Q.You will probably agree that this story does not have breathless adventure and exciting action. Then what in your opinion makes it interesting?

Showing the 12 most recent of 13 on this concept.

1. CBSE 2026Set 1/2/11 mark
   Q.List one emotion that Annan feels on hearing Bama's account. (Memories of Childhood : We Too are Human Beings)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   Annan feels anger (or indignation) when he hears Bama's account of the elder carrying the vadai packet by its string to avoid polluting it with his touch.

   Bama's elder brother, Annan, is a university student who has already begun to see the world through a more critical, politically aware lens. When Bama comes home and recounts the absurd, humiliating scene she witnessed—an elder from their community forced to carry a packet of vadai by its string so that his touch wouldn't "pollute" the food meant for the upper-caste landlord—Annan's immediate response is not amusement or resignation. He is angry.

   This anger is not explosive or theatrical; it is the quiet, simmering indignation of someone who understands the systemic cruelty behind what Bama initially found merely funny or strange. Bama, as a child, laughed at the oddity of the situation—the elder walking in such a peculiar way, the packet dangling from a string. She did not yet grasp the violence embedded in that act. But Annan does. He recognizes it as a manifestation of caste oppression, a daily ritual of dehumanization that his community endures.

   Note

   The text does not use the word "anger" explicitly in a single line, but Annan's response—his immediate need to explain the injustice to Bama and his insistence that education and hard work are the only ways to fight back—reveals a deep emotional reaction rooted in anger at the system and a determination to resist it.

   His anger is also pedagogical. He channels it into teaching Bama, telling her that if they study hard and make progress, they can throw off these indignities. This is not passive rage; it is anger that seeks transformation. Annan's emotion is thus both a personal response to injustice and a call to action.

   ✓Final answer

   Annan feels anger (or indignation) on hearing Bama's account—a controlled, purposeful anger at the caste-based humiliation his community faces, which he immediately transforms into a lesson about the power of education to resist oppression.

2. CBSE 2026Set 1/3/11 mark
   Q.What do 'flickering oil lamps' suggest ? (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   The flickering oil lamps in Mukesh's home symbolize the fragile, uncertain existence of families trapped in the bangle-making industry of Firozabad — a life lived in perpetual darkness, poverty, and the absence of hope.

   The image of flickering oil lamps appears when Anees Jung describes her visit to Mukesh's home, and it is one of the most evocative visual details in the entire narrative. These lamps are not merely a source of light; they are a metaphor for the precarious, unstable lives of the bangle-makers and their families.

   First, the flickering suggests instability and impermanence. Just as the flame wavers and threatens to go out at any moment, so too do the lives of these families hang by a thread. There is no security, no certainty of the next meal, no guarantee that the children will escape the same fate as their parents. The light itself is weak, struggling — much like the people who live under it.

   Second, the oil lamps point to the absence of electricity, which in turn signals extreme poverty and marginalization. In a country where even basic infrastructure has reached many corners, Firozabad's bangle-makers remain in the dark, both literally and metaphorically. They are cut off from progress, from education, from the possibilities that light — in its fuller sense — represents.

   Note

   The contrast is deliberate: these families make beautiful, bright bangles that will adorn women at weddings and celebrations, yet their own homes are shrouded in dim, uncertain light. The irony is painful.

   Third, the flickering lamps evoke a sense of entrapment in a cycle that never ends. The dim light barely illuminates the squalor, the lack of ventilation, the oppressive conditions in which entire families work. It is a half-life, a twilight existence where neither full darkness nor full light prevails — just a perpetual, exhausting in-between.

   Finally, the image suggests the absence of hope and vision. Light is traditionally associated with knowledge, clarity, and aspiration. The flickering, inadequate light in Mukesh's home underscores how difficult it is for anyone in that environment to dream, to see beyond the immediate grind of survival. It is in this context that Mukesh's quiet determination to become a motor mechanic — to step into the light, as it were — becomes so remarkable.

   ✓Final answer

   In short, the flickering oil lamps symbolize the unstable, impoverished, and hope-starved existence of Firozabad's bangle-makers — a life lived in the shadows, where even the light is uncertain and weak.

3. CBSE 2026Set 1/3/11 markMCQ
   Q.Select the correct option from those given in brackets to fill in the blank: The description of the hutments highlights the ___________ (pathetic/comfortable) situation of the workers. (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   The description of the hutments highlights the pathetic situation of the workers, not a comfortable one.

