LOST SPRING BY ANEES JUNG
VALUE POINTS
1.Sahib-e-Alam
Name means . lord of the universe, migrated with his family from Dhaka in 1971, lives in Seemapuri, survives by ragpicking, doesn.t go to school, works barefooted.
2.Living Conditions : Lack of basic amenities, structures of mud, tin and tarpaulin, no sewage, no drainage, no water, loses freedom when he starts working at a tea-stall.
3.Mukesh : Banglemaker of Firozabad, works in high temperatures, workplace small and dirty, working conditions hazardous. Dreams of being a motor mechanic.
4.Similarities between Saheb-e-Alam and Mukesh
. have aspirations and desires like other children
. suffer from immense poverty and scarcity of food
. caught in the web of child labour
. leading a life of exploitation
. undergo physical, mental and emotional sufferings
5.Living Conditions in Seemapuri
. on the outskirts of Delhi yet miles away from it, home to 10,000 ragpickers, make a living by picking garbage, mastered the art of rag picking, food and survival more important for their identity, live in a state of poverty. Garbage to them is gold because it is a means of survival, sometimes they find a rupee or even a ten rupee note and for children garbage is wrapped in wonder.
6.Hazards of Working in Glass Bangle Factory
. high temperatures, lack of proper ventilation and light,
. long working hours in front of hot furnace
. boys and girls assist parents in the dim light of flickering oil lamps.
. eyes are more adjusted to dark than light
. dust from polishing bangles affects their eyes.
. exploited by moneylenders, police, bureaucrats, politicians.
. fear of being ill treated by police
. lack of a leader who can organize them
. live in state of intense poverty
. sleep on empty stomachs
. live in stinky lanes
. overcrowded with humans and animals.
NCERT QUESTIONS
Q.1.Who is Saheb? What is he looking for in the garbage dumps and where has he come from?
Ans: Saheb is a rag-picker of Seemapuri. The writer encounters him every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps in her neighbourhood. He hails from Dhaka and he was migrated from Bangladesh in 1971. His house and fields were destroyed by storm.
Q2. Why did people migrate from the village in Dhaka to Delhi ?
(Better education, job opportunities and living conditions)
Q3 What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing foot wear?
When the author asked the children why they were always barefoot , one said it was because his mother had not pulled his shoes from the shelf while the other explanation was that it was a tradition in their community to walk barefoot. The author did not quite believe it and realized that it was their perpetual state of poverty which was responsible for their moving around in that manner.
Q4. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Firozabad is famous for 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 women all over India.
Q5 Mention any two hazards of working in the glass bangles industry
( .- glass furnaces with high temperature
- dark and dingy cells without air and light
the chances of losing one’s eye- sight
• There is possibility of skin burn too)
Q6.Why was not Saheb happy on getting a job?
A. Saheb was not happy on getting a job in 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 lost his carefree look He was now no longer his own master.
Q7 What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Lack of education and awareness, stigma of being born in the caste of banglemakers, vicious nexus of sahukars, middlemen, politicians and police suppresses the bangle makers and keep them poverty stricken. Broken spirit, dormant initiative, fear of being beaten and dragged to jail, absence of leadership are the other forces which conspire to keep them in poverty.
EXTRA QUESTIONS
Q1 How did Saheb manage to embarrass the author?
Ans. The author like many others who gave hollow advice had told Saheb to attend school, only to be informed that there was no school in his locality. She jokingly enquired whether he would enroll in her school if she happened to open one. Saheb happily agreed and a few days later when he met the author he enquired about the school. The author was embarrassed because the promise was not meant to be fulfilled.
Q2 What prompted the author to remark that promises like the one she made abound in every corner of Saheb’s bleak world?
Ans. The author had promised to open a school in which Saheb could study but had no intention of doing so. She says that hollow promises like hers guaranteeing a better life were made to the deprived section of the society all the time but were never fulfilled
Q3 What was the full name of Saheb. Describe the irony of his fate?
“Saheb-e-Alam” – lord of universe-but had to pick rags – was not the master of himself.
Q4. What is special about the story of the man from Udipi?
