CBSE class 12 English Chapter 2 –

Lost Spring –
Stories of Stolen Childhood

About the Author

Anees Jung
Born at Rourkela, India in 1964

She is an Indian woman author, journalist and columnist.

She belongs to an aristocratic family of poets.
Her most noted work, Unveiling India (1987) was a
detailed chronicle of the lives of women in India.
Career
She started her career in writing with the Youth Times,
a Times of India publication, where she worked as a
journalist and editor (1976 to 1979). She has
subsequently worked for the Christian Science
Monitor and International Herald Tribune. Anees Jung
lives in Delhi.
Books
Jung published Unveiling India in 1987. It is a travel
diary focusing on interviews with women. She has
written several subsequent books on the same, talking
to women about their everyday lives, including Night of
the New Moon: Encounters with Muslim women in
India. (1993), Seven Sisters (1994). Breaking the
Silence (1997) is based on conversations on women's
lives from around the world. Beyond the
Courtyard (2003) is based on interviews with the
daughters of the women she had talked to first
in Unveiling India, and many of the horrifying tales
continue.
Anees Jung's Lost Spring: Stories of stolen
childhood (2005) focuses on children from deprived
backgrounds, and includes the story of Idrees, a child
who is kidnapped and forced to work in the carpet
industry in Mirzapur. Others are maltreated by alcoholic
fathers or married off early or sexually abused,though
some find refuge in schools set up by well-meaning
NGOs. A section of this book is part of the i English
curriculum in many Indian schools Jung is noted for her
lively and vivid descriptions.
Other books by Jung include When a place becomes a
person (1977) and The Song of India (1990).

The story, “Lost Spring” describes the pitiable condition of poor children who
have been forced to miss the joy of childhood due to the socio-economic
condition that prevails in this man-made world. These children are denied the
opportunity of schooling and forced into labour early in life. Anees Jung gives
voice to eliminate child labour by educating the children and to enforce the
laws against child labour by the governments strictly. The call is to end child
exploitation and let the children enjoy the days of the spring that bring joy
under their feet.

Chapter and Explanation

Story 1 - ‘Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage’

“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.

Scrounging – searching for

Amidst – in the middle of

Every morning, the writer sees a young ragpicker boy who visits the garbage dump
near her house and searches for ‘gold’ in it. The writer says that he searches for ‘gold’
ironically because although the garbage dump is full of useless, thrown away things,
still he shuffles it so minutely as if he will get something as precious as ‘gold’ from it.
The boy’s name is Saheb. His home in Dhaka was in the middle of lush green fields.
They had left it many years ago and he does not remember it anymore. His mother
had told him that there were many storms which destroyed their homes and fields. So,
they left home and shifted to the cities in search of ‘gold’. The writer again says,
“looking for gold in the big city”. Gold here refers to something precious which was not
available in their hometown. Things like shoes, money, bags, etc. for the children and
food, clothing, shelter as means of survival for their parents. The boy searches for
such precious things in the garbage dumps. One day the writer questions Saheb and
asks him the reason for shuffling through the garbage.

“I have nothing else to do,” he mutters, looking away.

“Go to school,” I say glibly, realising immediately how hollow the advice must sound.
“There is no school in my neighbourhood. When they build one, I will go.”
“If I start a school, will you come?” I ask, half-joking.
Mutters – to speak in a low voice
Glibly - speaking or spoken in a confident way, but without careful thought or honesty
Hollow – meaningless

Saheb replies to the writer that he has nothing else to do other than rag picking. The
writer suggests that he should go to school. She realizes that her advice is
meaningless for the poor boy. He replies that there are no schools in the area where
he lives. He also assures her that he will go to school when one is built near his house.
The writer asks him jokingly that if she opened a school would he attend it.

“Yes,” he says, smiling broadly. A few days later I see him running up to me. “Is your
school ready?”
“It takes longer to build a school,” I say, embarrassed at having made a promise that
was not meant. But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.

Embarrassed - feeling ashamed

abound - exist in large numbers
bleak – empty

Saheb says that he would join the writer’s school and after a few days, he runs up to
her to ask whether her school is ready. The writer replied that it takes a lot of time to
build a school. She felt ashamed at making a false promise. She had said this as a
joke and had never intended to open a school, so she felt ashamed of herself. Saheb
was not hurt because he was used to such false promises as they existed in large
numbers in his empty world. He was surrounded by such false promises made by
everyone around him. His world was empty as no promise made to Saheb was ever
fulfilled.

After months of knowing him, I ask him his name. “Saheb-e-Alam,” he announces. He
does not know what it means. If he knew its meaning — lord of the universe — he
would have a hard time believing it. Unaware of what his name represents, he roams
the streets with his friends, an army of barefoot boys who appear like the morning
birds and disappear at noon. Over the months, I have come to recognise each of them.
he would have a hard time believing it - it would be difficult for him to believe that his name
meant ‘the Lord of the Universe’
barefoot – wearing nothing in the feet

The writer had known Saheb for a few months when she asked him his name. He replied
as if he was making an announcement that his name was Saheb – E – Alam. The writer
thought that the boy did not know the meaning of his name and if he came to know that
his name meant “Lord of the Universe” he would not be able to believe it. His name was
opposite to his life. He went around the streets with a group of friends. It was like an army
of boys who did not wear any footwear. They appeared in the morning like the morning
birds and disappeared at noon. The writer could recognize all of them as she had been
seeing them for the past few months.
“Why aren’t you wearing chappals?” I ask one.
“My mother did not bring them down from the shelf,” he answers simply.

