IT was the festival of spring. From the wintry shades of narrow lanes and alleys emerged a gaily clad humanity. Some walked, some rode on horses, others sat, being carried in bamboo and bullock carts. One little boy ran between his father’s legs, brimming over with life and laughter.
“Come, child, come,” called his parents, as he lagged behind, fascinated by the toys in the shops that lined the way.
He hurried towards his parents, his feet obedient to their call, his eyes still lingering on the receding toys. As he came to where they had stopped to wait for him, he could not suppress the desire of his heart, even though he well knew the old, cold stare of refusal in their eyes.
“I want that toy,” he pleaded.
His father looked at him red-eyed, in his familiar tyrant’s way. His mother, melted by the free spirit of the day was tender and, giving him her finger to hold, said, “Look, child, what is before you!”
It was a flowering mustard-field, pale like melting gold as it swept across miles and miles of even land.
A group of dragon-flies were bustling about on their gaudy purple wings, intercepting the flight of a lone black bee or butterfly in search of sweetness from the flowers. The child followed them in the air with his gaze, till one of them would still its wings and rest, and he would try to catch it. But it would go fluttering, flapping, up into the air, when he had almost caught it in his hands. Then his mother gave a cautionary call: “Come, child, come, come on to the footpath.”
He ran towards his parents gaily and walked abreast of them for a while, being, however, soon left behind, attracted by the little insects and worms along the footpath that were teeming out from their hiding places to enjoy the sunshine.
“Come, child, come!” his parents called from the shade of a grove where they had seated themselves on the edge of a well. He ran towards them.
A shower of young flowers fell upon the child as he entered the grove, and, forgetting his parents, he began to gather the raining petals in his hands. But lo! he heard the cooing of doves and ran towards his parents, shouting, “The dove! The dove!” The raining petals dropped from his forgotten hands.
“Come, child, come!” they called to the child, who had now gone running in wild capers round the banyan tree, and gathering him up they took the narrow, winding footpath which led to the fair through the mustard fields.
He hurried towards his parents, his feet
obedient to their call, his eyes
still lingering on the receding toys. As he came to where they had stopped to wait for him, he could
not suppress the desire of his heart, even though he well knew the old, cold stare of refusal
in their eyes.
“I want that toy,” he pleaded.
His father looked at him red-eyed, in his familiar
tyrant’s way. His mother, melted by the free spirit of the day was tender and, giving him her finger
to hold, said, “Look, child,
what is before you!”
It was a
flowering mustard-field, pale like melting gold as it swept across miles and miles of even land.
A group of dragon-flies were bustling about
on their gaudy purple wings,
intercepting the flight
of a lone black bee or butterfly
in search of sweetness from the flowers.
The child followed
them in the air with his
gaze, till one of them would still its wings and rest, and he would try to catch it. But it would go fluttering, flapping, up into the air, when he had
almost caught it in his hands. Then
his mother gave a cautionary call: “Come, child, come, come on to the footpath.”
He ran towards
his parents gaily and walked abreast of them for a while, being, however,
soon left behind,
attracted by the little
insects and worms along the footpath that were teeming out from their hiding places to enjoy the sunshine.
“Come, child, come!” his parents called from the shade of a grove
where they had seated themselves on the edge of a well. He ran towards them.
A shower of young flowers
fell upon the child as he entered
the grove, and, forgetting his parents, he began to gather the raining
petals in his hands. But lo! he heard the cooing of doves and ran towards
his parents, shouting, “The dove! The dove!” The raining petals dropped
from his forgotten
hands.
“Come, child, come!” they called to the child,
who had now gone
running in wild capers round the
banyan tree, and gathering him
up they took the narrow, winding footpath which led to the fair through the mustard fields.
As they neared the village the child could see many other footpaths full of throngs, converging to the whirlpool of the fair, and felt at once repelled and fascinated by the confusion of the world he was entering.
A sweetmeat seller hawked, “gulab-jaman, rasagulla, burfi, jalebi,” at
the corner of the entrance and a crowd pressed round his counter at the foot of an architecture of many coloured
sweets, decorated with
leaves of silver and gold. The child stared open- eyed and his mouth watered for the burfi that was his favourite sweet.
“I want that burfi,” he slowly murmured. But he half knew as he begged that his plea would not be heeded because
his parents would say he was greedy.
So without waiting
for an answer he moved on.
A flower-seller hawked, “A garland of gulmohur, a garland of gulmohur!” The child seemed irresistibly drawn. He went towards the basket where the flowers lay heaped and half murmured, “I want that garland.” But he well knew his parents would refuse to buy him those flowers because they would say that they were cheap. So, without waiting for an answer, he moved on.
A man stood holding a pole with yellow, red, green and purple balloons flying from it. The child was simply carried away by the rainbow glory of their silken colours and he was filled with an overwhelming desire to possess them all. But he well knew his parents would never buy him the balloons because they would say he was too old to play with such toys. So he walked on farther.