   The question asks you to choose between 'pathetic' and 'comfortable' for the workers' situation, based on how their homes are described in "Lost Spring." The answer depends on recalling those details.

   Anees Jung describes the makeshift homes of the ragpickers' families on the edges of Delhi. These are not proper houses but 'hutments' — a word that itself suggests something crude, temporary and inadequate. The shelters have roofs of tin and tarpaulin, no drainage or sewage, and no running water, and they sit beside heaps of rubbish. The very choice of the word 'hutment' sets a tone of hardship rather than ease.

   Weigh that against 'comfortable.' Comfort implies ease and freedom from hardship — none of which these homes offer. Families live crowded together with no security, always at risk of being moved on, and the writer's tone is one of sympathy for people trapped in deep poverty. She contrasts these children's lives with those of more privileged children to sharpen the injustice.

   'Pathetic' here does not mean laughable; it means arousing pity and sadness. The description is meant to make us feel the grinding poverty these families endure, which is why it is the only fitting choice.

   ✓Final answer

   The description of the hutments highlights the pathetic situation of the workers, using images of fragile, makeshift shelters to evoke sympathy and underscore their harsh poverty.

4. CBSE 2026Set 1/3/11 mark
   Q.Complete the following suitably: The boys and girls sitting with their fathers and mothers in the dark hutments indicates ___________. (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   The image of children sitting with their parents in dark hutments reveals the perpetuation of poverty and the crushing of childhood dreams across generations in the bangle-making industry of Firozabad.

   The scene Anees Jung paints is one of inherited despair. When she describes boys and girls huddled with their fathers and mothers in the dim, suffocating spaces of Firozabad's slums, she is showing us more than just a family tableau. This is a portrait of a vicious cycle that refuses to break.

   These children are not in school. They are not playing in sunlit courtyards or dreaming of futures different from their parents'. Instead, they sit in the same cramped, airless rooms where their fathers and mothers have spent their lives — rooms thick with the dust of years, lit only by flickering lamps, where the work of bangle-making grinds on generation after generation. The darkness is both literal and metaphorical: these hutments lack proper light and ventilation, but they also represent the absence of hope, education, and opportunity.

   Important

   The family unit here is not a source of upward mobility but a trap. Children learn the same exploitative trade from their parents, ensuring that poverty becomes a family heirloom passed down with grim certainty.

   Jung emphasizes that these families are caught in a web spun by sahukars, middlemen, policemen, and the bureaucrats who enforce the law selectively. The parents know no other life, and so the children absorb this resignation. Sitting together in those dark spaces, they are being initiated into a world where childhood is a luxury they cannot afford, where dreams are stifled before they can take shape.

   The author contrasts this starkly with Saheb, the ragpicker who at least roams free under the open sky, and with her own implicit position as an observer who can leave. The children of Firozabad, however, are already half-blind from the furnace work, already bent into the postures of labor, already accepting that this is all there is.

   ✓Final answer

   In short, the image indicates the intergenerational transmission of poverty and exploitation — children inheriting not opportunity but bondage, their futures sealed in the same dark, airless spaces where their parents toil, with no escape from the cycle of deprivation in the bangle industry.

5. CBSE 2026Set 1/3/11 markMCQ
   Q.What does the given line from the extract showcase ? (A) expectation (B) conclusion (C) confusion (D) concession (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   The line showcases concession — a reluctant acceptance of a harsh reality, not expectation, conclusion or confusion.

   In "Lost Spring," the lives of the ragpickers and the bangle-makers are marked by a quiet, painful acknowledgement of circumstances they feel unable to change. The tone of such lines is not hopeful (expectation), nor a reasoned end to an argument (conclusion), nor bewildered (confusion). It is the tone of people giving in to a fate they cannot resist — which is exactly what concession means.

   Think of how the older generation speaks of their trade as something god-given, a lineage that cannot be broken. Calling it 'fate' is a way of accepting the unacceptable, of surrendering to a life of poverty because no escape seems possible. That resignation is the essence of concession.

   The other options do not fit. Expectation implies hope, which is largely absent; conclusion implies the close of a logical argument, but the mood here is emotional, not analytical; confusion implies not understanding the situation, yet these families understand their plight only too well — they simply cannot break free of it.

