VBQs Class 12 English Lost Spring

Please refer to VBQs for Class 12 English Lost Spring. All value based questions for English Class 12 have been provided with solutions. We have provided below important values questions and answers. Students should learn these solved VBQs for Class 12 English as these will help them to gain more marks and help improve understanding of important topics.

Lost Spring VBQs Class 12 English with Answers

Question. What are the reasons for the migration of people from villages to city in the lesson?
(a) Sweeping of houses and fields by storms
(b) No money
(c) Education and unemployment
(d) All of these 

Question. ‘Can a god-given lineage ever be broken?’ These words were spoken by
(a) Mukesh
(b) Mukesh’s grandfather
(c) Mukesh’s grandmother
(d) All of these   

Question. What is the metaphorical symbol of Seemapuri in the lesson?
(a) Poverty
(b) Exploitation
(c) Enjoyment
(d) A little hell

Question. The families of the bangle-makers live in
(a) comfortable environment
(b) big houses
(c) very small houses
(d) factories

Question. ‘She has not enjoyed a full meal in her entire lifetime’. Who is ‘she’ in the given sentence?
(a) the elderly woman sitting close to Savita
(b) Mukesh’s sister-in-law
(c) Mukesh’s mother
(d) Mukesh’s grandmother 

Question. How is Mukesh’s attitude different from that of his family?
(a) Being daring, firm and clear
(b) Being a fighter
(c) Being a coward
(d) Not clear

Question. Mukesh’s house is covered with
(a) stones
(b) bricks
(c) tiles
(d) thatch 

Question. Savita, a young girl is seen by the author,
(a) stitching clothes
(b) washing clothes
(c) soldering pieces of glass
(d) embroidering a sheet

Question. What excuse do the rag pickers give for not wearing chappals?
(a) Mothers don’t give
(b) No interest
(c) A tradition
(d) All these

Question. What did Mukesh want to become, on growing up?
(a) a motor mechanic
(b) a shopkeeper
(c) a bangle maker
(d) a carpenter 

Question. What change did Anees Jung see in Saheb when she saw him standing by the gate of the neighbourhood club?
(a) As if lost his freedom
(b) Lost ownership
(c) Lost joy
(d) All of these

Question. This story is an excerpt from which book of the author?
(a) Lost Spring – Stories of Stolen Childhood
(b) Unveiling India
(c) Breaking the Silence
(d) The Song of India

Question. Who are responsible for the poor condition of bangle makers in Firozabad?
(a) Parents
(b) Society
(c) Bureaucrats
(d) All of these

Question. The sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of the law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Together these people
(a) worked for the benefit or bangle makers
(b) imposed the baggage on the child that he cannot put down
(c) worked for the upliftment of women
(d) abolished child labour

Question. The author advised Saheb to go to
(a) school
(b) college
(c) club
(d) playground

Question. Mukesh’s father is a
(a) car-driver
(b) bangle-maker
(c) cracker-maker
(d) mechanic

Question. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall?
(a) Yes
(b) Yes, he earns money
(c) No earning
(d) No, earning but no freedom

Question. Why did Saheb leave his house?
(a) Because the storm swept away his house and field
(b) To enjoy a life of leisure
(c) To find friends
(d) To go to college

Question. Who will be hauled up by the police if they try to get organized?
(a) the old citizens
(b) the owners of the factories
(c) the group of young men
(d) Mukesh’s family

Question. The city of Firozabad is famous for what?
(a) For casteism
(b) For ragpickers
(c) For poverty
(d) For bangles

Question. Saheb’s full name was
(a) Mughal-e-Azam
(b) Saheb-e-Alam
(c) Shahenshah-e-Alam
(d) Shah Jahan

Question. For the rag pickers, food is more important than
(a) clothes
(b) shoes
(c) identity
(d) shelter

Question. He is content to dream of cars. Who is ‘he’ being talked about?
(a) Mukesh
(b) Saheb
(c) Sahukar
(d) Politician 

Question. Why did Saheb and his family move to Delhi?
(a) because storms had swept away their fields and homes
(b) their village was flooded
(c) there were landslides
(d) there was a deadly epidemic in the village

Question. Garbage to the rag pickers is
(a) money
(b) daily bread, a roof over their heads
(c) gold
(d) silver

Question. Name the birthplace of the author.
(a) U.S.A
(b) California
(c) Koch
(d) Rourkela

Question. The author visited the town and temple of Udipi after
(a) ten years
(b) five years
(c) thirty years
(d) fifteen years 

Question. Who was Saheb?
(a) A shopkeeper
(b) A servant
(c) A ragpicker
(d) All

Question. The man from Udipi was the son of a/an
(a) doctor
(b) teacher
(c) priest
(d) engineer 

