Lost Spring
Think-as-you-read Questions
Question 1.
What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Answer:
Garbage is gold for Saheb. He is looking for a rupee coin in it. Apart from money, he finds other valuable objects from this garbage. He lives at Seemapuri, at the periphery of Delhi. His parents have migrated from a village in Bangladesh.
Question 2.
What explanation does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Answer:
Thousands of children in our country belong to the underprivileged classes. They are too poor to afford footwear. Some of them give tradition as an excuse to remain barefoot. But the author thinks it to be just a fake excuse.
Question 3.
Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
Answer:
No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea-stall. Though he is now earning ?800 per month along with two times’ meal, yet he has lost the carefree look at his face. He is no longer his own master and has lost his freedom.
Question 4.
What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Answer:
The city of Firozabad is famous for bangles. The bangle making industry of Firozabad is famous all over the world. It is India’s largest glass blowing industry where glass is welded into colourful bangles.
Question 5.
Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Answer:
The glass bangles industry is a real threat to the health of workers. The workers in these factories work in dingy cells without sufficient air and light and that too with high temperatures. As a result, most of them lose their eyesight and develop lung and brain related diseases.
Question 6.
How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Answer:
Mukesh does not want to accept his situation as permanent. He is ambitious and wants to be his own master. He does not want to spend his life making bangles. He wants to do something different. He wants to become a motor mechanic and drive a car.
Understanding the Text
Question 7.
What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities ?
Answer:
The main reason for the migration of people from villages to cities is the poverty which is due to unemployment. It has resulted in exploitation. There is no infrastructural development in villages. The people have very few opportunities for employment. As a result, they move to cities to earn their livelihood.
Question 8.
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?
Answer:
Promises made to the poor children are rarely kept. Saheb, along with his family, lives in the vain hope that one day their condition will improve. Saheb believes in the author that soon she will open a school and he will go to study there. But such promises never materialise.
Question 9.
What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Answer:
Bangle makers think that it is the only skill they possess. They have a belief that it is the only work
they can do as they are born in the community of bangle makers. Moreover, they have fallen into the vicious clutches of the middlemen, politicians, bureaucrats, sahukars and policemen.
Lost Spring Thinking about the Text
Question 10.
How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realize his dream?
Answer:
Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic. This is totally against the family tradition of making bangles. For his family, the very thought of doing something else is daring. So, Mukesh has to be bold and confident to fulfil his dream. He is strong enough to face and withstand the opposition of his family and society. He can do this only by his grit and determination.
Question 11.
Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Answer:
Every child has a right to live freely, enjoy his childhood and get an education. Already, there is a law against child labour. Now it is for the society to implement this law strictly.
Lost Spring – Solved Question Bank
Reference-to-Context Questions
Rend the extracts given below.
Question 1.
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.
Answer the following.
(a) Saheb is a __________ from Dhaka.
(b) Saheb’s mother told about __________ at their native place.
(c) Find a word from the extract that means ‘remote’.
(d) They left Dhaka as they did not like the place. (True/False)
Answer:
(a) ragpicker
(b) storms
(c) Distant
(d) False
Question 2.
“It takes longer to build a school, ” I say, embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant. But promises like mine abound in every comer of his bleak world.
Answer the following.
(a) __________ was embarrassed, as she made a false promise.
(b) Their world was __________ .
(c) Pick the opposite of ‘unabashed’ from the extract.
(d) The author was serious about their education. (True/False)
Answer:
(a) Anees Jung/The author
(b) bleak
(c) embarrassed
(d) False
Question 3.
“I want shoes, ” says a third boy who never owned a pair all his life. Travelling across the country I have seen children walking barefoot, in cities, on village roads. It is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot, is one explanation. I wonder if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty. Answer the following.
(a) Children remain barefoot due to __________ .
(b) Tradition is an excuse to remain barefoot. (True/False)
(c) Pick the synonym of ‘everlasting’ from the extract.
(d) The third boy was the __________ of Saheb.
Answer:
(a) poverty
(b) True
(c) perpetual
(d) friend
Question 4.
My acquaintance with the barefoot children leads me to Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them.
Answer the following. .
(a) The author was __________ with the ragpickers.
(b) Seemapuri, though near Delhi, is nowhere like it. (True False)
(c) Seemapuri is known as __________ for ragpickers and squatters.
