This MCQ module is based on: The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand
TOPIC 12 OF 24
The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand
🎓 Class 9
English
CBSE
Theory
Ch 4 — Vitamin M
⏱ ~30 min
🌐 Language: [gtranslate]
🧠 AI-Powered MCQ Assessment
▲
📝 Worksheet / Assessment
▲
This assessment will be based on: The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand
Upload images, PDFs, or Word documents to include their content in assessment generation.
Before You Read — The Lost Child
Unit 4 — Third Text (Learning Beyond the Text) | by Mulk Raj Anand
Childhood Memories: Work in pairs. Think of memories from your childhood that you remember clearly. List them and share with your classmates. What makes a childhood memory stick?
Predict the Story: The story is set at a spring festival. A child is lost in a crowd. What emotions do you think the story will explore? What do you think will happen?
The story explores the deep, irreplaceable bond between a child and his parents. Through the lens of a lost child who is offered everything he desired — sweets, balloons, flowers, a snake charmer — yet refuses them all, crying only for his parents, Mulk Raj Anand shows that no worldly pleasure can substitute for the security of family and love.
Discuss: How do children's relationships with their parents influence their emotions and sense of security? Have you ever felt truly afraid or lost? What did you want most at that moment?
Connect to Unit Theme: Unit 4 is about "Caring for the Elderly" — yet this story features a child, not an elderly person. What common thread do you think connects them?
Both stories explore the irreplaceable bond of family and the sense of security that comes from being loved and cared for. Just as Grandpa in "Vitamin-M" needs to be cared for with dignity, the child in "The Lost Child" needs the security of his parents above all else. The unit theme — caring — works in both directions: children need parents and parents need children. As families age, these roles reverse.
Plot Arc — Freytag's Pyramid
Click a point on the arc to explore that stage of the story.
Exposition: A spring festival. A family — father, mother, and their small son — walk to the village fair through mustard fields and a grove. The child is enchanted by everything: dragonflies, butterflies, flowers, doves. He lags behind repeatedly, fascinated, as his parents call him forward. The world is joyful, colourful, and full of possibility.
Rising Action: The family enters the fair. A succession of temptations awaits the child: a sweetmeat seller's colourful counter, a garland of gulmohur flowers, rainbow-coloured balloons, a snake charmer playing a flute. Each time, the child is drawn but holds back — he knows his parents will say no (too greedy, too cheap, too grown-up for balloons, forbidden music). He moves on without asking. Then a roundabout catches his eye.
Climax: The child turns to ask his parents for a ride on the roundabout — and they are gone. He turns left, right, behind him. Nobody. He screams with full-throated terror: "Mother! Father!" Panic sets in. He runs in all directions, weeping, his turban untied, his clothes muddy. He runs to a shrine, is jostled by the crowd, and is nearly trampled. A kind stranger lifts him up.
Falling Action: The stranger carries the weeping child and tries everything to console him — the roundabout, the snake charmer, the balloons, the flower garland, the sweetmeat shop. But at every offer, the child who had earlier desired all these things refuses them with the same anguished cry: "I want my mother, I want my father!" Everything he wanted before now means nothing.
Resolution (Open): The story ends with the child refusing the sweets and crying for his parents. The story has no conventional "happy ending" — the parents are not found. The resolution is emotional, not narrative: we understand that no material object can substitute for parental love. The story's power lies precisely in this irresolution — the absence of resolution is itself the message.
