LOST SPRING
*IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
1. Why can’t the bangle makers of Firozabad organise themselves into a cooperative?
(Comptt. Delhi 2013)
Or
Why does the author say that the bangle makers are caught in a vicious web?(All India
2010)
Ans: The makers of bangles are locked in a vicious cycle that starts with poverty, progresses
through apathy, greed, and injustice, and ends with injustice. Their hopes and goals are
crushed by mindless labour. Because they were caught in a vicious loop of sahukars,
intermediaries, police, bureaucrats, and politicians, the Ferozabad bangle producers were
unable to organise themselves into a cooperative. Collectively, priviledged people had imposed
baggage on these individuals that they were unable to shed.
2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangle industry.
Ans. The glass bangle industry is highly dangerous to work in. Employees spend a lot of time
close to the glass furnaces, which operate at high temperatures. They toil during the day in
dismal cells with inadequate ventilation and illumination. Rather than the light and open air
outside, their eyes become more accustomed to the gloom that prevails inside their workshop.
They frequently lose their vision as a result of the dust that is released during the polishing of
glass bangles. Despite the fact that child labour is illegal under the law, young children are
mostly employed in this dangerous occupation. They work in a dimly lit hut with their parents
or other other adults, shaping bits of coloured glass into lovely round [Link] become
more prone to accidents as a result of working in such poor sanitary conditions, and their
desire to follow their dreams and escape their family’s constraints is also killed.
3. How in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?
OR
Mukesh is not like the others. His dreams loom like a mirage amidst the dust of streets
that fill his town Firozabad‟. Justify the statement in the light of contrast in the mindsets
of Mukesh and the people of Firozabad. (SQP 2018-19)
Ans. Mukesh belongs to a family of glass bangle makers in Firozabad. Even though the children
of such families usually carry on their family profession, Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic
and drive a car. Unlike his family members, and others of his community, he has dared to
dream. His grandmother’s words about the unbreakable lineage represent the attitude they
have towards their situation in life. They believe that it is their destiny to toil as bangle makers.
Mukesh was different from the others of his community. His dreams look like a mirage amidst
the dust of street that fill his town Firozabad. By daring to dream, he has already taken the first
step towards a big change. He wants to become a motor mechanic and drive a car. He can
realise this dream with determination and hard work. There might be many obstacles on his
way but a strong willpower will help him move towards the path of success. The resolute boy is
willing to walk a long distance from home to learn to be a mechanic.
4. Garbage to them is gold’. How do ragpickers of Seemapuri survive? (Delhi 2017)
Ans. Garbage for the ragpickers of Seemapuri, is considered to be nothing less than
gold. Picking garbage helps them to earn their daily bread, gives them a roof over their
head and is their only means of livelihood and survival. For the innocent children
garbage is wrapped in wonder as they marvel at the prospect of finding a coin, a
currency note or a curio that sustains their hope. These children grow up to become
partners in survival with their parents. Seemapuri houses around 10,000 ragpickers
mostly Bangladeshi refugees, who have lived there for more than thirty years without an
identity and without permits. These people live in mud structures with roofs made of tin
and tarpaulin. The ration cards that enable them to get their names on voters’ lists and
enable them to buy grain and and garbage are their means of survival. Food is more
important to them for survival than an identity.
[Link] does the writer mean when she says, ‘Saheb is no longer his own master’? (Delhi
2000)
Or
Do you think Saheb was happy to work at the tea stall? Answer giving reasons. (All India
2000)
Ans. Since Saheb now works in a tea-stall, he is now bound to his master and feels
burdened. The steel canister he carries is very heavy as compared to his light plastic
bag. The bag was his own and the canister belongs to his master whose orders he now
has to follow. So he is no longer his own master.
6. Garbage has two different meanings—one for the children and another for the adults.
Comment. (Comptt. All India 2012)
OR
For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival.” What
kind of life do the rag-pickers of Seemapuri lead? (Comptt. All India 2017)
Answer:
Garbage, for the ragpickers of Seemapuri, is considered to be nothing less than gold.
Picking garbage helps them to earn their daily bread, gives them a roof over their head
and is their only means of livelihood and survival. For the innocent children garbage is
wrapped in wonder as they marvel at the prospect of finding a coin, a currency note or a
curio that sustains their hope. These children grow up to become partners in survival
with their parents. Seemapuri houses around 10,000 ragpickers mostly Bangladeshi
refugees, who have lived there for more than thirty years without an identity and without
permits. These people live in mud structures with roofs made of tin and tarpaulin. The
ration cards that enable them to get their names on voters’ lists and enable them to buy
grain and garbage are their means of survival. Food is more important to them for
survival than identity.
7. Describe the life of squatters at Seemapuri. (Comptt. All India 2010)
OR
Most of the squatters at Seemapuri were refugees from Bangladesh.
OR
In 1971 Bangladeshi migrants came to Delhi ‘looking for gold in the big city’. What kind
of life are they living in Seemapuri now?
(Comptt. Delhi 2012)
OR
What kind of life did Saheb lead at Seemapuri? (Comptt. All India 2016 )
[Link] of the people like Saheb-e-Alam settled in Seemapuri were refugees from
Bangladesh
who had fled their country and migrated to Delhi from Dhaka in the wake of the 1971
Indo- Pak war. Their dwellings were structures of mud, tin and tarpaulin with no sewage,
drainage or running water. Picking garbage and rags helped them to earn their daily
bread, gave them a roof over their heads and was their only means of livelihood and
survival. Though these squatters of Seemapuri have no identity but they do have valid
ration cards that enable them to buy grain. Living in Seemapuri, which is on the
periphery of Delhi, is like living in hell. Children here grow up to become partners in
survival to their parents. An army of barefoot children appears every morning, carrying
their plastic bags on their shoulders and disappear by noon. They are forced to live a life
of abject poverty that results in the loss of childhood innocence.
Saheb, a ragpicker, roamed in the streets, scrounging for garbage, barefoot and deprived
of education. Later he starts working in a tea stall but he loses his freedom and carefree
life as he is no longer his master.
[Link] the irony in Saheb’s name .
[Link]’s name was Saheb e Alam which means ‘Lord of the universe’ .However his
reality was opposite to his name .He was a ragpicker and lead a life of poverty.
[Link] are Saheb and Mukesh different from each other? (Comptt. All India 2017)
Answer:
Mukesh’s attitude towards life was different from that of Saheb. Unlike Saheb he was
optimistic about his future and so he dared to dream. He wanted to become a motor
mechanic and also wanted to learn to drive a car. Saheb lacked determination so he
harboured no dreams or ambitions about his future.