Question. Saheb hailed from which place?
(a) Delhi
(b) Seemapuri
(c) Greenfields of Dhaka
(d) None

Question. What is the meaning of Saheb -e- Alam?
(a) Owner
(b) Rich man
(c) Poor man
(d) Lord of the Universe

Question. Saheb did not like to work in the tea-stall because
(a) he was getting only Z 800
(b) he hated the steel canister
(c) he was no longer his own master
(d) he had to carry heavy bags now 

Question. According to the author what was garbage for the parents?
(a) Means of entertainment
(b) Means of joy
(c) Means of sorrow
(d) Means of survival

Question. Why is the author calling garbage as ‘gold’ in the story?
(a) Because of jewels in it
(b) Because of gems in it
(c) Because of gold in it
(d) Because of its encashment value

Question. What is the function of glass blowing industry?
(a) To make windows
(b) To make doors
(c) To mould glass
(d) To mould glass and make colorful bangles

Question. Saheb’s profession was that of a
(a) cook
(b) rag-picker
(c) bangle seller
(d) driver

Question. What is the central theme of the story Lost Spring?
(a) Pitiable Poor children and their lost childhood
(b) Garbage
(c) Saheb and Mukesh
(d) Spring Season

Question. Where is Seemapuri?
(a) In Noida
(b) South Delhi
(c) North Delhi
(d) East Delhi

Question. What are the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?
(a) Poor health
(b) Impaired vision
(c) Miserable life
(d) All of these

Question. The squatters in Seemapuri arrived as refugees from Bangladesh in
(a) 1965
(b) 1971
(c) 1982
(d) 1986 

EXTRACT BASED QUESTIONS :

A. Read the extract given below and choose the correct option.
My acquaintance with the barefoot rag pickers leads me to Seemapuri, a place on periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them. Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. In structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 rag pickers.

Question. As per the author, residents of Seemapuri lack
(a) occupation
(b) humanity
(c) proper sanitation
(d) values

Question. Who was the acquaintance talked about in the above lines?
(a) Mukesh
(b) Saheb
(c) The narrators gardener’s son
(d) Children of Seemapuri

Question. Why is Seemapuri miles away from Delhi?
(a) It is a home to illegal immigrants.
(b) It is a home to poverty stricken families.
(c) It lacks even the basic facilities.
(d) It is in the outskirts of Delhi.

Question. Seemapuri is a home of ………… .
(a) poor people of India
(b) rag pickers
(c) refugees from Bangladesh
(d) All of these

B. Read the extract given below and choose the correct option.
“Go to school”, I say glibly, realising immediately how hollow the advice must sound.
“There is no school in my neighbourhood. When they build one, I will go.”
“If I start a 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.

Question. ……… in the extract means ’thrive’.
(a) Embarrassed
(b) Broadly
(c) Glibly
(d) Abound

Question. How is the name of the poor rag-picker, Saheb-e-Alam ironic in nature?
(a) It means the lord of cleanliness
(b) It means the lord of the universe
(c) It means rich end the prosperous
(d) It means king of the kingdom

Question. How does Saheb respond to the narrator’s advice?
(a) That he enjoys doing his work
(b) That his parents won’t allow
(c) That he would go when one is there
(d) That they all are beyond his reach

Question. Why did the narrator feel embarrassed?
(a) For making a false promise
(b) For hurting the emotions of Saheb
(c) For mocking the poverty of Saheb 
(d) For making Saheb run to her

C. Read the extract given below and choose the correct option.
“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. Travelling across the country I have seen children walking barefoot, in cities, on village roads. It is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot, is one explanation. I wonder if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty.

Question. What does the boy do when the narrator comments on unmatching shoes?
(a) He changes his shoes
(b) He hides behind the other boys
(c) He shuffles his shoes without responding
(d) He rebukes the narrator and mocks her dress

Question. What is an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty?
(a) Walking barefoot
(b) To term ‘walking barefoot’ a tradition
(c) To reuse the ‘worn out shoes’
(d) Not to bring chappals out of shelf

Question. Why was the one, being asked, not wearing chappals?
(a) Because he had none
(b) Because one of them was broken
(C) Because his father had asked him not to ‘ wear
(d) Because his mother did not bring them down from the self

Question. The word ’perpetual’ used in the extract means……….
(a) constant
(b) ceasing
(c) transient
(d) ephemeral

D. Read the extract given below and choose the correct option.
In his hand is a steel canister. “I now work in a tea stall down the road,” he says, pointing in the distance. “I am paid 800 rupees and all my meals.” Does he like the job? I ask. His face, I see, 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. Saheb is no longer his own master!

