ENGLISH TOPIC SHEET DATE OF COMPLETION

CLASS:XII AND SIGNATURE

I) Lost Spring Extra Questions and Answers Extract Based

Read the following paragraph and answer the questions that follow: (Para-1)

“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 comer 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 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.

Questions :
(a) Why was the narrator embarrassed ?
(b) What was the meaning of the name of Saheb ?
(c) Why with his friends, Saheb roams the streets ?
(d) Name the chapter and the writer.
Answers :
(a) The narrator was embarrassed because she couldn’t fulfil her promise to start
a school.
(b) Saheb’s name meant ‘Lord of the universe’.
(c)With his friends, Saheb roams the streets for ragpicking to scrounge for silver
coin or some wonderful unexpected things.
(d)‘Lost Spring’ is the chapter written by ‘Anees Jung

(Para-2)

Food is more important for survival than an identity. “If at the end of the day we
can feed our families and go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather
live here than in the fields that gave us no grain,” say a group of women in
tattered saris when I ask them why they left their beautiful land of green fields
and rivers. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit
homes.
Questions :
(a) ‘Food is more important for survival than an identity’. Explain.
(b) Who said, “If at the end gave us no grain”?
(c) What did the writer ask to a group of women ?
(d) What are ‘transit homes’ ?
Answers:
(a) Food is more important for survival than an identity as for living a life, a
person needs food continuously. Identity or any other thing is secondary, more
important is food.
(b) A group of women in tattered saris said the aforesaid statement when the
narrator asked them about their migration from Dhaka.
(c) The writer asked to group of women why they left their beautiful land of
green fields and rivers.
(d) ‘Transit Homes’ are the homes which are not permanently constructed or
settled, they are movable and mostly made with light materials as cloth, bamboos
or dried grass.

(Para-3)

This morning, Saheb is on his way to the milk booth. 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 owns the tea shop. Saheb is no longer his own
master!

Questions :
(a) What is paid to Saheb at tea stall ?
(b) Does Saheb like the job ?
(c) Why steel canister seemed heavier than the plastic ’ bag?
(d) ‘Saheb is no longer his own master !’ Explain.
Answers :
(a) At tea stall, Saheb is paid 800 rupees and ail his meals.
(b) No, Saheb does not like the job. He is a servant now.
(c) Steel canister seemed heavier than the plastic bag because the bag was his
whereas the steel canister belonged to the man owned the tea shop.
Saheb is no longer his own master means that now Saheb is working as a servant
at tea stall, he has to obey the orders given by the owner of the tea shop. He is a
slave now.
(Para-4)
Mukesh’s family is among them. None of them know that it is illigal for children
like him to work in the glass furpaces 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
loosing the brightness of their eyes.

Questions :
(a) What is illegal for children according to the writer ?
(b) Where do those children work ?
(c) What do you understand by ‘they slog their daylight hours’ ?
What is the big loss they face working there?
Answers:
(a) According to the writer, it is illegal for children to work in the glass furnaces
with high temperature, in dingy cells without air and light.
(b) Those children work in the glass furnaces with high temperature, in dingy
cells without air and light.
(c) ‘They slog their daylight hours’ means that the children, during the day time,
work very hard sitting there and waste their precious time which should be
occupied in studies and various creative activities.
(d) The big loss they (Children) face working there is the losing of brightness of

their eyes.

(Para-5)

“It is his Karam, his destiny”, says Mukesh’s grand-mother, who has watched
her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles.
“Can a god- given lineage over be broken ?” She implies born in the caste of
bangle makers, they have seen nothing but bangles in the house, in the yard, in
every other house, in every other yard, every street in Firozabad.

Questions :
(a) “It is his Karam, his destiny.” Explain.
(b) What does it mean : “Can a god-given lineage ever be broken ?”
(c) What happened to Mukesh’s grandfather ?
(d) What is the scene of Firozabad as per the above given description ? Answers
:
(a) “It is his Karam, his destiny” means that to work in bangle industries is their
fate since birth and they have accepted it as natural.
(b) “Can a god-given lineage ever be broken” means that the grandmother in the
form of the question declares that the descendency which they have got from their
ancestors can never be changed.
(c) Mukesh’s grandfather had gone blind with the dust from polishing the glass
of bangles.
(d) In Firozabad in every house, in every yard, in every other house, in every
other yard, in even every street—only the bangles and glass prpducts are found
and s6en everywhere.

(Para-6)

“Why not organise yourselves into a cooperative ?” I ask a group of young men
who have fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen who trapped their fathers
and forefathers. “Even if we get organised, we are the ones who will be hauled
up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal.” They
say. There is no leader among them, no one who could help them see things
differently.

Questions :
(a) What do you understand by a cooperative ?
(b) What is the vicious circle of middlemen ?
(c) Why do they not get organised ?
(d) Why are they unable to see things differently ?
Answers :
(a) A cooperative is an independent association of persons united willingly to
work combindly for the same goal.
(b) The vicious circle of middlemen is a never ending domain of middlemen like
sahukars, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.
The sphere made by them can never be broken nor be crossed.
(c) They do not get organised bemuse if they got organised, they were the ones
who would be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing
something illegal.
(d) They are unable to see things differently because there is no leader among
them, who could help them see things differently for their benefit.