(d) Seemapuri is at the outer border of Delhi. Pick out a word from the extract for the underlined meaning.
Answer:
(a) acquainted
(b) True
(c) habitat
(d) periphery
Question 5.
When you can find a silver coin in a heap of garbage, you don 7 stop scrounging for there is hope of finding more. It seems that for children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents.
Answer the following.
(a) Scrounging was equivalent to treasure hunt for them.
(b) At times children find __________ in the garbage.
(c) Garbage is a means of survival for __________ .
(d) Find a word from the extract that means ‘search’.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) silver coins
(c) elders
(d) scrounge
Question 6.
“I like this game, ” he hums, content to watch it standing behind the fence. “I go inside when no one is
around, ” he admits. The gatekeeper lets me use the swing. ”
Saheb too is wearing tennis shoes that look strange over his discoloured shirt and shorts.
Answer the following.
(a) Rag-picking is a game for him. (True/False)
(b) The __________ is a generous person.
(c) Saheb’s dream is to play
(d) My friend coloured her hair and she looked good. Pick the opposite of the underlined word from the extract.
Answer:
(a) False
(b) gatekeeper
(c) tennis
(d) discoloured
Question 7.
“I will leant to drive a car, ” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land it seems.
Answer the following.
(a) It is __________ who hails from Firozabad.
(b) His dream is a farfetched thing. (True/False)
(c) Firozabad is a centre for __________ industry.
(d) Find a word from the extract that means ’optical illusion’.
Answer:
(a) Mukesh
(b) True
(c) glass-blowing
(d) Mirage
Question 8.
None of them know that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures. In dingy cells without cur and light, that the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight hours, often losing brightness of their eyes.
Answer the following.
(a) All the children are __________ involved in bangle making.
(b) They spend their daylight hours to lose their eyesight.
(c) The law allows 20,000 children to work as bangle makers. (True/False)
(d) Find a word from the extract which means the same as ‘dull and gloomy’. (True/False)
Answer:
(a) illegally
(b) True
(c) false
(d) Dingy
Question 9.
He stops at the door of one such house, bangs a wobbly iron door with his foot, and pushes it open. We enter a half built shack. In one part of it, thatched with dead grass, is a firewood stove over which sits a large vessel of sizzling spinach leaves.
Answer the following.
(a) One such door is the door of Mukesh’s house. (True/False)
(b) ‘We’ refers to __________ .
(c) Firewood stove is used by __________ .
(d) Stabilized table is better than a __________ table.
Answer:
(a) True
(b) Mukesh and Anees Jung/The author
(c) Mukesh’s family
(d) wobbly
Question 10.
“Can a god given lineage ever be broken ? ” she implies. Bom in the caste of bangle makers, they have seen nothing but bangles—in the house, in the yard, in every other house, every other yard, every street in Firozabad.
Answer the following.
(a) Most of the people __________ in Firozabad.
(b) ‘They’ refers to Mukesh’s family. (True/False)
(c) God given lineage refers to __________ .
(d) Find a word from the extract which means ‘race’.
Answer:
(a) make bangles
(b) False
(c) Bangle making
(d) lineage
Question 11.
It will dawn on her suddenly one day when her head is draped with a red veil, her hands dyed red with henna, and red bangles rolled onto her wrists. She will then become a bride. Like the old woman beside her who became one many years ago. She still has bangles on her wrists, but no light in her eyes.
Answer the following.
(a) Bangles are worn by married women as a custom. (True/False)
(b) ‘She’ here refers to young girl named __________ .
(c) Find a word from the extract which means ‘to hang clothes loosely’.
(d) The old lady had lost her eyes due to __________ .
Answer:
(a) True
(b) Savita
(c) Drape
(d) bangle making
Question 12.
I ask a group of young men who have fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen who trapped their fathers and forefathers. ‘Even if we get organized, we are the ones who will be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal. ” they say.
Answer the following.
(a) A group of young men here refers to __________ .
(b) They will be hauled up for __________ .
(c) Find a word/phrase from the extract that means ‘arrested’.
(d) Police wants to help them but they don’t organize.
Answer:
(a) youths making bangles
(b) organizing themselves
(c) hauled up
(d) False
Lost Spring Short Questions and Answers
Question 1.