Question. What is Saheb holding while on his way?
(a) Rag picking bag
(b) A pair of different colour shoes
(c) A gold coin
(d) A steel canister

Question. Why does the steel canister seem heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly?
(a) The bag was his
(b) The canister belongs to the shop owner
(c) Saheb is no longer his own master
(d) All of the above

Question. …………..means ’canister’ used in the extract.
(a) Vessel
(b) Humdinger
(c) Implication
(d) Fuss

Question. How has the new job impacted Saheb?
(a) He earns more money and better food now
(b) He has lost his carefree look now
(c) He saves the time to go to school now
(d) He has no time to play now.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

Question. What is Mukesh’s dream? Do you think he will be able to fulfil his dream? Why? Why not?
Or
Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?
Or
Is it possible for Mukesh to realise his dream? Justify your answer.
Or
What was Mukesh’s dream? In your opinion, did he achieve his dream?
Or
Why is Mukesh’s dream of learning to drive a car a mirage?
Ans. Mukesh belongs to the bangle-makers of Firozabad where each family is engaged in bangle-making. On asking, Mukesh says, “I will be a motor-mechanic. I will learn to drive a car.” Thus, he wants to be his own master. However, because he is caught up in the vicious cycle created by others, he will not be able to realise his dream and will remain a bangle-maker.

Question. What does the title ‘Lost Spring’ convey?
Ans. Spring is associated with childhood. Just as spring is the season when flowers bloom similarly, childhood is the period when an individual blooms and grows.
Anees Jung here presents the horrific truth about the life of children in India who are victims of child labour and are not allowed to grow and bloom freely. Their childhood or springtime is lost.

Question. What kind of gold did the people of Seemapuri look for in the garbage?
Ans. The people of Seemapuri look for items in the garbage which can be traded for money, meaning ‘gold’, as it helps them earn their daily bread and have a roof over their heads. For a child, garbage may mean something wrapped in wonder, whereas for the elders it is a means of survival.

Question. What did garbage mean to the children of Seemapuri and to their parents?
Or
In what sense is garbage gold to the ragpickers?
Or
‘Garbage to them is gold.’ Why does the author say so about the ragpickers?
Ans. Garbage means ‘gold’ to the poor ragpickers because some of it can be sold for cash, thus becoming a means of survival for the Children of Seemapuri and for their parents. It is providing them their daily bread and a roof over their heads.

Question. How are Saheb and Mukesh different from each other?
Ans. Saheb and Mukesh are different from each other because, while Saheb is content with just managing to survive, Mukesh dares to dream of working in a better profession as a motor mechanic.
Saheb is satisfied even when working in the tea stall, as it is still better than rag picking, Mukesh wants to change his hereditary profession. Thus, Mukesh is ambitious while Saheb is not.

Question. Why could the bangle-makers not organise themselves into a cooperative?
Ans. The bangle-makers could not organise themselves into a cooperative because they were trapped in the vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians, who exploited them. If they tried to organise themselves, they would be beaten by the police and put in jail.

Question. Why had the ragpickers come to live in Seemapuri?
Or
To which country did Saheb’s parents originally belong? Why did they come to India?
Or
Why did Saheb’s parents leave Dhaka and migrate to India?
Ans. Once Saheb’s parents lived in Bangladesh, amidst the green fields of Dhaka. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes. That’s why they migrated to Delhi and settled down in Seemapuri looking for an” occupation.

Question. Describe Mukesh as an ambitious person.
Ans. Mukesh is an ambitious person because he wants to become a motor-mechanic by breaking free from the vicious web of generations of families being involved in bangle-making. He has the courage to dream of becoming a motor mechanic, thus breaking free from destiny.

Question. Which industry was a boon and also bane for the people of Firozabad? How?
Ans. The bangle-making industry was a boon and also bane for the people of Firozabad. It was a boon because it gave them a livelihood so that they could survive.
However it was a bane because they were forced to work in their industry for generations, as their children had to also work in bangle-making to make ends meet, as the earnings were meagre. Additionally, their eyes and general health were ruined due to continuously working close to the furnaces used for making bangles.

Question. In spite of despair and disease pervading lives of the slum children, they are not devoid of hope. How far do you agree?
Ans. In spite of growing up amidst despair and disease, children who live in slums have the desire to achieve something big in life. This shows that they are not devoid of hope. Saheb, a ragpicker, is eager to go to a school and learn.
Mukesh, who works in dark, dingy cells making bangles, dreams of becoming a motor mechanic against his family tradition.

Question. Describe the irony in Saheb’s name.
Ans. Saheb is a poor ragpicker who lives in Seemapuri. His full name is ’Saheb-e-Alam’, which means ’Lord of the Universe’.
The irony lies in the meaning of his name itself. According to his name, he should be a king and enjoy all the luxuries of life. But unfortunately, he is a barefoot ragpicker, who lacks even the basic necessities.

