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Lost Spring
Question and answers
1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come
from?
Answer: Saheb is looking for gold in the garbage dumps. He is in the neighborhood of the
author. Saheb has come from Bangladesh. He came with his mother in 1971. His house was
set amidst the green fields of Dhaka. Storms swept away their fields and homes. So they left
it.
2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Answer: The author comes across many shoeless rag-picker children in her neighborhood.
According to her, one explanation of this habit of remaining barefoot is that it is a tradition
among the poor children of this country. However, the author quickly mentions that calling
it a tradition could be just a means of justification of the utter destitution.
3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
Answer: No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea-stall. He is paid 800 rupees and all his
meals but he has lost his freedom. His face has lost the carefree look. The steel canister
seems heavier than his plastic bag. He is no longer his own master.
4. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Answer: Firozabad is famous for its glass bangles. The place is the center of India’s
glassblowing industry.
5. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Answer: The bangle makers face many problems in the glass industry. They have to work in
the dingy cells without air and light, in the high temperature of the furnace. The dust from
polishing the bangles is injurious to eyes. They often lose their eyesight before they become
adults. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside.
5. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Answer: Mukesh belongs to a poor family of bangle-makers, but his attitude is very different
from his family. He wants to break the family tradition of bangle making. He is daring and
determined. He has hopes and dreams. He wants to be a motor mechanic.
Understanding the Text
1. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Answer: There are many factors that cause migration of people from villages to cities. Some
villagers voluntarily move to the cities in search of jobs and better civic and health facilities
etc. Others are forced to migrate when natural disasters like flood, storm, drought, famine
etc. destroy their houses and properties. History has records of large-scale migrations caused
by wars. Furthermore, many villagers who are better off than others manage to send their
children to study in the cities. In the lesson ‘Lost Spring’, Saheb and his family migrates to
Seemapuri from Dhaka after their houses were destroyed in the storms.
2. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you
think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Answer: Yes, the promises made to poor children are rarely kept. Often, they are not taken
seriously . They are made on the pretext of retaining a child’s fancy for something. This
keeps the child hoping for a better possibility till he/she realises the truth. It is difficult for
people to shatter the children’s dreams; while it is also painful to see these children
thriving on false hopes given to them. Once during an interaction with Saheb, the narrator ends
up encouraging him to study and jokingly talks about opening a school herself. At that time she
fails to realise that unknowingly she has sown a seed of hope in Saheb’s heart. She becomes
conscious of her mistake when, after a few days, Saheb approaches her, enquiring about her
school. Her hollow promise leaves her embarrassed.
3. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in
poverty?
Answer: The unfavorable social and legal systems, the deceptive middlemen, and their own
sad destinies keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in perpetual poverty.