A snake-charmer stood playing a
flute to a snake which coiled itself in a basket, its head raised in a graceful
bend like the neck of a swan, while the music stole into its invisible ears like the gentle rippling
of an invisible waterfall. The child went towards the snake-charmer. But, knowing his parents had forbidden him to hear such coarse music as the snake-charmer played, he
proceeded farther.
There was a roundabout in full swing. Men, women and children, carried away in a whirling
motion, shrieked and cried with dizzy laughter. The child watched
them intently and then he made
a bold request: “I want to go on the roundabout, please, Father, Mother.”
There was no reply. He turned to look at his
parents. They were not
there, ahead of him. He turned to look on either side. They were not there. He looked
behind. There was no sign of them.
A full, deep cry rose within his dry throat and with a sudden jerk of his body he ran from where he stood, crying in real fear, “Mother, Father.” Tears rolled down from his eyes, hot and fierce; his flushed face was convulsed with fear. Panic-stricken, he ran to one side first, then to the other, hither
and thither in all directions, knowing not where to go. “Mother, Father,”
he wailed. His yellow turban came untied and his clothes
became muddy. Having
run to and fro in a rage of running
for a while,
he stood defeated, his cries suppressed into sobs. At little distances
on the green grass he could see, through his filmy eyes, men and women talking.
He tried to look intently
among the patches
of bright yellow clothes, but there was no sign of his father and mother among these people, who seemed to laugh and talk just
for the sake of laughing and talking.
He ran quickly again, this time to a shrine
to which people seemed to be crowding.
Every little inch of space here was congested with men, but he ran through people’s
legs, his little
sob lingering: “Mother, Father!” Near the entrance to the temple, however, the crowd became very thick: men
jostled each other, heavy men, with flashing,
murderous eyes and hefty shoulders. The poor child struggled to thrust a way between their feet
but, knocked to and fro by their brutal movements, he might have
been trampled underfoot, had he not shrieked at
the highest pitch of his voice, “Father, Mother!” A
man in the surging crowd heard his cry and,
stooping with great
difficulty, lifted him up in his arms.
“How did you get here, child? Whose baby are you?” the man asked as he steered clear of the mass. The child wept more bitterly than ever now and only cried, “I want my mother, I want my father!”
The man tried
to soothe him by taking
him to the roundabout. “Will you have a ride on the horse?” he
gently asked as he approached
the ring. The child’s throat tore into a thousand shrill sobs and he only shouted,
“I want my mother, I want my father!”
The man headed towards the place where the snake-charmer still played on the flute
to the swaying cobra. “Listen
to that nice music, child!” he pleaded. But the child shut his ears
with his fingers and shouted his
double-pitched strain: “I want my mother, I want my father!” The man took him near the balloons, thinking the bright colours of the balloons would distract the child’s attention and quieten him. “Would
you like a rainbow- coloured
balloon?” he persuasively asked. The
child turned his eyes from the flying balloons and just sobbed,
“I want my mother, I want my father!”
The man, still trying to make the child
happy, bore him to the gate where the
flower-seller sat. “Look! Can you smell those nice flowers, child! Would you like a garland to put round your neck?”
The child turned
his nose away from the basket and reiterated his sob, “I want my mother, I want my father!”
Thinking to humour his disconsolate charge by a gift of sweets, the man took him to the counter of the sweet shop. “What sweets would you like, child?” he asked. The child turned his face from the sweet shop and only sobbed, “I want my mother, I want my father!”
MULK RAJ ANAND
Exercise
Question Answers
Please find given below the Lost Child Class 9 Questions and Answers
1. 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 sees the following things-
1. He saw toys that were displayed in the shops lined up on the way.
2. He saw the vast mustard field which seemed like melting gold.
3. There were brightly coloured dragonflies, butterflies and black bees which flapped their wings and sat on the flowers to suck nectar from them.
4. He also saw little insects and worms along the footpath that were crawling out of the holes in the footpath to get sunshine.
5. The child saw a dove bird in the grove.
6. 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.
2. 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 the following things-
1. He wanted to buy a burfi from the sweetmeat seller.
2. He wanted a garland of flowers from the flower seller.
3. Next, he saw a balloon seller and wanted a balloon.
4. When he saw the snake – charmer he was attracted to the music of the flute and wanted to listen to it.
5. 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 their replies in each case would be as follows –
1. For the burfi, they would say that he was a greedy child.
2. The garland of flowers would not be bought because it was considered cheap.
3. They would not buy him a balloon because he was grown up to play with it.
4. The child’s parents had warned him from listening to such unpleasant music as was played by the snake – charmers.
3. When does he realize 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-
1. The child saw hefty men with murderous eyes and got scared of them.
2. He ran here and there looking for his parents.
3. His turban untied.
4. His clothes became dirty.
5. He was screaming at the top of his voice.
4. 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.
5. 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.