Class 12 UP Board English: Lost Spring Solutions for 2026 Exams
Welcome to English Rath, your trusted source for Class 12 UP Board English solutions! Looking for Lost Spring Class 12 solutions? This comprehensive guide offers Short Answer Type Questions and Answers, Long Answer Type Questions and Answers, and a placeholder for MCQs with solutions for Chapter 2, Lost Spring by Anees Jung, a vital part of the UP Board Class 12 English syllabus 2026. This evocative chapter explores the struggles of Saheb and Mukesh, shedding light on poverty, child labor, and lost dreams. Our exam-focused answers help you master key themes, streamline revision, and score high in the UP Board English exam 2026. Dive in and boost your prep with English Rath!
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Short Answer Type Questions and Answers
1. Why did Anees Jung ask Saheb about the school? What was its impact on Saheb?
Answer: Anees Jung asked Saheb about school to understand his education status. It made Saheb uncomfortable, highlighting his lack of access to education and deepening his sense of deprivation.
2. Why did Saheb and other ragpickers not wear chappals? What excuse did they give for it?
Answer: Saheb and other ragpickers didn't wear chappals due to poverty. A boy said, "My mother didn't bring them down from the shelf, claiming it's tradition, not lack of money.
3. How many ragpickers used to live in Seemapuri, Delhi? How did they settle there?
Answer: About 10,000 ragpickers lived in Seemapuri. They were Bangladeshi refugees who settled there in 1971, living in mud structures with tin roofs, seeking survival through ragpicking.
4. What was the meaning of garbage for children? What did they find in it?
Answer: For children, garbage was “wrapped in wonder.” It held “hope of finding a coin, a ten rupee note, a silver coin.” It was a source of both livelihood and adventure.
5. Why did Saheb join the job at milk booth? What was he paid for his service?
Answer: Saheb started working at a tea stall where he earned ₹800 a month and all his meals. But he lost his freedom. “The steel canister seemed heavier than the plastic bag,” the author notes, symbolizing the burden of work.
6. Who was Mukesh? Where did he belong and what was his ambition?
Answer: Mukesh was a boy from Firozabad, born in a bangle-making family. He said, “I want to be a motor mechanic.” His dream showed his desire to break away from generations of family tradition.
7. Why did Mukesh volunteer to take the narrator home? Who were there in the home?
Answer: Mukesh proudly offered to take the author home. In his home, his mother was cooking food on a stove made of firewood. His father, who had worked hard all his life, was now blind.
8. "It is his Karam, his destiny." Who said this and why?
Answer: Mukesh's grandmother said this when asked if her son would ever do something different. She believed that poverty and tradition bind them, and breaking free was impossible.
9. What do the bangles symbolize? What is the role of bangle makers of Firozabad?
Answer: Bangles symbolize “an Indian woman’s suhaag.” Firozabad bangle makers have been engaged in this trade for generations. Yet, they live in poverty, trapped in a vicious cycle of exploitation.
10. Why could the bangle makers not organise themselves into a co-operative? What do they face if they do so?
Answer: They cannot organise due to fear of police, sahukars, middlemen, and bureaucracy. If they try, “they are hauled up, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal.”
11. What was the importance of garbage for children in Seemapuri?
Answer: Garbage was “gold” for children. It was not just trash but a source of livelihood. The author writes, “One finds a rupee in it, another a ten rupee note.”
12. What explanation does the author offer for children not wearing footwear?
Answer: The author says that walking barefoot has become a “tradition.” She remembers one explanation: “It is not lack of money, but a tradition to stay barefoot.”
13. Why did children stay barefoot in Seemapuri?
Answer: In Seemapuri, children stayed barefoot not only due to poverty but also because it had become accepted as part of their lifestyle — “a perpetual state of poverty.”
14. What did Mukesh want to become in life?
Answer: Mukesh wanted to be a motor mechanic. “I will be a motor mechanic,” he said. “I will learn to drive a car.” His dream was different from the fate of his family.
15. What do the inhabitants of Seemapuri do for their survival?
Answer: The people of Seemapuri survive by rag picking. “Garbage to them is gold,” and it is “their daily bread, a roof over their heads.”
16. Describe the life of ragpickers at Seemapuri.
Answer: They live in structures of mud with tin or tarpaulin roofs, devoid of sewage or drainage. Yet, they live there for over 30 years, without identity, surviving on “food more than survival.”
