THE LOST SPRING
Theme
Spring is the Season of optimism and hope. Spring is the metaphor of the childhood
stage in a person‘s life.. Childhood is characterized by innocence, health and vitality. It is
also the stage for gaining skill and knowledge, learning and going to school. The Lost
Spring by Anees Jung is an expression of national shame of children condemned to
poverty and a life of exploitation. The two protagonists of the chapter, Saheb-e-Alam
and Mukesh lose their childhood in carrying the burden of poverty and illiteracy. In
their bleak stories of exploitation, the author finds glimpses of resilience and fortitude
Extract based Questions
1. “―I will learn to drive a car, he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream
looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for
its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the
centre of India‘s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations
working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the
land it seems. Mukesh‘s family is among them. None of them know that it is illegal for
children like him to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells
without air and light; that the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000
children out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight hours, often losing the
brightness of their eyes. Mukesh ‘s eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home,
which he proudly says is being rebuilt.”
a) What do you mean by ―His dream looms like a mirage?
b) What is Firozabad famous for?
c) Pick out a word which means the same as ‘work hard‘
d) Describe the working conditions of the people in Firozabad
e) Do you think Mukesh was happy to take the author home? Why?
f) What is the change that will happen if law is enforced in Firozabad?
2. “I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream
looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for
its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the
centre of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations
working around furnaces, wielding glass, making bangles for all the women in the
land it seems”
[Link] simile ‘dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets’ indicates that his
dream was
a) a reality, yet seemed distant.
b) lost in the sea of dust.
c) illusory and indistinct.
d) hanging in the dusty air.
2. ‘I will learn to drive a car,’ he answers, looking straight into my eyes. This sentence
highlights
Mukesh was
1. determined 2. fearless
3. hopeful 4. valiant
5. ambitious 6. stern
a) 1 & 5
b) 2 & 4
c) 2 & 5
d) 3 & 6
[Link] of the following statements is NOT TRUE with reference to the extract?
a) Children work in badly lit and poorly ventilated furnaces.
b) The children are unaware that it is forbidden by law to work in the furnaces.
c) Children toil in the furnaces for hours which affects their eyesight.
d) Firozabad has emerged as a nascent producer of bangles in the country.
4. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles indicates that
a) bangle making is the only industry that flourishes in Firozabad.
b) the entire population of Firozabad is involved in bangle making.
c) majority of the population in Firozabad is involved in bangle making.
d) bangle making is the most loved occupation in Firozabad.
Short Question Answers
PART A
1. What do you mean by ―Seemapuri, (is) a place on the periphery of Delhi yet
miles away from it, metaphorically?
2. Describe the irony in Saheb's name
3. Why does the author make the statement ‗The steel canister seems heavier than
the plastic bag?‘
PART B
1. " It is his karam , his destiny . " What is Mukesh's family's attitude towards
their
situations?
2. How is the line ‗few airplanes fly over Firozabad ‘symbolically significant?
3. " Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds .... " In the context of Mukesh,
the bangle maker's son , which two worlds is Anees Jung referring to ?