Lost Spring

Class 12th English Reader Flamingo (Lesson- 2) Lost Spring – Stories of Stolen Childhood. A detailed explanation of the story along with the meanings of stiff words. Also, the explanation is followed by a Summary of the chapter. All the exercises or Question and Answers given at the back of the chapter, CBSE board questions have also been solved. In this article, we have provided CBSE 12th Class NCERT Solutions for lesson 2 Lost Spring of the English Flamingo Textbook. The NCERT solutions have been provided by the subject expert after a detailed analysis of the marking scheme and model answer sheet issued by CBSE. Lesson 2 of Prose from the Flamingo textbook is an excerpt from the book Lost Spring which is about the hardships of poverty and how it leads to Child Labour. 12th Class candidates can study the answers provided here to marks well in school as well as the 12th Class board test.

 Questions and Answers

Q.1 Notice these expressions in the text. Infer their meanings from the context.

Ans. 

• A perpetual state of poverty –endless impoverishment
• Slog their daylight hours –struggle persistently during the daytime.
• The roof over his head – a place to live.
• Looking for –try to discover or locate.
• Imposed the baggage on the child – force the profession  on the child
• Dark hutments – encampment of huts devoid of any light.

Q2. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he or where has he come from?
Ans. Saheb is looking for gold in the garbage dumps. He is in the neighborhood of the narrator. Saheb has come from Bangladesh. He came with his mother in 1971. His house was set amidst the green fields of Dhaka. Storms swept away their homes and fields. So they left the country.

Q3.What explanation does the narrator offer for the children not wearing footwear in lost spring?
Ans. They are too poor to afford footwear. Some of them give tradition as an excuse to remain barefoot. Thousands of children in our country belong to the underprivileged classes. But the author thinks it to be just a fake excuse.

Q.4 What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Ans. People migrate from villages to cities in search of livelihood. Their fields fail to provide the means of survival. Cities provide employment, jobs, or other means of getting food. The problem in the case of the poor is to feed hungry members. Survival is of primary concern.

Q5. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Ans. The city of Firozabad is famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the center of India’s glass-blowing industry. Families have spent generations working welding glass, around furnaces, making bangles for the women in the land.

Q.6 Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?
Ans. Boys and girls with their fathers and mothers sit in dark hutments, next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps. They weld pieces of colored glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. They often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults. Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles is injurious to eyes. Many workers have become blind. The furnaces have very high temperatures and therefore very harmful.

Q7. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
Ans. No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea stall. He is no longer his own master. His face has lost the carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder. The bag was his. The canister belongs to the man who owns the tea-shop.

Q.8 How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation various from that of his family?
Ans. Mukesh’s grandmother thinks that the god-given lineage can never be broken. Her grandsons and son are born in the caste of bangle makers. They have seen nothing but bangles. Mukesh’s father has taught them what he knows the art of making bangles. But Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic. He will go to a learn and garage, though the garage is far away from his home.

Q.9 Would you agree that promises made to the poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Ans. The promises made to the poor are rarely kept. The author asks Saheb half-joking, whether he will come to her school if she starts one. Saheb agrees to do so. A few days later he asks if the school is ready. Promises like hers abound in every comer of their bleak world.

Q.10 What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Ans. Certain forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty. These include the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of the law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Together they impose a heavy burden on the child. 

Q.11 How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realize his dream?
Ans. Mukesh is the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad. Most of the young men of Firozabad have no initiative or ability to dream, but Mukesh is an exception. He has the capacity to take courage and break from the traditional family occupation. He has strong will power also. He does not want to be a pawn in the hands of the middlemen or moneylenders. He insists on being his own master by becoming a motor mechanic. He can realize his dream by joining a learn and garage the job of repairing cars and driving them. He will have to overcome many hurdles before he succeeds. Then comes the transport problems. Money is the first one. He will have to earn some money himself. The garage is a long way from his home. He will have to cover it twice every day anyhow by walking on foot

Q.12 Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. The glass bangles industry has many health hazards. It usually employs small children. It is illegal to employ very young children in hazardous industries, but certain forces like, moneylenders, police, middlemen, and politicians combine to entrap the poor workers. Let us first consider the places where bangle makers work. It is a cottage industry. They work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures. The dingy cells are without light and air. Girls and air work hard during the day next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps. They weld pieces of colored glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults. welding, Glass blowing, and soldering pieces of glass are many health hazards. Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles adversely affects the even and eyes adults go blind. Thus, the prevailing conditions, surroundings, and the type of job involved-all prove risky to the health of the workers.

Q13. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Ans. Child labour should be eliminated because the children employed at a tender age as domestic servants, dish-washers at road-side dhabas, and in hazardous industries making glass bangles, crackers, biris, etc. lose the charm of the spring of their life. Their childhood is stolen. Burdened by the responsibility of work, they become adults too soon. Most of them are undernourished, ill-fed, poor, and uneducated,. They have stunted growth. Child labor can be eliminated only through concerted efforts on the part of government agencies, NGOs (Non-Government Organisations), co-operative societies, and political leaders. Mere passing of law will not help. Laws should be enacted faithfully. The children thrown out of work should be rehabilitated and given proper food, education, clothes, and pocket money. Their feelings, thoughts, and emotions should be respected. Let them enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.