Hello Friends
Today we will discuss the first part of Second chapter of your text book "Flamingo"
Lost Spring by Anees Jung
(Part II - ‘I want to drive a car’)
About the Author :
Anees Jung (1964) was born in Rourkela and received her education in Hyderabad & in the USA. Her parents were both writers. Anees Jung began her career as a writer in India. She has been an editor and columnist for major newspapers in India and abroad, and has authored several books.This chapter is an excerpt from her book titled Lost Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood
Theme of “Lost Spring” By Anees Jung
The author has depicted the parable of grinding poverty and traditions through the depiction of the lives of people, especially children in two poverty stricken areas Seemapuri and Firozabad. The main concern of the author is highlight the exploitation of children and their childhood. Their dreams loom like a fantasy in their eyes but they are bound at the hands of poverty or tradition. Two such stories have been discussed here.
The story leads us to another poverty stricken area Ferozabad, the glass blowing industry of India and known for its Bangle Making. Here also the author has made a poignant depiction of the poverty stricken bangle making families living in hovels with crumbling walls & woobly doors, thatched with grass, where animals and human coexist in a primitive state. The lanes are chocked with garbage. The people living there consider Bangle Making as their destiny as they are born in this cast. They do not and cannot leave this god given lineage.
Almost 20000 children are working in this bangle making industry working hard in dingy huts, without air or light. They are working like machines, soldering and polishing the glass bangles. The young girl Savita is one such child, working with her mother at a furnace soldering the pieces of glass. She doesn't even know the sanctity of the bangles. The would be part of his life after marriage is depicted in form of her mother, who says "Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahi khaya". They are not getting enough money from this hard labour to get a full meal in their whole life.
They are unaware of child labour as being crime and presents their inability to form a cooperative. They tell the author that they are dragged to jail for something illegal, they have no leader and no one for their help. They are trapped in the vicious circle of the Sahukaars, middleman, policeman, politicians, bureaucrats and the keepers of law.
But the strong determination and will power of Mukesh to dare of thinking out of the box, to drive a car becoming a motor mechanic seems satisfying to the author. Thus the author tries before us the grinding poverty and dogma of the caste is ringing the dark hovels of Ferozabad.
Let's revise through Mindmap :
Download the Original Text :
 |
| Download Text : Lost spring |
Glossary :
|
Word |
Meaning |
|
Loom |
Vague
or exaggerated appearance |
|
Mirage |
an
optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions, especially the appearance
of a sheet of water in a desert or on a hot road which is caused by the
refraction of light from the sky by heated air. |
|
Amidst |
In
mid of |
|
Slog |
Work
hard |
|
Hovel |
small
squalid or simply constructed dwelling |
|
Crumbling |
Breaking
or falling apart as being in due process of deterioration |
|
Woobly |
Tremble,
quaver |
|
Primeval |
Primitive
/ Ancient |
|
Thatched
|
a
roof made of dried grass (straw) or a similar material |
|
Lineage |
The
series of families |
|
Mound |
in
large amount |
|
Unkempt |
Not
well cared for |
|
Shanty |
Situated
at the edge of big city |
|
Drained |
Dried
with disappearance of |
|
Lament |
Expression
of sadness for the dead |
|
mind-numbing
toil |
Bad
and boring lengthy work. |
|
Hauled
up |
Stopped or halt |
|
Stigma |
Behaviour
which is associated with |
|
Vicious |
Cruel |
View Video & Power Point Presentation "Lost Spring" Part - II for more clarification :
 |
| Download PPT : Lost Spring Part II |
Questions from previous years' CBSE papers "Lost Spring" Part - II :
Q.
1 Why could the bangle-makers not organize themselves into a co-operative ?
CBSE AI 2013 (2 M)
- no leader
- engaging children in industry is
illegal
-poverty stricken family/ burdened by stigma of caste and
-vicious
circle created by sahukars, middlemen, policemen, keepers of law, bureaucrats
(any two)
Q.
2 ‘‘It is his karam, his destiny.’’ What is Mukesh’s family’s attitude towards
their situation? CBSE AI 2015
– views bangle
making as destiny
– mute
acceptance
– cannot dream
of any other option due to stigma of caste
– no
initiative left
Q.
3 ‘‘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?
CBSE AI 2018 (3 M)
-poverty stricken family/ burdened by stigma of caste and
-vicious
circle created by sahukars, middlemen, policemen, keepers of law, bureaucrats
(any two)
Q.
4 What are the hazards of working in a glass bangle industry? CBSE AI 2019
1-1-2 (6M)
- glass
furnaces with high temperature, dingy cells
– without
proper ventilation, slog daylight hours
– losing the
brightness of their eyes and go blind with the dust from glass polishing, mind
numbing toil, kills initiative and ability to dream
Q.
5 What are the two most admirable qualities in Mukesh ? CBSE AI 2019 1-2-2 (3
M)
Mukesh can
challenge his destiny;
He thinks big;
Dares to
become a motor mechanic (any two)
Q.
6 What is Mukesh’s dream ? How can he achieve it ? CBSE AI 2019 1-3-3 (3M)
- wanted to be
a motor mechanic/ wanted to drive a car
- plans to
join a far off garage/ willing to walk to the garage to learn driving/ will
achieve it through optimism , determination, hard work and will power
(any one from
each)
Q.
7 Mukesh dares to dream of a different life. What circumstances forced Mukesh
not to pursue his family business of bangle making ? CBSE AI 2019 1-5-1 (6M)
- bangle
makers working at furnaces in high temperature in dingy cells without air and
light
- often losing
eyesight due to polishing of glass bangles
- terrible
living conditions
- facing
health hazards as they lose their eyesight before their adulthood.
- living in
perpetual state of extreme poverty
- vicious
cycle created by sahukars, middle men, politicians, bureaucrats and policemen
forcing them back into poverty
- mind-numbing
toil has killed all initiative and dreams
- inability to
form co-operatives
- no leader
(any three)
Q.
8 Mukesh finds himself caught between two distinct worlds. How do they affect
his life and that of the other bangle makers ? CBSE AI 2019 1-5-3 (6M)
The two distinct worlds of bangle
makers and exploiters
Bangle makers
- affected by
stigma of caste and poverty
- involved in
mind numbing work robbing them of initiative
- belief in
destiny not allowing them to change their condition
- hence living
in abject poverty and misery
Exploiters
- not allowing
them to form co-operatives
- not allowing
leaders to emerge or to take an initiative
Mukesh is different – dares to dream
of becoming a motor mechanic and drive a car.
*** Good Luck ***
No comments:
Post a Comment