(Para-7)
To do anything else would mean to dare. And daring is not part of his growing
up. When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh I am cheered. “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, “Do you also dream of flying a
plane ?” He is suddenly silent. “No,” he says staring at the ground.
Questions:
(a) Why word ‘dare’ is used here for bangle makers ?
(b) Why did the writer cheer ?
(c) What does Mukesh want to be ?
(d) Why did the writer ask, “Do you also dream of flying a plane ?”
Answers:
(a) Bangle makers are very fearful from the middlemen. To do or think anything
else except bangle making is a sign of revolt which was found only in Mukesh.
(b) The waiter cheered finding a flash of daring in Mukesh when he says, “I want
to be a motor mechanic”.
(c) Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic for which he is ready to take any pain
as the garage is a long way from his home.
(d) The writer asked, “Do you also dream of flying plane” because she wanted to
check Mukesh’s dedication and real desire,

II) Lost Spring Extra Questions and Answers Short Answer Type

Question 1.
Who is Saheb? How can you say his name is ironic?
Answer:
Saheb lives at Seemapuri, an area situated at the periphery of Delhi. He is a poor
ragpicker. His full name is Saheb-e-Alam. It means lord of the universe. But
ironically Saheb is so poor that he can’t even afford buying footwear.

Question 2.
Whom did the author meet every day? Where had that person come from and
why?
Answer:
Every day the author met a ragpicker young boy named Saheb, He had come
from Bangladesh. There were many storms. These storms swept away their
fields and homes. Tliat is why he, along with his parents, left his country

Question 3.
What did Saheb find sometimes in the garbage? What did he do then?
Answer:
Sometimes, Saheb found a rupee or a ten rupee note. When he found a silver coin
in a heap of garbage, he ’ didn’t stop scrounging. He always hoped to find more.
He had entirely different meaning of garbage.

Question 4.
What does the reference to chappals in “Lost Spring” tell us about the economic
condition of the rag pickers?
Answer:
The rag pickers of the Seemapuri area , situated at the periphery of Delhi, are
living a in very miser-able condition. They lack all the basic facilities of life.
They are so poor that they can’t even afford to buy chappals. But to conceal their
poverty they say that it is their tradition to walk bare-footed.

Question 5.
What promise did the author make with Saheb? Why had she to feel small?
Answer:
Saheb used to roam here and there. The author ad-vised him to go to school. But
he said that there was no school in the neighbourhood. At this the author said
that she would start school. But she had made this promise half-jokingly and was
not at all serious about it. After a few days Saheb came to her to ask if her school
was ready. She had to feel small. She never wanted to start a school. She said
that promises like hers are frequently made but hardly ever kept.

Question 6.
How does the author describe the area of Seemapuri?
Answer:
Seemapuri is situated at the periphery of Delhi. It is a sort of wilderness. Most of
the people living here are Bangladeshi immigrants. They live in structures made
of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running
water. They are about 1000 in number and most of these are rag pickers.

Question 7.
What was the full name of Saheb? What did it mean? If he came to know the
meaning of his meaning what would be his reaction?
Answer:
The full name of Saheb was Saheb-e-Alam. It meant lord of the universe. It
would be difficult to believe about the meaning of his name. He was not a lord at
all. He was a poor ragpicker.

Question 8.
Why did the children not wear any footwear? What explanation did they give for
it?
Answer:
The children were too poor to afford any footwear. They had become used to
roam bare-footed. Different boys gave different reasons for not wearing foot
wear. Some admitted that they couldn’t afford them while the others said that it
was their tradition to move bare-footed.

Question 9.
Where have the people living in Seemapuri come from? Why don’t they go
back?
Answer:
The people living in Seemapuri have come from Bangladesh. It is a place of
green fields. Their land is very beautiful. But it is frequently swept by the
storms. They had to starve there. Therefore they immigrated to India and do not
want to go back.

Question 10.
What was Saheb wearing one morning? Where did he get it?
Answer:
Saheb was wearing tennis shoes one morning. They were the discarded shoes of a
rich boy. There was a hole in one of the shoes and thus that rich boy discarded it.
But for Saheb who always walked bare footed even these shoes were like a dream
come true.

Question 11.
Where did the author see Saheb one morning? What was he doing there?
Answer:
One winter morning, the author saw Saheb standing by the fence gate of the
neighbourhood club, watching young men playing tennis. He would go inside
when no one is around. The gatekeeper allowed him to use the swing. But the
game which he was watching so intently was beyond his reach.

Question 12.
The author says that Seemapuri is a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles
away from it, metaphorically. What is the meaning of her statement?
Answer:
Seemapuri is situated on the periphery of Delhi. But it is devoid of all basic
amenities. Unlike Delhi it is not developed at all. Though it is quite near Delhi, it
does not have any effect of the city. Therefore the author is quite right in saying
that Seemapuri is a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it.