What was Saheb’s full name? Why was it ironical?
Or
Describe the irony in Saheb’s name.
Answer:
Saheb’s full name was ‘Saheb-e-Alam’ which means the master of the universe. But, on the contrary. Saheb was a victim of poverty. He lived in a slum and was not able to get a proper meal. So the name of Saheb is highly ironical.
Question 2.
Why had the ragpickers come to live in Seemapuri?
Answer:
The ragpickers are migrants from Bangladesh. They have been living in Seemapuri since 1971. They have no identity and no permit. They only have ration cards that get their names on the voters’ list and enable them to buy grain. These are refugees from Bangladesh who came and settled in Seemapuri 45 years ago.
Question 3.
To which country did Saheb’s parents originally belong? Why did they come to India?
Answer:
Saheb’s parents originally belonged to Bangladesh. They left their village in Dhaka in 1971 due to extreme poverty and migrated to Delhi and started living in Seemapuri.
Question 4.
What does the reference to chappals in ‘Lost Spring’ tell us about the economic condition of the rag pickers?
Answer:
This tells us that the children walked barefoot everywhere due to lack of money and not because it was a tradition. Sadly, it was their poverty that forced them to remain barefoot.
Question 5.
In what sense is garbage gold to the ragpickers?
Or
What does garbage mean to the children of Seemapuri and to their parents?
Answer:
Garbage is gold to the ragpickers because in the garbage, they hope to get something useful for them, or some money, or some articles which can be sold at the junk shop to fetch them money. For the ragpickers, garbage is a means of their livelihood. For children of the ragpickers, garbage is wrapped in wonder. They find new things in the garbage every day.
Question 6.
How was Saheb’s life at the tea stall?
Answer:
Saheb lost his freedom as a child at the tea stall. Though earning ?800 per month and two meals a day he was not happy. Now he was no more his own master. He had to obey his employer and had lost the carefree life that he had earlier.
Question 7.
‘Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it metaphorically.’ What does the author mean by this?
Answer:
Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi which is a metropolitan city and the Capital of India. The living conditions in Seemapuri are highly pathetic. This place is devoid of even basic facilities such as sewage drainage and running water. The houses are made of mud with roof of tin and tarpaulin. It is beyond imagination that such a place is part of a progressive and developed capital of the country.
Question 8.
Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?
Answer:
Mukesh is a young boy from a poor family of Firozabad. His family is under heavy debt and is working in a bangle making factory for generations. But Mukesh is different and dreams of becoming a motor mechanic and driving a car.
Question 9.
Why could the bangle makers not organise themselves into a cooperative?
Answer:
The bangle makers could not organise themselves into a cooperative as they an exploited by the middlemen. They are not able to break the vicious circle which is created by the middlemen, sahukars, politicians, bureaucrats and policemen.
Question 10.
How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family members?
Answer.
Though Mukesh belongs to a bangle maker family, he has his ambition to be a motor mechanic. He doesn’t want to be subjected to the exploitation of the middlemen. He wants to break the generations-old family tradition of bangle making.
Question 11.
How is Mukesh different from other bangle makers of Firozabad?
Or
Describe Mukesh as an ambitious person.
Answer:
Mukesh, a young boy of a bangle makers’ family in Firozabad, is diferent from others because he is ambitious and wants to break the generations-old traditions. He, unlike others, doesn’t want to make bangles. He wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car.
Question 12.
“Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds…” In the context of Mukesh, the bangle maker’s son, which two worlds is Anees Jung referring to?
Answer:
The two worlds Anees Jung is referring to are those represented by Mukesh’s parents and Mukesh himself. Mukesh has the courage to dream big in spite of all adversity, whereas the other bangle makers of Firozabad have resigned themselves to their fate and have suppressed all their hopes, desires and aspirations. Mukesh refuses to follow the ‘God-given lineage’ of bangle making and wants to become a motor mechanic, when he grows up.
Question 13.
‘When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh I am cheered.’ What is this a reference to and why does it make the author happy?
Answer:
This refers to the fact that Mukesh had the courage to think differently and dream of a better life. Unlike others, Mukesh had dared to dream. This is something which makes the author happy. She is pleased to see the spark of optimism and determination in Mukesh’ eyes.
Question 14.