Question. “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?
Ans. The two worlds that the author refers to are those represented by Mukesh’s parents and Mukesh respectively. Mukesh has the courage to dream big in spite of all adversity, whereas the other banglemakers of Firozabad have resigned to their fate, and have suppressed all their hopes and desires. Mukesh refuses to follow the ‘God-given lineage’ of bangle-making and wants to be a motor mechanic when he grows up.

Question. ‘It is his karam, his destiny’. Explain this statement of Mukesh’s grandmother.
Ans. Mukesh’s grandmother believes in destiny. She believes that they cannot escape from the God-given lineage. It is their destiny to suffer like this. They were born in the caste of bangle-makers and will always be one, for they do not have any control over their destiny.

Question. Whom does Anees lung blame for the sorry plight of the bangIe-makers?
Ans. Anees Jung blames the vicious circle of the sahukars (moneylenders), middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians for the sorry plight of the bangle-makers. They don’t allow the banglemakers to organise themselves into a cooperative.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS :

Question. ‘Saheb is no longer his own master.’ Comment.
Ans. Grinding poverty and the necessity for a life of subsistence have involved Saheb in ragpicking. Rummaging through garbage does not provide him with a regular income but gives him freedom. He has all the liberty in the world to roam with his friends in the streets without any worries to bother him.
Also, he can hunt for ’gold’ in the garbage dumps. It provides him a hope and a thrill every day in the form of a rupee or a ten-rupee note. So, he looks forward to ragpicking.
The job he takes up at a tea stall is one of his attempts to become his own master. Ironically, this further enslaves him. He is now not free to roam aimlessly in the streets. His new occupation binds him to serve somebody else.

Question. “Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi, yet miles away from it, metaphorically.” Explain.
Ans. Seemapuri is a place on the outskirts of Delhi where 10000 ragpickers and their families live. The people living there are squatters who migrated from Bangladesh in 1971. The ragpickers live in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water.
No one can imagine that such a place exists on the periphery of Delhi, the capital of India. It stands in stark contrast to the metropolitan city of Delhi. The main city of Delhi, and Seemapuri at its periphery, provide an exemplary case of contradiction.
In Delhi there is luxury and affluence, there are a host of opportunities and dreams, and in Seemapuri there is squalor, hopelessness and despair. There is no chance for the inhabitants of this area to strive towards the attainment of the prospects offered by Delhi.
Thus, although Seemapuri is located at the periphery of Delhi, in the real sense, Delhi is many miles away from it.

Question. “It is his karam, his destiny” that made Mukesh’s grandfather go blind. How did Mukesh disprove this belief by choosing a new vocation and making his own destiny?
Ans. Mukesh disproved this belief that bangle-making was his destiny by choosing a new vocation and making his own destiny. He decided to become a motor-mechanic and learn to drive a car. As he had seen his parents and others suffer because of the vicious circle of poverty and exploitation by the sahukars, middlemen, politicians and the police, he did not want to remain in the bangle-making profession. He had the courage to break free from the family lineage of bangle-making and was ready to walk a long distance to reach a motor garage to learn the vocation of car mechanic. He had even thought that he would request the garage owner to hire him initially as a helper and learn the trade. Finally, he also wanted to learn to drive a car. Thus, Mukesh was ready to make his destiny by choosing a new vocation and break the age old belief.

Question. Give a brief account of life and activities of the people like Saheb-e-Alam settled in Seemapuri.
Ans. Seemapuri is a slum area located on the periphery of Delhi. Most of the residents of Seemapuri consist of people who are refugees from Bangladesh. Saheb’s family is among them. The area consists of mud structures, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. They do not have facilities of sewage, drainage or running water. About 10000 ragpickers live here.
Their only means of livelihood is finding saleable items from rubbish. Thus, for them, the rubbish is as valuable as gold, for their survival depends on what they find in the rubbish. These rag pickers have lived here for more than thirty years without any identity. They do not have permits but have ration cards, thanks to the selfish whims and wishes of the politicians. With these, they can get their name on the voter’s lists and also buy grains for themselves at a subsidised rate.

Question. 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.
Ans. The bangle-makers of Firozabad are exposed to multiple health hazards while working. Many of them are children who work near hot furnaces during daylight, often losing their eyesight before adulthood. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to even think of taking up another profession. They are not able to organise themselves into a cooperative due to bullying and exploitation by the politicians, authorities, moneylenders and middlemen.
They live in stinking lanes choked with garbage, having homes with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, overcrowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in a primeval state. They have not even enjoyed even one full meal in their entire lifetime because of their poverty.