Question 13.
What does garbage mean for the elders and the children in Seemapuri?
Answer:
Garbage to the elders is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even
if it is a leaking roof. But for children, it is something wrapped in wonder.

Question 14.
Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? Why/ Why not?
Answer:
Saheb did not feel happy working at the tea stall. Now he is not his own master.
He has lost his previous carefree look. He is no longer his own master. He now
belongs to the owner of the tea stall.

Question 15.
Who is Mukesh? What does he want to become and why?
Answer:
Mukesh is a young boy who belongs to a family of the bangle makers in
Firozabad. He doesn’t want to adopt his family profession. He wants to become
a car mechanic. He has seen that bangle making has given his family nothing but
perpetual poverty. Therefore he wants to break away from his family tradition of
bangle making.

Question 16.
What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Answer:
The city of Firozabad is a hub of bangle making. Every other family is engaged
in making bangles. Bangles are supplied to every comer of the country.

Question 17.
Under what kind of environment are the children forced to work in the glass
blowing industry?
Answer:
There are about 20000 children working in the glass blowing industry. They are
forced to work for long hours in very hot temperatures. They have to work sin
dingy cells without air and light. They often lose the brightness of their eyes.

Question 18.
What kind of locality does Mukesh live in?
Answer:
Mukesh lives in a very dirty locality. The lanes there are stinking and choked
with garbage. The homes in the locality are no better than hovels. Their walls are
crumbling, doors are wobbly and there are no windows. There humans and
animals live together.

Question 19.
What does the author say about Mukesh’s house?
Answer:
The author says that Mukesh’s house was like a half- built shack. In part of,
thatched with dead grass, was a firewood stove. The author saw Mukesh’s sister-
in-law cooking food for the whole family.

Question 20.
What is the opinion of Mukesh’s grandmother about her husband?
Answer:
Mukesh’s grandmother says that it is his (her husband’s) destiny that he was
born in the familyof bangle makers. She calls it a god-given lineage which can’t
be broken. This shows that she has accepted her fate silently.

Question 21.
What does the writer say about Savita?
Answer:
Savita was a young girl. When the writer saw her she was wearing pink dress. She
was sitting with an elderly woman. She was soldering pieces of glass. But she
didn’t know the sanctity of bangles she was weilding.

Question 22.
Why can’t the bangle makers organise themselves into a co-operative?
Answer:
The bangle makers can’t organise themselves into co-operative because they
have fallen into a vicious circle of middlemen who had trapped their fathers and
forefathers. If they get organised, they are beaten and dragged to jail for doing
something wrong.

Question 23.
What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he
come from?
Answer:
Saheb is looking for a coin or even a ten-rupee note from the garbage dump. He
lives in Seemapuri (Delhi). His parents came from Bangladesh in 1971.

Question 24.
What expectations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Answer:
Most of the rag pickers roam about bare-footed in the streets. These children are
so poor that they can’t afford to buy any footwear. But they told the author that it
was their tradition to move about bare footed.
Question 25.
Is it Saheb happy working at the tea stall? Explain.
Answer:
Saheb starts working at a tea stall. He is paid 800 rupees per month and he is
provided all his meals. Even then Saheb is not happy working at the tea stall. He
no longer remains his own master.

Question 26.
What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Answer:
The city of Firozabad is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry. In this city
almost every family is engaged in making bangles. These bangles are sent to
every part of India.

Question 27.
Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?
Answer:
Working in the glass bangle industry has both mental and physical hazards.
Mostly children are engaged in this industry. When they grow up, working in the
industry for years, they lose the ability to dream. There are many physical
hazards of working in this industry. The children have a very bad effect on their
eyes. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than light outside. That is why
they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.

Question 28.
How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Answer:
Mukesh doesn’t want to adopt his family’s profession of bangle making. This
profession has in no way helped them to live a comfortable life. Therefore he has
decided to become a car mechanic. He will go to a garage and learn.

Question 29.
What could be some of the reasons for the mi-gration of people from villages to
cities?
Answer:
The villagers migrate to the cities because of the economic reasons; They come
to cities to find better employment opportunities. In the given text Saheb’s
ancestors migrated to Delhi from Bangladesh. Their fields and homes were
frequently swept by storms. They had nothing to eat. That’s why they left their
beautiful land.
Question 30.
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?
Answer:
It is true that promises made to poor children are rarely kept. The narrator, who
is an affluent lady, promised Saheb that she would build a school. But she herself
admits that she had made this promise half-jokingly. Thus we can well imagine
that promises made to poor children are seldom or never kept.

Question 31.
What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in
poverty?
Answer:
There are many forces that conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry in
perpetual poverty. They are caught in the vicious circle of the sahukars, the
middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the
politicians. The bangle makers are trapped by these forces and they are not
allowed to organise themselves and form a co-operative.

Question 32.
How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?
Answer:
Mukesh has decided to become a car mechanic. He doesn’t want to adopt his
family’s profession. He wants to become a car mechanic. He says that he will go
to a garage and learn. The garage is quite far away from his home. But he is firm
in determination. “I will walk,” says he.