‘Together they have imposed the baggage on the child that he cannot put down.’ Who do ‘they’ refer to? What is the ‘baggage’ and why can the child not get rid of it?
Answer:
‘They’ refers to the sahukars, middlemen, bureaucrats, politicians and policemen. Together all these forces have created a vicious circle for the bangle makers. The ‘baggage’ refers to the burden or the compulsion to work in the bangle factories. The child cannot refuse to work in these factories in hazardous conditions due to the heavy’ debt on his parents.
Question 15.
Whom does Anees Jung blame for the sorry plight of the bangle makers?
Answer:
Anees Jung says the bangle makers of Firozabad are caught in the vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen, police, bureaucrats and politicians who keep on exploiting them. Due to this, bangle makers are not able to organize themselves into a cooperative.
Question 16.
Justify the title‘Lost Spring’.
Answer:
‘Spring symbolizes ‘childhood’. In the chapter ‘Lost Spring’, Anees Jung has described the lost childhood of thousands of poor children who live in slums like Seemapuri or work in the bangle industry of Firozabad.
Lost Spring Long Questions and Answers
Question 1.
“For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival.” What kind of life do the ragpickers of Seemapuri lead?
Answer:
Ragpickers of Seemapuri survive in pathetic conditions where living each day is a challenge. These squatters came from Bangladesh way back in 1971. They live in sub-standard conditions where there is no food, electricity and drinking water. Their houses are made of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. Seemapuri is devoid of basic amenities. Garbage to them is gold and the only means of survival. Their traditions also condemn them to a life of poverty and exploitation.
Children grow up with them and are their partners in survival and survival in Seemapuri means ragpicking. Children look at garbage as something wrapped in wonder as they find a silver coin or a rupee sometimes. But for adults, it is their livelihood, their daily bread. Life of ragpickers of Seemapuri is ridden with misery and abject poverty.
Question 2.
What change do you find in Saheb’s life when he stops ragpicking and starts working at a tea-stall?
Answer:
When Saheb stops ragpicking and starts working at a tea-stall, a lot of changes come about in his life. When he was a ragpicker, he led a carefree life. He was not answerable to anybody. He was always in quest of a heap ‘wrapped in wonder’ as many a time a rupee or ten was found in it. The plastic bag he carried over his shoulder while ragpicking, was his own property. He was happy as a ragpicker.
On the contrary, when he started working at a tea-stall, his life was restrained. He was paid ^ 800 and was given all his meals, but he was always at his master’s beck and call. He had no freedom. So, he lost his carefree look and had to bear the burden of responsibility imposed by his master. He could no longer do anything as he pleased.
Question 3.
‘Grinding poverty and traditions condemn the children of ragpickers or bangle makers to a life of exploitation. Such children are deprived of all opportunities in life. Mukesh, who opts out of the existing profession of his forefathers by resolving to start a new job of a motor mechanic symbolises the modern youth.’ What lesson do we learn from Mukesh’s example?
Answer:
No doubt grinding poverty and tradition have condemned the children of ragpickers and bangle makers to a life of exploitation. The ragpickers’ children have accepted their fate to be barefoot as their tradition. Similarly, bangle makers persist with bangle making, saying it is their karm. Their spirits due to constant suppression and servitude, make them incapable of raising their voices against injustice and exploitation. .
Mukesh symbolises the modern youth who dares to fight their destiny and change it. He has hopes and aspiration to do differently and better his future. In spite of the environment, he is living in, and with no support from his family, Mukesh wants to break the age-old tradition to work as a bangle maker throughout his life. He wants to be a motor mechanic. This shows that one should not give up hope even in the worst circumstances and always strive to do better.
Question 4.
‘Lost Spring’ explains the grinding poverty and traditions that condemn thousands of people to a life of abject poverty. Do you agree? Why/Whv not?
Answer:
‘Lost Spring’ is indeed a description of the grinding poverty and traditions that condemn thousands of people to a life of abject poverty.
Saheb, a young ragpicker is doomed to live a miserable life of poverty. He wants to go to school and play tennis. Due to poverty, he has to even give up his freedom and start working as a helper at a tea shop. Here he is burdened with the commands of his employer and is forced to live a miserable life. Another such example is that of Mukesh who belongs to a bangle maker’s family in Firozabad. He wants to be a motor mechanic. But his family traditions and poverty have forced him to work in the inhuman conditions of a bangle factory, in dark rooms and near hot furnaces.
