AHSEC| CLASS 12| ENGLISH| CHAPTER - 2| LOST SPRING| SOLVED QUESTIONS FOR 2 MARK EACH| H.S. 2ND YEAR

LOST SPRING

Solved questions for 2 mark each:

(A) SHORT ANSWER

1. What is Saheb's explanation as to why he searches for gold in the garbage heap?

Ans: When asked why he always searched for gold in the garbage dump, Saheb replied that he had nothing else to do.

2. What is the author's answer to Saheb's explanation?

Ans: In response to Saheb's explanation, the author advised him to go to school.

3. Why does the advice sound hollow?

Ans: The advice rang hollow because it was neither practical nor sensible. It also lacked sincerity - it was just advice for advice's sake.

4. Why was the author ashamed?

Ans: The author was embarrassed because she had made a false promise to start her own school which was not really her intention.

5. What was the irony inherent in Saheb's full name? Exam paper - 2013

Ans: Saheb's full name Saheb-e-Alam means 'Lord of the Universe' but Saheb was only a barefoot rag picker who was not even the master of his own destiny. Nothing can be more ironic than calling a poor rag picker like him the Lord of the Universe.

6. Why is Saheb not wearing slippers?

Ans: When Saheb was asked why he did not wear slippers, his answer was that because his mother did not bring slippers for him.

7. What is the explanation of the other boy on Saheb's answer?

Ans: When Saheb pointed out the reason for not wearing his chappals, another of his boys, a friend of his, remarked that he would throw away his chappals even though his mother had brought them for him.

8. Why are most of these children barefoot?

Ans: Most of the poor children in India are barefoot. Some people say that it is not the lack of money but the tradition of being barefoot, but this is not true.

9. What is the possible reason behind such interpretation?

Ans: The explanation that poor children walk barefoot, not because of poverty, but because India has a tradition of going barefoot, is just an excuse to perpetuate poverty.

10. Where does Sahib work now?

Ans: Sir now works at a tea shop down the road.

11. How much salary does Saheb get in his job?

Ans: Saheb gets eight hundred rupees per month apart from full meals.

12. How does Saheb get the shoes he is wearing?

Ans: One day the author saw that Saheb was wearing tennis shoes. He told the author that someone had given them to him. But in fact, he took off the shoes of some rich boy who refused to wear them, probably because of a hole in one of them.

13. Does Saheb like his new job? why or why not?

Ans: When Saheb was asked whether he liked working at the tea stall, his face turned dark, which showed that he was not happy. The steel canister he was now carrying seemed heavier than the plastic bag he had carried as a rigpicker. The bag was his own. The canister belonged to the owner of the tea shop. Saheb is no longer his master.

14. What did the man from Udupi pray in the temple as a young boy?

Ans: A man from Udupi used to pray as a young boy on his way to school at the temple where his father was a priest for a pair of shoes.

15. What is the change now visible in the temple and the city of Udupi?

Ans: Thirty years later when the author visited the city and the temple, she found them in ruins. In the backyard of the temple where the new priests now lived, there were some red and white plastic chairs. The author saw a young boy come in wearing school uniform, socks and shoes and put his school bag on a folding bed. The scene reminded him of the former priest's son who had prayed for a pair of shoes. The goddess had finally accepted his prayer. Young boys such as priests' sons now wore shoes.

16. Who are the residents of Seemapuri?

Ans: The residents of Seemapuri are illegal occupiers who came from Bangladesh in 1971. They have been living for more than thirty years without any identity, without permits but with ration cards that register their names in the voter list.

17. Why do children like Saheb never give up hope?

Ans: Poor rag pickers like Sahib sometimes find one rupee, or even ten-rupee notes in the garbage heap. There is always hope to find more and so they never stop cleaning up the garbage dumps. For them they are wrapped in wonder.

18. How does one survive in Seemapuri?

Ans: Garbage picking is the only means of livelihood for the residents of Seemapuri. Over the years it has acquired the proportion of a fine art. Garbage is gold for them. It is their livelihood and a roof over their heads.

