SOMETIMES IFIND ARUPEE IN THE GARBAGE - happy to live in an alien land which provides

NOTES foodgrain than in the fields of their motherland

Author's encounter with Saheb that provides nothing
meets ragpicker Saheb, belonging to a refugee picking garbage is the sole means of survival; earns
family from Bangladesh them their daily bread, and provides roof over their
questions him about his vocation of picking rags heads
and advises him to go to school a chance rupee note or coin in garbage sustains
Saheb complains of lack of opportunity and absence hope and life in children
of any school in his neighbourhood Ragpicker Saheb's eternal yearning
Author raises Saheb's hope of receiving to be comfortably off, enjoy pleasures of childhood
education
by promising to open a school in his neighbourhood - play tennis,wear shoes
feels embarrassed at making a promise that Saheb's conflicting step forward
she
cannot keep picks ajob in a tea-stall; earns Rs 800/- pm
Irony in name and existence encounters author while fetching milk in a steel
ragpicker's full name: 'Saheb-e-Alam' meaning canister for tea-stall owner
lord ofthe universe' appears burdened and forlorn
- but he spends time roaming and no more a free bird and a master ofhis own self
scrounging streets
with other ragpicker boys - now a bonded labour with
surrendered freedom
all boys barefoot, reflecting extreme state of
poverty IWANT TO DRIVE A CAR
author observes that being barefoot is more due to NOTES
poverty but has been accepted as an old Indian Mukesh: a child labourer in a glass
tradition factory in
Firozabad
Author's reflection on passage of time and wishes to be a motor mechanic
degree ofprosperity achieved wants to learn to drive a car
- reminded of a priest's barefoot son in town of Udipi - his family unaware that child labour is
thirty years ago illegal and
banned by law
boy's fervent wish to own a pair of shoes Working conditions in glass furnaces
thirty years later only a degree ofprosperity visible - high temperatures
present day priest's son now wears shoes but dingy ill-lit cells
ragpickers are still shoeless poorly ventilated
Ragpickers' abode Seemapuri - children lose eyesight at an early age
most refugees are Bangladeshis; fled their country Living conditions in Firozabad
in 1971
stinking lanes choked with garbage
their dwellings: structures of mud, tin and tarpaulin - houses with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no
with no sewage, drainage or running
water windows
only boon: valid ration cards enabling
grain
them to buy - humans and animals both live together in these
hovels
English (Core) 12 235
Author visits Mukesh's house
eventually become sightless even before attaining
Mukesh's house, ahalf-built shack with thatched ndulthood
dead graSS roofand a wobbly iron door
Irony in perception
firewood stove, aluminium utensils
bangles: a symbol of 'suhaag' (husband's long life)
- houses three generations: grandmother, father,
elder brother and his wife
eventually all girl-child Jabourers will become brides
- willwear same bangles but lose
- elder brother's wife: eyesight
become old with bangles on wrists, sightless eyes
+ responsible for family members' welfare and
and empty stomachs
cooking
Time stands still in Firozabad
. observes custom of covering
face with veil in
front of male elders no progress, no development despite years of mind.
numbing toil
Mukesh's father:
. head of the family - poverty, illiteracy, dissatisfaction prevails
all labourers victims of exploitation at the hands of
* poverty-stricken
middlemen and touts
unable to renovate house or provide education to
Getting organised into a cooperative society - a
two sons
way out
only legacy he can hand over is the art of bangle fear of police,lack of leadership,trap of middlemen:
making
obstacles in the way of running cooperative society
Mukesh's Grandmother's view of life caught in a vicious circle of poverty: indifference,
present state of affairs is a result of karma' or greed, injustice meted out to them
'destiny' Children: victim of two worlds
- has quietly accepted her husband's blindness First: born in poverty ridden family, with the stigma
caused by dust of glass bangles of caste
- believes in 'art of bangle making' to be God-given Second: suppressed by sahukaars, middlemen,
lineage policemen, bureaucrats &politicians
Birth in caste of bangle makers - unescapable Courage dissolved, backbone broken
destiny desire to dream and dare snubbed in childhood
- poverty and lack ofeducation lead to a vicious circle Mukesh: an exception
- children follow elder's footsteps and join bangle aspires to be a motor mechanic
making profession also realizes that dreaming of airplanes would be
eyes more adjusted to darkness than light over-reaching himself
- ironically few planes fly over Firozabad

Extracts for Comprehension

Read the extracts given below and answer the questionsthat follow.
SOMETIMES IFiND A RUPEE IN THE GARBAGE
memory. Ihere were many storms that swept away their
(1) fields and homes, his mother tells him. That's why they left,
"Why do you do this?" lask Saheb whom Iencounter every looking for goldin the big city where he now lives.
morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my "lhave nothing else to do," he mutters, lookingaway.
neighbourhood. Saheb left his home long ago. Set amidst "Go to school," Isay glibly, realising immediately how hollow
the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant the advice must sound.
236
English (Core) 12