The Lost Child — Mulk Raj Anand
1The festival of spring had arrived. From narrow alleys and shadowed lanes, a richly dressed crowd emerged — some on foot, some on horseback, others seated in bullock carts or bamboo palanquins. Running between his father's legs, one small boy brimmed over with energy and laughter. Imagery
2"Come, child, come!" his parents called, as he fell behind, magnetised by the toys displayed in roadside shops. He hurried to rejoin them, his feet obeying while his eyes lingered on the retreating toys. Even as he caught up, he could not prevent himself from murmuring, "I want that toy" — though he well knew the familiar, cold look of refusal in his parents' eyes. Imagery
3His father's glance was stern; his mother, softened by the festival spirit, took his finger and pointed ahead to the mustard fields — a pale golden sweep of blossom stretching across miles of level land, like melting gold. Simile Imagery
4A company of dragonflies whirred above on purple wings, chasing a solitary black bee or butterfly from flower to flower. The child reached up to catch one, but it evaded him — fluttering just beyond his fingers each time, until his mother's cautionary call drew him back to the path. He trotted happily beside his parents for a while, then fell behind again, distracted by insects and worms emerging to enjoy the sunshine. Imagery
5His parents waited under a grove, seated at the edge of a well. He ran to them through a shower of petals falling from young trees — then forgot them again when he heard doves cooing. Imagery "The dove! The dove!" he shouted, petals dropping from his hands. He circled the banyan tree in wild capers, and at last they gathered him up and took the winding path through the mustard fields towards the fair.
6As the village neared, many footpaths merged into one swelling crowd converging on the fair — and the child felt at once repelled and fascinated by the world he was entering. Imagery
7At the entrance, a sweetmeat seller hawked his wares — gulab-jamun, rasagulla, burfi, jalebi — arranged in a brilliant architecture of coloured sweets decorated with silver and gold leaf. The child's mouth watered for the burfi, his favourite. "I want that burfi," he murmured softly — but knowing his parents would call him greedy, he moved on without waiting for a refusal.
8A flower seller cried out garlands of gulmohur. The child was drawn; he whispered his desire — but knowing his parents would say the flowers were cheap, he moved on again without asking. Symbolism
9Rainbow balloons floated and tugged at a man's pole — red, yellow, green, purple — and the child was seized by an overwhelming desire to possess them all. But his parents would say he was too old for balloons. He walked on further.
10A snake charmer played a flute to a cobra whose neck arched like a swan's; the music stole through its invisible ears like the gentle ripple of a waterfall. Simile Imagery But his parents had forbidden such coarse music, and the child moved past.
11A roundabout spun in full delight. Men, women, and children shrieked and laughed in its whirling motion. The child watched intently — then made a bold request: "I want to go on the roundabout, please, Father, Mother."
12There was no reply. He turned to look. They were not there ahead of him. He looked to either side. Not there. He looked behind. No sign of them. A full, deep cry tore from within him and he ran, screaming in real terror: "Mother! Father!" Imagery Hot tears burned down his cheeks; his face was convulsed with fear. Hyperbole
13Panic-stricken, he ran this way and that, weeping "Mother! Father!" His yellow turban came undone and his clothes became muddy. He could see men and women through filmy, tear-blurred eyes — laughing, talking — but no sign of his parents. He ran to a temple, wormed through the crowd, was knocked and tossed by the pushing mass, and might have been trampled had he not screamed at the top of his voice. Imagery
14A kind man in the crowd stooped low, lifted the child with great difficulty, and steered him clear of the crush. "How did you get here, little one? Who are your parents?" he asked gently. The child wept harder than ever. "I want my mother, I want my father!"
15The man tried the roundabout. The child shook with sobs — "I want my mother, I want my father!" He tried the snake charmer. The child blocked his ears. He offered the balloons. The child turned his face away. He took him to the flower seller — the same garland the child had whispered for. The child pushed his nose away from the basket: "I want my mother, I want my father!" He brought him to the sweetmeat counter — the burfi the child had coveted. The child turned his face from the shop and only sobbed: "I want my mother, I want my father!" Irony Symbolism
Theme Web — The Lost Child & Unit 4 Theme
Click a theme to explore its presence in the story and across Unit 4.
Parental Security: The child moves through the fair with the unspoken confidence that his parents are nearby. The moment he turns and they are gone, his entire world collapses — proving that their presence was the invisible foundation of his joy and safety. This mirrors Unit 4's broader theme: the elderly, like young children, need the security of family presence to feel whole.
Childhood Desire: Throughout the first half of the story, the child desires sweets, flowers, balloons, music, and the roundabout — but restrains himself each time, knowing parental refusal. The stunning irony of the story's second half is that when these same objects are offered freely, he refuses them all. Desire without love is meaningless.
