Question 5 - Chapter 2 - Lost Spring - Flamingo - Chapters (Literature) - English Class 12

Read the extract and answer the following questions.

Extract:

Savita, a young girl in a drab pink dress, sits alongside an elderly woman, soldering pieces of glass. As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make. It symbolises an Indian woman’s suhaag, auspiciousness in marriage. It will dawn on her suddenly one day when her head is draped with a red veil, her hands dyed red with henna, and red bangles rolled onto her wrists. She will then become a bride. Like the old woman beside her who became one many years ago. She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes. “Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya,” she says, in a voice drained of joy. She has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime — that’s what she has reaped! Her husband, an old man with a flowing beard, says, “I know nothing except bangles.

(Lost Spring)

Question (i)

List any two sensory details present in this extract.

    Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

Sensory details are words or phrases that appeal to the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. They help the reader to imagine and experience the scene that the writer describes. Some examples of sensory details present in this extract are:

• A drab pink dress
• Soldering pieces of glass

Step-by-step explanation:

• To list any two sensory details present in this extract, we need to identify the words or phrases that appeal to the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
• Sensory details help the reader to imagine and experience the scene that the writer describes, by creating vivid images and impressions in their mind.
• Some examples of sensory details present in this extract are:
•    A drab pink dress: This appeals to the sense of sight, as it shows how Savita's dress is dull and faded, without any brightness or colour. It also shows her poverty and her lack of choice.
•    Soldering pieces of glass: This appeals to the sense of sound and touch, as it shows how Savita's work involves heating and joining pieces of glass to make bangles. It also shows her skill and her hardship.
• These are two sensory details present in this extract that help us to understand Savita's feelings and situation better.😊

Question (ii)

 Complete the sentence appropriately.

The phrase "her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine" suggests that ____________.

    Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

 Savita is doing her work without any interest or emotion.

Step-by-step explanation:

• The writer says that Savita is a young girl who sits alongside an elderly woman, soldering pieces of glass to make bangles.
• The writer uses the phrase "her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine" to describe how Savita does her work in a repetitive and automatic way, without any variation or creativity.
• This suggests that Savita is doing her work without any interest or emotion, as if she is not a human being but a machine.
• This shows the writer's sympathy and sadness for Savita, who does not have any joy or freedom in her life.

Question (iii)

 Explain any one possible inference that can be drawn from the line "She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes".

    Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

 One possible inference that can be drawn from this line is that the elderly woman has lost her happiness and hope in her marriage.

Step-by-step explanation:

• An inference is a logical conclusion or deduction based on evidence or clues from the text.
• The writer says that the elderly woman still has bangles on her wrist, which symbolise her auspiciousness in marriage and her status as a wife.
• However, the writer also says that she has no light in her eyes, which means that she has no spark or brightness in her expression or attitude.
• This shows that the elderly woman has lost her happiness and hope in her marriage, as she has suffered from poverty and hardship all her life.

Question (iv)

 Identify the word from the extract that means the same as "happiness".

1. Sanctity
2. Suhaag
3. Joy
4. Reaped

    Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

(c) Joy.

Step-by-step explanation:

• To be happy means to feel or show pleasure or contentment, or to enjoy something or someone.
• To be joyful means to feel or express great happiness or delight, or to cause someone to feel this way.
• Both words have similar meanings, but joy can also imply more intensity or enthusiasm than happiness.
• The writer uses the word joy to describe the emotion that the elderly woman lacks in her voice, as she says that she has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime.

Question (v)

What is the writer's purpose in contrasting the bangles with the lives of the people who make them?

    Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

 The writer's purpose in contrasting the bangles with the lives of the people who make them is to show the irony and the injustice of their situation.

Step-by-step explanation:

• The writer's purpose is the reason or the goal that the writer has for writing something.
• The writer contrasts the bangles with the lives of the people who make them by using words and phrases such as sanctity, auspiciousness, light, joy, etc.
• The writer uses this contrast to show how the bangles are symbols of happiness and hope for Indian women, especially in marriage, but the people who make them are deprived of these things in their own lives.
• The writer also shows how the bangles are beautiful and colourful, but the lives of the people who make them are dull and drab.

Question (vi)

 Which of the following headlines best summarizes the main idea of the extract?

1. The Beauty of Bangles
2. The Hardship of Banglemakers
3. The Irony of Bangles and Lives
4. The Tradition of Bangles

    Answer:

Answer as written by the student:

(c) The Irony of Bangles and Lives.

Step-by-step explanation:

• The main idea of the extract is the central message or theme that the writer wants to convey to the reader.
• The main idea of this extract is the irony or the contradiction of bangles and lives, how they have different meanings and effects for different people, especially for Indian women and banglemakers.
• The headline that best summarizes this main idea is " The Irony of Bangles and Lives", which captures the essence of the extract in a concise and catchy way.
• The other headlines do not summarize the main idea as well, as they focus on only one aspect of the extract, such as the beauty, the hardship, or the tradition of bangles.