Question

“Why do you do this?” I ask Saheb whom I encounter every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my neighbourhood. Saheb left his home long ago. Set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant memory. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes, his mother tells him. That’s why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives. “I have nothing else to do,” he mutters, looking away. “Go to school,” I say glibly, realizing immediately how hollow the advice must sound. “There is no school in my neighbourhood. When they build one, I will go.” 

(i) Who was Saheb? 

(ii) What does the expression ‘scrounging for gold’ refers to? 

(iii) Where Saheb has come from? 

(iv) Why does the author’s advice sound hollow? 

(v) The expression ‘when they build one, I will go’ indicates Saheb ____ to go to school. 

(vi) Why did Saheb's family left their home?

Answer 1

(i) Saheb was a young boy who lived in the author's neighborhood and scavenged for scraps in the garbage dumps to find anything valuable, including gold.

(ii) The expression ‘scrounging for gold’ refers to Saheb searching through garbage dumps in hopes of finding valuable items, though he is actually looking for any material that can be used or sold.

(iii) Saheb came from Dhaka, which is located in Bangladesh. His home was amidst green fields there.

(iv) The author's advice to Saheb to go to school sounds hollow because Saheb has no access to a school in his neighborhood, making the suggestion unrealistic.

(v) The expression indicates that Saheb wants to go to school, but he is waiting for a school to be built in his neighborhood.

(vi) Saheb's family left their home because storms had destroyed their fields and homes, leaving them with no other choice but to migrate in search of a better life in the city.