Thus, the poor and destitute of both Seemapuri and Firozabad are caught in the web of poverty, servitude, suppression and exploitation.
Question 5.
Most of us do not raise our voice against injustice in our society and tend to remain mute spectators. Anees Jung in her story ‘Lost Spring’ vividly highlights the miserable life of street children and bangle makers of Firozabad. She wants us to act. Which qualities does she want the children to develop?
Answer:
Anees Jung in her story ‘Lost Spring’ analyses the grinding poverty and traditions which condemn the small children to live a miserable life of exploitation. Street children or the ragpickers of Seemapuri are forced to either rely on the garbage for their livelihood or work as labourers. These children live in a condition of extreme exploitation throughout their lives due to their poverty. Similar is the situation of children from the bangle making families of Firozabad. Here the children are forced to accept bangle-making as their doom due to poverty and family tradition.
The author has also given a story of resistance and fortitude. In spite of harsh conditions of poverty and exploitation, there are children like Mukesh who have refused to accept their fate. They have their ambition to do something different and better. The author stresses the need to aspire for betterment. No doubt for this one needs to be daring, confident, diligent and hardworking.
Question 6.
Garbage to them is gold. How do ragpickers of Seemapuri survive?
Answer:
Ragpickers of Seemapuri survive in pathetic conditions where living each day is a challenge. These squatters came from Bangladesh way back in 1971. They live in sub-standard conditions where there is no food, electricity and drinking water. Their houses are made of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. Seemapuri is devoid of basic amenities. Garbage to them is gold and the only means of survival. Their traditions also condemn them to a life of poverty and exploitation.
Children grow up with them and are their partners in survival and survival in Seemapuri means ragpicking. Children look at garbage as something wrapped in wonder as they find a silver coin or a rupee sometimes. But for adults, it is their livelihood, their daily bread. Life of ragpickers of Seemapuri is ridden with misery and abject poverty.
Question 7.
Describe the circumstances which keep the workers in bangle industry in poverty.
Answer:
The bangle makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles. But these people work in a very unhygienic atmosphere. They work in glass furnaces at high temperatures, in dingy cells without sufficient air and light. In spite of so much of hard work, these people live in a state of poverty because they work in an unorganized manner and are exploited by the middlemen. This results in their poor state. Even if they try to get organized, they get beaten up by the police. They are not able to come out of the vicious circle of their exploiters: middlemen, policemen, sahukars, law makers, bureaucrats and politicians. They have been repeatedly exploited physically as well as economically for generations and so are forced to live a life of poverty.
Question 8.
Describe the life of ragpickers at Seemapuri. Why is this place, in spite of being on the periphery of Delhi, considered miles away from it?
Answer:
In 1971, some families migrated from Bangladesh and took refuge at the outskirt of Delhi, at a place called Seemapuri. It is a colony where about 10,000 ragpickers and their families live in structures of mud, with roof of tin or tarpaulin. They are devoid of basic facilities like sewage, drainage or running water. They have no identity but a ration card to have their names on the voters’ list. They have never bothered for their identity because for them food is the prime focus. Children of these families work as ragpickers and garbage for them is the only means of survival.
The place Seemapuri is at the periphery of Delhi, the capital of India, yet is miles apart from Delhi metaphorically. The place is devoid of even basic amenities in contrast to the highly developed and progressive Delhi.
Question 9.
‘Saheb is no longer his own master. Mukesh insists on being his own master.’ Discuss.
Answer:
Both Saheb and Mukesh, symbolise the exploited children in India who are forced to live a life of poverty. Saheb is a ragpicker who lives at Seemapuri. His only means of survival is the garbage. He lives in a subliminal condition. Finally, he starts working at a tea stall where he completely loses his freedom and childhood. But he has compromised with his fate. He has accepted his condition, and has completely given up.
Mukesh, on the other hand, is a boy who also belongs to a very poor family but doesn’t give up and compromise with circumstances. Though he belongs to a bangle maker’s family and is destined to work as a bangle maker, he refuses to accept it. He has his own ambition to become a motor mechanic. He doesn’t want to be dominated and exploited by others. He wants to be his own master and take his own decisions.
