Question

1. ‘It is better to come to terms with our lot in life than to dream futilely of a brighter future.’ Explore this statement with reference to Kasim and Rizwan in the short story, Hunger.

Answer 1

There is no point dreaming about a bright future if there is no way of achieving it. This can be seen in the case of Kasim and Rizwan in the story Hunger.

Kasim earns his living by selling old clothes. Once he was promised an exciting offer by a politician who asked him to slogan shouting during an election. However, he ended up getting nothing and remained hungry that day. In contrast, he earned at least something daily by selling the old clothes. So, it was better to come to terms with what he had and accept poverty as a part of his life.

Similarly, although he had a better job than Kasim as a journalist, Rizwan had his own problems. He had to interview five people in five days and submit his reports for evaluation each day by his employers. This would determine his employment. There was nothing he could do to brighten his future, and he worried about whom he would interview the next day. But, the first day after he interviewed Kasim on the first day, he was relieved partly that he had done one interview.