Chapter 2 Children at Work Important Questions Class 8 It So Happened English
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What problems did Velu face when he stood on Chennai platform?
Answer
Velu was alone, tired and hungry. He felt miserable. For two days, he had eaten nothing except some peanuts. He was penniless and homeless too.
Question 2. Which big building did the girl show to Velu?
Answer
The girl showed the building of Central Jail to Velu.
Question 3. What sort of things did Jaya and children like her collect and what did they do with those things?
Answer
Jaya alongwith similar children collect paper, plastic, glass. They sell it to Jaggu in Jam Bazaar who further sells it to a factory.
Question 4. Why was he indecisive about following the girl?
Answer
He was knew to the city, the girl was the first one who interacted with him and offered food. So he was not certain about anything.
Question 5. How was he feeling when he got down from the train?
Answer
Velu was unsteady and uncomfortable when he got down from the train.
Question 6. Describe the appearance of Jaya.
Answer
She wore a long banian that came down to her knees. Her hair was stiff brown and she had a huge sack on her one shoulder. She was picking up dirty plastic cups from the floor and stuffing them into her sack.
Question 7. How did Velu reach Chennai Central?
Answer
Velu reached Chennai Central after reaching Kannur on foot for a day through Kanyakumari express.
Question 8. How did Jaya earn her livelihood?
Answer
Jaya was a small girl who lived in a cottage near a dirty drain. She was a ragpicker. She earned her livelihood by collecting paper, plastic, glass and even food from the dustbins and heaps of rubbish.
Question 9. What work does the girl ask Velu to do?
Answer
The girl asked Velu to collect paper, plastic, glass etc. from the rubbish.
Question 10. Is Velu happy or unhappy to find work? Give a reason for your answer.
Answer
Velu was not happy initially but he had no other option. This seemed to him all right until he was able to find a better job, he tried to be happy.
Question 11. Why did Velu’s legs felt wobbly when he got off the train?
Answer
Velu’s legs felt wobbly when he got off the train because he had travelled a long journey and he felt as if he were still on a moving train.
Question 12. What was the name of the big building?
Answer
“Sri Rajarajeshwari Prasanna Kalyana Mandapam”.
Question 13. Name the train which Velu boarded.
Answer
Kanyakumari Express.
Question 14. What is more serious then committing a crime to Jaya?
Answer
Jaya had opined that it is very wrong to get caught. When Velu said that he was not afraid of jail as he did not do anything wrong. Jaya emphasized that he should not get caught anyhow.
Question 15. How was Velu’s journey in the train?
Answer
Velu entered an unreserved compartment and tried to sleep on the floor near the door. A group of men next to him had played cards and shouted all night, so, it was spent miserably.
Question 16. What was arrangement of lunch?
Answer
Jaya informed him that once the lunch is served in the marriage function, they could have the leftover for lunch.
Question 17. Which other time did Velu see so many people?
Answer
Velu saw so many people only once a year at the fair of his village.
Question 18. What did he observe at the platform?
Answer
Velu at first was shocked to see so many people at one place. People were in a hurry with their suitcase and even hit him. Announcement on loudspeaker was terrible to him.
Question 19. What made Velu’s head spin?
Answer
Velu was walking on the road and the vehicles were constantly passing by him. Smoke and dust flow at him. The experience on the road made him spin.
Question 20. Why could Velu not understand what was written on the sign boards?
Answer
Velu could not understand what was written on the sign board because it was written in English.
Question 21. What did Velu observed at the living place of Jaya?
Answer
Jaya lived in stinky lanes near puddles of water. The hutments were built out of metal sheets, tyres bricks, woods and plastics. They were crooked and might fall any time.
Question 22. How old was Velu when he left his home? Why did he leave his home?
Answer
Velu was eleven when he ran away from home. He took this risk because he could not tolerate his drunkard father’s beating.
Question 23. How roads were better in village as compared to city for Velu?
Answer
Velu was walking bare feet on the road in Chennai. Those were burning due to hotter and burning sun. Whereas in villages the road were muddy, thus he felt moist and soft to walk on the roads in village.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. Velu was optimistic and had not become the victim of poverty. What could be his strength to survive?