Q5. Why do the rag pickers have ration permits but no identity ? (can vote , get food at subsidized rates)
Q6. Why did the rag pickers have to leave their green fields in their country ?
Q7 ‘Garbage to them is gold.’ Why does the author say so about the rag-pickers?
Ans: More than 10,000 rag-pickers of Seemapuri live in squatters. For them is garbage is gold and it is wrapped in wonder. For a child, it is their bread. Sometimes a child can find a silver coin or more in a heap of garbage. For the elders it is a means of survival.
Q8 Why does the author say that Seemapuri in spite of being on the periphery of Delhi was miles away from it?
Ans. The author remarks so to highlight the economic disparity between the people of Delhi and the rag pickers of Seemapuri. The opulence of Delhi is in no way related to the dire poverty of the residents of Seemapuri.
Q9 How do children of rag pickers become equal partners in survival ?
Q10 Through the years rag picking has acquired the ‘proportion of a fine art’ in Seemapuri. Justify the statement.
Ans.. The means of survival of migrants of Bangladesh in Seemapuri is rag picking. Garbage to them is gold. Like a fine art that has no end in appealing the sense of beauty the rag picker’s scrounging the garbage is a never ending process which provides them their daily bread day after day.
Q11 How did garbage hold different meanings for adults and children?
Ans. For adults rag picking was only a means of survival but for children a lot of excitement was associated with the same for they often found unexpected things as a ten rupee note in the same. There was always a hope of coming across unexpected surprises and so garbage was wrapped in wonder for them.
Q12 How has “a dream come true “ for Saheb but what is “out of his reach”? (got a pair of shoes, playing tennis was out of his reach)
Q13 Who is Mukesh? What is his dream? Why does it look like a ‘mirage amidst the dust’?
Q14 . How is the bangle industry of Firozabad a curse for childhood ?
Q15 How does Mukesh’s grandmother view the family occupation of bangle making and its poverty?
Ans. Mukesh’s grandmother views bangle making as the destiny of her family. Her husband’s blindness, their misfortune and impoverished condition, she feels, are ordained by destiny. Years of suffering makes her accept everything in the name of karma or fate.
Q16 What do bangles symbolize? What is ironical in making of bangles by Savita and wearing of bangles by an elderly woman who has no light in her eyes?
Q17 Has Firozabad changed with time ? Give reasons
Q18 Why did not the bangle makers organize themselves into a co-operative?
Ans. Banglemakers did not do so because if they tried to get organized they would be beaten up by the police and dragged to jail for doing something illegal. They had no leader who could show them the way.
Q19 What are the two worlds that the author talks about?
Ans. The first one was that of the families of the bangle makers, caught in a web of poverty and burdened by the stigma of the caste to which they belonged. The second one was that of a vicious circle of sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.
Q20 Why does the author say that the bangle makers are caught in a vicious web?
Q21. How is Mukesh different from Saheb?
Ans. Saheb sacrificed his freedom when he took job at the tea stall but Mukesh insisted on being his own master. Though Saheb wanted to study but he was not ready to make effort to get educated, rather he accepted his fate. On the other hand Mukesh was determined to become motor mechanic and was ready to make every possible effort to accomplish his dreams.
LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS
Q1 ‘Lost Spring’, is a sad commentary on the political system of our country that condemns thousands of people to a life of abject poverty. Comment.
Saheb, optimistic and enthusiastic—prospect of finding gold in garbage—likes going to school but no opportunity—freedom and joy of childhood to burdens of job at tea-stall.
Mukesh, born at Firozabad (bangle maker)—works under inhuman condition—dark room, hot furnaces—caught in web of poverty—vicious circle of sahukars, policemen, politicians, bureaucrats and moneylenders—resigned to fate—unaware of child labour act—stifled initiation and hope—lose eyesight before becoming adults
Q2 How is the line ‘few airplanes fly over Firozabad’ symbolically significant?
The author finds a spark of motivation in Mukesh who is quite determined about realizing his dream of becoming a motor mechanic
He is ready to walk to a garage far from his home
The author asks if he ever dreams of flying a plane- the question embarrasses him and Mukesh replies in the negative
He is satisfied with the more tangible and attainable dream related to the fast moving cars that he saw on the streets each day
Airplanes symbolize something distant, just like a far-fetched dream –people of Firozabad were not exposed to grand dreams like that.
