Class 12 English Core Lost Spring Questions and Answers
Q1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Answer: Saheb, a scavenger and a rag picker hailing from Seemapuri, a suburban enclave in East Delhi, perpetually scours the garbage heaps in search of valuable items. For the children, rubbish holds a mystique, while for the adults, it represents a lifeline. It serves as the daily sustenance for scavengers like Saheb. Occasionally, he chances upon a rupee, or even a ten-rupee note, or a silver coin, fostering a perpetual hope for greater discoveries. Seemapuri is home to over 10,000 such scavengers. Saheb migrated from the verdant fields of Dhaka, where his abode and fields were ravaged by storms, leaving them bereft of adequate sustenance. However, in Delhi, they retire to bed without the pangs of hunger gnawing at their stomachs.
Q2. What explanation does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Answer: The author observes the battalion of barefoot rag-pickers in her vicinity. They resemble in the mornings like early birds and vanish from the streets by noon. She notices children traversing city streets and village pathways without footwear. She interprets this practice of going barefoot as a customary way of life.
For the children, going barefoot symbolises the enduring poverty within their families. She observes that many others, akin to the rag-pickers in her locality, still lack basic necessities. For those who have never possessed shoes during their formative years, acquiring a pair is akin to fulfilling a long-cherished dream. Saheb, for instance, receives a pair of tennis shoes, albeit with a hole in them. He wears them without any concern for their condition. The primary reason behind not wearing footwear is simply the absence of funds.
Q3. Is Saheb happy working at a tea stall?
Answer: One morning, on his route to the milk booth, Saheb encounters the author. He shares that he now toils at a tea stall nearby. Despite being compensated with eight hundred rupees and provided with all his meals, his countenance has shed its carefree expression.
No longer does he hold dominion over his affairs at the tea stall. His days of untroubled ease have waned. To him, the weight of the steel milk canister feels heavier than the plastic bag he once carried effortlessly on his shoulder. The canister belongs to the tea stall proprietor, and life under such servitude is bereft of contentment.
Q4. What is the central theme of the story ‘Lost Spring”?
Answer: The story "Lost Spring" talks about how poor children are unable to enjoy simple happy moments of childhood because of their tough economic situations and deplorable living conditions.
Q5. Why is the author calling garbage ‘gold’ in the story?
Answer: For grown-ups, garbage is what helps them survive, while for the kids, it's like a treasure chest full of surprises. Every now and then, the children stumble upon a coin or two amidst the trash.
Q6. Why did Saheb’s parents leave Dhaka and migrate to India?
Answer: Saheb's parents had to leave Dhaka because floods kept destroying their fields and homes, pushing them to the brink of starvation. So, they moved to India, hoping for a better life and more opportunities to earn a living.
Q7. What makes the author embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant?
Answer: When the author meets Saheb, she suggests that he should go to school. But then, she quickly realises that her advice might not mean much. Saheb responds, saying there's no school nearby, but he would go if authorities built one. Half-jokingly, the author asks if she were to start a school, would he attend? Saheb teasingly asks her back, "Is your school ready?" The author feels embarrassed for making a promise she couldn't keep.
Q8: Describe the irony in Saheb’s name.
Answer: Saheb's full name is Saheb-e-Alam, which translates to "Lord of the Universe." However, he doesn't understand what his name means. The irony is that Saheb is actually a ragpicker and a refugee from Bangladesh, so he's not really the "Lord of the Universe."
Q9. Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
“Why do you do this?” I ask Saheb whom I encounter every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my neighbourhood. Saheb left his home long ago. Set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant memory. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes, his mother tells him. That’s why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives.
i. Saheb’s profession was that of a
(a) cook
(b) rag-picker
(c) bangle seller
(d) driver
ii. Saheb’s home, before Delhi, was in
(a) Bengal
(b) Orissa
(c) Dhaka
(d) Bihar
iii. Why did Saheb and his family move to Delhi?
iv. What were Saheb and his family looking for in Delhi?
Answers:
i. (b) rag-picker
ii. (c) Dhaka
iii. Saheb and his family moved over to Delhi because storms had swept away their fields and homes.
iv. Saheb and his family were looking for gold in Delhi.
Q10. Set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant memory. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes, his mother tells him. That's why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives.
(a) Who is ‘his’ here?
Ans. Here, ‘his’ is Saheb.
(b) What does his mother tell him?
Ans. His mother tells him that there were many storms that swept away their fields and homes.
(c) Where did he live?
Ans. He lived amidst the green fields of Dhaka.
(d) What is ‘gold’ referred to here?
Ans. Here, ‘gold’ is referred to the rags.
The Last Lesson (MCQs)
The Last Lesson - A Brief Introduction
The Last Lesson (Q & A)
Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood (Summary)
Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood (MCQs)
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