THE LOST SPRING

HAVE I LOST MY CHILDHOOD OR SOMEONE STOLE IT FROM ME ?

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 Anees Jung (1964) was born in Rourkela and spent her childhood and
adolescence in Hyderabad. She received her education in Hyderabad and
in the United States of America.
 Her parents were both writers. Anees Jung began her career as a writer in
India. She has been an editor and columnist for major newspapers in India
and abroad, and has authored several books.
 The following is an excerpt from her book titled Lost Spring, Stories of
Stolen Childhood. Here she analyses the grinding poverty and traditions
which condemn these children to a life of exploitation.
 THEME OF THE STORY
 The theme of the story is the lost childhood of the children who suffer from
poverty which forces them to live a life of exploitation.
 The two different stories narrated by the author describe the poor state of
street children who are forced into labour early in their lives instead of
going to school.
 The biased behaviour of society adds to the suffering of these poor people.
As we all know, spring is the season associated with optimism and hope. It
also works as a metaphor for the childhood stage of our life.
 SUMMARY OF THE FIRST STORY
‘’SOMETIMES I FIND A RUPEE IN THE GARBAGE’’
 The story begins with Saheb, a ragpicker who is looking for gold in the garbage. He left his
home in Dhaka a long back. The author tells about how the poor children walk barefoot on
the roads calling it a tradition, but instead, it might be an excuse to hide their poverty. She
gets reminded of a story where a man from Udipi told her that he prayed for a pair of
shoes, and thirty years later when the narrator visited the temple and the town, she could
see a little boy walking in his shoes. Their prayers were answered.
 Saheb lives in Seemapuri, a place at the periphery of Delhi devoid of resources like
sewage, drainage, or running water. Almost 10,000 ragpickers live here without any
identity but a ration card. The author describes garbage as gold for the ragpickers
because it provides a living for them, whereas it is a gift wrapped in wonders for children.
After all, they sometimes find a coin or a ten-rupee note in it. The author talks about the
two sides of society where a rich kid discarded a pair of shoes because of a hole in them,
but Saheb does not mind wearing the same shoes with a hole in them.
 Later, the author sees Saheb working in a tea stall and is paid 800 rupees along with daily
meals. He is carrying a steel canister. The author says that he has lost his carefree attitude
and looks downcast. The author describes how the steel canister looked heavier than his
plastic bag, which was his, and the steel canister is of the tea stall owner.
ARE THEY SEARCHING FOR MONEY OR HAPPINESS
OR THEIR STOLEN CHILDHOOD ??
 SUMMARY OF THE SECOND STORY
I WANT TO DRIVE A CAR
 The story revolves around Mukesh, who belongs to a family of bangle makers in Firozabad,
which is India's center of the glass-blowing industry. Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic
and learn to drive a car.
 The author describes the lives of traditional bangle-makers who work under harsh
conditions with high temperatures, without proper light or air. Even though it is illegal for
children to work under such conditions, 20,000 children still work under such conditions.
Even after the family worked at the bangle factory, they remained poor. Mukesh's family still
needed to build a proper house. The same is the fate of other people living in this area. The
author also talks about the women who still had to follow old traditions of veiling their faces
before the male elders. Mukesh's elder brother's wife was given charge of three males- her
husband, Mukesh, and their father at a very young age.
 The author also describes how working under such conditions affects young children's
eyesight making them blind at a very young age. Mukesh's grandmother has already
accepted this lifestyle and calls it her husband's destiny to lose his eyesight. When asked to
form a cooperative for better living conditions, they said they had a fear of being beaten by
the police for doing something illegal.
 Therefore no one dares to change their line of profession of bangle-making, and from this
tragic chain of poverty and suppression. Mukesh dreams of being a motor mechanic, and
the author sees a flash of hope in his eyes. She asked him if he would like to be a pilot
someday. Mukesh seemed embarrassed and said he was content dreaming of being a
motor mechanic. Dreaming of a pilot seems beyond his reach.
 CONCLUSION

 The conclusion of the summary is that there are two

different stories of Saheb and Mukesh describing how
their childhood have been taken away by the poverty,
exploitation and burden of society but still they dream of
being free and following their dreams one day. I HOPE
THEY SUCCEED IN THAT
 THANKING YOU
 SASWAT TRIPATHY
 CLASS XII
 ROLL NO. 22
 I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE MY IMMENSE THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO MISS MALLIKA
MAM WHO GAVE ME A CHANCE TO DO THIS