Lost Spring

Read the Extracts and answer the following questions: (6*1)

A. Unaware of what his name represents, he roams the streets with his friends, an army
of barefoot boys who appear like the morning birds and disappear at noon. Over the months, I
have come to recognise each of them. “Why aren’t you wearing chappals?’ I ask one. “My
mother did not bring them down from the shelf,” he answers simply. “Even if she did, he will
throw them off,” adds another who is wearing shoes that do not match. When I comment on
it, he shuffles his feet and says nothing. “I want shoes,” says a third boy who has never
owned a pair all his life. Travelling across the country I have seen children walking barefoot,
in cities, on village roads. It is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot, is one
explanation.

(i) What is the writer’s purpose in allowing the boys to speak for themselves via dialogue
as opposed to only a writer’s commentary?
(ii) The line, “It is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot,” can be best
classified as:

(a) A fact (b) An Opinion (c) A Theme (d) A Plot Point

(iii) Explain any one possible inference that can be drawn from the line, “an army of
barefoot boys who appear like the morning birds and disappear at noon.”
(iv) Identify the line from the text that bears evidence to the fact that the writer’s
association with the boys is not a recent one.
(v) Based on the context provided in the extract, select the most likely comment that the
writer would have made based on the boy’s reaction to the mismatched shoes.

(a) “Why are your shoes mismatched? That’s not a good look.”
(b) “Don’t worry about your shoes, you can wear a matching pair later.
(c) “I like your shoes. What matters is that they protect your feet.”
(d) “have you chosen to mismatch your shoes?”

(vi) Complete the sentence:

The phrase “The answers simply”, suggests that the boy’s response to the writer’s question
about why he wasn’t wearing chappals was ------------.

B. “I sometimes find a rupee, even a ten rupee note”, Saheb says, his eyes lighting when
you can find a silver coin in a heap of garbage, you don’t stop scrounging, for there is the
hope of finding more. It seems that for children, garbage has a meaning different from what it
means to their parents. For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders, it is a means
of survival. One winter evening I see Saheb standing by the Fenced gate of the
neighbourhood club, watching two young men dressed in white, playing tennis. “I like the
game”, he hums, content to watch it standing behind the fence. “I go inside when no one is
around” he admits. “The gatekeeper lets me use the swing.”

(i) Saheb found a rupee

(a) On the street (b) In the garbage dump (c) In Firozabad (d) On the tennis court

(ii) Which emotion of Saheb is revealed in the phrase ‘his eyes lighting up’?

(a) Anxiety (b) Envy (c) Happiness (d) Greed

(iii) For the elders garbage is ------------------ and for children it is ------------------.
(iv) On the basis of the extract, choose the correct option with reference to I and II.

I. Saheb watches the game from outside.

II. Saheb had lost the previous match.

(a) I is true and II is not (b) II is true but I is not (c) Both I and II are true (d) Both I and II
are untrue

(v) ‘Scrounging’ in the passage most nearly means

(a) Digging (b) searching (c) Flinging (d) Burying

(vi) “There is hope for finding more.” Explain with reference to the above extract.

C. Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds ---- one of the family, caught in a web of
poverty, burdened by the stigma of caste in which they are born in; the other a vicious circle
of the 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 he is awre, he accepts it as naturally as his father. To do anything else would mean to
dare. And daring is n ot part of his growing up. When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh I am
cheered. “I want to be a motor mechanic,” he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn. But
the garage is a long way from his home. “I will walk,” he insists. “Do you also dream of
flying a plane?” he is suddenly silent. “No,” he says, staring at the ground.

(i) How is Firozabad divided into two distinct worlds?

(ii) The role of Sahukars is --------------

(a) To establish the bangle industry

(b) To lend money at low rate of interest
(c) To share the burden of the working class
(d) To lend money at higher rate of interest

(iii) Identify the textual clue that allows the reader to infer that children in Firozabad are
bound to accept their family tradition.
(iv) What do the given lines tell us about Mukesh?
(v) Complete the sentence with an appropriate explanation.

The writer finds -------------------------

(vi) Based on the extract, choose the statement that is TRUE.

(a) Parents encourage their children to dare.
(b) The writer become sad when Mukesh tells her about his dream.
(c) The politicians and middlemen are helpful towards the people of Firozabad.
(d) Mukesh does not want to become a pilot.

D. My acquaintance with the barefoot rag pickersleads me to Seemapuri, a place on

periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are dsquatters
who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them. Seemapuri was
then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. In structures of mud, with roofs of tin
and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 rag pickers.

(i) What is the most logical reason for the author stating that Seemapuri is
metaphorically very far away from Delhi?
(ii) Who lives in Seemapuri?
(iii) Rationlise, to support the given opinion.

The people of Seemapuri had come to India from Bangladesh for a better livelihood.

