Chapter- LOST
SPRING by Anees Jung
Q.1.Who
is Saheb? What is he looking for in the garbage dumps and where has he come
from?
Ans:
Saheb is a rag-picker of Seemapuri. The writer encounters him every morning
scrounging (searching)for gold in the garbage dumps in her neighbourhood.
He hails(belongs) from Dhaka and he was migrated from Bangladesh in 1971. His
house and fields were destroyed by storm.
Q2 What
explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing foot wear?
When
the author asked the children why they were always barefoot , one
said it was because his mother had not pulled his shoes from the shelf while
the other explanation was that it was a tradition in their community to walk
barefoot. The author did not quite believe it and realized that it was their
perpetual state of poverty which was responsible for their moving around in
that manner.
(Q3.) Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?
(Ans) The glass bangle industry of Firozabad
employs children and they work in very unhealthy and hazardous conditions. They
are made to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells
without air and light. Almost twenty thousand children work in the hot
furnaces, often losing the brightness of their eyes. Many workers become blind
while polishing the glass bangles. Many children lose their eyesight before
they become adults.
(Q4.)
Explain ‘For children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to
their parents’. (Ans) The small rag pickers scrounge heaps of garbage for some
coin, note or valuable things. Sometimes they do find a rupee or even a ten
rupee note. Then they hope to find more. They search excitedly. For children,
garbage is wrapped in wonder. For the grown-ups it is a means of survival.
Hence garbage has two different meanings.
5)Mention any two hazards of working in the glass bangle industry?
Ans-Working of children in the glass bangle industry is against the rules of health and hygiene. They have to work before the furnace amidst high temperature. They have the chances of skin burn and loosing the brightness of the eyes. Sitting in close proximity to furnace and staying in dingy and dark cells trouble all.
(Q6.) How is
Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
(Ans) Mukesh insists on being his own master. He has seen the poverty, the dangers and the subhuman living conditions of the glass bangle industry. He wants to be a motor mechanic. His hope, resourcefulness and determination to break free are admirable ‘his dream looms like a mirage’, amidst the dust of streets. His thinking with a positive attitude is so different from his family which is struggling to survive the burden of the lineage. He wants to rebuild his destiny and do not want to become a glass bangle maker.
Q7. ‘Garbage to them is gold.’ Why does the author say so about the rag-pickers?
Ans: More
than 10,000 rag-pickers of Seemapuri live in squatters. For them is garbage is
gold and it is wrapped in wonder. For a child, it is their bread. Sometimes a
child can find a silver coin or more in a heap of garbage. For the elders it is
a means of survival.
Q8. Through
the years rag picking has acquired the ‘proportion of a fine art’ in Seemapuri.
Justify the statement.
Ans.. The
means of survival of migrants of Bangladesh in Seemapuri israg picking.
Garbage to them is gold. Like a fine art that has no end in appealing the sense
of beauty the rag picker’s scrounging the garbage is a never ending process
which provides them their daily bread day after day.
Q9. How
did garbage hold different meanings for adults and children?
Ans.
Rag picking for adults was only a means of survival but for children a lot of
excitement was associated with the same for they often found unexpected things
as a ten rupee note in the same. There was always a hope of coming across
unexpected surprises and so garbage was wrapped in wonder for them.
Q10. Why
did not the bangle makers organize themselves into a co-operative?
Ans.
They had no leader who could show them the way. They would be beaten up by the
police and dragged to jail for doing something illegal in the form of
organization.
Q11. How
is Mukesh different from Saheb?
Ans. Saheb
sacrificed his freedom when he took job at the tea stall but Mukesh insisted on
being his own master. Though Saheb wanted to study but he was not ready to make
effort to get educated, rather he accepted his fate. On the other hand Mukesh
was determined to become motor mechanic and was ready to make every possible
effort to accomplish his dreams.