Chapter 2: Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood: AHSEC HS Class 12: Important Questions-Answers

Flamingo

Class XII

Important Questions-Answers:

HS 2nd Year Exam Questions Solved,

Years 2012-2020

Part I

Very Short Questions: 1 Mark

1. Who is the author of "Lost Spring"?

Ans: Anees Jung is the author of "Lost Spring".

HS 2012

2. What does Mukesh want to be?

Ans: Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic.

HS 2012

3. What is "Lost Spring" about?

Ans: "Lost Spring" is about the children who are deprived of their childhood joys due to poverty.

HS 2013

4. Where was the original home of Saheb's family?

Ans: Their original home was in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

HS 2013

5. What does the author of "Lost Spring" find Saheb doing every morning?

Ans: The author finds Saheb looking for gold in the garbage dumps of the city.

HS 2014

6. Who is the author of "Lost Spring"?

Ans: Anees Jung.

HS 2014

7. What does Mukesh want to be?

Ans: His dream is to become a motor mechanic.

HS 2015

8. What does Saheb look for in the garbage dumps?

Ans: Saheb looks for gold meaning means of livelihood in the garbage dumps.

HS 2016

9. Where has Saheb come from?

Ans: Saheb has come from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

HS 2016

10. What does the garbage mean for the elders of Seemapuri?

Ans: It is their daily bread, a means of survival.

HS 2017

11. Where does Mukesh live?

Ans: Mukesh lives in a half-built shack in Firozabad, the centre of bangle industry.

HS 2017

12. Why have Saheb and his family migrated to Seemapuri?

Ans: Saheb and his family migrated to Seemapuri as their homes and fields were swept away by the storms.

HS 2018

13. Where does Saheb originally hail from?

Ans: Saheb originally hails from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

HS 2019

14. What does Mukesh want to become? HS 2020

Ans: Mukesh wants to become a motor mechanic.

15. Where was the original home of Saheb's family? HS 2020

Ans: The original home of Saheb's family was in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Part II

Short Type Questions: 2/3 Marks

1. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? Why?

HS 2012

Ans: Saheb does not seem to be happy working at the tea stall. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry over his shoulder. Moreover he is now a servant. He is no longer his own master.

2. What is the significance of bangles in India Society? HS 2012

Ans: Bangles have a great religious significance in Indian Society. It symbolises an Indian woman's suhaag, auspiciousness in marriage. An Indian woman considers bangles as sanctified.

3. 'Garbage to them is gold', Why does the author say so about the rag pickers? HS 2013

Ans: The rag pickers earn their livelihood by picking up and selling the garbage. Their only means of survival is centred around garbage.

4. What is the irony inherent in Saheb's full name? HS 2013

Ans: Saheb's full name is Saheb-e-Alam which means 'lord of the universe'. But he has to live his life like a beggar collecting garbage.

5. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? Why? HS 2014

Ans: See Q. 1, Part II Above.

6. What does Saheb look for in the garbage? Where is he and where has he come from? HS 2014

Ans: Saheb looks for gold in the garbage. Gold means a means of livelihood or survival for him.

He is in Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi. He has come from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

7. What explanation does the author of 'Lost Spring' offer for the children not wearing footwear? HS 2015

Ans: The author says that it is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot. He wonders if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty.

8. What is Firozabad famous for and why? HS 2015

Ans: Firozabad is famous for its bangles. It is the centre of India's bangles making industries. Several families have spent generations making bangles in Firozabad.

9. What is the irony inherent in Saheb's full name? HS 2016

Ans: See Q. 4, Part II Above.

10. Why do the young inhabitants of Firozabad end up losing their eye-sight? HS 2016

Ans: Boys and girls in the houses of Firozabad sit with their fathers and mothers all day making bangles. Their eyes become more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.

11. What is the significance of bangles in an Indian Society? HS 2017

Ans: See Q. 2, Part II, Above.

12. What are the two different worlds in Firozabad? HS 2017

Ans: There are two different worlds in Firozabad. One is the world of families burdened by poverty and the stigma of caste. The other is a vicious circle of the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.

13. What was the promise made by Anees Jung to Saheb? HS 2018

Ans: Anees Jung told Saheb that she would build a school for him in his neighbourhood.

14. What is the actual name of Saheb? What does it signify? HS 2019

Ans: The actual name of Saheb is Saheb-e-Alam. It signifies 'lord of the universe'. But quite ironically, Saheb had to live like a beggar collecting garbage.

15. Give a brief description of Seemapuri. HS 2020

Ans: Seemapuri is a place on the periphery of Delhi. There are around ten thousand ragpickers living in this area. They all came here from Bangladesh in 1971. People here are deprived of all the modern facilities of life due to extreme poverty.

16. Was Saheb happy with his job at the tea stall? Why? HS 2020

Ans: See Q. 1, Part II.

Part III

Essay Type Questions: 5 Marks

1. Describe the miserable plight of the people of Firozabad. HS 2012, 14, 15, 17

Ans: Firozabad is the centre of India's bangles making industry. People in Firozabad have spent generations sitting around furnaces and making bangles for the women of the country. Children have to sit with their guardians in the dirty, unclean rooms without air and light. All 20000 children of the area have to work hard all day long around furnaces with high temperatures. Many of them lose their eyesight even before adulthood. People are trapped in poverty and cannot even afford the education of their children. Deprived of all privileges of modern life, food is everything they have to crave for. Everyday of their life is a hard struggle for existence.

2. Describe the bangle makers of Firozabad. How does the vicious circle of the Shaukers, the middlemen never allow them to come out of their poverty? HS 2018

Ans: The bangle makers of Firozabad have spent generations sitting around furnaces and making bangles for the women of the country.  They have to sit around flickering flames all day. Many of them even lose their eyesight. They live in stinking lanes choked with garbage. They live in houses with wobbly doors and no windows. Their houses are crowded with humans and animals living together. They are trapped in abject poverty. They cannot even afford sufficient food or send their children to schools. They cannot come out of this extreme poverty as they are exploited by the vicious circle of the Shahukars, the middlemen. The middlemen never allow them to be organised. There is no leader among them to help them organise.

3. Write briefly on the hazards of working ill in the glass bangles industry. HS 2020

Ans: People in the glass bangles industry work amid very unhygienic conditions. Their lanes are always choked with garbage and emit foul smells. They have to work in an environment with humans and animals coexisting. They sit around furnaces with high temperatures all day long. Many children lose their eyesight even before adulthood. They have to work in houses with wobbly doors and no windows. They cannot breathe fresh air or see natural light. Spirals of bungles of all colours are piled up in the rooms and in the yards of their houses. They live in abject poverty and cannot afford two meals a day even after such hard labour.