Lost Spring Extra Questions Ch 2 Flamingo | NCERT English

Lost Spring Extra Questions are available in this post with long type questions, all the questions of this article are important for the point of view NCERT English exams of class 12

Chapter 2 Lost Spring

– By Anees Jung

Lost Spring Extra Questions:-

Q.1 What did Saheb’s mother say about leaving their home in Dhaka and coming to Seemapuri?

Ans. Saheb’s mother told him that once they lived in Bangladesh. They lived amidst the green fields of Dhaka. Natural calamities like cyclonic storms made their life unbearable. They swept away their fields and homes. They were ruined. That’s why they had to leave their fields and homes. They came to the big city and settled down in Seemapuri looking for gold.

Q.2.”Garbage to them is gold”, why does the author say so about the ragpickers?

(Lost Spring Extra Questions, CBSE 2008)

Ans. For the ragpickers of Seemapuri, garbage is nothing less than gold. It is their daily bread. For the children, it is wrapped in wonder. Sometimes they find a ten-rupee note or even a silver coin in a heap of garbage. For the elders, it is a means of survival.

Q.3. Why is the narrator embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant?

(Lost Spring Extra Questions, Imp.) 

Ans. The narrator asks Saheb to “go to school”. Saheb replies that there is no school in the neighborhood. The narrator asks, half-joking if he will go when she starts school. Saheb keeps on asking her if her school is ready. She feels embarrassed. She made a promise that was not meant.

Q. 4. Saheb and other ragpickers of his age don’t wear shoes or ‘chappals’. What explanations does the author give for this? Which one of these do you show your agreement with?

Ans. The narrator Anees Jung asks Saheb why he doesn’t wear chappals. He simply answers that his mother didn’t give them. Some say it is not a lack of money. There is a tradition to stay barefoot in villages and slums. This explanation does not hold good. It seems merely an excuse to ‘explain away a perpetual state of poverty

Q.5 Survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Elaborate. (Imp.)

Ans. Seemapuri, a place on the outskirts of Delhi, is a settlement of ragpickers. Over 10,000 people, mostly migrated from Bangladesh in 1971, are engaged in this work. Children search for gold in the garbage dumps. Garbage for children is wrapped in wonder. For elders, it is a means of survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.

Q.6 How does Saheb feel working in a tea stall? Is he happier there?    

                           Or

 Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? Why/Why not?

(Lost Spring Extra Question, CBSE 2012)

Ans. Saheb now works in a tea stall down the road. He is paid 800 rupees and all his meals. But even then he doesn’t seem to be happy. The steel canister he carries now is heavier than the plastic bag he used to carry on his shoulders. He is ‘no longer his own master’. He is just a servant now.

Q.7 Describe the fate of 20,000 child workers who work in the bangle industry of Firozabad in most hazardous conditions. Mention any two hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

(Lost Spring Extra Question, CBSE 2012)

Ans. The glass industry in Firozabad employs more than 20,000 children. They work illegally in glass furnaces with high temperatures. They work in dingy cells without air and light. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. Many of these children lose their eyesight before they become adults.

Q.8 Who was Mukesh? What was his dream in life? What did he do to achieve it?

Or

What was Mukesh’s dream? In your opinion, did he achieve his dream?   

 Or

Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?

(Lost Spring Extra Questions CBSE 2009)

Ans. Young Mukesh belonged to a family of bangle-makers in Firozabad. He didn’t like the profession of bangle-making. He entertained new dreams. He wanted to be ‘his own master’ He wanted to become a motor mechanic. He would go to a garage and learn his art. He seemed to be determined to achieve his aim.

Q.9 Why does the author say that the bangle-makers are caught in a vicious web?

Ans. The bangle-makers of Firozabad have lost all initiative and the ability to dream as they are caught in the web of poverty. They are also caught in a vicious circle of money- lenders, middlemen, the keepers of the law, bureaucrats, and politicians.

They can’t stand on their feet and organize themselves into a cooperative. They fear being dragged to jail if they fight for their rights.

Q. 10, Which forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry at Firozabad in poverty?              

Lost Spring Extra Question (CBSE 2008)

Ans. The workers in the bangle industry in Firozabad have fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen. They don’t allow them to organize themselves into a cooperative. The police always side with the middlemen to haul up the workers. They are beaten and dragged to jail. Poverty, apathy, greed, and injustice conspire to make them miserable. 

 Q.11 Justify the title of the lesson, ‘Lost Spring’.

Lost Spring Extra Question (CBSE 2008)

Ans. Lost Spring’ by Anees Jung describes two stories of stolen childhood. Millions of children in India waste their childhood in rag-picking or hazardous industries. Childhood is the spring of life. But unfortunate children like Saheb and Mukesh waste this spring either in the garbage or in the blast furnaces. The best part of their life is lost to the demands of survival. Thus, the title is quite apt and logical. 

Long Type Extra Questions From Lost Spring

Q.1 “Seemapuri is a part of Delhi, yet miles away from it.” Give your views on the statement.

                                             Or

Describe the life and living of the ragpickers of Seemapuri, including those of barefoot young scroungers. Why does Anees Jung say that Seemapuri is a place on the periphery of Delhi, yet miles away from it, metaphorically?

(V. Imp.) (Lost Spring Extra Question )

Ans. Seemapuri is a settlement of more than 10,000 ragpickers. It is a place on the periphery of Delhi. Actually, it is a part of Delhi. It is a little hell where ragpickers survive in dirt and garbage. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh in 1971. They live here without an identity and without permits. They do have ration cards that enable them to vote and buy grain. Food is more important for them than their identity. Children grow up to become partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.

Through the years it has acquired the ‘proportions of a fine art’. An army of barefoot children appears in the morning. They carry their plastic bags on their shoulders. They disappear by noon. Garbage has a different meaning for children. For them, it is wrapped in wonder.

Seemapuri may be on the periphery of Delhi yet it is miles away from it, metaphorically It is a little hell. Ragpickers live in structures of mud. They have roofs of tin and tarpaulin. There is no sewage, drainage, or running water. The place stinks. It is unimaginable that it is a part of Delhi, the capital of India.

Q.2 The bangle-makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone happy but they live and die in squalor. Elaborate. 

(Lost Spring Extra Question )

Ans. Firozabad is famous for its beautiful and colourful bangles. Everywhere wherever eyes go, one finds nothing but bangles. One can see them in every house, every yard, and every street. Spirals of bangles are everywhere. They are in all colours gold, paddy green royal blue, pink, purple, red, and all the seven colours of the rainbow. They are piled on four-: wheeled handcarts. Every woman knows the sanctity of the bangles. They symbolize an Indian woman’s ‘suhaag’. They represent auspiciousness in marriage.

It is only the irony of fate that the bangle-makers of Firozabad whose beautiful bangles make everyone happy, themselves live and die in squalor. They live in dark huts. The stinking lanes are choked with garbage. Crumbling walls, wobbly doors, and no windows tell their pathetic story. Humans and animals coexist. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all their initiative and ability to dream. They are caught in a web of poverty. A vicious circle of moneylenders, middlemen, and the police conspire to make their lives burdensome and hellish. They have no other option than living and dying in squalor and poverty.

Read More:-

• Ch- 3 DEEP WATER