   ✓Final answer

   The line showcases concession — a resigned acceptance of a hard reality that offers no escape.

6. CBSE 2024Set 1/1/11 markMCQ
   Q.The ragpickers have been living there for ____________ decades. (A) three (B) four (C) two (D) five (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   Anees Jung writes in Lost Spring that the ragpickers of Seemapuri "have lived here for more than thirty years" — that is, three decades. The correct option is (A) three.

   The textual fact

   In Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood, Anees Jung describes Seemapuri, a settlement on the periphery of Delhi where about 10,000 ragpickers live. They are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971 — Saheb's family among them. The text states that they "have lived here for more than thirty years without an identity, without permits but with ration cards". "More than thirty years" is the phrase the question converts into decades: thirty years = three decades. This is a recall question, and the answer must come from the wording of the text itself, not from arithmetic done on the present year.

   Why the other options fail

   • (B) four and (D) five — Both inflate the figure beyond what the text says. The chapter pegs the duration at "more than thirty years"; the option that renders this in decades is three, and choosing a larger number substitutes our own calculation for the author's words.
   • (C) two — Understates the text; twenty years contradicts "more than thirty".

   Why the detail matters

   The three-decade span underlines the permanence of the community's displacement: for over thirty years they have lived in structures of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water — holding ration cards and voters' identities, yet denied a dignified existence. Garbage, to them, is "gold": their daily bread and a roof over their heads.

   ✓Final answer

   (A) three. The text of Lost Spring says the Seemapuri ragpickers "have lived here for more than thirty years" — three decades.

7. CBSE 2024Set 1/1/11 mark
   Q.Why do these people have ration cards? (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   Rag-pickers in Seemapuri hold ration cards because these documents serve as their only proof of identity and residence, making them "legitimate" citizens entitled to buy grain and, crucially, giving them the right to vote—a political necessity that ensures they are not evicted despite living in squalor.

   The ration card in Lost Spring is far more than a piece of paper for buying subsidized food. Anees Jung uses it as a symbol of the precarious citizenship of India's urban poor, particularly the community of Bangladeshi refugees who have settled in Seemapuri on the outskirts of Delhi.

   These families fled Bangladesh in 1971 during the war of independence, arriving in India with nothing. Seemapuri became their refuge—a wilderness of mud huts and open drains where they survive by rag-picking. They have no formal homes, no land titles, no employment records. In the eyes of the state, they are invisible.

   The ration card changes that invisibility into a fragile visibility. Here's why it matters so deeply to them:

   1. Proof of identity and residence

      Without birth certificates, property deeds, or any official documentation, the ration card becomes the sole proof that they exist as residents of India. It establishes their address, however temporary or illegal that settlement might be. In a bureaucratic system that demands documentation at every turn, this card is their passport to recognition.

   2. Access to subsidized food

      The immediate, practical function: it allows them to purchase grain and other essentials from the Public Distribution System at controlled prices. For families living hand-to-mouth on the earnings from selling garbage, even a small subsidy can mean the difference between hunger and survival.

   3. The right to vote—and political protection

      This is the deeper, more cynical reality Jung exposes. The ration card confers voting rights. Politicians need votes, and even the poorest, most marginalized communities represent a vote bank. By granting ration cards, the state acknowledges these refugees just enough to keep them politically useful. In return, the residents gain a shield against eviction: as long as they can vote, they have a claim—however tenuous—to remain where they are.

   Watch out

   Students often write that ration cards are "given to help the poor." That misses Jung's critical edge. The card is not pure charity; it is a political tool that keeps the poor visible enough to be counted (and used) but not visible enough to demand real change.

   Jung describes the ration card as proof that they are "citizens of India" and have a "right to vote." The irony is sharp: they have the right to vote but not the right to a dignified life. They are citizens on paper, yet they live in conditions that deny every promise of citizenship—education, sanitation, opportunity.

   The rag-pickers cling to these cards because, in a system that has given them nothing else, the card is their only anchor. It says: You exist. You belong—barely, but enough.

   ✓Final answer

   The people of Seemapuri hold ration cards because these serve as their only proof of identity and residence, entitle them to buy subsidized grain, and—most importantly—grant them the right to vote, which offers political protection against eviction despite their illegal settlement.

