FLAMINGO (PROSE)

2. LOST SPRING

Short Answer Type Questions :

Q1. What is Saheb looking for the garbage dumps? Where has he come from and who he is?
 Saheb is a rag picker in the author’s neighbourhood. He lives in Seemapuri and belongs to a
Bangladeshi refugee family which migrated from Dhaka. The author says that he scrounges for
‘gold’ in the heaps of garbage.

Q2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
 The author has seen several children walking barefoot during her travels across India. She is told
that staying barefoot is an ancient tradition, but she believes that it is a forced necessity because of
poverty.

Q3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.

 No, in my opinion Saheb is not happy working in a tea-stall. Although he is provided with a fixed
income, but he is deprived of the company of his friends and the careless life.

Q4. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?

 The glass bangle industry in Firozabad is an unorganized sector with neither proper infrastructure
nor basic amenities. These are ill-lit, ill-ventilated glass blowing furnaces in dingy cells with high
temperature where children and adults work in unhygienic conditions. Lack of protective eye
gears, long working hours and back breaking postures lead them to lose their eye sight and make
them old at an early age.

Q5. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
 Mukesh’s father, grandfather and many generations represent an unbroken lineage of bangle
makers. Neither they receive education nor managed to improve their lot, and accepted their
condition in the name of fate. But Mukesh is different as he dared to dream of a different life than
that of his family by becoming a motor mechanic.

Q6. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry?
 Lack of education and awareness, stigma of being born in the cast of bangle makers, vicious circle
of the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the
politicians oppress the bangle makers and keep them poverty-stricken.

Q7. How is Saheb’s name full of irony?

 Saheb’s full name is Saheb-e-Alam, meaning ‘Lord of the Universe’. But Saheb is a poor,
barefoot, homeless rag picker who scrounges the heaps of garbage to earn his livelihood. His
name is in contrast to his existence and deeply ironical.

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Q8. Why does the author describe children of slum as partners in survival?
 Mostly children are dependent on their parents for all their needs and they are taken care of by
their parents. But the children in Seemapuri are the off springs of homeless rag pickers. Due to
extreme poverty, their parents are unable to take good care of them and they have to pick rags at
an early age for their survival and to support their parents.

Q9. How do elders and children look at garbage differently?

 For the children the heap of garbage is wrapped in wonder. They can find anything, like a rupee
or ten rupee note, in it. But for the elders it is a means of survival.

Q10. What has Mukesh’s father achieved in life despite years of back breaking labour?
 Mukesh’s father is a representative of the poor, over-exploited bangle makers of Firozabad. He is
a victim of exploitation by sahukars, middlemen, policemen. Despite doing two professions, of a
tailor and bangle maker, he has not been able to build either a pucca house or provide education to
his two sons.

Q11. How does Mukesh’s grandmother view the family occupation of bangle making?
 Mukesh’s grandmother views bangle making as the destiny of her family. Her husband’s
blindness, their misfortune and impoverished conditions, she feels, are destined and she has
accepted everything in the name of karma.

Q12. Why do bangle makers lack initiative and ability to dream?

 Acute poverty, lack of education, zero infrastructural development and hand to mouth existence
have sucked away people’s energy and will power. Back breaking and mind numbing hard work
have left both young and old with little time or desire to dream for a better future.

Q13. Why cannot the bangle makers organize themselves into a co-operative?
 Generations of exploitation by middlemen, with lack of education, awareness and poverty has
broken the spirit of younger generation also. They fear that organizing into a co-operative
movement will only make them face the anger of police. Moreover, they lack leadership also.

Q14. What two distinct worlds does the author speak of with respect to the bangle makers?
 The first is the world of poverty-ridden and cast stigma family which leads to compromise, and
the second is the world of sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians which
represent oppression and exploitation of the first world.

Long Answer Type Questions :

Q1. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think
this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
 Yes, I agree that promises made to the poor children are rarely kept. The rich, who come in
contact with children from the poor sections of society, do not register the presence of these
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 children who are a nuisance for them. They see them begging, picking rags, selling small objects,
polishing shoes or wiping the cars, but there is hardly any interaction between these two opposite
worlds. If an individual stops to listen to them, it is more out of curiosity than a social obligation.
Promises, made during such interaction, are generally thoughtless and careless suggestions which
are never meant to be fulfilled but sow a seed of hope in the hearts of these unfortunate beings.

Saheb is one such example. When the author encourages him to study and offers to open a
school, it ignites a spark in him and raises his hopes. However, the author does not realize the
disappointment it would eventually lead to.

Q2. Like all children of his age, Saheb also had many hopes and dreams. Do you think children
like Saheb are able to fulfill their dreams?
 Saheb belonged to a Bangladeshi refugee family and lived in a slum near Delhi. Every morning
he roamed in the neighbouring areas with a group of friends and a plastic bag on his shoulder,
scrounging the heaps of garbage. His existence was dependent upon his rag picking, and this was
the only means of survival and livelihood known to him. Observing children in posh areas,
wearing good clothes and shoes also awakened in him the desire to be like them. He wanted to
own a pair of shoes, go to school, play tennis and lead a respectable life, but all his hopes and
dreams are shattered because of his poor condition.

In my view, few children, like Saheb, are able to change their life and improve their lot. They
start from rag picking to begging and petty crimes. Only a few, with a never say die attitude,
succeed in charactering the course of their destiny against all odds.