19. What are the two different worlds in Firozabad? Exam paper - 2018

Ans: The author finds two different worlds in Firozabad – one is a family of bangle makers trapped in the web of poverty, burdened by the stigma of the caste in which they are born and the other is a vicious circle of 'moneylenders’, middlemen, policemen, law keepers, bureaucrats and politicians exploiting bangle makers.

20. Why is Mukesh's dream a mirage?

Ans: Mukesh dreams of driving a car and becoming a motor mechanic. But her dream hovers like a mirage amid the dust of the streets that fills her town of Firozabad, famous for its bangles. All the families of Firozabad do bangle making work. Born in the caste of bangle makers, all of them are cursed to make bangles.

21. What is the importance of bangles in Indian society? Exam paper - 2017

Ans: In Indian society, bangles are the 'suhaag' of a married woman, a symbol of auspiciousness in marriage. It is customary for Indian brides to wear red bangles.

22. Why doesn't Mukesh ever dream of flying an aeroplane?

Ans: Mukesh dreamed of driving a car and becoming a motor mechanic as he always saw cars speeding on the streets of Firozabad. The few planes flying over the town never piqued his interest and so he never dreamed of flying himself.

23. What type of bangles are made in Firozabad?

Ans: Firozabad is the center of glass bangle industry in India. Every other family in the town is engaged in making glass bangles. Bangles of every color born from the seven colors of the rainbow are made here.

24. Why does Mukesh's grandmother believe that the 'God given lineage' can never be broken?

Ans: Mukesh's grandmother saw her own husband getting blinded by the polishing dust on the glass bangles. She believed that it was her 'Karam', her destiny. Born in the caste of bangle makers, he could never break the 'God given lineage'. He could never think of a livelihood other than bangle making.

25. Why do children in Firozabad often lose their eyesight before reaching adulthood? Exam paper - 2016

Ans: Most of the families in Firozabad are engaged in the glass making industry. In every dark hut, young boys and girls sit with their parents in front of flickering oil lamps, gluing pieces of colored glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to darkness than to light outside. This is the reason why they often lose their eyesight before reaching adulthood.

26. 'Go to school', I say casually, realizing how hollow that advice must be.' Why was the advice 'hollow'?

Ans: The author's advice was hollow because Sahab was a rag picker and never went to school because being poor he could not afford to go to school. So, the author's advice to go to school was hollow.

27. What was the promise made by Anees Jung to Saheb? Exam paper - 2018

Ans: Anees Jung promised Saheb that she would start a school and asked him to come.

28. 'Lord of the Universe - If he knew the meaning of this, he would have found it difficult to believe....' What was difficult to believe for Saheb? Why?

Ans: It was hard for Saheb to believe the meaning of his name "Saheb-e-Alam". Saheb's full name is "Saheb-e-Alam" which means "Lord of the Universe but Saheb was only a barefoot rag-picker. So, it was difficult for him to believe in the meaning of his name.

29. Why do the young residents of Firozabad lose their eyesight?

Ans: The young residents of Firozabad are engaged in the glass making industry. In this dangerous occupation, they sit in dark peaks in front of flickering oil lamps welding pieces of colored glass into hoops of bangles. Their eyes adapt to the dark and daylight bothers them. Even the welding of spectacles injures their eyes and deprives them of sight even before they become adults. This is how the young residents of Firozabad lose their eyesight.

30. What is the lifetime achievement of the old man with the flowing beard?

Ans: The old man with flowing beard achieved what others failed to achieve in their lifetime. His lifetime achievement that he built a house for the family to live in. He had a roof over his head.

31. Who has killed all initiative and ability to dream in Firozabad?

Ans: The numbering tale of bangle makers in the minds of Firozabad years old has killed all initiative and ability to dream.

32. What is the 'Ghanta' in every house of Firozabad?

Ans: Every household in Firozabad is crying for not having money to do anything except running bangle making business, not even enough to buy rings from door to door.

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