Before Saheb and his family came to

(i) "WAy do you do this?" This' here refers to
Seemapuri,they were victims of
(a) car repair (c) rag-picking
(6) gold digging (d) job at a tea stall (a) exploitation and helplessness
(ü) Infer what the author means by the underlined (6) inaction and illiteracy
phrase. (c) displacement and unemployment
I ask Saheb whom Iencounter every morning (d) natural calamities and poverty
Scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my (vi) Which of the following means the same as
neighbourhood. 'scrounging?
(a) stealing (c) searching

(6) melting (d) digging

(vii) State whether the given statement is TRUE or
FALSE.

"Saheb's family had recently arrived in India."

(iii) List two reasons why the author feels that her
advice to Saheb must have sounded 'hollow'. (2)
After months of knowing him, lask 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.
Overthe months,I have cometo recognise each ofthem.
"Why aren'tyou wearing chappals?"l askone.
"My mother did not bring them down from the shelf" he
answers simply.
(i) What is ironical about Saheb-e-Alam's name?
(iv) Complete the sentence appropriately with
reference to the extract.
His 'home' is not even a distant memory

because

(ü) The word 'army' as used in the above extract

meanS

(u) Select the option that completes the given

(a) soldiers (c) alarge group
sentence appropriately. (b) a contingent (d) a squad
 English (Core) 12 237
(iii) The figures of speech used in the following (d) Because they were taken away by landlords
expressions are.... and...... espectively.
(iü) How dochildren become their parents'partners
1 'army of barefoot boys'
in survival?
2 "like the morning birds'
(a) oxymoron, transferred epithet
(b) metaphor, simile
(c) simile, allusion
(d) analogy, metaphor
(ip) "Unaware of what his name
represents, he
roams the streets with his friends.." Which (üi) Which of the following BEST explains the
phrase BEST describes this situation? meaning ofthe statement, "...it has acquired
(a) A disturbed state of mind the proportions of afine art"?
(b) A carefree attitude (a) Rag-picking is as satisfying a job as
(c) A case of feigned ignorance creating beautiful pieces of fine arts is.
(d) An instance of unwillingness to (6) Rág-pickers have turned a backbreaking
accept job intoa very rewarding passion.
the reality
(c) Rag-pickers have perfected their work
(v) Say whether the following statement is TRUE
through hard work, attention for detail
or FALSE.
and long work hours.
"Poverty is not the only reason why Saheb-e-Alam (d) Rag-picking is based on the principle that
is barefoot." one man's garbage is another man's gold.
(iv) Infer what the author means by the
following
(3) statement from the extract.
"If at the end of the day we can feed our families and go to
"Garbage to them is gold."
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 whenl 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.Children
grow up in them, becoming partners in survival.And survival
in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the
years, it has
acquired the proportions ofa fine art.Garbage to them is gold.
(i) Why did the fields not give any grain to
the
women in tattered saris? (u) Select the suitable word/phrase from the
(a) Because they had become barren extract to complete the following analogy:
(b) Because they were affected by drought tattered: torn:: :temporary
(c) Because they had been swept away by (vi) Which of thefollowing shows the correct use of
storms theword 'pitch'as used in the above extract?
238 English (Core) 12

(a) The player was taken to the hospital

after he collapsed on the pitch.
(6) The piano and organ were tuned to the
same pitch.
(c) This roofhas a very gentle pitch.
(d) The boys decided to pitch their camp in a
sheltered area.
(vii) Choose the option that BEST sums up the plight
ofthe people being described in the extract?
(a) Food, art and gold why do children work in hot
(üi) Although illegal,
(6) Poverty, struggle and survival glass furnaces?
lucrative job.
(c) Families,children and struggle (a) Because it is a very
children do not go to school.
(d) Tents, homes and survival (b) Because these
families consider it their
fate.
(c) Because their
IWANT TODRIVE ACAR are ignorant.
(d) Because these children
(1)
replacing the underlined
Mukesh's family is among them.None ofthem know that it is (iv) Rewrite the sentence by
phrase with its inference.
illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces with get him and all
high temperatures, in dingy cells without air
and light; that That the law, if enforced, could
those 20,000 those 20,000 children out of the
hot furnaces.
the law, if enforced, could get him and all
their
children out of the hot furnaces where they slog
eyes.
daylight hours, often losing the brightness of their
me home,
Mukesh's eyes beam as he volunteers to take
We walk down
which he proudly says is being rebuilt.
stinking lanes choked with garbage,past homes
that remain
windows,
hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no
coexisting in
crowded with families of humans and animals
aprimeval state.
(i) Whodoes them' refer toin the first sentence
(u) Complete the given sentence appropriately.
ofthe extract?
Ifa place is 'dingy', it is

