Class 12 Flamingo Chapter- LOST SPRING by Anees Jung

 

        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.