Question 10.
The paradoxes of the society that we live in are aptly featured in ‘Lost Spring’. Comment.
Answer:
‘Lost Spring’ is a vivid description of the grinding poverty and tradition that condemn the children in our country to a life of poverty and exploitation.
Saheb, a small boy, who is a ragpicker and relies on garbage for his living, seems to be very enthusiastic about going to school. But he never gets this opportunity and his entire childhood is lost in solving the greatest problem of his life, i.e. to earn a meal. He has to compromise with his freedom and joy of childhood and work at a tea stall to earn money.
Mukesh, who was born into a bangle maker’s family of Firozabad, wants to be a motor mechanic. He works in the most hazardous conditions in the glass furnaces with high temperature and no lights. People of his community are caught in the vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians. Mukesh wants to be his own master and do something different.
The story very clearly describes the reality of our society.
Question 11.
Justify the title of the story ‘Lost Spring’.
Answer:
Childhood is considered the spring of human life. It is full of exuberance and playfulness. But the children of ragpickers of Seemapuri and bangle makers of Firozabad are deprived of this period of their life. They never enjoy the carefreeness of their childhood. They have to assist their poor parents in earning their living since the very tender age.
In fact, the story brings out the reality of our society where poor children work as ragpickers and bangle bakers in inhuman and hazardous conditions. The plight of these children highlights the apathy of the rich and powerful people of the society who have no concern for them.
‘Lost Spring’ refers to those moments of childhood which should be full of happiness, growth and carefree spirit and which have been snatched from the children of Seemapuri and Firozabad. The title ‘Lost Spring’ justifies the story which sensitizes the people towards these poor children. It emphasizes the need to save the childhood of these poor children and provide them with their basic rights of a decent life and good education.
Question 12.
‘None of them know that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures in dingy cells without air and light…’
These words from ‘Lost Spring’ throw light on the grinding poverty that forces many children in India to lead a life of exploitation whereby they have to slog in subhuman conditions.
Driven by a concern for such children, who lose their childhood and go through an unjust treatment, write an article in 120-150 words on ‘Child Labour in India.”
Answer:
Child Labour in India
A child, whose childhood has been snatched away, now works hard, day and night, to earn a meagre pay.
This is the scenario with more than 10 million children who are employed in hazardous and dangerous trades and industries. At a tender age, they are forced to work for 10-15 hours under sub-human ‘ conditions. Fireworks factory, cashew nut industry, bangle-making factories, carpet industry—there are innumerable such factories functioning in our country where these children are being exploited. They are underpaid and ill-treated. As a result, they develop life-long deformities like losing their eyesight, asthma, bone deformity, etc.
In spite of the constitutional laws against child labour and RTE which enforces the right to education for each and every child below the age of 14 years, these children are deprived of any education. Their day starts in factories and ends there.
It is said that children are the future of a nation. We need to ponder on what kind of future are we building. With so many children struck in the clutches of child labour, we are building an uneducated, unhealthy and diseased India. So, it is high time that the government and society work for these underprivileged children by strictly implementing the law and rehabilitating them.
Question 13.
“it takes longer to build a school. Education is simply the soul of society as it passes from one generation to another.”-G.K. Chesterton.
After reading the sad story of Saheb, you must have realised that you are among the privileged ones in the society. Moreover, it’s your responsibility towards children like Saheb. You can contribute by teaching street children who are unable to go to school. Write an article for your school magazine in 120-150 words, talking about the virtues of a literate society urging young people to take on the onus of educating at least one or two children.
Answer:
Virtues of a Literate Society
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right to education. Moreover, literacy is a basic human need and human right to knowledge. It is empowerment which means ability to make decision and control affairs of one’s own life, economically, socially and politically. Life, without literacy, is life without hope, security, and freedom.
A literate society is always much developed in health, gender equality, education and a decent standard of living. The youth are considered to be the maker of any nation’s or society’s future. So it depends upon the youth of today to take the onus and contribute to making a literate society. If each one of us could educate at least one child, we would contribute to a literate society. There are a number of children around us who need to be educated, for instance, children of domestic helpers or workers. If each one of us pledges to make just one child literate, it would make a drastic change in the literacy of our society and would ensure a promising future for all of us.
