Lost Spring (Stories of Stolen Childhood)By Anees Jung

Prepared by: Vinay Dubey

About the Author
Anees Jung was born in 1964 in Rourkela, but spent her childhood and adolescence in Hyderabad. She
received her education in Hyderabad and United States. She inherits the literary tradition from her parents
and has authored many books. She was the editor of the Youth Times ( a publication of The Times of India)
from 1973 to 1980 and has been a freelance writer for many international publications, including the New
York Times. She was also an advisor to the Director-General of UNESCO in Paris from 1994 to 1999.

Brief Introduction to the Chapter

This lesson has been taken from the book of Anees Jung titled Lost Spring (Stories of Stolen Childhood). It
presents a depressing picture of modern India. Anees gives a realistic description of the grinding poverty and
pathetic condition of poor and innocent children like Saheb, a rag picker in Seemapuri and Mukesh, a labourer
in bangle making factory in Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh.

Detailed Summary

"Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage"

Saheb is a ragpicker. Anees Jung sees him daily scrounging the garbage dumps. He came from Dhaka, which
is in Bangladesh. He has no memory of his home. His family came away from Bangladesh because storms
destroyed their homes and fields. Anees Jung asks him his full name. His full name is 'Saheb-e-Alam,' which
means 'Lord of the Universe". This name is ironical as he is not the lord of even his own life. He leads a life of
utter poverty and misery. He roams the streets with other rag pickers. Like them, he is also barefoot. They live
in a state of perpetual poverty and cannot afford shoes or chappals, like many other families of rag pickers,
Saheb's family lives in Seemapuri. This is a dirty colony on the periphery of Delhi. About 10,000 rag pickers live
there in miserable conditions. The colony shows no signs of development. The houses are made of mud and
have roofs of tin and tarpaulin. The colony is devoid of sewage drainage or running water. They have lived for
more than thirty years. They have no identity or permits. But they have ration cards that enable them to buy
grain or to cast votes. For them food is more important than identity 'Wherever they find food, they pitch their
tents that become transit homes.
One morning, the writer sees Saheb standing by the fenced gate of a club, He is watching two young men
playing tennis. He tells her that he likes the game. Saheb is also wearing tennis shoes. These were given to him
by a rich boy because there is a hole in one of the shoes. Now Saheb works in a tea stall. He gets 800 rupees
plus meals. The writer observes that Saheb's face has lost its carefree look. He is no longer his own master.
"I want to drive a car
Now the writer describes the life of another poor boy His name is Mukesh. His family works in a bangle
factory. He lives in a dusty street of Firozabad. This town is famous for its bangles. It is the centre of India's
glass-blowing factory. Like other poor families of the town, Mukesh's family has been making bangles for
generations. But Mukesh has dreams in his eyes. He wants to be a motor mechanic. He says that he wants to
learn to drive a car.
The author says that more than 20,000 children work in the bangle factories of Firozabad. They do not know
that it is illegal for children to work in the glass furnaces with high temperature. They work in dark cells
without air and light. They live in miserable conditions. The author visits Mukesh's home. He lives in a
stinking lane, choked with garbage. The houses in the streets are just hovels with crumbling walls and
no windows. They are crowded with families of humans and animals. Then they enter Mukesh's home.
It is a half-built rough hut. In one part of it, the roof is covered with dry grass. There is a firewood stove.
A frail woman is cooking the evening meal for the family. She is the wife of Mukesh's elder brother.
Mukesh's father is a poor bangle maker. He has been making bangles for many years. Yet he has not
been able to renovate the house and to send his two sons to schools. He could just teach them the art of
bangle making. Mukesh's grandfather had gone blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles.
There is great poverty in the families of these bangle makers. But they cannot give up their profession.
They are born in the caste of bangle makers. They have nothing but bangles in their houses. In dark
hutments, boys and girls sit with their fathers and mothers, welding pieces of coloured glass into circles
of bangles. They work by flickering oil lamps.
The author meets a young girl in a dull pink dress, sitting alongside an elderly woman. The girl's name
is Savita. She is welding the pieces of glass. Her hands move mechanically while doing so. The author
wonders whether she knows the sanctity of bangles. They symbolize an Indian woman's 'suhaag'. They
stand for auspiciousness in marriage. Perhaps she will realise it one day when she herself becomes a
bride.
These poor people have no money to do any other work except carryon the business of making bangles.
Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream. The author asks some
young men why they do not organize themselves into a cooperative. They say that even if they make an
attempt to do so they will be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something
illegal.
The author realizes that there are two distinct worlds. One is the world of the family, caught in a web of
poverty. The other is the world of moneylenders, the middlemen and the policemen, the bureaucrats
and the politicians. They all exploit the poor bangle makers. Mukesh's eyes are full of hope. The author
asks him if he dreams of flying an aeroplane. He says 'no' and is content to dreams of cars which he
sees moving down the streets of his town. The child accepts his destiny as his father had accepted it.