The writer asked one of them that why was he not wearing any footwear. The boy simply
replied that his mother did not get them down from the shelf. As they were beyond his
reach, he did not wear them.

“Even if she did he will throw them off,” adds another who is wearing shoes that do not
match. When I comment on it, he shuffles his feet and says nothing. “I want shoes,” says
a third boy who has never owned a pair all his life. Travelling across the country I have
seen children walking barefoot, in cities, on village roads. It is not lack of money but a
tradition to stay barefoot, is one explanation. I wonder if this is only an excuse to explain
away a perpetual state of poverty.
Shuffles - slides them over each other
excuse - a reason to justify a fault
perpetual state of poverty - never ending condition of being poor

Another boy who was wearing a different shoe in each foot said that even if his mother
would have given him the footwear, he would have thrown it away. He meant that the boy
was not wearing footwear because he did not want to wear one. The writer asked the
second boy the reason for wearing a different shoe in each foot. He did not reply and
shuffled his feet as he tried to hide the shoes. A third boy spoke that he was eager to get
a pair of shoes as he had never owned one all his life. The writer takes the example of
shoes to highlight the condition of these boys. They search the garbage dumps looking
for such precious things. She further tells us that as she travelled across the country, she
had seen many children walking barefoot in the cities as well as the villages. They
reasoned that they were barefoot not due to lack of money to buy footwear, but being
barefoot was a tradition for them. The writer wondered and concluded that the reason of
it being a tradition was a mere excuse to hide the fact that they were so poor that they
could not afford footwear.

I remember a story a man from Udipi once told me. As a young boy he would go to school
past an old temple, where his father was a priest. He would stop briefly at the temple and
pray for a pair of shoes. Thirty years later I visited his town and the temple, which was now
drowned in an air of desolation. In the backyard, where lived the new priest, there were
red and white plastic chairs. A young boy dressed in a grey uniform, wearing socks and
shoes, arrived panting and threw his school bag on a folding bed. Looking at the boy, I
remembered the prayer another boy had made to the goddess when he had finally got a
pair of shoes, “Let me never lose them.” The goddess had granted his prayer. Young boys
like the son of the priest now wore shoes. But many others like the ragpickers in my
neighbourhood remain shoeless.

Desolation - the state of being empty

Panting - taking short and quick breathes

The writer narrates a story told to her by a man from Udipi. (Udipi is a town in Karnataka).

When he was a young boy, he would walk to his school. On the way, he would cross a
temple where his father worked as a priest. He would stop at the temple and pray to God
to bless him with a pair of shoes. After thirty years the writer visited the town and the
temple. Now the place was nearly empty. The new priest lived in the backyard of the
temple. Plastic chairs in red and white colour were kept there. A young boy came
running. He was wearing grey coloured school uniform, socks and shoes. He had a
school bag hung on his shoulders. He threw it on the bed and ran away. The writer
wants to say that the financial position of the priest at the temple had improved over the
last thirty years. Now, he could afford shoes for this children. She was reminded of
another boy who got a pair of shoes. He prayed to the goddess that he may never lose
the shoes that he had got. The goddess had granted his prayer as the boy never lost his
footwear. This shows us that the underprivileged value anything that they get because
they have been longing for it.

My acquaintance with the barefoot ragpickers leads me to Seemapuri, a place on periphery

of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are squatters who came
from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them. Seemapuri was then a
wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. In structures of mud, with roofs of tin and
tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 ragpickers.

Acquaintance - contact
periphery- outer area
metaphorically–symbolically
squatters - a person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land
wilderness- a wasteland
tarpaulin- heavy-duty waterproof cloth
The writer describes the area where these rag picker boys live. Seemapuri, located on the
outskirt of Delhi was very different from the capital of the country. In 1971 when these rag
pickers had migrated from Bangladesh, the area had been a wasteland. Seemapuri was still
a wasteland but now it was not empty as almost ten thousand rag pickers lived there in
structures made of mud, with roofs made of thin sheets of tin or plastic material called
tarpaulin. There was no sewage, drainage or running water facility in Seemapuri. They lived
in unhygienic conditions. It was a piece of wasteland where the garbage of the city was
collected. These people had started living there illegally.

They have lived here for more than thirty years without an identity, without permits but with
ration cards that get their names on voters’ lists and enable them to buy grain. Food is more
important for survival than an identity. “If at the end of the day we can feed our families and
go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields that gave
us no grain,” say a group of women in tattered saris when I ask them why they left their
beautiful land of green fields and rivers.