Nature and Joy: Mulk Raj Anand's prose is saturated with sensory nature imagery — mustard fields like molten gold, dragonflies on purple wings, falling petals, cooing doves, the serpent's neck arched like a swan. Nature is an emblem of innocent, abundant joy — a joy that is abruptly and violently interrupted when the child is lost.
Loss and Fear: The transition from joy to terror is one of the most sudden and powerful in Indian short fiction. In a single sentence, the child's world of abundance becomes a world of pure fear. The crowd — which was a spectacle to enjoy — becomes a threatening mass. This sudden reversal teaches a profound lesson about how quickly security can vanish.
Love Above All Things: The story's central message is delivered through repetition: "I want my mother, I want my father." Every substitute — however desirable it was moments earlier — is refused. Love and the presence of family are the foundational human need. This connects directly to the Unit 4 theme of caring: we must protect and preserve the bonds of family at every stage of life.
Vocabulary from the Story
brimming over
phrasal verb
Overflowing with energy, emotion, or some quality; filled to the point of overflowing
"brimming over with life and laughter" — the child's irrepressible joy
capers
noun (plural)
Wild, playful leaps or jumps; lively, frivolous movements or actions
"He went running in wild capers round the banyan tree"
repelled
verb (past tense)
Driven back or kept away; filled with distaste or reluctance
"felt at once repelled and fascinated by the confusion of the world he was entering"
fascinated
adjective / verb (past)
Extremely interested and attracted; unable to look away or stop thinking about something
The child was simultaneously repelled and fascinated by the fair's chaos.
gulmohur
noun (proper)
The Flame of the Forest tree (Delonix regia), bearing vivid red-orange flowers; associated with summer, celebrations, and Indian streets
"A flower-seller hawked, 'A garland of gulmohur!'"
overwhelming
adjective
So intense as to feel impossible to resist or deal with; overpowering in force or scale
"the child was filled with an overwhelming desire to possess them all" (the balloons)
convulsed
adjective / verb (past)
Shaken or contorted with a sudden, violent movement; contorted by strong emotion
"his flushed face was convulsed with fear" — his features were distorted by intense terror
irresistibly
adverb
In a way that cannot be resisted; too powerful or tempting to refuse
"The child seemed irresistibly drawn" to the garland of gulmohur flowers.
disconsolate
adjective
So unhappy that nothing can provide comfort; deeply distressed and inconsolable
"Thinking to humour his disconsolate charge by a gift of sweets…" — the stranger's failed attempt
reiterated
verb (past tense)
Said or did again, repeatedly; insisted upon by repeating
"The child…reiterated his sob, 'I want my mother, I want my father!'"
Literature CBQ — Extract-Based Questions
Extract 1
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.
L1 — Recall
(i) What caused the child to cry out "Mother, Father!" at this moment in the story?
The child turned to ask his parents for a ride on the roundabout and discovered they were not there. He looked in every direction — ahead, to both sides, behind — and found no sign of them. The sudden realisation that he was alone in a vast crowd triggered this terrified cry.
L2 — Understand
(ii) What does "hot and fierce" suggest about the child's tears? Why does the author use these adjectives?
"Hot and fierce" suggests that the tears are not gentle, sorrowful weeping but the expression of raw, intense terror. "Hot" conveys physical sensation — the burning of tears on a flushed, panicked face. "Fierce" suggests that the crying is uncontrolled, powerful, driven by genuine primal fear rather than mere sadness. Together they make the child's distress viscerally real to the reader.
L4 — Analyse
(iii) The phrase "hither and thither in all directions" creates a specific effect. What is it, and what literary device is used?
The phrase conveys complete disorientation — the child has no fixed direction, no plan, no purpose except to find his parents. The repetition of synonymous directional phrases ("to one side… to the other… hither and thither… in all directions") creates a breathless, circular, chaotic rhythm that mirrors the child's panicked mind. It is an example of imagery and repetition working together.
L5 — Evaluate
(iv) The story does not tell us whether the child is eventually reunited with his parents. Do you think this open ending strengthens or weakens the story? Give reasons.