Conceptual understanding of the chapter

Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage"

Narrators meeting with Saheb
 Saheb a ragpicker - a small boy
 Parents came from Bangladesh, Dhaka
 Saheb replies - no school in neighbourhood
 narrator gives assurance of opening a school but feels embarrassed for making false promise
Saheb's full name
 Saheb-e-Alam means-'Lord of the Universe', irony - in reality a ragpicker - doesn't know its
meaning - spends most of his time in rag-picking
 every morning appears like morning bird
 disappears at noon
Ragpicker's explanations for being barefoot
 mother didn't put them down from the shelf
 not lack of money but tradition is one explanation
 another reason - a perpetual state of poverty
Udipi - thirty years ago and now
 priest's young son goes to school without shoes
 prays goddess for a pair of shoes
 now temple drowned in an air of desolation
 new priest's son wears shoes, prosperity visible - red and white plastic chairs, folding bed but
ragpicker children still shoeless.
Seemapuri
 a place where 10,000 ragpickers live without an identity
 structures of mud, roofs of tin and tarpaulin - no drainage or running: water
 name in voter's card helps to buy grain
 looks happy in a new place as compared to their native place which gave no food
 Survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking
  Garbage is gold to them

Saheb's dream
 wants to dress in white and play tennis in club
 Saheb's new job
 job in a tea-stall earns Rs 800/- p.m.
 job of responsibility and burden.
 no more the master of his own self

I want to drive a car

Mukesh - belongs to bangle making family
 a child labourer in glass factory of Firozabad
 aspires to become. a motor mechanic, 'wants to drive a car
Lives in slums of Firozabad - Dark and dingy cells
 Children work illegally in bangle making factories
 About 20,000 children live here
 often lose the brightness of their eyes
Streets of Firozabad - stinking lanes
 crumbling walls, wobbly doors
 crowded with families of humans and animals primeval state
Mukesh's house and family
 a half-built shack, thatched, wobbly doors
 frail young woman
 Mukesh's elder sister-in-law - elder brother's wife
 Bahu of family - respectful towards elders, has responsibility of cooking
 Mukesh's father - head of house
 unable to renovate house - gripped in poverty
 house filled-with colourful bangles
 First 'a tailor--no good income
 Mukesh's grandmother's view - believes in Karma'
 Stigma of caste
Two worlds
 World of bangle makers
 born in poverty
 low caste
 can't raise voice
 World of wealthy people
 Sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians
Mukesh's dream
 aspires to come out of aged old tradition - bangle making
 wants to become a motor mechanic
 can't dream to fly aeroplanes
Theme
Lost Spring' deals with the plight of street children who are forced into labour early in life and denied
the opportunity of schooling. .Saheb and Mukesh both sail in the same boat. Both of them are "'poverty
stricken. The author analyses the grinding poverty and traditions which condemn these children to a
life of exploitation. The callousness of society and the political class is also responsible in the sufferings
of poor. At least the cooperative organizations can help to uplift them through awareness of literacy
and their legal rights.
Title
'Lost Spring' is an apt title for this extract which brings out the plight of the ragpickers living in the
slums of Seemapuri, Delhi rand the bangle makers of Firozabad. Though 'Spring' is the season of joy,
rebirth, happiness and the best season of the year but ironically there is no happiness in the lives of
these poverty gripped children. The author has metaphorically compared childhood with spring. The
'spring' is lost from the lives of both the children --Saheb and Mukesh. Other children of their age live
like free birds. They eat, play, study in good schools and hardly bother for anything but these two have
to fight for every morsel, rag-picking and working as child labourers in glass factory for their daily
bread is the only means of survival for them. Thus, the title is most appropriate.