Permits – legal documents

Tattered – torn

The ragpickers had been living illegally in Seemapuri for the last thirty years. They have
occupied the area without government permission or ownership. The politicians of the area
have provided them ration cards and voter identity cards. They got grocery for their family
through these ration cards and in return, they cast their votes in favour of the politician who
had helped them. The writer asked a group of women who were wearing torn saris that why
did they leave their homes in Dhaka. They replied that if they were able to satisfy the hunger
of their families and sleep well at night, they were happier to live in Seemapuri than their
fields in Dhaka which were ruined and gave them no food.
Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow up
in them, becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.
Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It
is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it is a leaking roof. But for a child it is
even more.

Transit homes – a temporary home

These people travelled in search of food and wherever they found it, they set up temporary
homes and started living there. Their children kept on growing there and gradually, they
also started helping their parents in seeking means of survival. For those who lived in
Seemapuri, the means of survival was rag picking. As they had been doing it for many
years, they became trained at rag picking and did it well. For the rag pickers the garbage
was as precious as gold. These families searched the garbage dumps and got things
which they sold to fund their food. They gathered torn or damaged sheets which were
used to cover the roof of their homes. These did not cover them well but still provided
them with some protection. For the children, the garbage dumps were more than a means
of survival.

“I sometimes find a rupee, even a ten-rupee note,” Saheb says, his eyes lighting up. When
you can find a silver coin in a heap of garbage, you don’t stop scrounging, for there is
hope of finding more. It seems that for children, garbage has a meaning different from
what it means to their parents. For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is
a means of survival.

Lighting up – show joy and happiness

Saheb was happy to say that sometimes he found a rupee and even a ten – rupee note
in the dump. As one often finds even a silver coin in the garbage dump, he kept on
searching hoping to find more. For the children, the garbage dump was a means of fulfilling
their dreams although partially while for their parents, it was a means of aiding survival by
providing the basics - food, clothing and shelter.
One winter morning I see Saheb standing by the fenced gate of the neighbourhood
club, watching two young men dressed in white, playing tennis. “I like the game,” he
hums, content to watch it standing behind the fence. “I go inside when no one is
around,” he admits. “The gatekeeper lets me use the swing.”

Content – satisfied

One winter morning the writer saw Saheb standing by the fence of a club. He was
watching a tennis game being played by two young men. Saheb liked the game but
could not play it. He told the writer that he went inside the club when it would be closed.
He was allowed to take swings by the guard there.

Saheb too is wearing tennis shoes that look strange over his discoloured shirt and
shorts. “Someone gave them to me,” he says in the manner of an explanation. The
fact that they are discarded shoes of some rich boy, who perhaps refused to wear
them because of a hole in one of them, does not bother him. For one who has walked
barefoot, even shoes with a hole is a dream come true. But the game he is watching
so intently is out of his reach.

Discarded – thrown away

Bother – worry

The writer saw that Saheb was also wearing tennis shoes. They did not look
appropriate with his dress which was worn out and had faded. He told the writer in an
attempt to justify himself that someone gave him the shoes. She however figured out
that he had got them from a garbage dump. They must have been thrown away by a
boy from a rich family as he did not want to wear them anymore. Probably they had a
hole or two in them due to which he did not want to wear them. On the contrary, Saheb
was not bothered by this fact and had no problem wearing them as he could not afford
anything better than that. He walked barefoot and to wear a shoe even with a hole was
like a dream for him. Although due to the garbage dump, Saheb’s dream of wearing
shoes had been partially fulfilled but his desire to play tennis would never be fulfilled.

This morning, Saheb is on his way to the milk booth. In his hand is a steel canister. “I
now work in a tea stall down the road,” he says, pointing in the distance. “I am paid
800 rupees and all my meals.” Does he like the job? I ask. His face, I see, has lost the
carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so

light over his shoulder. The bag was his. The canister belongs to the man who owns
the tea shop. Saheb is no longer his own master.

One morning the writer met Saheb who was on his way to the milk booth. He was
holding a steel container. He told her that he had got a job at the nearby tea stall. He
would earn eight hundred rupees a month and get meals too. The writer asked him if
he liked the job as she could see that he had lost the carefree look. As now Saheb
was working for someone else and was carrying his master’s container, he was
burdened with responsibility. Earlier, as a rag picker, Saheb would carry his own bag
and was his own master. Now, he was no longer his own master.
Story 2 - “I want to drive a car”…………………………….ANEES JUNG

Mukesh insists on being his own master. “I will be a motor mechanic,” he announces.

The writer met a boy named Mukesh who aspired to become a motor mechanic.

“Do you know anything about cars?” I ask.

She asked him if he knew anything about cars.

