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Lost Spring NCERT Textbook With Solutions Book PDF Free Download
Chapter 2: Lost Spring
‘Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage’ “Why do you do this?” I ask Saheb whom I encounter every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my neighborhood.
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.
“I have nothing else to do,” he mutters, looking away. “Go to school,” I say glibly, realizing immediately how hollow the advice must sound.
“There is no school in my neighborhood. When they build one, I will go.” “If I start school, will you come?” I ask, half-joking. “Yes,” he says, smiling broadly. A few days later I see him running up to me. “Is your school ready?”
“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 corner of his bleak world.
After months of knowing him, I ask him his name. “Saheb-e-Alam,” he announces. He does not know what it means. If he knew its meaning — lord of the universe — he would have a hard time believing it.
Unaware of what his name represents, he roams the streets with his friends, an army of barefoot boys who appear like the morning birds and disappear at noon. Over the months, I have come to
recognise each of them.
“Why aren’t you wearing chappals?” I ask one. “My mother did not bring them down from the shelf,” he answers simply.
“Even if she did he will throw them off,” adds another who is wearing shoes that do not match. When I comment on it, he shuffles his feet and says nothing. “I want shoes,” says a third boy who has never owned a pair all his life.
Traveling across the country I have seen children walking barefoot, in cities, on village roads. It is not a lack money but a tradition to stay barefoot is one explanation.
I remember a story a man from Udipi once told me. As a young boy he would go to school past an old temple, where his father was a priest. He would stop briefly at the temple and pray for a pair of shoes.
Thirty years later I visited his town and the temple, which was now drowned in an air of desolation.
In the backyard, where lived the new priest, there were red and white plastic chairs. A young boy dressed in a grey uniform, wearing socks and shoes, arrived panting and threw his school bag on a folding bed.
| Author | NCERT |
| Language | English |
| No. of Pages | 10 |
| PDF Size | 0.3 MB |
| Category | English |
| Source/Credits | ncert.nic.in |
NCERT Solutions Class 12 English Chapter 2 Lost Spring
Q1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Ans. Saheb is looking for gold in the garbage dumps. He is in the neighbourhood of the author. 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 fields and homes. So they left the country.
Q2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Ans. One explanation offered by the author is that it is a tradition to stay barefoot. It is not lack of money. He wonders if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty. He also remembers the story of a poor body who prayed to the goddess for a pair of shoes.
Q3. 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.
Q4. 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 the hungry members. Survival is of primary concern.
Q5. 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?
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. The writer feels embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant. Promises like hers abound in every comer of their bleak world.
Q6. 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, middlemen, policemen, the keepers of the law, bureaucrats, and politicians. Together they impose a heavy burden on the child.
NCERT Class 12 English Textbook Chapter 2 Long Spring With Answer PDF Free Download