Message
The author gives a strong message to the upper class to stop the class inequalities. The government is
expected to provide shelter and opportunity to the poor and neglected sections of the society. Child
labour should be abolished in true sense to save the future of the country. The darkness of ignorance
and illiteracy should be dispelled from the lives of poor children.
Short Answer Type Questions

Q [Link] did Saheb come from?

Ans. Saheb's family belonged to Dhaka, in Bangladesh. He, along with his family, left his home long ago. His
house in Dhaka was set amidst the green fields. But there were many storms that swept away their homes and
fields. That is why they had to leave. His family came to Seemapuri where Saheb started working as rag
picker.
Q.2. Where does the author encounter Saheb every morning?
Ans. Saheb is a rag picker. The author encounters him every morning searching the garbage dumps for bits of
papers and rags. He is one of the army of ragpickers who can be seen scrounging the garbage. Most of these
boys are migrants from Bangladesh and have settled in Seemapuri in Delhi.
Q3. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? '
Ans. Saheb is a ragpicker. He scr6unges the garbage dumps for bits of paper, rags, plastic items, etc. He
makes a living by selling these things. He tells the author that sometimes he finds a rupee, even a ten-
rupee note in the garbage.
Q.4. Give an account of the background of Saheb and his fellow ragpickers.
Ans. Saheb belongs to a community of ragpickers who scrounge the dumps of garbage for paper and
rags. He is one of more than 10,000 persons who are engaged in this profession. Most of them migrated
to India from Bangladesh in 1971. They were compelled to leave their homes because of many storms
which destroyed their homes and lands. They are living in Seemapuri on the outskirts of Delhi.
Q.5. What happens when the author asks Saheb to go to school?
Ans. Saheb spends his time scrounging the garbage dumps for bits of paper and rags. He tells the author
that he has nothing else to do. She tells him to go to school. Saheb replies that there is no school in his
neighbourhood. At this the author asks him if he will come if she starts a school. Saheb says that he will
be glad to come.
Q.6. What hollow promise does the author make to Saheb?
Ans. Saheb tells the author that he cannot join a school as there is no school in his neighbourhood. At
this the author asks him whether he will come if she starts a school. Saheb becomes happy. A few days
later, he asks her if she has started a school. Now the author feels embarrassed at having made a hollow
promise to a poor boy. She feels herself small.
Q.7. What is ironical about Saheb's full name?
Ans. The author often comes across a poor ragpicker named Saheb. His full name is ‘Saheb-e-Alam'.
which means 'Lord of the Universe.' This name is quite ironical. He is a poor boy who earns his living by
scrounging the dumps of garbage for bits of paper and rags. His life is full of poverty and misery.
Q8. What story did a man from Udipi once tell the author?
Ans. Once a man from Udipi told the author that as a young boy he would go to school past a temple. His
father was a priest at that temple. He would stop briefly at the temple and prayed to the goddess for a pair of
shoes. Finally the goddess granted his prayer and he got a pair of shoes.
Q9. What did the author observe when she went to Udipi thirty years later?
The author visited Udipi thirty years later. She went to the temple. She saw that there was a new priest in that
temple. She saw a young boy. He was dressed in a grey uniform and was wearing socks and shoes. Now
young boys like the' priest's son wore shoes.
[Link] author says, "Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi, yet miles away from it, metaphorically."
What does she mean to say?
Ans. Seemapuri is a settlement of thousands of ragpickers. It is on the periphery of Delhi. It is a dirty colony,
where people live in poverty and misery. The houses are made of mud, tins and tarpaulin. The streets are full
of dirt and sewage. There is a complete contrast between the modern Delhi and Seemapuri. That is why,
metaphorically, it is far away from Delhi. It will take a long time for Seemapuri to become like modern Delhi.
Q 11. Describe the miserable condition of the ragpickers of Seemapuri.
Ans. The ragpickers of Seemapuri lead a life of misery and pover tv, They live in dirty conditions. Their houses
are made of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. There is no sewerage system or draining. They don't have
running water. Children are without shoes and are dressed in tattered clothes. Survival in Seernapuri means
rag-picking.
Q12. Why does the author say that survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking?
Ans. Seemapuri is a dirty colony on the outskirts of Delhi. It is a colony of ragpickers. More than ten
thousand people are engaged in this job. Most of them have migrated from Bangladesh. They lead
miserable and poor lives. They have no other means of earning their livelihood. So, they have to
scrounge the garbage dumps for bits of paper and rags. That is why the author says that survival in
Seemapuri means ragpicking.
Q.l3. Garbage has a different meaning for children and for their parents. How?
Ans. The garbage has a different meaning for parents. It means survival for them because it brings their
daily bread. For children the garbage is wrapped in wonder. Sometimes they find a coin or a ten rupee
note. So, they keep on scrounging it. Garbage to them is gold.
Q.14. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Ans, The author sees Saheb and other poor children without footwear. One explanation is that it has
become a tradition for them to remain barefoot. But the author feels that it is only an excuse to explain
away a continuous state of poverty. Because of their poverty, they cannot afford to buy shoes.
Q.15. How did Saheb get a pair of shoes?
Ans. One morning the author saw that Saheb was standing by the fenced gate of the tennis club. Two
young men were playing tennis. Saheb was also wearing tennis shoes. These were the discarded shoes
of a rich boy. Perhaps he had discarded them as there was a hole in one of them. In this way, Saheb got
a pair of shoes.
Q.16. "Saheb is no longer his own master." Why does the author feel so?
Ans. Saheb gets a job in a tea-stall. The author sees him on his way to the milk booth. He is carrying a
steel canister on his head. Now he gets Rs 800 per month and all his meals. But he has lost his carefree
look. The bag in which he picks the rags was his. But the canister belongs to the tea shop owner. So, the
author feels that Saheb is. no Iongerhis own master.