“I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like
a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles.
Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s
glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces,
welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land it seems.

looking straight into my eyes – with confidence and determination

looms like a mirage - seems that it will be true in the future but actually it will not be so
amidst – in the middle of
glass-blowing industry - industry related to making glass
furnaces - a closed room or container where heat is produced
welding - the process of joining metal or glass pieces by heating them

The boy was confident and replied that he would learn to drive a car. His dream was far
away from reality and although the boy was confident, he would succumb to the societal
pressures. He lived in Firozabad which was famous for glass bangles. The writer felt that
the boy’s dreams would not materialize and gradually get influenced by the dusty streets
of Firozabad. She wanted to say that as every family in the town of Firozabad was involved
in the glass bangle industry, so would Mukesh do with the passage of time. She tells us
that Firozabad was the main town of India for the glass – blowing industry. The families
had been involved in working at furnaces, welding glass, and making bangles for
generations. They made so many bangles that it seemed that they made bangles for all
the women of the world.

Mukesh’s family is among them. None of them know that it is illegal for children like him to
work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light; that
the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces
where they slog their daylight hours, often losing the brightness of their eyes.
Dingy – dark, dim
Slog – work hard
Daylight hours - hours of the day when there is sunlight
Brightness of their eyes - here, refers to the power to see

Mukesh’s family was also involved in the profession of glass bangle – making. They were
not aware of the law. They did not know that it was unlawful to force children to work in
such glass furnaces. The work places were hot, dark closed rooms without ventilation. The
writer felt that if the law would come into force, it would rescue almost twenty thousand
children from these inhuman places where they were forced to work hard during the
daytime. They often ended up losing their eyesight also.

Mukesh’s eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home, which he proudly says is being
rebuilt. We walk down stinking lanes choked with garbage, past homes that remain hovels
with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, crowded with families of humans and
animals coexisting in a primeval state. He stops at the door of one such house, bangs a
wobbly iron door with his foot, and pushes it open.

Beam – shine brightly

Volunteers - freely offers to do something
Stinking – bad smell
Choked – blocked
Hovels – slums
Crumbling – falling down
Wobbly – unsteady
Coexisting - present at the same time and place
Primeval – prehistoric
Bangs – hits

Mukesh was happy as he took the writer to his home. He felt proud as he informed her
that it was being renovated. They walked down streets which were full of garbage and
gave foul smell. The streets were lined with slums which were unsteady. The walls were
falling apart, the doors were unsteady, there were no windows and were full of families
where people lived along with animals. They reminded the writer of the prehistoric man
who lived just like animals. Mukesh stopped in front of one such door, hit it hard with his
foot and pushed it open.

We enter a half-built shack. In one part of it, thatched with dead grass, is a firewood stove
over which sits a large vessel of sizzling spinach leaves. On the ground, in large aluminium
platters, are more chopped vegetables. A frail young woman is cooking the evening meal
for the whole family. Through eyes filled with smoke she smiles. She is the wife of
Mukesh’s elder brother. Not much older in years, she has begun to command respect as
the bahu, the daughter-in-law of the house, already in charge of three men — her husband,
Mukesh and their father.

Shack – a roughly built hut

Thatched – covered with dry grass
Vessel – container for cooking food
Sizzling - make a hissing sound when frying or cooking

Platters – large plates

Chopped – cut finely
Frail – thin, weak
eyes filled with smoke - her eyes are filled with the smoke coming out of the firewood
stove
command respect - she is worthy and so, is respected

The house where Mukesh lived was partially constructed hut. In one corner was a firewood
stove made with dead grass. A vessel with spinach leaves was kept on it. on the ground
There were more plates with chopped vegetables in them. There was a thin, young woman
cooking the evening meal for the family. Her eyes were full of the smoke emanating from
the stove but she was still cheerful and smiled to see the writer. She was the wife of
Mukesh’s elder brother. Although she was not much older than Mukesh, she was a
responsible person and was worthy to get respect from the family as the daughter-in-law
of the family. She took care of three men – her husband, Mukesh and their father.

When the older man enters, she gently withdraws behind the broken wall and brings her
veil closer to her face. As custom demands, daughters-in-law must veil their faces before
male elders. In this case the elder is an impoverished bangle maker. Despite long years
of hard labour, first as a tailor, then a bangle maker, he has failed to renovate a house,
send his two sons to school. All he has managed to do is teach them what he knows —
the art of making bangles.

Withdraws – goes back

Veil - a piece of fine material worn by women to protect or hide the face, cover or hide
Impoverished – very poor
Labour – hard work
Renovate - repair

As Mukesh’s father entered the house, the daughter-in-law hid behind the wall and
covered her face behind her veil. It was a tradition for the daughter-in-laws to hide their
face in the presence of the older male members of the family. The elder here was a poor
bangle maker. He had worked hard all his life – first as a tailor, then as a bangle maker.
He was still not able to either renovate the house or send his sons to school. He had just
managed to teach him the skill of making bangles.

“It is his karam, his destiny,” says Mukesh’s grandmother, who has watched her own
husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. “Can a god-given
lineage ever be broken?” she implies.

Destiny – fate
God-given lineage - here, a profession carried on through the generations of a family –
glass bangle making

Mukesh’s grandmother justified her son by saying that he was destined to make bangles
as it had been their family profession. She had seen her husband become blind due to the
dust from polishing the glass bangles. She said that their family had got this art of bangle
making from God and so they had to carry on the tradition.