(iv) Identify the line from the extract which indicates that the inhabitants of Seemapuri are
natives of Bangladesh.
(v) Who does author blame for the miserable conditions of ragpickers?

(a) Government Official (b) Private Conglomerates (c) Celebrities (d) Both (a) and (b)

(vi) The writer makes the given statements on the basis of ------------------------------.

E. Together they have imposed the baggage on the child that he cannot put down. Before
he is aware, he accepts it as naturally as his father. To do anything else would mean to dare.
And daring is not part of his growing up. When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh, I am cheered.
“I want to be a motor mechanic,” he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn. But the garage
is a long way from his home.

(i) ‘They’ in the given extract refers to -----------------------------.

(ii) What is not a part of ‘growing up’?
(iii) The ‘baggage’ in the extract refers to -----------------------

(a) The bag containing bangles (c) the blame of their crimes
(b) the job of bangle making (d) the job of selling bangles

(iv) Based on the above extract, choose the statement that is TRUE for ‘them’.

(a) They are figures of authority (c) they are suppressive

(b) They are scared of government (d) Both (a) and (c)

(v) Identify the textual clue that allows the reader to infer that Mukesh’s dream will
require determination and sincerity.
(vi) Why does the writer state that the boy accepts bangle making as naturally as his
father?
Short Answer Type Questions (2 Marks, 30-40 words)

1. To which country did Saheb’s parents originally belong? Why did they come to
India? (Compartment 2014)
or
Why did Saheb’s parents leave Dhaka and migrate to India? (Compartment 2014)
or
Why had the ragpickers come to live in Seemapuri? (Foreign 2014)

2. What job did Saheb take up? Was he happy? (All India 2014 Modified)

3. In what sense is garbage gold to the ragpickers? (Compartment 2014)

or
Garbage to them is gold; why does the author say so about the ragpickers? (Delhi 2008)

4. How is Mukesh different from the other bangle makers of Firozabad? (Delhi 2014;
Modified)

5. Whom does Anees Jung blame for the sorry plight of the bangle makers?
(Compartment 2014)

6. What is Mukesh’s dream? Do you think he will be able to fulfil his dream? Why? Why
not? (Compartment 2014)
or
What was Mukesh’s dream? In your opinion, did he achieve his dream? (Foreign 2009)
or
Is it possible for Mukesh to realise his dream? Justify your answer. (All India 2009)

7. In spite of despair and disease pervading the lives of the slum children, they are not
devoid of hope. How far do you agree? (Delhi 2013)

8. Why does the author say that Seemapuri in spite of being on the periphery of Delhi was
miles away from it?

9. Why could the bangle makers not organise themselves into a cooperative? (All India 2012)

10. Mention any two hazards of working in the bangle industry. (Foreign 2011)

11. Why does the author say that the bangle makers are caught in a vicious web?
(All India 2010)

12. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? How do you know? (Foreign 2010, All India
2009)

13. Why did the author realize that her advice to Saheb was ‘hollow’?

14. Why was the author embarrassed when Saheb asked her if her school was ready?

15. How does Anees Jung explains the over-sensitivity of the poor rag pickers to the rich
men’s promises?
16. Why should there be a hard time for Saheb to understand the meaning of his name?

OR

Describe the irony in Saheb’s name.

17. How does the author reason the barefoot tradition of the rag pickers?

18. Food is more important for survival than an identity. How is this statement true in the
lives of the Seemapurian rag pickers?

19. How is Mukesh’s attitude different from that of Saheb, both two sides of the same
coin?

20. What is the incongruity of Mukesh’s dreaming to be a motor-mechanic?

21. How has “a dream come true “ for Saheb but what is “out of his reach”?

22. What are the two worlds that the author talks about?

23. How do you think the author’s life might have been impacted after her interactions with
the children and their families mentioned in the chapter ‘Lost Spring’?

Long Answer Type Questions (5 Marks, 120-150 words)

1. Give a brief account of life and activities of the people like Saheb-e-Alam settled in
Seemapuri. (Delhi 2011)
2. ‘Lost Spring’ explains the grinding poverty and traditions that condemn thousands of
people to a life of abject poverty. Do you agree? Why/Why not? (All India 2011)
3. The bangle makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone happy
but they live and die in squalor. Elaborate. (Delhi 2010)
4. How is the line ‘few airplanes fly over Firozabad’ symbolically significant?
5. Explain the significance of title ‘Lost Spring’.
6. “There is a vast gulf that separates dreams from reality” Discuss with special reference to
Mukesh and Saheb.

7. Mukesh and the other bangle makers are unable to break out of the vicious circle of
poverty due to the collusion of government agencies and police. You are to write a blog on
the feeling you had when you read the short story ‘Lost Spring’ in your Class XII textbook.
Including the responsibilities of these four categories of people towards the bangle makers
and their children, write the blog.