Q17. Who is Mukesh? Describe his background.

Ans. Mukesh is a poor boy of Firozabad. He belongs to a family bangle makers. He is one of the 20,000
young people engaged in bangle-making. He and his family lead a poor and miserable life. They work
by glass furnaces with high temperature. His family lives in half-built hut. The street is choked with
garbage.

Q 18. Describe the conditions in which the bangle makers of Firozabad work.
More than 20,000 persons are engaged in bangle making work in Firozabad. They work in miserable
conditions. They work near glass furnaces with high temperature. They make bangles in small rooms
without proper light or air. Because of dim light and because of the dust rising from polishing the glass,
most of thechildren lose their eyesight before they become adults .
Q [Link] is Firozabad famous in India?
Firozabad is known for its bangles industry. The glass blowing industry of Firozabad employs more
than twenty thousand workers, most of whom are children. In Firozabad, families have spent
generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for women of all sizes and colours.
Q 20. What has Mukesh's father achieved after years of hard labour?
Ans. Mukesh's family is engaged in bangle making. His father started his career as a tailor. But soon he
became a bangle maker. But even after many years of hard labour as a bangle maker, his life is still poor
and miserable. He has failed to renovate his house. Nor has he been able to send his two sons to school.
He has only been able to teach them the art of bangle making.
Q. 21 What does Mukesh's grandmother say about their family profession?
Ans. She says that their profession of bangle making is God-given which can not be rejected. She says
that it is their Karam. Whosoever borns in the caste of bangle makers sees nothing but bangles of all
kinds everywhere.
Q.22. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. The workers in the glass bangles industry work in dark cells without air and light. They cannot
bear the daylight. They go blind before they are old. The dust from polishing the glass bangles makes
the bangle-makers blind. Thus, working in the glass bangles industry is hazardous and unhealthy
Q.23. Are the. people of Firozabad aware of law relating to child labour? What will happen if this
law is enforced in Firozabad?
Ans. No, they are not aware of this law. They do not know that it is illegal to employ children to work
in a factory. They cannot force children to work around furnaces with high temperature or to work in
dark and dingy rooms. If the law relating to child labour is enforced in Firozabad, it will give relief to
child labourers. It will make their lives happier.
Q.24. Describe the kind of bangles made in Firozabad.
Ans. Firozabad is known for its bangles industry. The town produces all kinds of bangles for Indian
women. In the factories of Firozabad, bangles of all sizes and colours are made. These bangles can be
sunny gold or paddy green. One may have royal blue, pink or purple bangles.
Q.25. What does the author think when she sees Savita helping to make bangles?
Ans. The author sees Savita is sitting alongside an elderly woman. She is joining with solder pieces of
glass and thus helping to make bangles. The author wonders whether Savita knows the sanctity of
bangles she helps make. She finds that Savita does not know that bangles symbolise an Indian woman's
'suhaag'.
Q26. What is the general cry in every home in Firozabad?
Ans. Maximum people are engaged in bangle making in Firozabad. Especially the labour class is gripped
in vicious circle of poverty. They don't have money to do anything else. They do not have enough to eat.
This cry rings in every home.
Q27. Is Savita aware of an impending danger?
Ans. Working in dark hutments in high temperature most of the young boys and girls end up losing their
eyesight before they become adults. Savita knows this all but she can't do anything else because of grim
poverty or family profession.
Q28. Why could the bangle makers of Firozabad not organize themselves into a cooperative? (AI 2012)
The author asked some bangle makers as to why they couldn't organise themselves into a cooperative.
They replied that they were caught in a vicious circle. The sahukars, the middlemen and the police all
conspired to keep them poor. If they tried to make a cooperative, the police would haul them up and beat
them on false charges. These forces would never let them organise into a cooperative.
[Link] is the ambition of Mukesh?
Ans. Mukesh is a bangle maker of Firozabad. But he is different from others. He does not want to make
bangles all his life. His ambition is to become a motor mechanic. He dreams of driving a car one day. He
is determined and hopeful. The author feels that one day he will be able to realize his dream.
Q30. What suggestion will you advocate after reading the lesson 'Lost Spring'?
Ans. There are so many other places in the country like See map uri and Firozabad. Rag-picking and child
labour is a curse for children. People do not know that child labour is a brutal practice. It should be
eliminated by educating children. Parents of these children should take initiative of educating them.

