Chapter - 1: The Lost Child
I. Answer the following questions.
1. What are the things the child sees on his way to the fair? Why does he lag behind?Ans: The child sees a number of things on his way to the fair: toy shops, sweetmeat sellers, a flower seller, a balloon seller, a snake charmer, and a roundabout swing. He lags behind because he is attracted by these things and stops to look at them.
2. In the fair, he wants many things. What are they? Why does he move on without waiting for an answer?Ans: In the fair, the child wants many things: toys, sweets, a garland of flowers, balloons, and to hear the snake charmer’s music. He moves on without waiting for an answer because he knows his parents will refuse, as they usually do.
3. When does he realize that he has lost his way? How have his anxiety and insecurity been described?Ans: He realizes that he has lost his way when, after looking at the roundabout, he turns to ask his parents for a ride and does not find them. His anxiety and insecurity are described through his panic-stricken reaction: he starts crying, runs in search of his parents, and feels fear and insecurity when he cannot find them.
4. Why does the lost child lose interest in the things that he had wanted earlier?Ans: The lost child loses interest in the things he had wanted earlier because his primary concern becomes finding his parents. The toys, sweets, garland, balloons, and the snake charmer’s music no longer matter to him; he only wants his parents back.
5. What do you think happens in the end? Does the child find his parents?Ans: The story does not provide a clear answer about whether the child finds his parents or not. It ends with the man trying to comfort the child by offering him various things from the fair, but the child’s response is only to cry for his parents. The open-ended conclusion leaves it to the reader's imagination whether the child is eventually reunited with his parents.