Question 33.
Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Answer:
Child labour is a slur on the fair face of our society. It is a very cruel practice.
Every child has the right to education. By educating children this evil practice
can be stopped. The government has already framed the law that every child
between the age of 6 —14 must attend school.
However this law is not strictly followed. Social awareness can play a very
effective role in this direction.

III) Lost Spring Extra Questions and Answers Long Answer Type

Question 1.
Where had the rag pickers come from? What value of life had been conveyed
through their condition?
Answer:
The rag pickers had come from Dhaka. There they had green fields. But there
were many storms that swept away their homes and fields. Therefore they had to
leave their country and come to Delhi. In Delhi they are living a very hard life.
They are living in Seemapuri, a place at the periphery of Delhi. There they are
living in the structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage,
drainage or running water.

The value of life conveyed through their condition is that every government
should take care of their people. They should be provided better employment
opportunities so that they are not
compelled to migrate to other country. In this lesson it been shown that the
indifferent attitude of the Bangladeshi government has compelled its citizens to
migrate to India.

Question 2.
What does the writer want Saheb to do? She has to feel embarrassed later. Why?
Answer:
Saheb is a rag picker. The writer sees him every morning. One day, the writer
advised him to go to school. Saheb told her that there was no school in the
neighbourhood. He further said that when one would be constructed, he would
definitely go. The writer asked him, half-jokingly, if she started a school would
he come.

Saheb replied in affirmative. After some days Saheb came running to her and
said to her, “Is your school ready?” the Writer had to feel embarrassed at this
because she had made a promise that was not meant.The writer wants to say
promises are made to the poor but they are never fulfilled. She shows this fact by
giving her own example.

Question 3.
Give a brief account of the life and activities of the people like Saheb-e-Alam
settled in Seemapuri.
Answer:
Seemapuri is located on the periphery of Delhi. It is a slum area. About 10,000
people live there. They all are ragpickers and have come from Bangladesh in
1971. They are living in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin,
devoid of sewage, drainage or running water. They have lived there for many
years without permits but with ration cards that get their names placed on voter
lists and enable them to buy grain. Food is more important for survival than an
identity.

Wherever they find food they pitch their tents that become their transit homes.
They are involved in ragpicking. It has acquired the proportions of a fine art.
Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it
is a leaking roof. For children, garbage is a thing wrapped in wonder. They often
scrounge it to find some coins. On the whole we can say that the people living
there are living a very hard life.

Question 4.
Where did the writer see Saheb one winter morning? What was he doing? What
was he wearing in his feet?
Answer:
The writer saw Saheb standing at the fenced gate of the neighbourhood club,
watching two young men dressed in white, playing tennis. Saheb liked tennis but
he knew that game was beyond his reach. However he used to go inside when no
one was around. The gatekeeper allowed him to use the swing.

The writer saw Saheb wearing tennis shoes . That looked strange over his
discoloured shirt and shorts. Someone had given them to Saheb. In fact they
were the discarded shoes of some rich boy. He had stopped them wearing
because of a hole in one of them. But Saheb who always walked barefoot, even
shoes with a hole was a dream come true.

Question 5.
“For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of
survival.” What kind of life do the ragpickers of Seemapuri lived?
Answer:
The ragpickers lived in the area of Seemapuri located at the periphery of Delhi.
Those who live here are the Bangladeshi immigrants. They came here way back
in 1971. 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. They have been living here without any
identity. They have their names in the voter lists and they have got their ration
cards. It enables to buy them grain.

Survival in Seemapuri is ragpicking. For the elders ragpicking is their profession

and means of livelihood. But for the children it is even more. For them it is a sort
of wonder. They would sometimes get a coin or even a ten-rupee note in the
garbage. They consider ragpicking an activity full of fun and excitement.
Question 6.
‘Garbage to them is gold; How do the rag pickers of Seemapuri survive?
Answer:
About 10,000 Bangladeshi immigrants live in the Seemapuri area of Delhi.
Seemapuri is located at the periphery of Delhi. It is a wilderness. The rag pickers
live in the structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage,
drainage or running water. They have been living here without any identity.
They have their names in the voter lists and they have got their ration cards.

It enables to buy them grain. Survival in Seemapuri is ragpicking. They do not

know no other profession but rag picking. They left their beautiful land of green
fields because there were frequent storms and as a result their houses and fields
would swept away due to them. As a result they had to starve. They pitched their
tents wherever they find food. They could earn their food only by ragpicking.
Question 7.
What do you know about the city of Firozabad? Answer:
Firozabad is the centre of,bangle making industry in India. All over in India the
bangles are supplied from this city. But there is a dark side of this city also.
Firozabad is a very dirty city. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in
making bangles. They have been engaged in this profession for many
generations. Even then these people always remain poor. The children are also
involved in making bangles. They are forced to work for long hours in very hot
temperatures. They have to work in dingy cells without air and light. They often
lose the brightness of their eyes.