Answer
Velu ran away from his village and came to Chennai. He worked in the farms and his earning were spent by his father on his drink. He left the village for a better place. But when he reached Chennai, he had to eat from garbage and had to walk bare feet on the road. Then he compared his village life with his present. The hutments and the job of rag picking was depressing to him. Yet he had not lost his heart. He decided to change for a better job once he get an opportunity. He did not like to compromise. It is evident that he would come out from such undignified life. His optimism is very obvious from his. statement.
Question 2. (i) What material are the ‘Strange’ huts made out of?
(ii) Why does Velu find them strange?
Answer
(i) The ‘Strange’ huts were made out of metal sheets, tyres, bricks, wood and plastic.
(ii) Velu found the huts strange because in his village. The houses were made of mud and palm leaves. The huts he saw were made up of all sorts of things and looked like as if they would fall any moment.
Question 3. Is Velu a smart boy? Which instances in the text shows that he is or isn’t.
Answer
Yes. Velu seems to be a smart boy. He ran away from his village because of bad circumstances. When he reached Chennai, the girl, who was a ragpicker, .tried to help him. Initially, he thought of not taking her help. However, he was smart enough to realize that he was very hungry and did not know where to go. Therefore, he followed the girl. He knew how to read Tamil. When the girl asked him to eat the banana that she found in the garbage, he refused at first. However, he quickly realised that the girl very strange, still he continued to walk along with her. He tried to understand why she collected rubbish. He knew that he had not come to the big city to collect rubbish; however, he adjusted to the circumstances and decided to do the same work till we found a better job.
Question 4. Under what circumstances did Velu become a ragpicker?
Answer
Velu was an eleven years old boy. He ran away from home because his father was addicted to drinking. He used to beat him and his sister and snatched whatever they earned. He came to Chennai where he met a girl of his own age. The girl was carrying a big sack on her back. She was picking up plastic cups and putting them into the sack. Seeing Velu in a miserable condition she took pity on him and got food for him. She brought Velu to her hut, which was built out of wood, plastic and sheets. She gave him a pair of old shoes, a sack and a stick. He wondered what work she wanted him to do. She told him that he was now a ragpicker like her. He too now had to collect things from waste materials. Velu was alone in that big city. He had no option and therefore accepted the job of a ragpicker.
Question 5. There are various laws for the betterment of children yet no noticeable change is evident. Do you agree?
Answer
The constitution provides free and compulsory education for every child until the age of fourteen years. Labour laws also suggest that it is an offence to put a child into child labour and there are strict rules for it. Yet they are widely violated. The conditions throughout the country are all the same. Circumstances sometimes lead children to work even at the age where they should go to school to study and play. But the hostile condition led them to surrender to their fate.
Society and government organization should co-ordinate for the betterment of such deprived children. They should be given support and shelter. Then only their future would be bright. They could pursue their dreams and aspirations and work for the betterment of the nation.
Question 6. Velu stood on the platform but he felt “as if he was still on a moving train.” Why?
Answer
Velu felt “as if he was still on a moving train” because he had wandered around for hours before getting on a train to Chennai, he was tired and hungry, his legs shook unsteadily. He had travelled so long that he felt the train was still moving.
Question 7. What problems do millions of poor children face in India? What basic issue does the story discuss?
Answer
This story gives us a picture of children who are bound to work to support not only themselves but also their parents. They can’t go to school, they can’t play like other children of their age. The story draws our attention to the evil of child labour.
Question 8. What one throws away as waste may be valuable to others. Do you find this sentence meaningful in the context of this story? How?
Answer
Yes, the rubbish can be wholesome food for others. This is depicted in this story. Jaya lives on the left overs of the garbage bins, same thing follows for Velu. Children don’t have money to buy food for themselves so they eat what is available until they earn their own. It sounds quite pathetic but it is true as is shown in the story.
Question 9. What made Velu feel miserable?
Answer
Velu felt miserable and exhausted as he had run away from his village two days ago. For two days he had eaten nothing but some peanuts and a piece of jaggery; even the noise at the platform seemed terrible and made him feel miserable.