Page 1 - The Lost Child
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MOMENTS


                                                     THE LOST CHILD

        Questions based on an extract

            A.  Read the given questions and answer the given questions:

        1.  “It was the festival of spring. From the wintry shades of narrow lanes and alleys emerged a gaily clad
            humanity, thick as a crowd of bright-coloured rabbits issuing from a warren.”

          i.   What occasion is being described in the extract?
          ii.   How does the author describe the crowd?
         iii.   What literary device is used in "bright-coloured rabbits issuing from a warren"?
         iv.   What mood is created by this description?

        2.   “A sweetmeat seller hawked, ‘Gulab-jamun, rasgulla, burfi, jalebi…’ The child’s mouth watered for
            the burfi that was his favourite sweet.”


          i.   What is the child’s reaction to the sweets?
          ii.   Which sweet does the child prefer and why?
         iii.   Why does the child not ask for the sweets?
         iv.   What does this tell us about the child’s nature?

        3.  “He had gone too far and was now lost. He ran quickly in panic, shouting, ‘Mother, Father!’ Tears
            rolled down from his eyes. His yellow turban came untied and his clothes became muddy.”


          i.   What has happened to the child in this extract?
          ii.   How does the author show the child’s panic?
         iii.   What is the significance of the details like "yellow turban came untied" and "clothes became
               muddy"?
         iv.   How does this moment contrast with the earlier part of the story?

        4.  “A kind man in the crowd picked him up in his arms and tried to soothe him. He took him to the
            roundabout, the snake-charmer, and the balloon seller. But the child kept sobbing, ‘I want my
            mother, I want my father!’”


          i.   What does the kind man try to do for the child?
          ii.   Why does the child reject all the attractions?
         iii.   What do we learn about the child’s feelings at this point?
         iv.   What is the central theme highlighted in this passage?




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