Q3 The life of bangle makers of Firozabad was full of obstacles which forced them to lead a life of poverty and deprivation. Discuss with reference to Lost Spring
Value Points:
• Bangle makers born in poverty, live in poverty, die in poverty.
• For generations people have been engaged in this trade.
• Work in inhuman conditions.
• Although they work hard but the profit is meagre.
• Their hovels have crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows.
• They are overcrowded with humans and animals.
• Social customs, traditions, stigma of caste and people in authority combine so that
they remain poor and uneducated
• Money lenders, middlemen, politicians and policemen are all against them.
• Unable to organize themselves into a co-operative due to lack of a leader.
• They have lost the ability to dream.
• They can only talk but not act to improve their lot
Q4 The bangle-makers of Ferozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone happy but they live and die in squalor. Elaborate
Value points
--- utter poverty generation after generation
-----believe they are destined to work in bangle factories
----make beautiful bangles but live in dark
-----bright furnaces to do welding
----they lose their eyesight
----victims of vicious circle of middlemen
---law enforcing authorities prey upon them
--- bleak future
Q5 Give a brief account of the life and activities of the people like Saheb-e-Alam settled in Seemapuri.
Value points:
– poor rag pickers / unschooled / barefoot / sometimes taking up odd jobs like
working at tea stalls
– garbage to them is gold, it is their daily bread
– migrants (squatters) from Bangladesh, came to Delhi in 1973
– their fields and homes swept away in storms
– live in structures of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage,
drainage or running water
– have lived for more than 30 years without identity, without permits but with ration cards
– no intention of going back to their own country
– wherever they find food, they pitch their tents
Q6 'Lost Spring' explains the grinding poverty and traditions that condemn thousands of
people to a life of abject poverty. Do you agree? Why / Why not?
Yes – duly supported by examples from text
– both caught in the vicious cycle of poverty, apathy, affected by the greed ofothers, injustice
– lost childhood – spring of life
Mukesh’s story – bangle making industry
– caught in the web of middlemen, politicians, policemen, the keepers of law, bureaucrats
– lose all spirit and ability to dream
Saheb-a-Alam’s story
– rag picker, scrounging for gold, walking bare foot, got job, not happy because
no freedom, lost childhood
– any other relevant point
Q7. Explain the significance of title ‘Lost Spring’.
Ans: In this lesson, the author Anees Jung examines and analyses the grinding poverty and tradition that condemn children to a life of exploitation.
Saheb as a ragpicker whose parents have left behind a life of abject poverty in Bangladesh. His family, like the many other families of rag pickers lives in Seemapuri. They live in miserable condition. The writer is pained to see Saheb, whose name means the ruler of the Earth, lose the spark of childhood. She then proceeds to tell about Mukesh who does want to be his own master. Hailing from Firozabad, the centre of India’s bangle making and glass blowing industry, he has always worked in the glass making factory. His family does not know that it is illegal for children to work in such close to furnaces with such high temperatures. They are exposed to various health hazards like losing their eyesight as they work in dark and dingy cells. The family of bangle maker of Firozabad are so burdened that they have lost their ability to dream. The writer’s observation is that these poor hopeless people are but pawn in the games that are played by Sahukars, middlemen, the policemen, the bureaucrats and the politicians.
The title is meaningful as they lost their spring (childhood). The writer has beautifully essayed the story of stolen childhood with a view to sensitizing us to the plight of these poor unfortunate children.
Q8 “Seemapuri , a place on periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it metaphorically.”
Comment.
Q9 Bring out the significance of Mukesh’s dream of becoming a motor mechanic.
Q10 “There is a vast gulf that separates dreams from reality” Discuss with special reference to Mukesh and Sahib.
Q11 Bring out irony and pathos in the story of Anees Jung.
Information about the author | |
Video | |
Questions and answers
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PPT depicting story and theme
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Summary
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Title and explanation of 1st part |
Gist of the chapter |
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