(vi) The expression: losing the brightness oftheir

(ii) Infer what the author actually means to say eyes'implies
in the following statement:
(a) losing the spark in their eyes
"lgnorance is a curse for them."
(b) losing the flash oftheir eyes
(c) losing the clarity of their vision
(d) losing their foresight
 English (Core)12 239

( )Mukesh 's eves beam vth ov most probably

"Can agod given ineage ever be broken?"
berause
This statement conveysthe spraher' sense of
ía) he hopes to get some monev from the
author
(a) justice le) resignation
(h) definnce (d) guilt
ib) he isexcited to show his house which was
being 'nbuilt" (i) Infer the meaning of the underlined phrase in
(c) he wants the author to highlight the the cxtract.
inhuman conditions of his area Born in the caste of bangle makers, they have
d) he hopes that the author will help him seen nothing but bangles.
realise his dream
(ulList any two indicators of the 'primeval state'
of life in the locality where Mukesh's family
lived.

(iii) List two reasons that can cause blindness in

bangle makers.

(2) (iv) On the basis of the extract, choose the correct

"it is his karam, his destiny" says Mukesh's grand-mother, option with reference to the two statements
who has watched her own husband go blind with the dust given below.
from polishing the glass of bangles. "Can agod-given lineage (1) Bangle workers often have to work in dark
ever be broken?" she implies. Born in the caste of bangle and dingy huts that are poorly lit by oil-lamps.
makers, they have seen nothing but bangles - in the house,
(2) Their eyesight deteriorates very fast with
in the yard, in every other house, every other yard, every many becoming nearly blind before hitting
street in Firozabad. Spirals of bangles - sunny gold, paddy adulthood.
green, royal blue, pink, purple, every colour born out of the
seven colours of therainbow- lie in mounds in unkempt yards, (a) ()can be inferred from the extract but
(2) cannot be
are piled on four-wheeled handcarts, pushed by young men
along the narrow lanes of the shanty town. And in dark (b) (1)cannot be inferred trom the extract
hutments, next to lines of flames of filickering oil lamps, sit but (2)canbe
boys and girls with their fathers and mothers, welding pieces (e) (1)is the cause and (2) is its eftect
of coloured glass into circles of bangles.Their eyes are more (d) (2) is the reason for (1 )
adjusted to the dark than tothe light outside. That is why
they often end up losing their eyesight before they become (u) Conplete the following statement with ONE
adults. word only.
 240
English (Core) 12
The colours of the bangles present a sharp
to the dulland
dirty dwelling ofthe bangle-makers.
(v) Select the MOST suitable title for the given G) The word 'baggage' as used in this extract
extract. meanS

(a) Karam and Destiny (a) exploitation by moneylenders

(6) Boys, Girls and Lamps (b) ignorance and illiteracy
(c) One Generation to Another (c) burden of belongings
(d) Shiny Bangles, Dismal Lives (d) constraints ofpoverty and suppression
(vii) State whether the given statement is TRUE or (üi) "Before he is aware, he accepts it as naturally as
FALSE. his father."

"Bangle makers earn a decent living." The above sentence suggests that the bangle
makers like Mukesh and his family
(a) find themselves trapped in a vicious
(viiü) Replace the underlined word with its antonym
circle and are resigned to their lot
from the extract.
(b) are happy doing what their past
Bangle makers often have to live and work in generations have been doing
darkand tidy areas. (c) do not want to adopt new vocations and
embrace new opportunities
(d) stay grounded and do not resort to day
(ix) Select the suitable word from the extract to
dreaming
complete the following analogy:
spirals : circles:: (iv) 'Daring'which is not a part ofMukesh's life,
:heaps
requires
(3) (a) fear (c) poverty
Together they have imposed the baggage on the child that he (b) courage (d) submissiveness
cannot put down. Before he isaware, he accepts it as naturally
as his father. To do anything else would mean to dare. And (v) List any two reasons why daring is not part of
daring is not part of his growing up.When Isense aflash of it Mukesh's growing up?
in Mukeshlam cheered."I want to be a motor mechanic,' he
repeats. He willgo to agarage and learn. But the garage is a
long way from his home."Iwill walk," he insists. "Do you also
dream offlying aplane?" He is suddenly silent."No," he says,
staring at the ground. In his small murmur there is an
embarrassment that has not yet turned into regret. He is
content todream of cars that he sees hurtling down the
streets of his town. Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.
() Whodoes 'they'refertohere?