17. Where is Seemapuri situated?
Answer: Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi. Though close to the capital, it is a place of stark contrast — full of filth, poverty, and temporary shelters.
18. What does garbage mean to the elderly people?
Answer: For elders, garbage is a means of survival — “their daily bread.” It is not a symbol of hope like it is for children, but of necessity.
19. What was the utility of garbage for the poor children in Seemapuri?
Answer: For children, garbage provided excitement and livelihood. “Sometimes they find a coin, sometimes a rupee, even a ten rupee note.” It was magical and unpredictable.
20. What did the children find in garbage?
Answer: They found “anything they could use or sell.” Some found coins, others food, some plastic and metal. Garbage was a treasure hunt for them.
Long Answer Type Questions and Answers
1. Who was Saheb? What was the plight that compelled him to wander in the streets of Delhi for ragpicking?
Answer: Saheb was a ragpicker who lived in Seemapuri, Delhi. His family had come from Dhaka, Bangladesh, fleeing poverty and natural calamities. Deprived of education and basic amenities, Saheb wandered the streets barefoot, searching for gold in garbage to survive. The loss of his childhood to poverty forced him into this life.
2. Children like Saheb often go for private jobs in very small age. Is this their final destiny? How can such situation be overcome?
Answer: No, this is not their final destiny. Children like Saheb are forced into child labour due to poverty and lack of access to education. This cycle can be broken by ensuring free and quality education, spreading awareness, and strict enforcement of laws against child labour. Empowering their families economically is also essential.
3. Who was Mukesh? What did he want to do in his life and what did he not want to follow?
Answer: Mukesh was a boy from Firozabad, born into a family of bangle makers. Unlike others, he wanted to become a motor mechanic. He dared to dream beyond the traditional occupation of his family and refused to accept the hereditary profession that had trapped generations in poverty and suffering.
4. What did the narrator notice in the locality where Mukesh lived? What was the condition of bangle makers?
Answer: The narrator observed that Mukesh’s locality was filled with dingy lanes, overcrowded houses, and families engaged in bangle making. The condition of bangle makers was miserable—they worked in dark, poorly ventilated rooms, suffered from health issues, and were trapped in poverty with no hope of escape or education.
5. Every other house in Firozabad is engaged in glass industry. Even then the makers remain in miserable condition. What are the reasons?
Answer: The bangle makers of Firozabad remain poor due to exploitation by middlemen, lack of education, and absence of political will. Generations have been trapped in this profession. To overcome this, they must be organised into cooperatives, provided education and legal aid, and protected under labour and welfare schemes.
6. What is the vicious circle of middlemen? How are they trapped since the time of their forefathers? Can they get organised?
Answer: The middlemen exploit bangle makers by paying them low wages and controlling their trade. This has continued for generations, leaving the workers powerless and indebted. They cannot organise themselves into cooperatives because of fear of police and lack of unity. As a result, they remain trapped in the same cycle.
7. How is Mukesh different from the other bangle makers of Firozabad?
Answer: Mukesh is different because he dreams of breaking the cycle of poverty. While other children accept bangle-making as destiny, Mukesh wants to become a motor mechanic. His determination to learn a new skill and live life on his own terms makes him stand out from the rest.
8. Describe the deplorable plight of bangle makers.
Answer: Bangle makers work in dark, ill-ventilated rooms with furnaces, harming their eyesight at an early age. They live in poverty, with no access to education or healthcare. Trapped by middlemen and tradition, they earn very little and accept this hardship as their destiny, generation after generation.
9. Describe the plight of ragpickers as depicted in the lesson 'Lost Spring'.
Answer: Ragpickers like Saheb live in Seemapuri in miserable conditions. They have no identity or facilities, yet they survive by collecting garbage. For children, garbage is like a treasure hunt. They walk barefoot, are malnourished, and lack education. Despite this, they carry a hopeful, innocent view of life.
10. Describe the life of people working in the glass bangle industry.
Answer: People in the glass bangle industry of Firozabad live in poverty and squalor. They work in hazardous conditions, inhaling glass dust and sitting before hot furnaces, which leads to health problems and blindness. Despite their hard work, they remain poor and are exploited by a cycle of middlemen.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
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