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Lost Spring: I - Sometimes I Find A Rupee in The Garbage

- The author analyzes the poor conditions that push children into exploitative labor, denying them education. She encounters Saheb, a rag picker whose family migrated to Delhi for work and lives in poverty, scrounging the garbage for coins. - The story also profiles Mukesh, who hails from a family of glassmakers in Firozabad. Over 20,000 children work in dangerous conditions that often cause blindness, yet laws against child labor are ignored. Despite his circumstances, Mukesh dreams of becoming a mechanic. - Both children exemplify how poverty robs childhood of joy and opportunity, though some like Mukesh cling to hopes for a better future.

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Nidhi rastogi
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10K views2 pages

Lost Spring: I - Sometimes I Find A Rupee in The Garbage

- The author analyzes the poor conditions that push children into exploitative labor, denying them education. She encounters Saheb, a rag picker whose family migrated to Delhi for work and lives in poverty, scrounging the garbage for coins. - The story also profiles Mukesh, who hails from a family of glassmakers in Firozabad. Over 20,000 children work in dangerous conditions that often cause blindness, yet laws against child labor are ignored. Despite his circumstances, Mukesh dreams of becoming a mechanic. - Both children exemplify how poverty robs childhood of joy and opportunity, though some like Mukesh cling to hopes for a better future.

Uploaded by

Nidhi rastogi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LOST SPRING

INTRODUCTION

The „Lost Spring‟ written by Anees Jung talks about the national shame of children being forced
to live a life of poverty and exploitation. The main two protagonists of the chapter, Saheb-e-
Alam and Mukesh don‟t live their childhood as they have to carry the burden of poverty and
illiteracy. In their miserable stories of exploitation, the author provides glimpses of fortitude and
resilience.

The story, “Lost Spring” deals with the deplorable condition of poor children who get forced to
miss the simple joyful moments of childhood because of their socio-economic conditions. These
children are not given the opportunity of schooling and are compelled to start working early in
life. The author Anees Jung strives hard to eliminate child labour through her book. She
propagates the education of children and enforcement of strict laws against child labour by the
government. The message is to put an end to child exploitation and let all children enjoy their
days of the spring and joy.

CHARACTERS

 Saheb-e-Alam: A rag picker


 Mukesh: Son of a bangle maker

SUMMARY

I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage.

The first part talks about the writer‟s impressions about the life of the unfortunate rag pickers.
The rag pickers migrate from Dhaka and find a settlement in Seemapuri. They end up losing
their fields and homes due to storms. They then come to the big city to find a living, but are poor.
The author then watches Saheb, the rag picker, every morning who is always scrounging for
“gold” in her neighbourhood. Garbage is actually the means of survival for the elders and it is
something wrapped in wonder for the children. Sometimes, the children find a coin or two from
it. Even these kids have desires and ambitions, but they have no clue about how to achieve them.
There are many things that are unreachable to them, for instance, shoes, tennis and similar stuff.
Later on, Saheb starts working at a tea stall where he earns 800 Rupees and also gets to eat all
the meals. But the job takes away his freedom.

 The author here is analyzing the poor conditions and traditions that push children to live a
life of exploitation. They are also denied education and face hardships quite early in their
lives.
 The writer comes across Saheb – a rag picker whose parents have left Dhaka and their
life of poverty to earn a living in Delhi.
 Just like many other families, even his family lives in Seemapuri. They don‟t own any
other identification other than a ration card.
 These children can‟t afford to go to school but get excited when they find a coin or even a
ten rupee note while rummaging in the garbage.
 This is their only way of earning.
 The writer feels awful to see Saheb, a rag picker whose name also means the ruler
of earth. But the poor child has lost his childhood and roams barefooted with his friends.
 Right from morning to afternoon, the author comes across him in a tea stall. Saheb
becomes sad as he realizes that he is no longer the master of his own destiny and the loss
of identity weighs heavily on his tender shoulders.

II – I want to drive a car.

The second part is about the life of Mukesh, who comes from the family of bangle-makers.
Firozabad is quite popular for its glass-blowing industry. A staggering 20,000 children are a part
of this business and any law that forbids child labour is brutally ignored here. Also, the working
environment and the living conditions are pathetic. Children live in dingy cells and work around
hot furnaces that make them blind when they enter adulthood. Since they are weighed down by
debt, they cannot think or find any way to escape this trap. The politicians, policemen,
middlemen and bureaucrats obstruct their way of progress. Most women in such families think
that this is their fate and just follow the tradition. But Mukesh is very different from the rest of
the folks there. He has dreams of becoming a motor mechanic. The garage is quite far from his
house but he shall walk.

 The author sheds light on another victim of child labour, Mukesh who dreams of
becoming a motor mechanic.
 But the child has always worked in the glass making industry.
 They get exposed to many health hazards such as losing their eyesight as they work in
appalling conditions, in dark and dingy cells.
 Mukesh‟s father is blind and even his father and grandfather were blind.
 So, the bangle makers of Firozabad are so burdened that they have stopped dreaming
unlike Mukesh who wants to drive a car.

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