Born in the caste of bangle makers, they have seen nothing but bangles — in the house,
in the yard, in every other house, every other yard, every street in Firozabad. Spirals of
bangles — sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink, purple, every colour born out of the
seven colours of the rainbow — lie in mounds in unkempt yards, are piled on four-wheeled
handcarts, pushed by young men along the narrow lanes of the shanty town.

Yard – the open area at the back of the house

Mounds – heaps
Unkempt – not taken care of
Piled – kept one on top of the other
Shanty town - a town that is full of small, roughly built huts

They were born in a particular caste which had to follow the profession of bangle making.
All their life they had just seen these glass bangles. They were everywhere – in the
backyard, in the next house, in their yard and even in the streets of the town. There were
huge spiral bunches of bangles in different colours like gold, green, blue, pink, purple.
There were bangles of all the colours of the rainbow. Further, the writer says that there
were bangles in the neglected yards also. They were dumped on handcarts for sale. They
were pushed by men along the streets of Firozabad.

And in dark hutments, next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps, sit boys and girls with
their fathers and mothers, welding pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their
eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why they often end up
losing their eyesight before they become adults.
Welding – joining

The writer describes the environment where these bangle makers work. They were small,
dark huts. The children would sit next to a line of oil lamps whose flames were unsteady.
They, along with their parents joined the pieces of coloured glass into circles called
bangles. As they spent a lot of time in the dark, their eyes would not adapt to the bright
sunlight. Many of them lost their eyesight before gaining adulthood.

Savita, a young girl in a drab pink dress, sits alongside an elderly woman, soldering pieces
of glass. As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she
knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make. It symbolises an Indian
woman’s suhaag, auspiciousness in marriage.

Drab – faded, colourless

Soldering – joining
Tongs - an instrument with two moveable arms joined at one end
Sanctity - the state of being sacred or holy
Auspiciousness – good omen

There was a young girl by the name of Savita. She wore a faded pink coloured dress. She
was sitting with an elderly woman and they were joining pieces of glass to make bangles.
Her hands moved like a machine just like the tongs of a machine. The writer wondered if
Savita knew that bangles were sacred. They were a good omen for a woman’s wifehood.

It will dawn on her suddenly one day when her head is draped with a red veil, her hands
dyed red with henna, and red bangles rolled onto her wrists. She will then become a bride.
Like the old woman beside her who became one many years ago. She still has bangles
on her wrist, but no light in her eyes.

Dawn on her – she will realize

Draped - covered

She thought that Savita would realize this when she would become a bride. That day she
would cover her head with a red coloured veil, colour her hands with henna and wear red
coloured bangles on her wrist. The elderly woman sitting next to Savita also became a
bride many years ago. She was still wearing the glass bangles but had lost her eyesight
now.

“Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya,” she says, in a voice drained of joy. She has
not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime — that’s what she has reaped! Her
husband, an old man with a flowing beard, says, “I know nothing except bangles. All I have
done is make a house for the family to live in.”

Ser – a unit of measuring quantity

Reaped – received as a benefit

The elderly woman complained that she had not eaten even a ser of food. Ser is a unit of
measuring quantity. The woman wants to say that they are so poor that they cannot eat
enough food. That is the benefit that she has received by adopting the profession of
bangle-making. The woman’s husband has a flowing beard. He says that he does not
know anything other than bangle – making. All that he has been able to accomplish is to
make a house for his family to live in.

Hearing him, one wonders if he has achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. He
has a roof over his head!
The writer wonders that probably the old man has achieved something which many other
people have not been able to achieve. At least he has been able to secure a shelter for
his family.

The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making
bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of
their elders. Little has moved with time, it seems, in Firozabad. Years of mind-numbing toil
have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.

Rings – a sound which is repeated

Echo – repeat
Lament – complaint
Mind – numbing – boring
Toil – physical hard work done to earn a living

This problem was prevalent in all the homes which carried on the profession. They did not
know anything else other than bangle-making and it did not even provide them enough to
eat. The young men who had entered the traditional profession also had the same
complaint. With the passing time there was no improvement in their condition. As they had
been doing hard work for countless number of years, they did not have any ability to do
something else or to dream of it.

“Why not organise yourselves into a cooperative?” I ask a group of young men who have
fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen who trapped their fathers and forefathers. “Even
if we get organised, we are the ones who will be hauled up by the police, beaten and
dragged to jail for doing something illegal,” they say. There is no leader among them, no
one who could help them see things differently. Their fathers are as tired as they are.

Vicious – cruel
Hauled up – dragged, taken away

The writer suggests them to form a cooperative. She talked to a group of young men to
get out of the clutches of the cruel middlemen who had trapped their elders. The men said
that if they dared to do something like that, they would be dragged and beaten up by the
police and sent to jail. Their acts would be termed to be unlawful. The writer felt that as
they had no leader, they could not think of doing things differently. They all were so tired
– the men and their fathers.
They talk endlessly in a spiral that moves poverty to apathy to greed and to injustice.
Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds — one of the family, caught in a 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. Together they have imposed the baggage on the child that he cannot put down.
Before he is aware, he accepts it as naturally as his father. To do anything else would
mean to dare.