8. CBSE 2024Set 1/1/11 markMCQ
   Q.The women had a/an __________ approach towards life. (A) idealistic (B) passive (C) indifferent (D) practical (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   The women in "Lost Spring" are depicted as having a practical approach to life, driven by the harsh realities of poverty and the need for daily survival, rather than abstract ideals or passive acceptance. The correct option is (D).

   The question asks us to characterize the approach to life taken by the women in Anees Jung's "Lost Spring." To answer this, we need to recall the descriptions of the women in both sections of the story: the ragpickers of Seemapuri and the bangle makers of Firozabad. Their lives are marked by extreme poverty, lack of opportunity, and a constant struggle for existence. This context is crucial for understanding their mindset.

   1. Analyze the context of the women's lives in "Lost Spring."

      The story portrays women living in dire conditions. In Seemapuri, they are migrants who scrounge through garbage for survival, building makeshift homes and raising families with no access to basic amenities. In Firozabad, they are trapped in the hereditary profession of bangle-making, working in dark, unventilated hovels, often losing their eyesight, with no hope of breaking free from the cycle of poverty. Their daily existence is a battle for food, shelter, and the continuation of their family's livelihood.

   2. Evaluate option (A) idealistic.

      "Idealistic" means having a belief in or pursuing ideals, often in an unrealistic way. The women in "Lost Spring" do not have the luxury of idealism. Their lives are too grounded in the immediate, harsh realities of survival. They are not shown dreaming of grand futures or striving for abstract principles; their focus is on the tangible needs of the present.

   3. Evaluate option (B) passive.

      "Passive" implies accepting what happens without active response or resistance. While the women might appear resigned to their fate, their daily lives are far from passive. They are actively engaged in arduous labour – ragpicking, making bangles, cooking, raising children – all essential for their families' survival. Their actions, though repetitive and seemingly without hope for change, are a continuous, active effort to sustain life.

   4. Evaluate option (C) indifferent.

      "Indifferent" means having no particular interest or sympathy; unconcerned. This does not fit the portrayal of the women. They are deeply concerned with their families' well-being, even if their expressions of this concern are limited to their daily toil. The old woman in Firozabad, for instance, speaks of her husband's ability to provide a roof over their heads as an achievement, showing a clear concern for basic needs, not indifference.

   5. Evaluate option (D) practical.

      "Practical" means concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas; sensible and realistic. This option aligns perfectly with the women's depiction. Their entire existence is geared towards practical matters: finding food, earning a meagre living, maintaining their homes, and raising their children under incredibly difficult circumstances. They focus on what needs to be done now to survive, rather than dwelling on what could be or what should be. Their approach is rooted in the tangible, immediate necessities of life.

      Tip

      When analyzing character traits in literature, always connect the trait directly to the character's actions, words, and the circumstances they face within the story. For the women in "Lost Spring," their actions (working tirelessly, managing households) in their circumstances (poverty, lack of education, no escape) strongly point to a practical mindset.

   The women's lives are a testament to their practical approach, where every action is a step towards ensuring another day of survival for themselves and their families.

   ✓Final answer

   The women in "Lost Spring" had a (D) practical approach towards life.

9. CBSE 2024Set 1/2/11 markMCQ
   Q.'Rag-picking has acquired the proportion of a fine art' means: (A) artistic bend of mind is required. (B) it has proportionately displaced art. (C) it has become a highly skilful activity. (D) it has discovered pieces of art. (Lost Spring)

   ›Reveal solutionSolution

   The phrase "Rag-picking has acquired the proportion of a fine art" means that rag-picking has become an activity requiring significant skill and expertise, making (C) the correct option.

   The phrase "Rag-picking has acquired the proportion of a fine art" is a metaphorical expression used to describe the nature of the activity. To understand it, we need to consider what "fine art" implies and how an activity can "acquire the proportion" of something else.

   "Fine art" traditionally refers to art forms like painting, sculpture, music, and literature, which are valued for their aesthetic beauty, intellectual stimulation, and the high level of skill, dedication, and often creativity required to produce them. When something "acquires the proportion of" a fine art, it means it has taken on characteristics, significance, or a level of complexity and skill comparable to that of fine art. It suggests an elevation in status or perception, not necessarily that it is art, but that it resembles art in its execution.

   In the context of "Lost Spring," where children engage in rag-picking, this phrase highlights that the act of sifting through garbage for valuable items is not a random or simple task. It requires a keen eye, knowledge of what to look for, quick reflexes, and a systematic approach – qualities that elevate it beyond mere scavenging to a highly refined and skilled activity.