Previous years Board Exam Questions

Q.l. Who was Saheb? What was his full name? What was the irony about his name?
Ans: Saheb was a poor ragpicker. His full name is Saheb-e-Alam, It meant lord of the universe.
However, the poor boy did not have even shoes to wear. This was the deep irony in his name.
Q.2. What had Saheb's mother told him about their coming to the big city?
Ans: Saheb's mother used to tell him that their home was in the green fields of Dhaka. There were
many storms. All homes and fields were swept away. Thus, they left their country and came to the
big city looking for livelihood.
Q.3. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Ans: Saheb is a poor ragpicker. Every morning, he came to probe the garbage heaps in the author's
neighbourhood. He looked for anything that could get him some coins. His family had migrated
from Dhaka. Now lived in the Seemapuri area of Delhi.
Q.4. What promise had the writer made with Saheb? What was it that embarrassed him?
Ans: Saheb had not gone to school. He said that there was no school in his neighbourhood. "if I start
a school, will you come?" asked the writer. "yes," said Saheb. But the writer felt small as after a few
days Saheb asked him if his school was ready.
Q.5. How did the writer come to recognize each of the ragpickers in his neighbourhood?
Ans: The writer had developed an acquaintance with Saheb who was a ragpicker. The other
ragpickers were friends of Saheb's friends. They used to come every morning and disappeared by
noon. The writer watched them with interest. Gradually, he came to recognize each of them.
Q.6. How did Saheb feel working at a tea stall? What did he get there?
Ans: Sahib was not feeling happy there. He lost his carefree look. He was paid 800 rupees and all his
meals. But he could no longer be his own master. He now belonged to the man who owned the tea shop.
Q.7. Who was Mukesh? What was his aim in life?
Ans: Mukesh was a boy from the family of bangle makers in Firozabad. He disliked the life of a bangle
maker as he wanted to be his own master. His aim was to become a motor mechanic.
Q.8. What makes the city of Firozabad Famous?
Ans: Firozabad is known for its bangles. Every other family here is engaged in making bangles. It is the
epicenter of India's glass-blowing industry. It makes bangles for all the women of the land.
Q.9. What is the condition of children working in the glass furnaces of Firozabad?
Ans: Around 20,000 children are working in the glass furnaces of Firozabad. They work in very hot
temperatures. They work in dingy cells without air and light. They work all day as a result of which they
are losing the brightness of their eyes.
Q.10. What kind of locality does Mukesh live in ?
Ans: Mukesh lives in a very dirty locality. Its lanes are stinking and are choked with
garbage. The homes look like hovels and walls are crumbling. They have wobbly doors.
With no windows. Men and animals live in them together.
[Link]. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans; Workers in the glass bangles industry work in very high temperatures. They work in cells without
air and light. They don't get any daylight. So they lose the brightness of their eyes. The powder from the
polishing of bangles blinds them .
Q.12 How is Mukesh's attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Ans. Mukesh is not interested in pursuing the occupation of his caste or family. He is ready to
accept the challenges. Mukesh insists on being his own master. When he says, “I will learn to
drive a car", looking straight into the author's eyes, one can read
[Link] reason does Saheb's mother give him for leaving their native land '! Does Saheb
remember his native land ?
Ans. The reason Saheb's mother gives for leaving their native land was that there were too
many storms that swept away their fields and homes. No, Saheb does not remember, it is not
even a distant memory.
Q14. Why do you think the author becomes embarrassed after the advice she gave?
Ans. The author becomes embarrassed after the advice she gives Saheb is because she
immediately realises that her advice, of Saheb going to school, sounds hollow. She knew ver y