The open ending strengthens the story considerably. A neat reunion would have resolved the tension and allowed the reader to relax. By leaving the outcome unknown, Mulk Raj Anand ensures that the reader remains in the child's emotional state — suspended in the anguish of loss. Furthermore, the story's true resolution is not narrative but thematic: we have already understood the lesson (that no material thing can replace parental love) before the story ends. The reunion is irrelevant to the meaning.
Extract 2
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!"
L2 — Understand
(i) Earlier in the story, the child desperately wanted a balloon. Why does he refuse it now?
Earlier, the child wanted the balloon while he felt safe — with his parents present, even unfulfilled desires were enjoyable because the foundation of security (his parents) was in place. Now that security has been shattered. No balloon, however rainbow-bright, can restore what he has truly lost: the feeling of being protected and loved. His desire has shifted entirely to the only thing that matters.
L4 — Analyse
(ii) Identify the literary device in the repetition of "I want my mother, I want my father!" throughout the second half of the story. What is its effect?
This is a refrain (similar to Tagore's poem in this unit). The repetition of the exact same words at each of the five offers (roundabout, snake charmer, balloon, garland, sweets) creates a drumbeat of anguish. It also creates a structural parallel: each object was desired once, and each is now explicitly rejected — showing the complete transformation of the child's inner world. The refrain also echoes the rhythm of a child's actual crying — obsessive, single-pointed, inconsolable.
L6 — Create
(iii) Write a short paragraph (60–80 words) from the perspective of the kind stranger who found the child, describing what he observed and felt.
Sample Response:
The crowd was so thick I nearly missed the small voice beneath the stamping feet. I lifted him and felt how his whole body shook. I offered him everything I could think of — the roundabout, the snake charmer, sweets. He refused them all with the same broken cry. I realised then, holding this weeping stranger, that what the child needed was not anything I could give. He needed only his parents — and I could not give him that. We kept looking.
The crowd was so thick I nearly missed the small voice beneath the stamping feet. I lifted him and felt how his whole body shook. I offered him everything I could think of — the roundabout, the snake charmer, sweets. He refused them all with the same broken cry. I realised then, holding this weeping stranger, that what the child needed was not anything I could give. He needed only his parents — and I could not give him that. We kept looking.
Discussion and Comprehension
1.
Discuss how children's relationship with their parents influences their emotions and memories. Use examples from this story and from your own experience.
The story demonstrates that a parent's presence is the invisible foundation of a child's sense of security and joy. The child in the story is carefree, curious, and delighted by everything — until his parents disappear, at which point the entire world becomes threatening and meaningless. Research in child psychology supports this: children whose attachment figures are present feel safe to explore the world; when that attachment is severed, even temporarily, distress is immediate and overwhelming. From personal experience, most people can recall moments when the sudden absence of a parent — in a crowd, at school — produced a disproportionate fear.
2.
Mulk Raj Anand's story uses rich sensory language. Find three examples of imagery from the text (one visual, one auditory, one relating to movement) and explain the effect of each.
Visual Imagery: "pale like melting gold as it swept across miles and miles of even land" — the mustard field is given a liquid, luminous quality that evokes both beauty and abundance. It establishes the spring festival's joyful atmosphere.
Auditory Imagery: "the music stole into its invisible ears like the gentle rippling of an invisible waterfall" — the snake charmer's flute music is given the quality of flowing water: continuous, soothing, and pervasive. The double "invisible" creates an effect of magical, mysterious sound.
Movement Imagery: "he ran from where he stood, crying in real fear…panic-stricken, he ran to one side first, then to the other, hither and thither in all directions" — the multiple, contradictory directions of movement capture the chaotic, purposeless running of a child in blind panic.
Auditory Imagery: "the music stole into its invisible ears like the gentle rippling of an invisible waterfall" — the snake charmer's flute music is given the quality of flowing water: continuous, soothing, and pervasive. The double "invisible" creates an effect of magical, mysterious sound.
Movement Imagery: "he ran from where he stood, crying in real fear…panic-stricken, he ran to one side first, then to the other, hither and thither in all directions" — the multiple, contradictory directions of movement capture the chaotic, purposeless running of a child in blind panic.
