an Indian society bangles symbolizes the Suhag of an Indian woman and auspiciousness in marriage. It also enhances the beauty of a woman. Every one in an Indian society knows the sanctity of bangle .

14) Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall ? Why  ?

= No, Saheb is not at all happy working at the tea stall. Though he is paid eight hundred rupees and his meal, he is totally unhappy working there. Because in the tea stall he is no longer of his own master and he has to work under his boss.

15) What does Saheb look for in the garbage dumps ? Where is he and where has he come from ?

= In the garbage dumps Saheb looks for gold, which is their daily bread. Now he is in Seemapuri and he has come  from Dhaka of Bangladesh.

16) What is the irony inherent in Saheb's full name ?

= Saheb's full name is Saheb - e -alm. His full name signifies the lord of universe. The irony regarding his full mane is that in spite of being the lord of universe, he has to survive by scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps. His name does not suit his work.

17) What is Firozabad famous for and why ?

= Firozabad if famous for its bangles. It is the centre of India's glass-blowing industry where families have spent generation after generations.

18) Why is not Saheb wearing chappals ?

= Saheb is a ragpicker who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb is not wearing chappals because he had no money to buy chappals. Even they had not enough money to buy their daily bread. They earn their daily bread only by rag-picking. In this circumstances where they would get money to buy chappals.

                LONG QUESTIONS

1) Describe the miserable plight of the people of Firozabad ?

= The town Firozabad is famous for its bangles. It is the centre of India's glass blowing industry. Every family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. Everyone in Firozabad knows nothing but making bangles.

                    The people of Firozabad lead a very deplorable and pitiable life. Making bangles is their traditional profession. They have to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures in dingy cells without air and light. The children are not exceptional to it. They had to slog their daylight hours in the hot furnaces. Their eyes are more adjusted to dark than to the light. That is why they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.

                         The life-style of the people of Firozabad is very pathetic. They live in their dilapidated houses at the stinking lanes of Firozabad choked with garbage. Their homes remain hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows, where they coexist with animals in a primeval state. Though the people of Firozabad work hard the whole day in the glass blowing industry, they earn very little. The money they get from the glass blowing industry is not sufficient to buy their necessary things. Even, it can not afford them their daily bread. That is why the cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, and not even enough to eat is common in every family of Firozabad.

                    Moreover, they have fallen into the vicious circle of middleman, the policeman, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians who exploit them and imposed the baggage on the children that they can not put down. There is no one to help them and there is no leader among them to fight against them.

                    Thus, lack of education and lack of money compel them to live in the families caught in a web of poverty burdened by the stigma of the caste in which they are born.

2) Describe the life of squatters at Seemapuri ?

Ans:- The people who live in Seemapuri are called squatters. They came to Seemapuri from Bangladesh back in 1971. Seemapuri is a wilderness place situated on the periphery of Delhi. Metaphorically it is miles away from it. The squatters live a very deplorable life here in Seemapuri. They live in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage and running water.

            More than ten thousand ragpickers live in Seemapuri. They have been living here for more than thirty years without an identity and permits. They have only a ration card that get their names on voters list and enable them to buy grain. For them food is more important for survival than an identity. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become their transit homes. Children grow up in them and becomes partner in survival. Along with the elders, the children also have to struggle for survival. The children instead of going to school scrounge the garbage dumps of the city Seemapuri. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread. Sometimes they find a rupee, even a ten-rupee note.