well that there were no schools in the neighbourhood.
Q15. What is the irony in Saheb's name ? What is the simile the author has drawn about
Saheb's friends ?
Ans. "Saheb-e-Alam" which means the lord of the universe. The irony is that Saheb of the
slums roams the streets with his friends, who are an army of barefoot boys who appear like
the morning birds and disappear at noon.
Q16. The author is perhaps trying to say something deeper in reference to the boy who finally
got his shoes. What is it ?
Ans. The story about the boy who when finally got his shoes prayed to Goddess, "Let me
never lose them". Though many boys have their shoes, there are many others like the
ragpickers who remain shoeless. The author feels the situation is still deplorable.
Q14. 'Children become partners in survival', briefly explain.
Or
In what context does the author say, 'Garbage to them is gold'.
ANS. Wherever people find food, people pitch tents that become their transit homes. Children
who grow up in them, become partners in survival, which in other words means ragpicking.
Over the years it is has acquired the proportion of a fine art. Garbage to people of Seemapuri is
gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their head, even if it is a leaking roof.
Q15. Do you think the 'fenced gate' has a metaphor attached to it ?
Ans. There are two different worlds on either side of the gate. On one side is Saheb, 'the have
not' wearing discoloured shirt and shorts watching with keen interest two young boys in white,
'the have' playing tennis.
Saheb too is wearing tennis shoes, but they are discarded shoes of some rich boy, who refused
to wear them because of a hole in one of them. For Saheb, who has walked barefoot, even sboes
witb a bole are a dream come true tbougb tbe game is out of his reach.
Q16. Mukesh insists on being his own master. Explain.
Ans. Mukesh does not want to follow the family tradition of making bangles. He wishes to have a
choice of occupation. Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic.
Q17. Is Mukesh's family aware that it is illegal for children to work in a glass factory ?
Ans. No, Mukesh's family is not aware that it is illegal for children to work in a glass factory.
People are also ignorant of the fact that if the law is enforced, Mukesh and other 20,000 children
could be out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight hours, often losing the
brightness of their eyes.
Q18. Do you think Mukesh lives in a healthy environment?
Ans. The lanes that lead to Mukesh's home are stinking and choked with garbage. Homes look
like hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, crowded with families of humans
and animals coexisting in a primeval state. The environment is not conducive for a healthy life.
Q19. Why is Mukesh's father a failed man?
Ans. Mukesh's father, who expects his daughter-in-law to veil her face in front of him, is an
impoverished bangle-maker. He has failed to renovate a house, send his two sons to school. He
has however taught them what he knows best, the art of making bangles.
Q20. Looking at Savita what does the author wonder ?
Ans. Savita, a young girl soldering pieces of glass, her hands moving mechanically like the
tongs of a machine make the author wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps
make. The red bangles that symbolise an Indian woman's suhaag, auspiciousness in marriage, are
worn when she becomes a bride.
Q21. There is something ironical about the old woman wearing bangles?
Ans. The old woman who has made bangles all her life, is wearing them but ironically there is
no light in her eyes now to see them, as it is because of the bangles she has lost her eyesight. She
has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime-that is what she has reaped in her life.
Q22. Why have the people in Firozabad lost the ability to dream ?
Ans. The cry of not having money to do anything except to carry on the business of making
bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of their
elders. Nothing has changed with time. The author believes that years of mind- numbing toil of
the people of Firozabad has killed all initiative and the ability to dream.