The bangle makers are caught in the vicious circle of sahukars, the middlemen,
the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. They are
beaten and put to jails if they try to organise themselves. Also the bangle makers
are very poor. The young men are forced to adopt their elders’ profession. Years
of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.In this
extract the writer has depicted that picture of Firozabad which perhaps is not
known to many other parts of India.

Question 8.
How in your views can Mukesh realise his dream? Answer:
Mukesh is very different from the other members of his family. All the members
of his family have subsided themselves to the profession of bangle making and
considered it their destiny. But Mukesh wants to break these shackles of bangle
making. He knows that the profession of bangle making has given them nothing
but poverty. Therefore he wanted to become a car mechanic.
He hoped to alleviate the poverty of his family in this way. The garage is quite far
away from his home. But he is determined to fulfil his dream. He says that he will
walk all the way to the garage. This shows that Mukesh is quite a rebellious and
determined boy. He wants to break away with his family profession of bangle
making.

Question 9.
It is illegal to employ children in the bangle industry. Even then many children
are employed in this industry in Firozabad. How?
Answer:
It is illegal to employ children in any industry in India. It is a punishable offence.
But it is seen that this law is not followed or rarely followed. The children work
for very less wages. They are very submissive and agile. They give almost the
same or even more production as
compared to adult workers. Therefore most of the factory owners prefer to
employ children in their factories.

They are often able to deceive law. The reason is very clear. The vicious circle
follows. There are policemen, middlemen, keepers of law, bureaucrats and also
politicians. They all are mixed up to keep tender souls in the quagmire of hard
labour. They kill all the initiative and zeal of the children. They become so.
discouraged that they quietly accept all this a part of their destiny.

Question 10.
The bangle makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone
happy but they themselves live and die in squalor. Explain.
Answer:
In Firozabad, almost every family is involved in the business of bangle making.
Firozabad is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry. The families here have
spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for
all the women in the land. But these bangle makers are very poor. They can’t
earn enough to afford even two square of meals.

Even the children are forced to live in dingy cells without air and light. About
20,000 children work in the glass-blowing industry. They are forced to work for
very long hours and also in very inhuman conditions. They often lose the
brightness of their eyes. The bangle makers live a very miserable life. Though
they make everyone happy by making beautiful bangles, they themselves live
and die in very deplorable condition
 Question Bank - An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum
(Stephen Spender)

Simile Like rootless weeds,

like bottle bits on stones,
their lives like catacombs
Metaphor The paper-seeming boy
civilized dome riding all cities
their future’s painted with a fog
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
On their slag heap
History is theirs whose language is the sun
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.”
Alliteration far far from’,
than this
street sealed
far far from
Surely, Shakespeare
Imagery – weighed down: burdened with the weight of
poverty and hopelessness
Pun – reciting:

a) literal- the boy is reciting the lesson.

Figurative – he is more prominently reciting his
father’s disease i.e. repeating his father’s disease of
twisted bones and deformity which has been passed
down
through generations
b) sour cream: literal - the neglected walls have
turns a dirty yellow
.Figurative - a dismal place where all dreams turn
sour lead sky- literal- sky polluted with industrial
fumes.
Figurative: A sky that does not open opportunities
but weighs down heavily blocking all escape from
the slums.
Symbol a) Squirrel’s game - fun outdoors to escape the dull
 classroom
b) civilized dome riding all cities-
ALSO PERSONIFICATION – riding all cities)
c) Open-handed map- (a map drawn arbitrarily by
the people in power and the privileged)
c.1) map with slums as big as doom- the grim reality
of the lives of slum children
d) fog- bleak and unclear
e) ships and sun- adventure and beautiful lands
offering opportunity
f) slag heaps- industrial waste, toxic filth and
squalor
g) Windows –windows of the slum classroom do not
open out to opportunities and the wide world. They
show only fog covered slums where they are
confined.
misery, hopelessness and doom them to a death-like
existence.
h) Green fields, gold sand - nature and golden
opportunities;
white and green leaves - first- hand knowledge from
pages of books and nature
run azure- experience the rich colours of nature
i) sun – symbol of enlightenment ; of equal blessing/
equality

EXTRACT BASED QUESTIONS FROM THE POEM :

Read the extracts given below and answer any one of the two extracts given
below(1x4=4)

EXTRACT 1
Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces. Like rootless weeds, the hair
torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed- down head. The paper- seeming boy, with rat’s
eyes......
1. Which children are referred to in the above lines ?
(i)Street children (ii) Children of an orphanage
(iii) Slum children (iv) Children of an asylum Ans :
(iii) slum children

2. How are the children ?

(i)Happy (ii)Sad and disappointed
(iii) smart and active (iv) miserable and depressed

Ans ; (iv) miserable and depressed

3. Who are they like ?

(i) rootless weeds (ii) flying birds
(iii) floating boats (iv) budding flowers

Ans (i) rootless weeds

4. What are they away from ?

(i) nature/gusty waves (ii) towns and cities
(iii) oceans (iv)hills and mountains

Ans : (i) nature/gusty waves

OR

1. Who is speaking the above lines ?

(i) The poet (ii) the administrator
(iii) the governor (iv) the masters

Ans : (i) The poet

2.Who is the poet ?