3.
How does "The Lost Child" connect to the overall theme of Unit 4 — Caring for the Elderly? What do the two texts (this story and "Vitamin-M") have in common?
Both texts explore the theme of vulnerability, care, and the irreplaceable nature of family bonds — but from opposite ends of life. "The Lost Child" shows a young child's absolute dependence on parental love; "Vitamin-M" shows an elderly man's need for care, respect, and dignity. Together they suggest that at both extremes of life, what human beings need most is not material provision but love, presence, and respect for their personhood. The unit theme of "caring" thus encompasses all generations — not just the elderly.
Grammar Workshop — Sensory Words and Classification
Connected to the rich sensory vocabulary of "The Lost Child" and the poem "I Cannot Remember My Mother"
Sensory Words — Categories
Sensory words appeal to one of the five senses. In literature, they create vivid pictures and emotional connections.
| Category | From "The Lost Child" | From "I Cannot Remember My Mother" |
|---|---|---|
| Visual | glowing mustard fields, rainbow balloons, flushed face | blue of the distant sky |
| Auditory | boomed, shrieks, cooing of doves, a full deep cry | hum, tune hovering |
| Olfactory | fragrance of flowers at the fair entrance | smell of shiuli flowers, scent of temple service |
| Tactile | hot and fierce tears, muddy clothes | stillness of the gaze on the face |
Classify the Sensory Words
Classify the words from the box into Visual, Auditory, Olfactory, and Tactile categories.
rustle, sticky, glowing, hiss, rough, chilled, aroma, gigantic, stale, sizzle, minuscule, scent, gloomy, deafening, vibrant, pungent, squeaky, stinky, crimson, fluffy, fragrant, smooth, slimy, ear-splitting, hairy
Visual: glowing, gigantic, minuscule, gloomy, vibrant, crimson
Auditory: rustle, hiss, sizzle, deafening, squeaky, ear-splitting
Olfactory: aroma, stale, scent, pungent, stinky, fragrant
Tactile: sticky, rough, chilled, fluffy, smooth, slimy, hairy
Auditory: rustle, hiss, sizzle, deafening, squeaky, ear-splitting
Olfactory: aroma, stale, scent, pungent, stinky, fragrant
Tactile: sticky, rough, chilled, fluffy, smooth, slimy, hairy
Fill in the Blanks — Sarojini Naidu Passage
Complete the passage with suitable sensory words from the box: scarlet, shrill, sizzle, perfumes, flaming, scents, sweetness, essence, smooth
Come and share my exquisite March morning: these 1._____ lilies that adorn the sunshine; the voluptuous 2._____ of neem and champak and serisha that beat upon the languid air with their implacable 3._____; the thousand little gold and blue and silver breasted birds bursting with the 4._____ ecstasy of life. And, do you know that the scarlet lilies are woven petal by petal from my heart's blood; these heavy 5._____ are my emotions dissolved into aerial 6._____, this 7._____ blue and gold sky is the 'very me'…
1. scarlet 2. perfumes 3. scents 4. sweetness 5. scents 6. essence 7. flaming
Writing Task — Article for School Magazine
Writing Task | Class 9 | Word Limit: 150–200 words | Format: Article
Article Writing Format
Title: Bold and engaging — placed at the top
Your Name and Class: Below the title
Paragraph 1 (Introduction): Introduce the topic broadly — do not give details yet
Paragraph 2 (Body 1): How the elderly inspire — examples, facts, quotations
Paragraph 3 (Body 2): How they overcame challenges; their impact on you
Paragraph 4 (Conclusion): Final comment; leave the reader with an important thought
Tip: Use connecting phrases — "Moreover...", "Furthermore...", "In conclusion..."
Your Name and Class: Below the title
Paragraph 1 (Introduction): Introduce the topic broadly — do not give details yet
Paragraph 2 (Body 1): How the elderly inspire — examples, facts, quotations
Paragraph 3 (Body 2): How they overcame challenges; their impact on you
Paragraph 4 (Conclusion): Final comment; leave the reader with an important thought
Tip: Use connecting phrases — "Moreover...", "Furthermore...", "In conclusion..."