Previous years Board Exam Questions Long Answer Type Questions

[Link] did the writer see when Mukesh took him to his home?
ANS. The writer realised that it was a slum area. The lanes were stinking and were choked with
garbage. The homes looked hovels. Their walls were crumbling. The doors were wobbly. With no
windows. The homeless were crowded with humans and animals living together. Mukesh's home
looked like a half-built shack. In one of its part, a firewood stove had a large vessel on it. A frail
young woman cooked the evening meal. She was the wife of Mukesh's elder brother. As Mukesh's
father came in, she brought her veil closer to her face. The old man was a poor bangle maker. Even
after long years of hard labour, he had been unable to renovate his house. He was unable to sent
two sons to school. Mukesh's grandmother was also there! Her husband had become blind with
dust from the polishing of glass bangles.
[Link] does the writer describe Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi?
ANS. Seemapuri is a slum area. About 10,000 ragpickers lived there. They lived in structures of
mud. They had roofs of tin and tarpaulin. There are no sewage, drainage or running water. Those
living came from Bangladesh in 1971. They had no identity or permits. But they had ration cards.
Their names existed on voters lists. But for them food is more important than anything else. They
pitch their terns wherever they could locate food. Ragpicking for them mean survival, garbage to
them was gold. It was a thing wrapped in wonder. When they found a silver coin in a heap of
garbage, they could not stop probing it. They have always hoped to find more.
Q3What forces conspire to keep the workers' in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Ans. The exploiter is everywhere. The guilty includes not only those who visibly exploit the
child in workshops, factories, shops, homes but also his own relatives, even his parents. The
workers are a product of persisting economic deprivation and insecurity. Non-implementation
of the provision of law due to weak enforcement has also contributed to the rising problem of
child labour and their economic exploitation. The forces are of a vicious circle of middlemen
who have trapped their fathers and forefathers. Even if the workers get organised, they are the
ones who will be hauled up by the police,
beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal. There is no leader who could help them
see things differently. Their fathers are as tired as they are. They talk endlessly in spiral that
moves from poverty to apathy to greed and to injustice. Because of abject poverty a
considerable number of labourers are compelled to work as bonded labour after getting loans
from factory owners. Regardless of how poor a family may be, children would not be subjected
to harmful conditions if there were not people willing
to exploit them. The conspiracy of silence persists
Q4" .. Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically."
explain.
Ans. Delhi, the capital of India, is a metropolitan city. A city of flyovers and Metro. A city which
has sprawling bungalows and yet in direct contrast to its glitter and old world charm is the ugly
reality of Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it in every sense of
the word.
People who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh in [Link] has structures
of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. It is devoid of sewage, drainage or running water.l0,000
ragpickers dwell here. These people have no identity, no permits but ration cards, which are
instrumental in getting them food. The people say, " If at the end of the day we can feed our
families and go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields
that gave us no grain."
Q5. 'For a child it is even more'. What meaning does garbage have for the children of the
slums ?
Ans. Children like Saheb, who have lost their childhood in the dark lanes of poverty look at
garbage from a different perspective. These children have created a world of their own, in
which their source of recreation is hunting for something interesting in the garbage dumps. For
them finding a rupee, even a ten-rupee note is exciting. They feel it is like a treasure hunt. Saheb
with light in his eyes said that when one finds a silver coin in a heap of garbage, one doesn't
stop scrounging for there is hope of finding more. He says for children garbage has a different
meaning. "For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival."
Q6. What is the reaction of the young men, when the author suggests that people of
Firozabad should organise themselves into a cooperative. Do you feel the workers are
