Long-Answer Questions

Q.1. Grinding poverty and tradition 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?
[CBSE (F) 2013]
Ans. It is not only the grinding poverty but also tradition that condemns the children of
ragpickers or bangle makers to live a life of exploitation. On one side is the family,
trapped in poverty and burdened by stigma of the caste they are born in, on the other
side they are trapped in the vicious circle of inhuman Sahukars, the middlemen, the
policemen, the so called keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. All of them
have created a situation, from which there is no way out. The trapped do not have the
guts to break out of it. Mukesh, in fact is like a ray of hope with his dreams of becoming
a motor mechanic. He wants to opt out of the existing profession of his forefathers. He
has resolved to start a new job as a motor mechanic. The long distance to the garage
where he will learn the work of a motor mechanic does not deter him. He is prepared to
walk. But he is firm. He symbolises the youth of his clan. If this persists, the day is not
far when a new generation will bring brightness and hope to the dark and dingy homes
of these poverty-ridden workers.
Q.2. How is Mukesh more ambitious in life than Saheb? Give a reasoned answer.
[CBSE (F) 2013]
OR
How is Mukesh’s attitude towards his situation different from that of Saheb?
Why?
[CBSE Delhi 2015]
Ans. Mukesh is definitely more ambitions than Saheb. Unlike most of his friends in
Firozabad, Mukesh did not want to follow the profession of making bangles. No one else
could dare to think of breaking the conventional style of living. Mukesh dreamt of
becoming a motor-mechanic. He had already decided to go to a garage and learn about
cars. Though the garage was a long way from his home, he was prepared to walk that
distance. He insisted on becoming his own master.
Saheb, on the other hand had sacrificed his freedom as a ragpicker to take up a
salaried job that would pay him 800 rupees and give him all his meals. Now he was no
longer his own master. He had lost his carefree look (which he had when he was a
ragpicker). The can that he carried seemed heavier than the bag he carried as a
ragpicker, for this job was not to his liking.
Q.3. The barefoot ragpickers of Seemapuri live on the periphery of Delhi yet,
metaphorically speaking, miles away from it. Comment.
[CBSE (AI) 2009C, CBSE (F) 2013]
Ans. The barefoot ragpickers of Seemapuri live on the periphery of Delhi yet,
metaphorically speaking, miles away from it, sums up the true condition of the
ragpickers of Seemapuri. Seemapuri is a slum area, which houses approximately
10,000 ragpickers. They live in mud houses with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. There is no
sewage, drainage or running water. They came here from Bangladesh in 1971 and have
been living here ever since without any identity of their own or permits, but they have
ration cards and their names figure in the voter’s list. Women wear tattered saris.
Survival in Seemapuri means ragpicking. This is an example of the gross negligence
and apathy of the Delhi Government. It has failed to do anything for them. Though
Seemapuri is so close to Delhi, almost on its periphery, but the glitter and glamour,
advantages like education, proper facilities for living a clean and decent life are beyond
the reach of these slum dwellers of Seemapuri, which is so close to Delhi yet so far.
Q.4. The bangle makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone
happy but they live and die in squalor. Elaborate.
[CBSE Delhi 2010]
Ans. The bangle makers of Firozabad live in utter poverty, generation after generation.
They believe that they are the people who are destined to work as glass banglemakers.
They make beautiful bangles for women but they live in the dark. The workers have to
look at the hot bright furnaces while polishing bangles. While welding pieces of coloured
glass into bangles they have no other option but are forced to sit near flickering lamps.
Hence, they are forced to stay in dark room huts and their eyes are not in a position to
see the daylight outside. They become blind quite early in life. They are in a vicious
circle tossed around by moneylenders, middlemen and politicians. Instead of helping
them, the law enforcing authorities only prey on them.
Q.5. Give a brief account of the life and activities of people like Saheb-e-Alam
settled in Seemapuri.
[CBSE Delhi 2011]
Ans. Saheb is a poor boy belonging to a refugee family from Bangladesh. His family
came to Delhi and settled in the trans-Yamuna area called Seemapuri. Here they have
no work to do. They pick garbage for their livelihood. Saheb also, like others, looks and
searches the garbage dumps for some coins. They leave their houses in the morning
with a bag on their back to collect something from the garbage. They remain barefoot. It
has become their habit not to wear any footwear. The families like Saheb’s left behind a
life of abject poverty in flood-hit areas of Bangladesh and came to India. They move to
big cities in the hope of getting some work. In the absence of work, they begin rag
picking.
Q.6. ‘Lost Spring’ explains the grinding poverty and traditions that condemn
thousands of people to a life of abject poverty. Do you agree? Why/Why not?
