EVENTS CONVENT HIGH SCHOOL
13/09/2021 CLASS-12 SESSION 2021-22
ENGLISH CHAPTER-2
______________________________________
Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meaning from the context.
(i) looking for
(ii) slog their daylight hours
(iii) roof over his head
(iv) imposed the baggage on the child
(v) perpetual state of poverty
(vi) dark hutments
Answer:
(i) looking for : in search of or to try to find.
(ii) slog their daylight hours : They (the children) work hard and steadily before the furnace during the day.
(iii) roof over his head : He has somewhere a place to live or a house of any kind.
(iv) imposed the baggage on the child : They have put an extra burden on the child’s head.
(v) perpetual state of poverty : when poverty remains with a person for ever or continuously.
(vi) dark hutments : very small hutlike places which are filled with darkness.
Lost Spring Think as you read (Page 17)
Question 1.
What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps ? Where is he and where has he come from ?
Answer:
Saheb is looking for or trying to find valuable things or money in the garbage dumps. He is in Delhi living at Seemapuri, which is at the outskirts of Delhi. He has come from Bangladesh.
Question 2.
What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear ?
Answer:
One explanation for the children remaining barefoot is that it is not lack of money but a tradition to remain barefoot. The author feels that this is only an excuse to explain away a continuous state of poverty.
Question 3.
Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall ? Explain.
Answer:
I do not think Saheb is happy working at the tea-stall. Though he has regular income, yet his face has lost the carefree look and he is no longer his own master, as the author comments. On this basis we can say that he is not happy working at the tea-stall.
Lost Spring Think as you read (Page 20)
Question 1.
What makes the city of Firozabad famous ?
Answer:
The city of Firozabad is famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles.
Question 2.
Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry ?
Answer:
Working in the glass bangles industry is tedious and unhealthy. They have to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dark cells without air and light. Working continuously throughout the day under such conditions is too hazardous for the health and eyes, especially for a large number of children working there. They often lose the brightness of their eyes.
Question 3.
How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family ?
Answer:
Mukesh’s attitude to his situation differs from his family as he wants to be a motor mechanic whereas his family has spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles.
Lost Spring Understanding the text
Question 1.
What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities ?
Answer:
A large number of people are forced to migrate to cities from their villages, looking for various means of livelihood. The land in the villages is limited for agriculture. When the families grow, they are not able to accommodate all the members in their ancestral agricultural profession. As a result of it, they go to the cities to earn their livelihood. Sometimes because of frequent natural calamities like storms etc.
which swept away their fields and homes, they are forced to come to big or small cities. However, some villagers also come to the cities being attracted and fascinated by the facilities which the city life provides. Moreover most of the big industries which provide employment to a large number of people are in the cities.
That is why to seek employment people from villages come there. Many rickshaw pullers and some auto rickshaw drivers also come from the villages to earn money. Some villagers also start jobs like dairy farming and supply milk in the cities to enhance their incomes.
Question 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:
It is generally seen that promises made to the poor children are most often not kept. For instance, in this lesson the author asks Saheb to go to school. When Saheb replies that there is no school in the neighbourhood, the author asks him half-jokingly that if she starts a school, then he would come.
The promises thus made with the poor children are not real or serious or they are made “half-jokingly’. Saheb, like other poor children, takes the promises made to them seriously, and asks the author if her school is ready. That is why the author says that, ‘But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world’.
Similarly, promises made to poor children or steps supposed to be taken for their welfare by government or other agencies hardly materialise either because of lack of sincerity or excuse of having not enough resources.
Question 3.
What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty ?
Answer:
Firozabad is famous for its bangles and bangle industry. There families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass and making bangles. There are around 20,000 children working in miserable conditions in bangle industry of Firozabad. But the workers involved in this industry are forced to lead a life of poverty.
They cannot send their children to schools nor they can provide sufficient food for their family-members. Most of them have not enjoyed even one full meal in their entire lives. It is because the vicious circle of middlemen take most of their profit. They are entrapped throughout their lives in “a web of poverty” caused by a vicious circle of the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of the law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. They are entrapped in this web from one generation to another.
Lost Spring Talking about the text
Question 1.
How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream ?
Answer:
Mukesh belongs to Firozabad, where every other family is engaged in making bangles. Mukesh’s family also is doing the same job for the last many generations. But Mukesh does not want to adopt his family profession. Rather, he wants to become a motor mechanic. Mukesh is justified in thinking so. He has seen that despite working so hard and so steadily under unhealthy and hazardous conditious, his family is so poor that it is difficult to maintain or provide even the bare necessities of life.
In my opinion, Mukesh can realise his dream of being a motor mechanic because of the indomitable will power and firm determination he seems to possess. Though his family- members are unlikely to agree to what he wishes to do leaving the long-preserved art of bangles-making, yet I hope he will be able to overcome the resistance.
He has many reasons to convince his family-members that what he wishes to do is right and ultimately beneficial for him and his family. Besides economic advantages, Mukesh can convince his family- members that the job of a motor mechanic will be good for his health. Moreover, he would not face the risk of gradually losing eyesight as he would if he becomes a bangle-maker.
Question 2.
Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Answer:
It is tedious and unhealthy to do working under unhygenic conditions in the glass bangles industry. They have to work on the furnaces with high temperature, in dark cells without air and light. Moreover they have to inhale suspended particles of the material used for making bangles. Working with continuous hours throughout the day and night under such dreary conditions is too hazardous for the health especially for the lungs and eyes. A large number of children working there are forced to lose their brightness of childhood even.
Question 3.
Why should child labour be eliminated and how ?
Answer:
Child labour is a curse on humanity and civilisation. But unfortunately it has been prevalent in developed, underdeveloped or undeveloped countries since times immemorial. Not to speak of countries like India, at one time or another it has been prevalent in countries like England a few centuries ago.
But fortunately now more and more countries are passing laws to eliminate this menace. The worst part is that child labour has been exploited to a great extent because labour laws were not applicable on them. Moreover the poor and helpless children had been working off the record, without any protection provided in the labour laws.
For too long a period and even now to some extent, in many industries in India child labour was employed to do various unskilled jobs. Child labour was engaged in carpet making, ‘beedi’- making, bangles-making and in so many other industries. Now in most of the countries, including India, child labour has been banned by law. But still there are many kinds of industries where child-labour is engaged.
I think child-labour can be abolished not merely by imposing laws, but also to make the people realise that it is against humanity. A child is supposed to go to school and develop as a good and useful member of the society. But even this awareness is not enough. We have to realise why a child is forced to do menial jobs. It is because of poverty. So, not only education of such children should be free, but they should be provided with other stipends and scholarships also. In any case, they should not be deprived of studying and become worthy of earning when they grow up.
