Lost Spring
Q1. Answer the following question in 30-40 words each:-
1. What does the title, ‘Lost Spring’ convey?
Ans. The title "Lost Spring" symbolizes the lost childhood of poor children like Saheb and Mukesh, who
are denied education and joy due to poverty and social injustice. “Spring” represents youth and hope,
while “lost” reflects deprivation, making the title a powerful metaphor for stolen innocence and
potential.
2. "Savita is a symbol of innocence and efficiency." Comment.
Ans. In the chapter 'Lost Spring' by Anees Jung, Savita is a young, unmarried girl in drab pink dress, sits
alongside an elderly woman, soldering some glass pieces to transform them into beautiful glass bangles.
The narrator basically wants to convey the idea that she will also be the bride one day, get her hands
dyed with red hanna and will understand the cultural significance of bangles when she becomes a bride.
3. What does the writer mean when she says, ‘Saheb is no longer his own master’?
Ans. Since Saheb now works in a tea-stall, he is now bound to his master and feels burdened. The steel
canister he carries is very heavy as compared to his light plastic bag. The bag was his own and the
canister belongs to his master whose orders he now has to follow. So he is no longer his own master.
4. What is the irony in Saheb’s name?
Ans. The irony in Saheb’s name lies in its meaning. His full name, Saheb-e-Alam, means "Lord of the
Universe," suggesting wealth, power, and authority. However, in reality, Saheb is a poor ragpicker, who
roams barefoot, scrounges the garbage dump for his livelihood and lacks even the basic necessities of
life. The grandeur of his name starkly contrasts with his harsh living conditions, highlighting the irony.
5. Garbage has two different meanings—one for the children and another for the adults. Comment.
Ans. For the children garbage has a different meaning from what it means for the adults. For the
children it is wrapped in wonder, their eyes light-up when they find a rupee or a ten-rupee note in it.
They search the garbage excitedly with the hope of finding something more. But for the elders it is
It carries hope and possibility. For the adults, however, garbage symbolizes their helpless poverty and a
means of a means of survival. Thus, what is a game or adventure for children becomes a bitter reality for
adults.
6. “Food is more important for survival than an identity”. Explain
Ans. More than 10,000 rag- pickers have occupied illegal places to live and they have been living for the
last thirty years or so. They have been living there without permits. Only they have ration cards for grain
purchase and to cast the votes. They have no identity, so food is more important for their survival.
7. Who is Mukesh? What is his dream?
Ans. Mukesh is a child labourer in a glass factory in Firozabad. Belonging to a family of bangle makers, he
shows no fascination towards bangle-making and insists on being his own master. He dreams of
becoming a motor mechanic. He desires to go to a garage and get the required training for this job.
8. Is it possible for Mukesh to realize his dream? Justify your answer?
Ans. Mukesh’s determination is going to prove instrumental in helping him to realize his dream. His
dream can become a reality only if he is able to find a garage where he can be taken in as an apprentice
and then he will have to learn how to drive a car. He will then be able to graduate himself to be a good
mechanic.
9. Mention any two problems faced by the bangle sellers.
Ans. The bangle makers had to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without
air and light. They are exposed to various health hazards like losing their eyesight as they work in
abysmal conditions in dark and dingy cells. They were also caught in a web of poverty, burdened by the
stigma of caste in which they were born and also caught in a vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen and
policeman.
10. A young man in Ferozabad is burdened under the baggage of two worlds. What are they?
Ans. The two worlds that burden a young man in Ferozabad include one of the family, caught in the web
of poverty, burdened by the stigma of ” caste in which they are born; the other a vicious circle of the
sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.
11. Whom does Anees Jung blame for the sorry plight of the bangle makers?
OR
Why does the author say that the bangle makers are caught in a vicious web?(All India 2010)
Ans: The author says that the bangle makers are caught in a vicious web which starts from poverty, to
indifferences, then to greed and finally to injustice. Mind-numbing toil kills their hopes and dreams.
They cannot organise themselves into cooperatives and have fallen into a vicious circle of ‘sahukars’,
middlemen and the police so they get condemned to poverty and perpetual exploitation. Together they
had imposed a baggage on these people which they could not put down.
Anees Jung blames the middlemen, the policemen, the lawmakers, the bureaucrats and the politicians
for the sorry plight of the bangle makers. These people conspire against and exploit the poor bangle
makers. They pay them meagre wages, do not let them form co-operatives, and compel their children to
join the same trade at an early age.