[CBSE (AI) 2011]
Ans. Yes, I fully agree that ‘Lost Spring’ explains abject poverty. Saheb-e-Alam came
alongwith his family from Bangladesh to Delhi. His family settled on the banks of the
Yamuna river. Here, they have no work to do and no house to live in. So they began the
work of rag-picking. His family lives a hand-to-mouth existence. Thus this lesson deals
with the plight of street children like Saheb-e-Alam, and Mukesh of Firozabad working in
a glass bangle factory. The children of such families are forced to labour early in life and
denied the opportunities of going to school. These children are trapped in the vicious
circle of social stigma, tradition, poverty and exploitation. Thus the title of the story
rightly explains and brings out the depravity of child labour in our country.
Q.7. What contrast do you notice between the colour of the bangles and the
atmosphere of the place where these bangles are made?
Ans. The dusty streets of Firozabad, the bangle making district, are overflowing with
garbage and the stink is overwhelming. The hovels where the bangle makers dwell
have walls that are crumbling down, with unstable doors and no windows. The
conditions are so terrible that families of humans and animals live together. The
drabness and lack of colour in the lives of these people contrast starkly with the colour
of the bangles which lie everywhere—“sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink,
purple, every colour born out of the seven colours of the rainbow”. The unhappiness
and tedium in the lives of the bangle makers contrasts the joy and merriment that their
bangles will bring to the women who will buy and wear them.
Q.8. What did the writer see when Mukesh took her to his home?
Ans. The writer realised that it was a slum area. The lanes were stinking and were
choked with garbage. The homes looked like hovels. Their walls were crumbling. The
doors were wobbly, with no windows. The homes were crowded with humans and
animals living together. Mukesh’s home looked like a half-built shack. In one of its parts,
a firewood stove had a large vessel on it. A frail young woman cooked the evening
meal. She was the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. As Mukesh’s father came in, she
brought her veil closer to her face. The old man was a poor bangle maker. Even after
long years of hard labour, he had been unable to renovate his house. He was unable to
send his two sons to school. Mukesh’s grandmother was also there. Her husband had
become blind with dust from the polishing of glass bangles.
Q.9. Describe the difficulties the bangle makers of Firozabad have to face in their
lives.
 OR
Describe the circumstances which keep the workers in the bangle industry in
poverty.
[CBSE Delhi 2015]
Ans. The bangle-makers of Firozabad live in utter poverty generation after generation.
They believe that they are the people who are destined to work as glass bangle-makers.
They make beautiful bangles for women but they live in dark. The workers have to look
at the hot bright furnaces while polishing bangles. While welding pieces of coloured
glass into bangles they have no other option but are forced to sit near flickering lamps.
Hence, they are forced to stay in a dark room and their eyes are not in a position to see
the daylight outside. They become blind even before they become adults. Their life is
embroiled in a web that is created the moneylenders, middlemen and politicians.
Instead of helping them, the law enforcing authorities only prey upon their misfortunes.
Q.10. In the lesson ‘Lost Spring’, Saheb and Mukesh are deprived of their
childhood pleasures and education. Noble Peace prize winners Kailash Satyarthi
and Malala Yousafzai have been fighting for the rights of the children. Motivated
by these activists, you write an article on the topic, ‘Evils of child labour and
denial of Education’. You are Mahesh/Malvika. Write your article in about 125-150
words.
Ans.
EVILS OF CHILD LABOUR AND DENIAL OF EDUCATION
By– Malvika
Child labour has been a major problem not only in India but in all the developing
countries. It is a great social problem.
We often find children working in dhabas, factories, tea-stalls, fields and homes. They
often become ragpickers and street performers. All this deprives children of a normal,
carefree childhood. Schooling becomes a distant dream and a perpetual state of
poverty becomes a reality. Dreams become a mirage.
Child labour is often borne out of the need for survival. Often the reason is to increase
the income of a poor family. Industries often employ children under 14, in the hope of
reducing the labour cost in their organisation.
In a developed society where every citizen counts and all citizens have to have proper
education, health care support, games and entertainment, a child with less or absolutely
no education finds it hard to survive.
Taking up a small job as a domestic help or in a restaurant for a nominal salary of ₹
750-1800 per month, does not leave a child with enough time for primary and secondary
education. All this renders a child completely illiterate, unskilled and perhaps unhealthy.
Free education should be provided to poor children to motivate their parents to send
them to school. The government should come forward with schemes for upliftment of
the poor and unemployed. This will take away the burden of earning their livelihood from
the tender shoulders of poor children. Hence, no child should be engaged as labourers,
both from a legal point of view as well in the interest of the child’s future.
Q.11. “But promises like mine abound… in their bleak world.”
Saheb and others like him spend their life on unfulfilled promises. One role that
the youth can play to improve their conditions is by volunteering in programmes
like, ‘Each one Teach one’.
You are Vibha Raghunathan, the Head Girl of Bal Vidyalaya, Rohtak. You and
some other students of the school are touched by the plight of the slum kids, who
would love to be educated but can’t because of poor economic conditions. You
and your friends wish to make a difference by teaching these kids. Draft a notice
not exceeding 50 words, making an appeal for generous help and inviting other
students for the same purpose.
Ans.