   1. Analyze the phrase "acquired the proportion of a fine art":

      • "Acquired the proportion of" means it has reached a level or status comparable to.
      • "A fine art" signifies an activity demanding high skill, precision, dedication, and often a certain aesthetic or refined approach.
      • Therefore, the entire phrase suggests that rag-picking, despite its humble nature, has evolved into an activity that requires considerable expertise and is performed with a certain level of mastery, much like a skilled artisan practices their craft.

   2. Evaluate option (A) artistic bend of mind is required:

      • While "fine art" is associated with creativity, the primary emphasis here is on the skill and method of the activity, not necessarily an artistic temperament in the sense of creating beauty. Rag-picking is about finding value, not creating it. This option is too narrow and slightly misdirected.

   3. Evaluate option (B) it has proportionately displaced art:

      • This interpretation suggests that rag-picking has taken the place of art, which is incorrect. The phrase is about the nature of rag-picking itself, not its relationship to other art forms in terms of displacement.

   4. Evaluate option (C) it has become a highly skilful activity:

      • This aligns perfectly with our understanding. If an activity is compared to "fine art," it implies that it is no longer a simple, random chore but one that demands significant skill, experience, precision, and perhaps even a certain dedication or ritualistic approach from those who practice it. The rag-pickers develop an expertise in identifying valuable items amidst waste, making it a highly skilled endeavor.

   5. Evaluate option (D) it has discovered pieces of art:

      • This misinterprets "fine art" as actual art objects found during rag-picking. The phrase refers to the activity of rag-picking itself, not the items it yields. The author is commenting on how rag-picking is done, not what is found.

   ✓Final answer

   The phrase means that rag-picking has become a highly skilful activity, so the correct option is (C).

10. CBSE 2024Set 1/2/11 mark
    Q.State whether the given statement is True or False with reference to the extract: The children and their parents have left Dhaka to live in Seemapuri. (Lost Spring)

    ›Reveal solutionSolution

    The statement is False. The extract describes ragpickers from Bangladesh who have migrated to Seemapuri, but they are not specifically from Dhaka, and the text does not establish that all families originated there.

    The question tests close reading of the extract from Lost Spring by Anees Jung, specifically the passage about Seemapuri and the lives of the ragpicker community. Understanding migration patterns and the author's precise language matters here.

    When we examine what the text actually says, we need to distinguish between what is explicitly stated and what might be assumed. The extract mentions that Seemapuri is home to migrants from Bangladesh who came in 1971, but the author does not specify Dhaka as their city of origin. The passage describes them as refugees who fled their country, settling on the periphery of Delhi in a place that became Seemapuri.

    The critical detail is this: while Bangladesh is mentioned as the country of origin, and while Dhaka is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, the text never names Dhaka specifically. The ragpickers could have come from any part of Bangladesh—rural villages, smaller towns, or indeed Dhaka—but the extract does not provide that level of geographic specificity.

    Watch out

    A common error is to assume that migrants from a country must come from its capital city. The text says "Bangladesh," not "Dhaka," and this distinction matters for a statement marked True or False.

    The families described are indeed living in Seemapuri with their children, and they did leave Bangladesh. But the statement makes a claim about Dhaka that the extract does not support.

    ✓Final answer

    The statement is False because the extract does not specify Dhaka as the city of origin for the migrant families in Seemapuri.

11. CBSE 2023Set 1/2/11 markMCQ
    Q.Which of the following would NOT be true?

    (a) The hutments were shining and inviting.

    (b) The children's lives were as bleak as their surrounding.

    (c) There were no electricity connections.

    (d) The boys and girls had got used to the dark. (Lost Spring)

    ›Reveal solutionSolution

    The story "Lost Spring" depicts the grim reality of poverty; therefore, the statement that the hutments were "shining and inviting" is false. The correct option is (a).

    The core idea behind answering this question is to recall the vivid descriptions and themes presented in Anees Jung's "Lost Spring." The story is a poignant portrayal of the impoverished lives of street children and bangle-makers in India, highlighting their lack of basic amenities, exploitation, and the bleakness of their existence. To determine which statement is not true, we must compare each option against the established reality of the characters' lives and surroundings as depicted in the text.