Prompt: Based on the lessons learned from the elderly (from "Vitamin-M" and your own experience), write an article for your school magazine on the topic: 'Our Inspiring Elderly'.
Useful Expressions for Article Writing
To introduce: "In a world that moves at breathless speed…"
To give examples: "For instance, Grandpa in 'Vitamin-M' demonstrates that…"
To show impact: "Such experiences have taught me that…"
To draw a contrast: "While we tend to see the elderly as…, they are in fact…"
To conclude: "As we navigate the pressures of modern life, let us remember…"
To quote: "As the story reminds us, 'Vitamin-M' is sometimes needed by the young more than the old."
Our Inspiring Elderly
By Priya Menon, Class IX-B
In a world obsessed with youth and speed, we rarely pause to acknowledge the quiet giants in our midst — the elderly men and women who carry decades of wisdom in their wrinkled hands.
Our grandparents and elderly neighbours are living libraries. They have witnessed independence movements, famines, festivals, and the entire arc of modern India. Asha Nehemiah's Grandpa in "Vitamin-M" remembers thousands of chess moves from history's greatest games — yet his family mistakes his occasional forgetfulness for helplessness. He ultimately proves sharper than anyone, delivering the story's final, brilliant punchline.
The elderly have overcome challenges we can barely imagine — poverty, partition, loss. Their resilience is not a relic of the past but a lesson for our present. My own grandmother survived the loss of her husband at forty and raised three children alone, never losing her warmth or her sense of humour.
As the story reminds us, it is sometimes the young who need "Vitamin-M" — the memory to remember who taught us to love, to persist, and to be generous. Let us not wait for them to be gone before we start listening.
By Priya Menon, Class IX-B
In a world obsessed with youth and speed, we rarely pause to acknowledge the quiet giants in our midst — the elderly men and women who carry decades of wisdom in their wrinkled hands.
Our grandparents and elderly neighbours are living libraries. They have witnessed independence movements, famines, festivals, and the entire arc of modern India. Asha Nehemiah's Grandpa in "Vitamin-M" remembers thousands of chess moves from history's greatest games — yet his family mistakes his occasional forgetfulness for helplessness. He ultimately proves sharper than anyone, delivering the story's final, brilliant punchline.
The elderly have overcome challenges we can barely imagine — poverty, partition, loss. Their resilience is not a relic of the past but a lesson for our present. My own grandmother survived the loss of her husband at forty and raised three children alone, never losing her warmth or her sense of humour.
As the story reminds us, it is sometimes the young who need "Vitamin-M" — the memory to remember who taught us to love, to persist, and to be generous. Let us not wait for them to be gone before we start listening.
Speaking Activity — Personal Caregiving Experience
Make a brief presentation (2–3 minutes) about your experience taking care of an older person. Use these prompts:
- "The person I had the privilege of taking care of was..."
- "I found myself in a caregiving role for..."
- "One significant realisation about myself during this experience was..."
- "Their challenges offered insights into the difficulties of ageing, such as..."
- "Caring for them deepened my understanding of the ageing process, particularly..."
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand about in NCERT Class 9 Kaveri?
The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand is from NCERT Class 9 English Kaveri (NEP 2020 textbook) covering literary and language concepts with vocabulary, devices, and CBSE-aligned exercises.
What vocabulary is in The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand?
Key words from The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand are highlighted with contextual meanings, parts of speech, and usage examples in interactive vocabulary modals.
What literary devices are used in The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand?
The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand uses imagery, symbolism, metaphor, and figurative language identified with coloured tags throughout the lesson.
What exercises are included for The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand?
Exercises include extract-based comprehension questions, grammar workshops, vocabulary activities, and writing tasks with model answers.
How does The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand help CBSE Class 9 exam preparation?
The Lost Child – Mulk Raj Anand includes CBSE-format extract questions, 100-120 word long answer practice, and grammar exercises following Bloom's L1-L6.
AI Tutor
English Class 9 — Kaveri
Ready