(i) Pablo Neruda (ii) Stephen Spender
(iii) Kamala Das (iv)Adrienne Rich

Ans (ii) Stephen Spender

3.How is the girl ?

(i) Her head is down (ii) Her eyes are watchful
(iii) Her dress is beautiful

Ans: (i) Her head is down

4. How is the boy described above ?

(i) as thin as a paper. (ii) rat’s eyes.
(iii) stunted (iv) All the above
Ans : (iv) All the above

EXTRACT 2
The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease, His lesson, from his desk.
At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream, Of squirrel’s game, in
tree room, other than this.

1.Who is the ‘unlucky heir’ above ?

(i) A young boy (ii) A young girl
(iii) A rabbit (iv) An old master
Ans : (i) A young boy

2.Who is sitting ‘ unnoted’ ?

(i) A young boy (ii) A soldier
(iii) A master (iv) A shepherd
Ans : (i) A young boy

3. Which game is referred to in the last line ?

(i) The squirrel’s game (ii) The rabbit’s game
(iii) Hide and seek (iv) Snakes and ladders

Ans: (i) The squirrel’s game

4. What is a tree room here ?

(i)The squirrel’s hole (ii) the branch of a tree
(iii) nest of a pigeon (iv) tree leaves

Ans : (i) The squirrel’s hole

EXTRACT 3 :
On sour cream walls, donations, Shakespeare’s head, Cloudless at dawn,
civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open handed map Awarding the world its
world.

1. Name the poem and the poet.

(i) An Elementary School Classroom in A Slum by Stephen Spender
(ii) My Mother At Sixty six by Kamala Das

(iii) (iii)Keeping quiet by Pablo Neruda

(iv)A thing of Beauty by John Keats
Ans (i)An Elementary School Classroom In A Slum by Stephen Spender
2.What are ‘donations’ above ?
(i) Pictures on the walls of the classroom (ii) colour of the walls
(iii)Roof of the school (iv) Black board in the classroom

Ans : (i)Pictures on the walls of the classroom

3.What is meant by ‘sour cream walls’ ?

(i) The walls are damp and discoloured. (ii) The walls smell of cream
(iii) The walls are Muggy (iv) All the above

4.What is not described above ?

(i) Shakespeare’s head (ii) cloudless dawn
(iii) Hawaiian islands (iv) Tyrolese valley

Ans (iii) Hawaiian islands

EXTRACT 4
And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world, Where all their future’s
painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

1. The lives of the children are confined in

(i) elementary school (ii)Shakespeare’s world
(iii) Narrow streets of the slum (iv) Tyrolese valley

Ans: (iii) Narrow streets of the slum

2. What is the future of the children ?

(i)happy and secure (ii) poor and satisfied
(iii)uncertain and bleak (iv)unhappy but secure

Ans (iii) uncertain and bleak

3. Which of the following words imply a bleak future ?

(i)sour cream walls (ii) awarding the world it s world
(iii)future’s painted with fog (iv)Shakespeare’s head

Ans ; (iii) future’s painted with fog

4. What do the words ‘future’s painted with fog’ imply ?

(i)No love and care (ii) no warmth
(iii) no hard work (iv) no scope for improvement

Ans ; (iv) no scope for improvement

EXTRACT 5
Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example, With ships and sun and
love tempting them to steal- For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night ?

1. Who is wicked above? What is the figure of speech used in

(i)Shakespeare (ii) the poet

(iii) the administrators (iv) The teachers
Ans (i) Shakespeare

2. What kind of future does the slum children have ?

(i)very hopeful (ii)bright
(iii) clear like water (iv) hopeless and uncertain
Ans(iv) hopeless and uncertain

3. Which map is a bad example ?

(i) The map of the world hung on the wall of the classroom.
(ii) the map in the Geography book
(iii) the map of world war
(iv) the map of transportation and communication
Ans : (i)The map of the world hung on the wall of the classroom

4. What are the images of ships and sun signify in the above lines ?
(i) nature (ii) travel
(iii) adventure (iv) development

Ans : (i) nature

OR
1. What does ‘cramped holes’ mean ?
(i) They mean small uncomfortable dwellings of slum children
(ii) dark shelters
(iii) congested dwellings

(iv) (ivAll the above

Ans : (iv)All the above

2. What tempts the children in the classroom to steal ?

(i) The dream of achieving a better life for themselves (ii) desire to travel
(iii) dream to work (iv) dream to visit places

Ans: (i)The dream of achieving a better life for themselves.

3. What does the poem describe ?
(i)an elementary school classroom in a slum (II) a social set up
(iii) a cinema hall (iv)beautiful scenery
Ans(i)An elementary school classroom in a slum

4. What is the figure of speech used in ‘Far far from rivers ’

(i)Assonance (ii) Alliteration
(iii) Simile (iv) Metaphor
Ans:(ii)Alliteration

EXTRACT 6
.......On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones All of their time and space are
foggy slum. So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.
1. Which two images are used to describe these slums?
2. What sort of life do these children lead?
3. Which figure of speech is used in the last line?

