Lost Spring

- Anees Jung

About the Author:

Anees Jung is an author, journalist and columnist for major newspapers in India and abroad. She
was born in Hyderabad in 1944 in an aristocratic family. Her career began with literary writing with
the Youth Times, a Times of India publication. Later she served as its editor from 1976 to 1979.
Prior to it, she worked as a journalist. Jung came to the limelight with the publication of “Unveiling
India” in 1987. Later she published several books dealing with social issues, including abused
children and women’s problems. Jung is noted for her lively and vivid descriptions, though she
rarely offers remedies to the problems highlighted.

Characters

Saheb-e-Alam: A rag picker

Mukesh: Son of a bangle-maker

Introduction

‘Lost Spring’ relates the distressing state of impoverished children who cannot enjoy the delights of
childhood due to the socio-economic realities of their world. Instead of going to school, these
children find themselves forced into child labour early in life. Anees Jung calls for eliminating child
labour by educating the children and enforcing laws against this evil practice so that even those
born into poverty can enjoy their childhood.

Main points

“Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage.”

1. The writer finds Saheb each morning scrounging for gold in the garbage.
2. Saheb-e-Alam is a ragpicker and his family members are migrants from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
3. He wants to go to school, but he cannot due to poverty.
4. He lives in Seemapuri – a locality on the periphery of Delhi without any basic amenities. Most
rag pickers live here.
5. Their priority is food, not identity.
6. Rag picking has different meanings for the children and the adults. For the adults – it is a means
of survival. For the children – garbage is wrapped in wonder
7. S​aheb​ gets a job at a tea stall, earns Rs. 800/- per month and all his meals but is still unhappy.
8. He loses his freedom and carefree look.
“I want to drive a car”

1. Mukesh lives with his family of bangle-makers in Firozabad.

2. Mukesh insists on being his own master – he does not wish to remain a bangle-maker.
3. He wants to be a motor mechanic.
4. The bangle-makers, including the children, work in dingy cells without air and light in front
of very hot furnaces.
5. Most become blind at a very young age.
6. They do not have enough money to do anything except carry on with bangle-making.
7. They are unable to organize themselves into a co-operative because they are afraid of being
hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal.
8. There is no leader among them.
9. They talk of poverty, apathy, greed and injustice.
10. Poverty prevents them from dreaming. To do anything means to dare – and daring is not part of
their life.
11. The author is hopeful when Mukesh shows some daring by aspiring to be a motor mechanic, in
spite of the hard work required to become one.

Important Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What does the title ‘Lost Spring’ convey?

Ans. The title ‘Lost Spring’ conveys that childhood is like spring. As everything blooms in this
season, so should childhood. However, children like Saheb and Mukesh are deprived of their
childhood due to extreme poverty. The springtime of their lives is, therefore, lost and destroyed in a
web of poverty, dirt and dust.

Q2. What does Anees Jung want to reveal in ‘Lost Spring’?

Ans. Anees Jung reports two stories in ‘Lost Spring’ and both depict grinding poverty, harrowing
living and working conditions and little hope of escape from them that condemn children like Saheb
and Mukesh, her protagonists, to a life of exploitation. For the rag-pickers of Seemapuri, garbage is
a means of survival. The bangle-makers of Firozabad live in dingy cells and stinking lanes. Even
after much toil, they may not get a full meal. Their childhood is destroyed by their harsh reality.

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

Ans. Saheb scrounges for anything in the garbage dump that he can sell and make money. This is
 his only means of survival. Sometimes, he manages to find a rupee or even ten. He lives with his
family in Seemapuri on the outskirts of Delhi. His family members are migrants from Bangladesh.

Q4. What makes the author embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant?

Ans. The writer asks Saheb why he does not go to school, which she soon realizes must have
sounded very hollow. Saheb replies that there is no school in his neighbourhood and he will go if
the authorities make one. The writer asks half-jokingly whether he will go, if she starts a school.
Saheb asks her, “Is your school ready?” She feels ashamed at having made a promise that was not
meant.

Q5. Does rag picking mean the same thing for parents and children? Give reasons for your
answer.
Ans. No, rag picking is not the same for both parents and children. For children it is wrapped in
wonder because of the possibility of unexpected discoveries. For parents, on the other hand, it is a
harsh means of survival.

Q6. Why was not Saheb happy even after getting a job?

Ans. Saheb was unhappy with his job in a tea stall for a salary of Rs.800/- per month because he
lost his freedom. He had to carry the stall owner’s steel canister in place of his bag. He was now no
longer his own master. The author felt that Saheb had lost his carefree look.

Q7. What was Mukesh’s dream?

Ans. Mukesh dreams of becoming a motor mechanic even though his family has been bangle
makers for generations. He hopes to learn to drive a car and does not hesitate to go to the far off
garage. He does not want to fall victim to the poverty surrounding him.

Q8. What prevents the bangle makers of Firozabad from organising themselves?

Ans. The bangle makers are afraid that if they organize themselves into 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 victims of greed and injustice. The bangle-makers find
themselves trapped in a vicious circle of middlemen and police.

Q9. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?

Ans. Mukesh retains some hope for an escape from the all-pervading poverty but his family does
not. Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car, thus breaking away from the
generations-old family tradition of bangle making. His family is not as optimistic, but he is
determined and dares to dream even if that entails walking miles to get to the garage.
Q10. Explain how the bangle-makers are caught in a vicious web.

Ans. The family of bangle makers are trapped in the vicious web of poverty because they have no
alternative but to practise their ancestral profession. They remain ill-fed and ill-clad throughout life
and their mind-numbing work also damages their health, but they have no money to switch
professions. The police do not allow them to form co-operatives. They have no leader among them
who can organize them against the police and middlemen.

Important Long Answer Type Questions:

Q1. How can Mukesh realise his dream?

Ans. Mukesh belongs to an impoverished family which has been involved in bangle- making for
generations. But his attitude to this situation is different from others. He dares to hope and says he
will be a motor mechanic and learn to drive a car. Although the garage is a long way from his
home, he insists he will go to the garage and learn. Clearly, Mukesh is determined to work hard to
escape the vicious cycle of poverty his family is trapped in. Even though his dream appears to be
vague, unclear and like a mirage, given the despair around him he has a drive that may yet help him
succeed.

Q2. What factors keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?

Ans. The bangle makers believe that they cannot escape their fate and must remain where their
caste and community have condemned them. Bangle making is the only skill they possess to teach
their children. They have fallen into the clutches of middlemen who had trapped their fathers and
their forefathers. They are afraid to form cooperatives to protect themselves because they will be
beaten up by the police and jailed for doing something illegal. A nexus of sahukars, middlemen,
policemen and politicians goes on exploiting them. There is no leader among them who can
organize them against these forces. So, even though bangle-making is hard and dangerous work for
very little income, there is no alternative and they remain poor.

Q3. List the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

Ans. The glass blowing and bangle industry of Firozabad employs local families who work around
dangerously hot furnaces, welding glass and making bangles. The dark dingy cells without light and
air worsen the working conditions of the children. The flickering oil lamps and welding work are
harmful to the eye. About 20,000 children slog their daylight hours and often lose the brightness of
their eyes before they become adults.

Q4. What are some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?

Ans​. Most people migrate from villages to cities because of the promise of a better life. Some have
not been able to earn any money from farming because of the vagaries of weather. Others have no
jobs and no way of earning a livelihood in villages. They feel that cities could offer them other
options of employment and hence alleviate their poverty. Even though they may have to live in the
most abysmal conditions in the city, they believe that, at least, they will have some food to ea​t,
unlike in the villages.