Spiral – here, a never-ending continuous process

Apathy – lack of concern
Greed – intense and selfish desire for something
Distinct – separate
Stigma – dishonor
Bureaucrats – government officials
Imposed – forced upon
Baggage – burden
To dare – do something courageous

The men complained that it was a continuous process. Their poor condition led to lack of
concern for their problems. This made them greedy and led to injustice. The writer
envisioned that there were two separate worlds – one was of such families who were stuck
in poverty and the pressure of doing the traditional profession according to the caste in
which they were born. The other world is a never-ending cycle of moneylenders,
middlemen, policemen, law keepers, government officials and politicians. Both of these
worlds had forced the young boys to follow the family traditions. The young boys get into
the profession and become a part of the vicious cycle even before they realize it. If they
did anything else, it meant that they were challenging these two worlds.
And daring is not part of his growing up. When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh I am cheered.
“I want to be a motor mechanic,’ he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn. But the
garage is a long way from his home. “I will walk,” he insists. “Do you also dream of flying
a plane?” He is suddenly silent. “No,” he says, staring at the ground. In his small murmur
there is an embarrassment that has not yet turned into regret. He is content to dream of
cars that he sees hurtling down the streets of his town. Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.

Hurtling down – moving around

The boys had not been reared up to be bold so that they could dare to go against the
system. The writer was happy to sense that Mukesh had the spark in him. He repeated
that he would be a motor mechanic. He wanted to go to a garage and learn the job. The
writer asked that as the garage was at a distance from his home, Mukesh insisted that he
would walk up to it. She asked him if he dreamt of flying planes. The boy became silent
and refused. He did not know about them as he did not know about planes. Not many
planes flew over Firozabad. As he had only seen cars moving around in Firozabad, his
dreams were restricted up to them.
Summary
The author tells us stories of her interactions with children from deprived backgrounds.
She describes their poor condition and life in an interesting manner. The story touches the
reader and is thought provoking.
The author described two of her encounters with children from deprived backgrounds.
Through them she wants to highlight the plight of street children forced into labour early
in life and are denied the opportunity of schooling. Also, she brings out the callousness of
society and the political class towards the sufferings of the poor. The first encounter is
with a rag picker boy named Saheb – E – Alam who migrated from Bangladesh in 1971
and lives in Seemapuri in Delhi. These ragpicker children look for ‘valuables’ in the
garbage – things like a coin or torn shoes which are as precious as ‘gold’ for them.
They could hardly manage some food for themselves, other things like identity, education,
shoes and sports are their unfulfilled dreams. Their parents scrounged the garbage
searching for things which helped them survive – afford food, clothing and shelter for the
family. The children hunted through the garbage heaps looking for things which could
partially fulfil their unfulfilled dreams.
One day the writer saw the boy, holding a steel can, going towards the milk booth. He had
got a job at a tea stall. He was happy that he would get eight hundred rupees and all the
meals. The writer noticed that Saheb had lost the freedom of being his own master which
he had enjoyed as a rag picker.
The second boy was Mukesh who belonged to a family of bangle makers in Firozabad.
The boy had a dream of becoming a car mechanic. On the contrary, his family was
traditionally engaged in bangle making, although the profession harmed them physically
and they hardly earned any money out of it.
Still, no one dared to dream of doing something else due to the fear of the police and the
middlemen. The family elders were content that other than teaching the art of bangle –
making to their children, they had been able to build them a house to live in. The boy
wanted to be a car mechanic. Cars were all that Mukesh had seen on the roads of his
town and so, he could not dream any further.

Think as you read

1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he
come from?
A. Saheb is looking for any precious thing which he cannot afford to buy. Things like a
rupee, silver coin or a pair of shoes. He has come to the garbage dump in the writer’s
neighbourhood. He lives in Seemapuri in Delhi and has come from Dhaka.

2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
A. The author says that they do not wear footwear because it is a tradition in their
families to remain barefoot.

4. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?

A. Firozabad is famous for glass blowing industry.
5. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
A. People who work in the glass bangle industry lose their eyesight.

6. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
A. Mukesh dares to dream and has a way out of his situation. He aspires to become a
motor mechanic. On the other hand, his family does not dare to dream. They are too
tired and scared to do something to come out of their grim situation.

Understanding the text

Q1. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to
cities?
A. People migrate from villages to cities in search of a better life. They want to earn
money so that they can lead a good life and rear their children in a better way. As cities
have more opportunities for work, this makes them migrate from the villages to these big
cities.

Q2. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you
think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
A. Yes, I agree that the promises made to poor children are rarely fulfilled. In the story
the writer jokingly offers the rag picker boy to join a school that she would open. In fact,
she does not intend to open a school. She speaks mindlessly but the boy takes it to be
true and later asks her if the school has opened. There are many such hollow promises
in the boy’s life because the person who makes the promise never intends to fulfil it.

