PROSE

2
Lost Spring
(Stories of Stolen Childhood)
– Anees Jung

Topicwise Analysis of Last 10 Years’ CBSE Board Questions (2020-2011)

20

18

16

14
Number of questions

12

10

0
SA I SA II LA I LA II LA IV
Category

ABOUT THE AUTHOR journalistic approach which is factual, straight

Anees Jung is the author of several books. She forward and pertinent. The following is an excerpt
began her career as a writer and an editor of taken from her book, ‘Lost Spring: Stories of
Youth Times and has been a columnist for many Stolen Childhood’.
major newspapers in India as well as abroad. She SUMMARY
inherits her literary tradition from her parents
who were renowned scholars and poets. In ‘Lost “Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage”
Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood’ she exposes Saheb is a ragpicker, searching for gold in garbage.
a national shame regarding poverty, child labour His family is from Bangladesh which they left long
and children wasting their childhood in petty ago. The author saw Saheb digging and picking
jobs to earn money. Anees’ writing style follows garbage for his livelihood every day. One day the
Lost Spring 193
author suggested him to go to school, to which he She was Mukesh’s elder brother’s wife, the bahu of
replies that there is no school nearby. She jokingly the family. When the older man entered the house
told him that she would open a school. After some she pulled her veil close to her face. The older man
time the little boy walked up to her to ask about was a bangle maker. He worked hard all his life
the school about which the author felt embarrassed first as a tailor and then as a bangle maker. He
as this promise was also like many other promises could not give his children education but taught
made to poor children that remain unfulfilled. them the art of bangle making.
One day, the author asked the little boy’s name and Mukesh’s grandmother believes in destiny, she
found out that his name was Saheb-e-Alam which also believes that bangle making is a God given
meant lord of the universe, ironically. There were lineage. Young boys and girls work in dark places
many ragpickers and most of them didn’t have and become prone to lose their eye sight at an early
chappals. Anees was told that going barefoot was age. Savita is a young girl dressed in pink. She
a way to follow tradition which she realises as an works with her parents and even in dark her hands
excuse to poverty. The author is reminded of a man move fast. She does not realise the significance of
who as a young boy prayed for a pair of shoes. Thirty bangles in the life of Indian women at this young
years later the author revisits that place and saw a age. But she will realise it once she is married. The
new priest’s home and a boy there, wearing socks situation is ironical because all girl child labourers
and shoes. But the author was still sad thinking will eventually become brides and wear those
about the ragpickers who were still shoeless. bangles. The old lady sitting next to her has lost
The ragpickers lived on the outskirts of Delhi at her eyesight and complains of poverty. They had
Seemapuri. They lived in small mud structures with enough to eat despite all the hardwork.
roof of tin and tarpaulin. They were deprived of A common complaint of all families involved in
basic amenities. Food was the most important thing bangle-making is lack of money for food. Nothing
for them so that they don’t have to sleep on empty has changed since a long time. The author gives
stomach. Saheb told the author that sometimes he suggestions to avoid the circle of middlemen. But
found a ten rupee note or a coin in the garbage and the people there tells her that if they get organised
that was his gold. they would be beaten up by police and put in jail.
One winter morning Anees noticed Saheb with These poor people have no leader and they are
tennis shoes. Though they were mismatched with caught in the ruthless cycle of poverty, injustice
his faded clothes, they were very dear to him. One and greed.
morning the author noticed Saheb with a steel
The author feels they are present two distinct
container, going to a milk booth. He had got a job
worlds. One is people caught in the clutches of
at a tea-stall with a pay of eight hundred rupees
poverty and burdened by the stigma of caste.
plus meals. But the author realises that he no longer
Secondly, these people are also caught in the
looked carefree because he had been burdened by
vicious circle of middlemen, policemen, and
the responsibility of a job.
politicians. It is because of such people that the
“I want to drive a car” children are weighed down with responsibilities
The author then tells the readers about Mukesh a at such a tender age. The children accept it as
young boy who worked in a (bangle) glass factory naturally as their parents did. No one dares to
in Firozabad. Mukesh belonged to a family which deviate. The author sees the daring attitude in
is engaged in bangle-making, like many other Mukesh and hopes he will fulfil his dream one day.
families. The author comments on the ignorance of Mukesh insists on becoming a motor mechanic.
the people there who involve their children in glass He is willing to walk long way to the garage to give
industry at such a young age. Mukesh happily agrees wings to his dreams. At the same time, Mukesh is
to take the author to his home which is being rebuilt. firmly rooted to the ground. He does not dream of
They enter a half build shack. Food was being flying aeroplanes. The author feels that may be this
cooked on a firewood stove by a young woman. is due to the fact that few planes fly over Firozabad.
194 CBSE Champion English Core Class 12