Answer:
1. The images used to describe these slums are: ‘slag heap’, ‘bottle bits on
stones’ and ‘slums as big as doom’.
2. These children lead a life worse than death. The dirt and garbage of the slum
is their world so their lives are pathetic, full of misery and poverty.
3. A simile has been used in the last line where slums are compared to a living
hell.

EXTRACT 7
Open handed map
Awardng the world its world. And yet, for these Children, these windows, not
this map, their world, Where all their future’s painted with a fog.
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

1. What does the poet mean by ‘open-handed?

2. What can be seen through these windows?
3. How is the children’s world different from the one on the map?
4. What does the poet mean by ‘a lead sky’?
5. What does the poet say about the children’s future?
6. What kind of world do we see on the map?

Answer:
1. By the phrase ‘open-handed’ the poet implies to the map of the world that
is drawn and reshaped at will by dictators like Hitler who want to gain supreme
power over the world.
2. The bleak and uncertain future of the slum children can be seen through these
windows.
3. For these children the map of the world is meaningless as their own dirty and
filthy surroundings form their world. They are doomed to live in a world with
narrow streets and crowded lanes and they crave for a world of rivers, capes
and a starry sky. Their world is far-removed from the things that the map
shows.
4. ‘A lead sky’ suggests a grey and dull sky which means that there is no hope
for the slum children. They have a bleak future.
 5. The children’s future is bleak and dark. They nurture hopes for a better
future but achieving these hopes is merely a dream for them.
6. The map of the world is symbolic of hopes and aspirations and a mere look
at this world motivates the children to explore this world, which is full of the
bounties bestowed by God.

Attempt any 8 questions from the 10 given below : (8x1=8)

1. Why is the boy called ‘the stunted unlucky heir’ ?

(i) He has not inherited the property
(ii) He has not received education
(iii) He has received disability from his father
(iv) None of the above
Ans (iii)He has received disability from his father

2.His eyes live in a dream, A squirrel’s game, in the tree room, other than this
means the boy is
(i) full of hope (ii)mentally ill
(iii)distracted from the lesson (iv) None

Ans : (iii) distracted from the lesson

3.The paper seeming boy with rat’s eyes means :

(i)secretive (ii)thin, hungry, weak
(iii)Unpleasant looking (iv)uncomfortable

Ans (ii) thin, hungry, weak

4.Who spell hope for the slum children ?

(i)school (ii)Shakespeare
(iii)governor, inspector (iv)none
Ans : (iv) None

5.The night is endless as there is no for them.

(i) support (ii)future
(iii) education (iv)wealth
Ans : (ii)future

6.What are the classrooms like ?

(i) temples of learning (ii) dim and pathetic
(iii)means of escape (iv)a happy place
Ans: (ii) dim and pathetic

7. One of the following phrases imply unhealthy children. It is

(i)one unnoted (ii) eyes live on a dream
(iii)a paper seeming boy (iv) far from gusty waves
Ans: (iii) a paper seeming boy

8.What are children like in the slums ?

(i)underfed and sickly (ii) poor but happy
(iii)underfed but energetic (iv)happy and playful
Ans : (i)underfed and sickly

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS : (5x2=10)

1. ‘At the back of the dim class ’ Why is the classroom dim ?
Ans: It is dim as it is poorly lit and in a miserable condition.

2.What is the theme of the poem ?

Ans: The poem focuses on the theme of social injustice and inequalities. The
poet presents it by talking of the two different worlds – the rich and the civilized
and the world of the poor and the deprived.

3. What does the poet tries to depict in the poem?

Ans: The poet tries to depict the pathetic and miserable picture of the elementary
classroom in a slum. It is poorly lit and needs repair. The children attending it
are in a pitiable and miserable condition.

4. Do these children have dreams ?

Ans: Yes, some of them do have dreams. A sweet young boy is sitting at the
back of the dim classroom dreaming of a squirrel’s game.

5. What has been said about their future ?

Ans: Their future is painted with fog. Their future is not clear.There is no one to
guide them.

6. Why is the map a bad example ?

Ans: The children have never gone out of the slum. Their life is in the slum.
Therefore, the map on the wall of the classroom is a bad example since they
cannot understand it.

7. Why does Stephen Spender say that the pictures and maps in the elementary
school classroom are meaningless? (Delhi 2009)
Ans: According to the poet the pictures and maps in the elementary school
classroom are meaningless because the map does not include their world of
narrow lanes. They live like rats in their cramped holes where fog and darkness
dominate their lives.
8. How does the world depicted on the classroom walls differ from the world of
the slum children?
Ans: The map of the world on the classroom walls is drawn in accordance with
the will of the powerlords. This world is not even remotely related to the world
of the dirty slums. The world depicted in the pictures that decorate the walls
holds a stark contrast with the world of the underfed poverty stricken slum
children who live in cramped dark holes. The pictures suggest beauty, well-being
and prosperity. So there is no connection whatsoever between the map of the
civilized world to that of the world of the children.