Q3. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in
poverty?
A. The writer tells us that the bangle – makers of Firozabad are poverty – stricken. They
are burdened by the fact of the particular caste in which they are born – bangle –
makers. They have to continue the traditional profession. Further, the society has formed
a harsh circle around them. The money – lenders, middlemen, policemen, law –
keepers, officers and politicians altogether form a barrier around them and tie them in
the grip of poverty. They cannot escape from it.

Q4. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?

A. Mukesh dared to dream and wanted to become a motor mechanic. He wanted to
drive cars too. He took the initial step by aspiring to do something different from the
family business. I think that Mukesh can realize his dream with determination and hard
work.

Q5. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

A. The poor bangle makers in Firozabad work in dangerous conditions. The furnaces
have very high temperatures and no ventilation. Hence, they are prone to ailments like
lung cancer. While polishing the bangles, the dust harms their eyes and many lose their
vision. They remain in dark for long hours and so are unable to see during the daytime.

Q6. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

A. Forcing a child to work is a crime. This is so in order to prevent exploitation of
children. If forced to work, Children cannot enjoy their childhood. They cannot get
proper education. Also, when they are forced into hazardous works, they get
ailments at a young age. This destroys their future. Their parents overlook all
these facts as they need money. So, the government has to become proactive
and take measures to check child labour and enforce the law strictly.

Lost Spring Main points

Lost Spring Main Points Part I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the

garbage.
1. The writer encounters Saheb every morning scrounging for gold in the
garbage.
2. Saheb-e-Alam, a refugee from Dhaka, Bangladesh is a ragpicker.

3. Wants to go to school, but can’t – very poor.

4. Lives in Seemapuri – a locality on the periphery of Delhi without any basic

amenities.
5. Most of the rag pickers live here.

6. Food is more important for them than identity.

7. Rag picking is different for children and adults.

8. For adults – a mean of survival

9. For children – wrapped in wonders

10. Saheb gets a job in a tea stall, earns Rs. 800/- and all his meal but still
unhappy
11. Loses his freedom and carefree look.

Lost Spring Main points Part II – I want to drive a car.

 1. The writer comes across Mukesh in Firozabad.

2. His family is engaged in making bangles but Mukesh insists on being

his own master.

3. He desires to become a motor mechanic.

4. They work in dingy cells without air and light and furnaces with high
temperatures.
5. As a result, most of them become blind at a very young age.
6. They don’t have money to do anything except carrying on the business
of making bangles.

7. They can’t organize into a co-operative.

8. They are afraid of being hauled up by the Police, beaten and dragged
to jail for doing something illegal.

9. There is no leader among them.

10. They talk of poverty, apathy, greed, and injustice.

11. So poor that they can’t even dream – to do anything means to dare –
and daring is not part of their growth.

12. The author is cheered when she senses a flash of it in Mukesh who
wants to be a motor mechanic.

Lost Spring Questions and Answers (2 Marks)

Lost Spring Questions & Answers Part I – Sometimes I find a rupee
in the garbage.
Q1. What does the title ‘Lost Spring’ convey?

Ans. The title ‘Lost Spring’ conveys and picturizes that childhood is like the
spring. As everything blooms in this season, in the same way, childhood should
bloom but through the poverty of Saheb and Mukesh, we come to know about
their stolen childhood. It is being destroyed and dumped in the web of poverty,
dirt, and dust.
Q2. What does Anees Jung want to reveal in her story ‘Lost Spring’?

Ans. Anees Jung has portrayed two stories in ‘Lost Spring’ and both depict the
grinding poverty, pitiable condition of life, and the other traditions that condemn
the children to a life of exploitation. For the rag-pickers of Seemapuri, garbage
is gold and means of survival. The bangle-makers of Firozabad live in dingy
cells and stinking lanes. Even after much toil, they do not get a full meal.

Q3. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and
where has he come from?

Ans. Saheb is scrounging for anything in the garbage dump that he can sell
and make money. This is the only means of survival. He sometimes manages
to find a rupee or even ten rupees. He now lives with his family in Seemapuri,
a slum on the outskirts of Delhi. His family has migrated from Bangladesh in
search of a better life.
Q4. What makes the author embarrassed at having made a promise that
was not meant?

Ans. On encountering Saheb, the writer asks him to go to school. Immediately

at the second thought, she realizes that the advice must sound very hollow. On
the other hand, Saheb replies that there is no school in his neighbourhood. And
he will go if the authorities make one. The writer asks half-jokingly if she starts
school, “will he go?” Saheb goes on asking her “Is your school ready?” She
feels embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant.

Q5. Does the rag-picking mean the same thing for parents and children?
Give reasons for your answer.

Ans. No, rag picking is not the same for parents and children. For children it is
wrapped in wonders whereas for parents it is the means of survival.

Q6. Why was not Saheb happy about getting a job?

