Question 7 (Choice 2)
The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home.'
(The Lost Spring)
'...far from the city we make our roadside stand and ask for some city money to feel in hand'.
(A Roadside Stand)
Create a conversation between a bangle maker and the owner of a roadside stand with reference to the above extracts.
You may begin the conversation like this:
Owner of a roadside stand: Your bangles are pretty. Tell me about your experience in this business.
Answer:
- The bangle maker from Firozabad shares how bangle makers cannot do anything else but make bangles. This job does not pay them enough. The lack of money prevents them from getting educated. This in turn makes it hard for them to find other jobs, thereby allowing for the vicious cycle of poverty to continue.
- The owner of the roadside stand shares how they wait all day for city people to stop by and buy something from them so that they can earn a little money.
- Both of them are plagued by poverty and are unable to make ends meet.
- While the bangle makers of Firozabad are afraid that the police, bureaucrats and the sahukars will punish them for forming a collective to assert their rights, the people of the countryside are misled by the promises of the government and other agencies who pretend to help them.
- There seems to be no solution to help the bangle makers or the owners of roadside stands to improve their financial positions.