9. How does the poet describe the class-room walls?

Ans: The sour cream coloured walls which were probably painted with the help
of donations present a rather poor and pale sight. A picture of Shakespeare,
given as a gift, hung on the . unpleasant creamy wall. The pathetic conditions of
the wall symbolises the equally sordid and miserable lives of the children who
are surrounded by these walls.

10. The poet says, “and yet for these children, these windows, not this map, their
world”. Which world do these children belong to? Which world is
inaccessible to them?
Ans: These children belong to the world of the dirty and stinking slums with its
narrow lanes and cramped holes. Their world is the world of poverty and
disease. The world that is inaccessible to them is one which has high domes of
buildings, the music of bells and the fragrance of flowers.
11. “So blot their maps with slums as big as doom”, says Stephen Spender.
What does the poet want to convey?
Ans: The poet wants to convey that these slums are blots on the map of the
civilized and rich world. The filthy slums that comprise the world for the slum
children are living hells. Life is worse than death for them. These slums stalk
them like death stalks its victim.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (1x5=5)

Q1. What is the message that Stephen Spender wants to give through the poem.
An Elementary School Classroom In a Slum’?
Answer:
In ‘An Elementary School Classroom In a Slum’ the poet Stephen Spender deals
with the themes of social injustice and class inequalities. There are two different
worlds. The world of so called ‘civilized’ men has nothing to do with the
children living in slums. Nor have the art, culture and literature any relevance to
them. They live in dark, narrow cramped, holes and lanes. Unless the wide gap
between the two worlds is abridged there can’t be any real progress or
development. The barriers that bind them will have to be made mentally and
physically free to lead happy lives.

Q2. Write in brief the summary of the poem. Answer:

The poet describes some children sitting in an elementary school in a slum. The
children sitting here present a very miserable view. Their hair are like weeds and
scattered on their pale face. A tall girl is sitting with her head bent. There is a
small and thin looking boy. His eyes are like that of a rat’s eyes. Then there is an
another boy who has disease of swollen and twisted bones and joints. He has got
his disease from his father. The poet notices a young and sweet boy sitting at the
back of the class. He is perhaps dreaming about the squirrel’s game in a tree-
room for himself also. The poet says that the walls of the classroom are cream.
They smell like sour cream. There is a bust of Shakespeare in the classroom.
There are pictures of big church and the Tyrolese valley having bell- shaped
flowers. There is an open-handed map, which shows all the places of the world.
But ironically for the children living in the slum their world
is not that map but only the scene that can be seen outside the window of their
classroom. He says that Shakespeare is wicked for the children. The big map with
all its places, ships and so on tempts the children to steal. These children have to
spend their lives in small homes. Their lives are nothing but an endless night. The
children have grown so weak that their bones could be seen from their skin. Many
of these wear spectacles, and these spectacles have mended glass. The poet
appeals to the governor, inspector and the visitors to do something for the poor
children.The children should be shown green fields; they should be allowed to
live a free and carefree life. Without any worry they can concentrate well on their
studies. The poet says only those people create history who are carefree.

Q3.Bring out the irony in the system of education of the slum children with
reference to the poem.
Answer:
The poem ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’ deals with the theme of
social injustice and class inequalities in our society and the irony is rooted in the
marginalised existence of these slum children and their poor system of
education. The poet has reflected this irony in saying that these children, as they
read run their tongues naked into the books because they do nqt understand the
meaning to the words and blankly utter the letters. They fail to get the true
message of education contained in the books. Their spectacles are like ‘bottle
bits’ suggesting the poverty of their lives. It is a poetic appeal to the people in
authority to rescue these oppressed children from their limited lives of ignorance
and gloom. The poet wishes for the emancipation of these imprisoned minds into
a new world of freedom and happiness.

Q4. Read the following and answer the question that follows.
“Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper seeming boy, with rat’s
eyes. The stunted, unlucky heir Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled
disease, His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream, Of squirrel’s game, in
tree room, other than this.”

Poverty has gripped innocent children very tightly. Their faces are reduced to
“rootless weeds”and much more. Their inheritance is nothing but the diseases of
their parents. Such is the condition of an elementary school in a slum where the
students and teachers both are unfortunate to a great extent, with a bleak future
ahead.
After reading the above lines and the poem An Elementary School Classroom in
a Slum’, write an article in about 120-150 words on the conditions of schools in
slums for your school magazine.
Answer:
Conditions of Schools in Slums
By Kavita

There is a school in the slum area near our residential colony. But the students
there have a Bleak future. Their lives are miserable. Their parents are too poor to
earn a livelihood for their family. They are clad in rags, having expressionless
appearances and look like starved souls. Their teachers have no interest in
teaching. The students sit under a tree on the ground. There is no timetable either
for teachers or students. The school is nothing but just a pass time. The students
want to play, have merrymaking and enjoy their childhood, but circumstances
have deprived them of their childhood. They appear mature at a tender age. They
are born, ultimately to die. School is a hope for a bright future, but these poor,
helpless kids have no past, present or future, only permanent darkness. Spring is
lost forever for them and they are prepared to adopt rag-picking as their
profession.
........................................................................................................................................