Q3. Politicians exploit all people and situations to their own benefit. Comment keeping in view
the situation of refugees in Seemapuri.
 It is a common fact that in our country slums have mushroomed around all big cities and are
inhabited by either refugees from other country or migrants from other states within India. These
people come in search of better existence and livelihood and create a world of hutment on the
periphery of these cities. They live in unhygienic conditions without proper facilities, in poverty,
struggling daily for their survival with the hope that one day their life would take a turn for the
better. Come elections and a hope erupts in their hearts, as they represent a large vote bank for the
politicians.

People in Seemapuri are an example of above. They have been living there for many years and
earning their livelihood through rag picking. Devoid of all basic amenities, they possess valid
ration cards. The need to provide ration cards was perhaps realized by wily politicians to
recognize a massive vote bank in them.

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Q4. For most women, bangles are dreams in glass. But for bangle makers, they are a vicious
circle they cannot wriggle out of. Comment.
 Bangles are a symbol of ‘suhag’ and auspicious in marriage in our country since centuries. These
glass bangles of various colours, adoring a woman’s wrist, provide not only a visual treat, but also
music of their own with their sweet clinking and tinkling. With their colours, these bangles
spread joy and happiness in the lives of women.

But ironically, little do these women realize that the makers of these bangles live a miserable life.
Even after more than 60 years of independence, Firozabad is a backward town without proper
infrastructure and basic amenities. The place, where the bangle makers work near the glass
furnaces, are ill-lit and ill-ventilated with high temperature. People who work there can hardly
manage a full time meal and live in houses with temporary roofs, crumbling walls and wobbly
doors. Moreover, they lose their eyesight at a young age and live in a dark world for the rest of
their life, with no hope and no help.

Value Based Questions :

Q1. Hunger knows no friend but its feeder. The downtrodden lead a miserable life. Elucidate
the dictum keeping in mind the following lines :
“….. survival in Seemapuri means rag picking. Through the years, it has
acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily
bread, a roof over their heads …..”
 It is a well known saying that poverty is the root cause of all evils. Corruption, begging and
incidents of theft are the offsprings of poverty. The destitute lead a miserable life. They do not
get sufficient food. Lack of money constrains them to take recourse to illegal activities. Slum
dwellers always feel themselves dejected. They recognize only those beings who help them and
feed them. These poor people are exploited by industrialists, politicians and other middlemen.
They scrounge for gold in the garbage dumps to earn their livelihood. The gap between the rich
and the poor can never be bridged. It is increasing day by day. There is no human being who
would like to work for their welfare. Their plight is pitiable. The residential areas of these people
are packed with filth and they become habitual of foul smell. Poverty never comes to an end for
them. The unemployed youth are heading towards destruction and they do not remember
anything except the help they receive from the opportunistic people who feed them to materialize
their vested interests.

Q2. Dedication, determination and devotion are the factors responsible for phenomenal success.
Substantiate the above statement in the light of the following lines :
“I want to be a motor mechanic”, he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn.
But the garage is a long way from his home. “I will walk”, he insists.
 Hard work is the key to success. Strong determination and will power are the essential
ingredients of success. Industrious people never feel disheartened. They work hard to achieve the
desired goals. The long term goals and aims of life must be set thoughtfully. Devotion always
brings good results and rewards. The essence of devotion is truth and faith. If one has trust in
performing the actions, one is able to win the battle of life. Devoted and dedicated people never
become a part of a problem. Their devotion encourages them to have faith in themselves. It is
clearly reflected in the tone of Mukesh when he says that he will walk to the garage and learn to
be a motor mechanic.

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Q3. Health plays an important role in the life of a human being. But the destitute fail to get
nutritious food and do not remain healthy. It is said that health is wealth. People believe
that a sound mind lives in a sound body. Elucidate it taking ideas from the following lines :
“Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya”.
 There is no denying the fact that if wealth is lost, something is lost and if health is lost, everything
is lost. A healthy man can enjoy the beauty of this world. A person who accumulates enormous
wealth and suffers from diseases cannot enjoy life. Health is essential to have positive thoughts.
Nutritious food is indispensable for good health. The destitute suffer because they do not get
sufficient food as they do not have any source of income. Undoubtedly good health plays an
important role in the life of man. He cannot endure the loss of health. Creativity, productivity
and innovation get enhanced if a man is healthy. Thus, one should be in the best of health so that
one can lead a happy and contented life.

Q4. Child abuse is a very serious problem in our country. Children are forced by circumstances
to work in various factories. Write an article on the topic ‘Child Abuse’, in not more than
120 words. Take ideas from the following lines :
“None of them knows 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”.
 Child abuse is a grave problem in India. Many children work at dhabas, factories and tea stalls.
These are those unfortunate children of the country who don’t get even two meals a day. It is a
blemish on our nation. It is the duty of the government to make arrangements of education for
these children. Child labour is common in the fields of agriculture, domestic service, carpet and
textile industries, bangle making etc. These children are forced to work in horrible conditions.
There are no set working hours for these children. They are given low wages.

In some cases poverty of the family and lack of education are responsible for child labour.
Employing children in factories implies that the nation’s future is in dark. They are devoid of
human emotions and adopt illegal ways to earn their bread and butter. It gives rise to violence and
corruption. Child labour should be stopped and the government should provide these children
with free education.

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