Ans. Saheb was not happy about getting a job in a tea stall for a salary of
Rs.800/- per month as he lost his freedom. He had to carry the stall owner’s
steel canister in place of his bag. He had lost his freedom and carefree look. He
was now no longer his own master.
Q7. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from
villages to cities?

Ans. Most people, who have migrated from villages to cities, have done so
because of the promise of a better life. Some of them have not been able to
earn any money from farming because of the unpredictable vagaries of the
weather. They have had no jobs and no way of earning a livelihood. Cities
provide a ray of hope as they are a means of escaping from abject poverty and
offer hope of some employment. These people feel that though they may have
to live in the most abysmal conditions in the city, they will get at least some food
to eat.
Lost Spring questions & Answers Part II – I want to drive a car.

Q1. What was Mukesh’s dream?

Ans. Mukesh belongs to the family of bangle makers. He tells the writer that he
wants to become a motor mechanic. He will learn to drive a car and does not
hesitate to go to the far off garage. He has no desire to live and become a
victim of poverty.
Q2. Why don’t the bangle makers of Firozabad organize themselves?

Ans. The bangle makers are trapped in the vicious circle of middlemen and
police. If they organize a co-operative, they will be hauled up, beaten and
dragged to jail by the police for doing something illegal. There is no leader to
help them out from their misery. They are the victims of greed and injustice.

Q3. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his
family?

Ans. Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car. He wants to break
away from the generations-old family tradition of bangle making. His family is
not as optimistic as he is, but he is determined and exhibits a spark of courage
and hope and dares to dream, even though it means walking miles to get to the
garage.
Q4. Why does the author say that the bangle-makers are caught in a
vicious web?

Ans. The family of bangle makers was caught in the vicious web of poverty.
They are forced to practise their ancestral profession. They remain ill-fed and
ill-clad throughout life. They have no money to switch over their profession.
Their hard work is mind-numbing. The police do not allow them to form co-
operatives.
Lost Spring Questions and Answers (6 Marks)
Q1. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?

Ans. Mukesh belongs to the family of bangle- makers who prepare colourful
bangles like that of a rainbow. But his attitude to this situation is different from
others. He is a daring boy and he announces, “I will be a motor mechanic, I will
leam to drive a car. Though the garage is a long way from his home yet he
insists I will go to the garage and learn.”
The determination and strong will of becoming a motor mechanic and learning
to drive a car seem to be as firm as a rock in Mukesh. That is why he says he
will walk to the garage which is a long way from his home. Though his dream
appears to be vague, unclear, and like a mirage yet he has a different ambition
to fulfill. He can materialize his dream once he walks.

Q2. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of
Firozabad in poverty?

Ans. The bangle makers firmly believe that having been born in the caste and
community of bangle makers, they cannot escape their fate and must remain
where they are. They believe that bangle making is the only skill they possess
and that they must pass on the legacy to their children. Bangle making is not a
lucrative source of income but they have no alternative and hence remain
entrenched in the same. They have fallen into the vicious clutches of middlemen
who had trapped their fathers and their forefathers. They are afraid to form
cooperatives to safeguard themselves because they feel that they will be beaten
up by the police and jailed for doing something illegal. Steeped in despair and
apathy, they no longer have the will to aspire and better their lot. Some of the
industrialists conspire in unison with the sahukars, the middlemen, the
policemen, and the politicians and then go on exploiting them. They see very
little hope of escaping from their impoverished life of misery and privation.

Q3. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry. /

Describe the difficulties the bangle makers of Firozabad have to face in
their lives.

Ans. The glass blowing industry of Firozabad employs local families and these
families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, and
making bangles of different colours. Working around the high-temperature
furnaces is very injurious to our growing bodies. The dark dingy cells without
light and air worsen the working conditions of the children. The dazzling and
sparking of welding light and the high temperature render the situation hellish.
About 20,000 children slog their daylight hours and often lose the brightness of
their eyes before they become adults.
The bangle-makers lead their life in utter miseries and grinding poverty. They
could never prosper working in this industry. They hardly get a belly full of meals
in their lifetime. Thus they are not only underfed but also prone to ailments. The
dingy cells and stinking smell of garbage choke their bodies. There are flames
of flickering oil lamps, the blinding polishing, and the welding work put a deep
impact on their bodies. Those who work in bangle industries, lose their eyesight
before they become adults.
Q4. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

Ans. The child labour employed in any form is an offence. It is banned under
the law. Yet it goes on unabated at the industrial towns like Firozabad,
Shivakasi, Mirzapur, and so on.
Child labour is hazardous in nature. It inflicts physical and mental harm to the
boys. The work in the glass bangle industry often ends up them losing their
eyesight before they become adults. The mind-numbing toil of bangle-making
kills all their initiatives, drive, and ability to dream in life. They are even deprived
of school education and proper growth.
According to the writer, about 20,000 children are working in the glass bangle
industry of Firozabad. Some of the industrialists conspire in unison with the
sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, and the politicians and then go on
stealing their childhood for some extra coins. The .only possible solution lies
with the government and the society to punish the wrongdoers very strictly and
keep a careful watch and vigil over them.