victims to a strange nexus ?
Ans. The young men believethat it is a strange nexus of middlemen who have trapped their
fathers and forefathers. Even if the workers get organised, they are the ones who will There is
no leader who could help them see things differently. Their fathers are tired as they are. They talk
endlessly in a spiral that moves from poverty to apathy greed and to injustice.
The workers are a product of persisting economic deprivation and insecurity. Non-
implementation of the provision of law due to weak enforcement has also contribute to the rising
problem of child labour and their economic exploitation. Regardless of how poor a family may
be, children would not be subjected to harmful conditions if the were not people willing to
exploit them.
Q5. 'Together they have imposed the baggage on the child ... ' Elucidate.
Ans. The force of the family, caught in a web of poverty, burdened by the stigma of caste' which
they are born, consider it their karam or destiny. These families that have spend generations
working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles. The children have no option but to
follow their elders.
The other force of a vicious circle of sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of
law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Together they have imposed the baggage on the child
that he cannot put down. Before the child is aware, he accepts it as naturally as his father. Like
the young Savita, who is making bangles, which will rob her of the light in her eyes. To do
anything else would be to dare. And daring is not a part of his growing up. Hence the author
says Mukesh's "dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets."
People of Firozabad have learnt only one thing through out generations, and they dare not
defy their age-old customs, caste or law.
Q6. How can child labour be eliminated ?
Ans. There is no product that has not been scented by the sweat of a child labourer. India today
has earned the dubious distinction of having the highest child labour force in the world. There
are more children under the age of fourteen in India than the entire population of the United
States. The great challenge of India, as a developing country, is to provide nutrition, education
and health care to these children.
Children under fourteen constitute around 3.6% of the total labour force in India. Of these
children, nine out of every ten work in their own rural family settings. Nearly 85% are engaged in
traditional agricultural activities. Less than 9% work in manufacturing, services and repairs. Only
about 0.8% work in factories.
While child labour is a complex problem that is basically rooted in poverty, there is
unwavering commitment by the Government and the people of India to combat it. Success can be
achieved only through social engineering on a major scale combined with national economic
growth. International policies and actions, therefore, must support and not hamper India's efforts
to get rid of child labour.
India has all along followed a proactive policy with respect to the problem of child labour,
and has stood for constitutional, statutory and developmental measures to combat child labour.
We can eliminate child labour by promoting and enhancing the education system, improving
accessibility to schooling for children and provide a curriculum, that is flexible and relevant to
their particular ways of life. Often working children cannot attend daytime classes or must help
their families at planting and harvest times. Evening classes or schedules, which are adapted to
local seasonal conditions, accommodate these irregularities. If small steps are taken a new dawn
cannot be far behind. be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something
illegal.
Q.7. What did the writer see when Mukesh took him to his home?
The writer realised that it was a slum area. The lanes were stinking and were choked
with garbage. The homes looked hovels. Their walls were crumbling. The doors were
wobbly. With no windows. The homeless were crowded with humans and animals living
together. Mukesh's home looked like a half-built shack. In one of its part, a firewood
stove had a large vessel on it. A frail young woman cooked the evening meal. She was
the wife of Mukesh's elder brother. As Mukesh's father came in, she brought her veil
closer to her face. The old man was a poor bangle maker. Even after long years of hard
labour, he had been unable to renovate his house. He was unable to sent two sons to
school. Mukesh's grandmother was also there! Her husband had become blind with
dust from the polishing of glass bangles.

Prepared by: Vinay Dubey