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Lost Spring

The chapter 'Lost Spring' by Anees Jung highlights the plight of child laborers in India, symbolizing the loss of childhood due to poverty and exploitation. It focuses on the stories of Saheb-e-Alam, Mukesh, and Savita, who are trapped in a cycle of poverty and lack opportunities for education and a better life. The narrative emphasizes the urgent need for societal awareness and action to empower these children through education and cooperative efforts.

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42 views4 pages

Lost Spring

The chapter 'Lost Spring' by Anees Jung highlights the plight of child laborers in India, symbolizing the loss of childhood due to poverty and exploitation. It focuses on the stories of Saheb-e-Alam, Mukesh, and Savita, who are trapped in a cycle of poverty and lack opportunities for education and a better life. The narrative emphasizes the urgent need for societal awareness and action to empower these children through education and cooperative efforts.

Uploaded by

pranjalsingh.smart123
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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ENGLISH – Class XII

CHAPTER – LOST SPRING


(Anees Jung)
Title
The title of the story is appropriate as it depicts the loss of childhood of millions of child
labourers in India. Spring is symbolic of joy, growth, beauty & hope childhood can be called the
spring of a human's life.
However, children like Saheb -e- Alam, Mukesh and Savita have no life in their life because of
the poverty they have been born into. Since they don't enjoy the priviledges of childhood that
children of well-to-do families enjoy, the author has aptly titled the chapter ‘Lost Spring'.

Themes
Lost spring deals with the miserable plight of children forced into labour early in life and denied
the opportunity of education.
The author has taken the example of Saheb-e- Alam, a rag picker & Mukesh and Savita, the
bangle makers from Firozabad. All of them find themselves in a vicious circle of poverty, social
stigma & exploitation.
While Saheb gives up his rag picking in favour of a job at a tea stall, Mukesh wants to be a
motor mechanic. Both of them have a deep desire to change their destiny and both would love
to play like normal children if only their burdened lives would permit. Mukesh and Saheb
represent a growing number of migrants who are forced to struggle for a two square meal a
day.
Another theme that run's parallel is the carelessness of the society and the political nexus
towards the misery of these people. Both the society and the administration have an utter lack
of compassion, empathy, and commitment towards the upliftment of these children.
Thus, the lesson tries to sensitize the reader to the miserable plight of the poorest of the poor
and emphasize the urgent need to end exploitation by empowering them through education/
awareness and the formation of Cooperatives.
Question-Answers

Q 1. What could be some of the reasons for people to migrate from villages to cities?
Ans. People migrate to cities when the social, economic, and political conditions of the village
deprive them of their basic needs. Food, shelter, and clothing are the basic needs of every
human being. Acquiring these then become an exhausting struggle for the villagers due to lack
of facilities, education, healthcare etc., absence of employment opportunities and oppression
by money lenders.
Therefore, the villagers are left with no choice but to move to cities in search of favorable
circumstances. Some migrate cities for better livelihood, some for basic sustenance and some
are driven due to natural calamities.

Q2. Would you agree that promises made to these poor children are rarely kept? Why do you
think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Ans. One cannot deny the fact that promises made to the poor, under-privileged children are
rarely kept. Most rich men and women who come in contact with these poor children fail to
acknowledge their presence.
They see these children begging, picking rags, selling small objects, cleaning cars, but there is
hardly any interaction between them. Whenever there is, it is only out of curiosity that an
individual pauses to listen to them.
The promises made during such an interaction are generally empty promises that are never to
be fulfilled. Saheb, the rag-picker from Seemapuri is one such example. The author ignites a
spark of hope in him when she casually inquires, if he would join the school. She might open.
She offers what she doesn't mean to give without realising the heartbreak her unkept promise
would cause to Saheb.

Q3. 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 into the cast 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 they must pass this legacy to their children. Bangle
making is not a profitable source of income, yet, they believe it their destiny and they should
remain where they are. Further they are trapped in the vicious clutches of the middleman,
politicians, bureaucrats, who have trapped their fathers and forefathers. They are afraid to
form co-operatives as they see little hope and continue a life of the bare existence.
Q 4. How in your opinion can Mukesh realize his dream?
Ans. Mukesh has already taken the first step to realize his dream unlike the members of his
community who have been begged or weighed down by years of toil, Mukesh still has hope and
dares to dream.
He views the world around with open eyes and understands that with some training, he can
one day become a motor mechanic. He can definitely realize his dream if he sticks to this
resolve. It is his will power and determination which help him overcome the no nexus of the
politicians, bureaucrats, and middle men. He must plan his training at the earliest and devote
his entire energy towards realising his dream. His enthusiasm and strong will shall help him do
so.

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


Ans. Colourful bangles have been a symbol of auspiciousness and also denote the marital status
of a woman. In today's world they have also become a fashion statement. The bangle makers of
Firozabad add colour and auspiciousness to the lives of all women but ironically they
themselves live a colourless existence of misery and poverty.
The chambers where these workers make bangles are ill-lit and are not properly ventilated,
furnaces, with high temperatures. People who work in these furnaces are unable to manage
even two square meals a day. They live in inhuman conditions with dirt and crumbling walls.
To add to their misery, the glass dust robs them of their eyesight at be very young age. Extreme
poverty forces the parents to involve the children in the industry quite early in life depriving
them of the joys of childhood. Due to lack of organization and awareness abouts their rights the
bangle makers are trapped in a vicious circle they cannot get out of.

Q 6. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?


Ans. Child labour should be completely abolished because engaging young children in
hazardous activities hampers their physical and mental growth. In the process the nation also
looses a prospective human resource that can later contribute in society and nation building. As
per the law, children below the age of 14 years cannot be employed as labour, however the
reality is far removed from it. Households and numerous industries shamelessly employ young
children who are a source of cheap labor. In order to eliminate child labour, creating awareness
through print, audio, and visual media is necessary. Strict and sincere enforcement of law
banning child labor is essential to eliminate this inhuman practice free and compulsory
education for children up to the age of 14 years, provision of free meals and an active role of
NGO’s as small can go a long way in eradicating this social evil.
Difficult Words
1. Scrounging: To search for something especially in a haphazard manner.
2. Glibly: Without showing much thought
3. Abound: exist in great numbers
4. Bleak: Not encouraging / without much hope
5. Perpetual: continuous
6. Desolation: state of destruction or ruin
7. Panting: Breathing quickly with short breaths
8. Periphery: The outer edge of a particular area.
9. Squatters: People who live on someone else's land or house without paying rent.
10. Tattered: old and torn
11. Transit homes: Homes that provide temporary accommodation for refugees.
12. Canister: A Container with a lid for keeping milk, tea etc.
13. Dingy: Dark & dirty
14. Slog: hardworking
15. Shack: A small building usually made of wood or metal
16. Impoverish: Poverty
17. Lineage: Ancestry
18. Soldering: joining together
19. Vicious circle: A situation in which one problem causes another problem which then makes
the first problem worse.

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