The document discusses the struggles of children and families in Firozabad, particularly focusing on Mukesh, who dreams of driving a car despite working in hazardous conditions in the bangle-making industry. It highlights the generational cycle of poverty and lack of dreams among the workers, as well as the emotional toll of their labor. The text also contrasts the aspirations of the youth with the resigned acceptance of their elders, illustrating a bleak outlook on their lives.
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Notes LostSpring
The document discusses the struggles of children and families in Firozabad, particularly focusing on Mukesh, who dreams of driving a car despite working in hazardous conditions in the bangle-making industry. It highlights the generational cycle of poverty and lack of dreams among the workers, as well as the emotional toll of their labor. The text also contrasts the aspirations of the youth with the resigned acceptance of their elders, illustrating a bleak outlook on their lives.
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Lost Spring
I.Read the following extracts and answer
the questions below. 1. “I will learn 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, wielding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land it seems. Mukesh’s family is among them. 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; 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 the brightness of their eyes. Mukesh’s eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home, which he proudly says is being rebuilt. (i). Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE with reference to the extract? A. Children work in badly lit and inadequately ventilated furnaces. B. The children are not aware that it is forbidden by law to work. C. Children work in the furnaces for hours which poorly affects their eyesight. D. Firozabad has emerged as a budding producer of bangles in the country. (ii) The simile ‘dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets’ indicates that his dream was A. a reality, yet seemed distant. B. lost in the sea of dust. C. illusory and indistinct. D. hanging in the dusty air. (iii) ‘I will learn to drive a car,’ he answers, looking straight into my eyes. This sentence highlights Mukesh was A. careless B. determined C. negligent D. anxious
(iv) Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making
bangles indicates that
A. bangle making is the only industry that thrives in
Firozabad. B. Everyone in Firozabad works in the bangle industry. C. majority of the population in Firozabad is involved in bangle making. D. bangle making is the most favoured occupation in Firozabad.
2. She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her
eyes. “Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya.” she says, in a voice drained of joy. She has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime-that’s what she has reaped! Her husband, an old man with a flowing beard says, “I know nothing except bangles. All I have done is make a house for the family to live in.” Hearing him one wonders if he has achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. He has a roof over his head! The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of the elders. Little has moved with time, it seems in Firozabad, years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream. (i) Choose the term which best matches the statement ‘The young men echo the lament of their elders.’ A. acceptance B. reflection C. reiteration D. doubtfulness
(ii) ‘Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative
and the ability to dream’. This shows that A. Although the bangle manufacturers are tired and exhausted, they are ambitious and have dreams. B. The drudgery of work has destroyed their willingness to improve their lot. C. The grind of daily life has darkened and stolen the dreams of the bangle manufacturers. D. There is no time for dreaming because the bangle manufacturers are working so hard.
(iii)‘She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her
eyes.’ This implies that A. She is married, but the charm in her eyes has faded. B. She is a married woman who has aged poorly and lost her grace. C. Though she is married, her eyes are devoid of happiness. D. She is a married woman with visual impairment.
(iv) ‘He has a roof over his head!’ The tone of the author is A. pessimistic. B. empathetic. C. sympathetic. D. optimistic.
Short Answer Type
1." For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival". What kind of life do the rag- pickers of Seemapuri lead?
2. What trade does the family of Mukesh follow? Why
does the writer feel that it’s difficult for Mukesh to break away from this tradition?
Long Answer Type
1.‘Saheb is no longer his own master. Mukesh insists on being his own master’. Explain.