CBSE Class 9 English The Lost Child Worksheet

The Lost Child

About the WRITER (Mulk Raj Anand)

Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004) was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. He is a Prominent Indian author of novels,short stories, and critical essays in English, who is known for his realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the poor in India.

The Theme of the Story

This story concentrates on the universality of a child's desire for everything. It is a short story about a child, his aspiration, demands, and realization. The story is mainly focused on the awareness of parents. The message is, we really don't understand the true value of parents and take them as granted. The significance of parents is only revealed once they are out of sight and we realize that the world is upside down. That is what the little child realized once he got lost in a fair. The ending is emotional as the reader keeps on guessing whether the lost child would have finally found his parents or not.

Summary
The little child was excited because he was visiting the fair. This journey to the fair was overwhelming. On the way, he was often attracted by things which he witnessed. In the fair, he was attracted by the toys displayed in the shop. he wanted to buy toys but his parents refused to buy them. There were sweet shops in the fair and several types of sweets such as Gulabjamun, Rasogulla, Burfi, Jalebi were displayed in the plates. The child wanted to eat them. His favorite sweet was Burfi. His mouth watered. But his parents paid no attention to his request. He was attracted by beautiful flowers,snake charmer etc.
He often walked behind his parents and sometimes he was attracted by things in the fair, he lagged behind his parents. In the meantime, his parents also gave him a cautionary call, "Come,child, come!".
Finally, he came to the place where a roundabout was in full swing, Men, women, and children a carried away in a whirling motion. They shrieked and cried with dizzy laughter. The child also wanted to go on the roundabout. He made a request to fulfill his desire, but there was no reply from his parents. Actually, he was attracted by the roundabout. He stayed and watched the roundabout. To his surprise, when he turned to look for his parents, he did not find them. Actually, he was lost.
A kind man from the crowd forward and picked him up in his arms. He was ready to buy all the things he wanted earlier. But he refused them. He only said," I want my mother, I want my father".

LEARN AND WRITE THE QUESTION ANSWERS IN YOUR COPY.

Question. What are the things the child sees on his way to the fair? Why does he lag behind?
Answer. On his way to the fair, the child saw toys that were displayed in the shops lined up on the way.He saw the vast mustard field which seemed like melting gold. There were brightly coloured dragonflies, butterflies and black bees which flapped their wings and sat on the flowers to suck nectar from them.He also saw little insects and worms along the footpath that were crawling out of the holes in the footpath to get sunshine.The child saw a dove bird in the grove.Also, he saw hordes of people walking towards the fair.The child often lagged behind because he would watch the different happenings around him. He would get attracted to these things and would stop in his way. Then, his parents would walk ahead and he would be left behind.

Question. In the fair he wants many things. What are they? Why does he move on without waiting for an answer?
Answer. In the fair, the boy wanted to buy a burfi from the sweetmeat seller. He wanted a garland of flowers from the flower seller. Next, he saw a balloon seller and wanted a balloon.When he saw the snake - charmer he was attracted to the music of the flute and wanted to listen to it.He wanted to take a ride on the roundabout swing.The child moved ahead from all the stalls without waiting for a reply because he knew that his parents would not heed to his demands. He knew that their replies would be negative in each case.

Question. When does he realise that he has lost his way? How have his anxiety and insecurity been described?
Answer. When the child raised his demand for a ride on the round about, his parents did not reply. He moved his head up to look for them. It was then that he discovered that he had lost his way. His anxiety and insecurity have been described in the following ways-The child saw hefty men with murderous eyes and got scared of them.He ran here and there looking for his parents. His turban untied and his clothes became dirty. He was screaming at the top of his voice.

Question. Why does the lost child lose interest in the things that he had wanted earlier?
Answer. The lost child loses interest in the things that he wanted earlier because now he is sad as he has lost his parents. Before getting anything of his choice like sweets, flowers, balloons, joy rides and music, he wants to reunite with his mother and father.

Question. What do you think happens in the end? Does the child find his parents?
Answer. The ending of the story is not given. I think that in the end, the boy finds his parents standing at the fair reception. Thus, the child finds his parents and they reunite once again.

HOME ASSIGNMENT
1.Explain the child’s condition before separation and after separation from his parents.
2.What would you do if you are in the same situation.

Questions..

I. Answer the following in 3 – 4 sentences each:

1. What did the Professor mean by “intelligent reading”?

2. Private Quelch looked like a ‘Professor’ when the author first met him at the training depot. Why?

3. Give two instances to show that Private Quelch worked hard in pursuit of his ambition.

4. What do you think annoyed the soldiers and they began disapproving the ways of the Professor?

5. Describe Mr. Bramble as he has been described in the story.

6. Why was it necessary to keep Harold’s father’s profession a secret from him?

7. How was Harold different from ordinary children?

8. How did Bill Bramble regard his profession before the coming of Harold?

9. How did Harold differ from his parents? What was he told about his father’s profession?

10. What had Harold’s ‘perfection’ made necessary? How did the parents react?

11. What were John A. Pescud’s views on life and ethic?

12. Why do you think Pescud found the bestseller’s so uninteresting?

13. What fault, according to Pescud, did ‘The Rose Lady and Trevelyan’ suffer from?

14. What did Jessie tell John about her family and mansion?

15. How did John’s first meeting with Jessie’s father go?

16. What are the main characteristics of a soldier? Mention any four.

17. Shakespeare describes the dejected lover ‘sighing like a furnace’. Explain the simile.

18. What happens to man’s voice in old age?

19. How does man look like in the last stage of life?

20. Why does the conscience of the poet prick her in ‘Oh I wish I’d looked after me teeth’?

21. How did the poet behave towards her mother?