    1. Analyze Option (a): "The hutments were shining and inviting."

       The story describes the dwellings of the impoverished as "hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows," often "choked with stinking garbage." These descriptions paint a picture of extreme squalor and dilapidation, which is the antithesis of "shining and inviting." The author deliberately uses stark imagery to convey the harsh living conditions. Therefore, this statement directly contradicts the narrative.

    2. Analyze Option (b): "The children's lives were as bleak as their surrounding."

       "Lost Spring" is replete with examples of the children's bleak lives. Saheb, the ragpicker, lives a life of scavenging, while the children in Firozabad are trapped in the hazardous bangle-making industry, often losing their eyesight and health. Their surroundings are slums, garbage heaps, and dark, unventilated workshops. The story consistently draws a parallel between their grim environment and their hopeless future. This statement accurately reflects the reality presented in the story.

    3. Analyze Option (c): "There were no electricity connections."

       The narrative explicitly mentions the lack of basic amenities in the hutments. For instance, the bangle-makers work in "dark hovels next to lines of flickering oil lamps," indicating the absence of proper electricity. The general description of their poverty-stricken existence implies a lack of such fundamental infrastructure. This statement is consistent with the story's depiction of their living conditions.

    4. Analyze Option (d): "The boys and girls had got used to the dark."

       This is particularly true for the bangle-makers in Firozabad. They spend their childhood working in "dingy cells without the light and air," often in front of "flickering oil lamps" or "furnaces with high temperatures." Their eyes adjust to the dark more readily than to the light outside, leading to a loss of eyesight before adulthood. This adaptation to darkness is a tragic consequence of their profession and is a central theme in the Firozabad section of the story. This statement is true.

    Watch out

    When answering questions based on literary texts, always refer back to the specific details and descriptions provided by the author. Avoid making assumptions or bringing in outside knowledge that isn't directly supported by the text. The author's choice of words is crucial.

    By evaluating each option against the detailed descriptions in "Lost Spring," it becomes clear that the statement about "shining and inviting" hutments is entirely false and contradicts the author's portrayal of poverty.

    ✓Final answer

    The statement that would NOT be true is (a) The hutments were shining and inviting.

12. CBSE 2023Set 1/2/11 markMCQ
    Q.The bangle workers lose their eyesight before they became adults because

    (a) they already have poor eyesight.

    (b) they work in dim light.

    (c) they are married in childhood.

    (d) they are malnourished. (Lost Spring)

    ›Reveal solutionSolution

    The bangle workers of Firozabad lose their eyesight before adulthood because they work in dim light, welding glass in poorly lit, cramped conditions that destroy their vision.

    The story "Lost Spring" by Anees Jung paints a devastating portrait of child labour in Firozabad, the bangle-making capital of India. Among the many cruelties inflicted on these children, the loss of eyesight stands out as both a physical tragedy and a symbol of stolen futures. To understand why this happens, we need to look at the actual conditions in which these children work.

    The bangle industry operates in dark, dingy cells where families have worked for generations. Children as young as Mukesh sit alongside adults in rooms with little to no ventilation, welding pieces of coloured glass over flickering oil lamps or small furnaces. The light is poor—often just the glow of the furnace itself—and the work demands intense, sustained focus on tiny, delicate pieces of glass. Hour after hour, day after day, year after year, these young eyes strain in the gloom to see the intricate work their survival depends on.

    The text makes this connection explicit. The author describes how these children work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light. The constant exposure to this environment—the combination of heat, poor lighting, and the need to focus on minute detail—systematically destroys their vision. By the time they reach adulthood, if they reach it with their sight at all, many are already half-blind.

    Note

    While malnutrition and poverty certainly weaken these children's overall health, the text specifically identifies the working conditions—the dim light and the nature of the work itself—as the direct cause of blindness. It is an occupational hazard, not merely a consequence of poverty.

    The other options, while reflecting real aspects of these children's lives, do not explain the blindness. They are not born with poor eyesight; they lose it. Child marriage, though mentioned as part of the cycle of poverty and tradition that traps families like Mukesh's, does not cause blindness. Malnutrition weakens them, yes, but it is the relentless labour in darkness that takes their sight.

    ✓Final answer

    In short, the bangle workers lose their eyesight before adulthood because (b) they work in dim light—welding glass in dark, airless rooms where the strain on their eyes is unrelenting and irreversible.