CBSE Class 12-science Answered

Through the two short stories Anees Jung highlights the heart breaking realities of the extremely poor families living on the fringes of the society and forced to work as rag pickers or bangle makers, etc. She mainly focuses on the deprivation that the children from such families face.  

In both the stories, the children cannot even foresee a life free of labour and poverty. They are brought up to accept their current condition as their fate and daring to dream is not an alternative. Saheb and his friends believe that wearing footwear was not in the tradition of their forefathers. Mukesh’s grandmother in the second story implies something similar when she says “It is his karam, his destiny,”

When Saheb was a rag picker he was free to rummage through the garbage and marvel at the things he found there. His mind was free so his burden was light. Now however he is weighed down by the weight of the containers which belong to someone else.

For Saheb, though the job at the tea stall gains him food and a steady sum of money, it steals him of his free will. Though he has food to eat he looses the glow of his face.  

Mukesh and his family are also trapped in the bangle making factory. For him freedom means to be his own master this he aims to achieve by becoming a car mechanic even if it means he would have to walk for long hours each day to learn the trade.