Previous Years’ CBSE Board Questions

SA I (2 marks) 17. What is Mukesh’s attitude towards the family

business of making bangles? (Foreign 2016)
1. How bad were the living conditions in which
18. What did garbage mean to the children of
Mukesh and his family survived? (2020) Seemapuri and to their parents? (AI 2015)
2. Mention any two difficulties faced by the 19. What does Saheb look for in the garbage
bangle sellers of Firozabad. (2020) dumps ? (AI 2015)
3. How is Mukesh different from the other 20. “It is his Karam, his destiny,” What is
bangle makers of Firozabad? (Delhi 2014) Mukesh’s family’s attitude towards their
4. What job did Saheb take up? Was he happy? situation? (AI 2015)
(AI 2014) 21. Describe Mukesh as an ambitious person.
(Foreign 2015)
5. In what sense is garbage gold to the
ragpickers? (AI 2014 C) 22. What kind of gold did the people of
Seemapuri look for in the garbage?
6. Why did Saheb’s parents leave Dhaka and (Foreign 2015)
migrate to India? (Delhi 2014 C)
LA I (5 marks)
7. What is Mukesh’s dream? Do you think he
23. Most of us do not raise our voice against
will be able to fulfil his dream? Why not?
injustice in our society and tend to remain
Why? (Delhi 2014 C) mute spectators. Anees Jung in her
8. Whom does Anees Jung blame for the sorry article, “Lost spring” vividly highlights the
plight of the bangle makers? (AI 2014 C) miserable life of street children and bangle
9. How the steel canister was burden for him? makers of Firozabad. She wants us to act.
Which qualities does she want the children
(AI 2013) to develop? (Delhi 2014 C)
10. Who is Mukesh ? What is his dream ?
(Delhi 2012)
LA II (6 marks)
11. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? 24. “Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of
Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically.”
Why/Why not? (Delhi 2012)
Explain. (Delhi 2019)
12. Why could the bangle-makers not organise 25. Garbage to them is gold. How do ragpickers
themselves into a co-operative? (AI 2012) of Seemapuri survive? (Delhi 2015)
26. Describe the difficulties the bangle makers
SA II (3 marks) of Firozabad have to face in their lives.
13. “Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds (Delhi 2015)
.....” In the context of Mukesh, the bangle 27. Describe the circumstances which keep the
maker’s son, which two worlds is Anees workers in the bangle industry in poverty.
Jung referring to? (2018) (Delhi, 2015)
14. Describe the irony in Saheb’s name. 28. How is Mukesh’s attitude towards his
situation different from that of Saheb? Why?
(Delhi 2016)
(Delhi 2015)
15. What does the reference to chappals in ‘Lost
29. “It is his Karam, his destiny” that made
Spring’ tell us about the economic condition
Mukesh’s grandfather go blind. How did
of the ragpickers ? (AI 2016) Mukesh disprove this belief by choosing a
16. How did Saheb’s life change at the tea new vocation and making his own destiny ?
stall? (Foreign 2016) (AI 2015)
Lost Spring 195

LA IV (10 marks) 31. ‘Lost Spring’ explains the grinding poverty

and traditions that condemn thousands of
30. Give a brief account of the life and activities
of the people like Saheb-e-Alam settled in people to a life of abject poverty. Do you agree?
Seemapuri. (Delhi 2011) Why/Why not? (AI 2011)

Answers
1. Mukesh and his family lived in deplorable 9. The steel canister was a burden for Saheb
conditions, in stinking lanes choked with garbage, both literally and metaphorically because unlike
with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, the plastic bag he carried around on his shoulder
crowded with families of humans and animals as a ragpicker, the steel canister was much heavier.
coexisting in a primeval state. Moreover, before he started working at the tea-
2. They work in the dingy cells without air and stall, Saheb was ‘his own master.’ He was free to
light. Dust from polishing bangles affect their eyes go anywhere. He had now lost his freedom; he
making them lose their eyesight very often. They now had a master to work under. Although the
are not able to organize themselves, look for other job paid him rupees 800 per month, Saheb did not
opportunities due to bullying and exploitation seem much enthusiastic about it. Along with his
by the politicians, authorities, moneylenders and independence, he had also lost his opportunity for
middlemen. an education.
3. Mukesh is different from other bangle makers 10. Mukesh is the son of a poor bangle-maker
of Firozabad because he dares to dream. He refuses in Firozabad. Although Mukesh helps his father
to carry on the family tradition of bangle making. to make bangles, he dreams of becoming a car
Instead, he insists on being his own master. He mechanic for which he is willing to walk the long
wants to become a motor mechanic and is focussed
distance from his home to the garage where he
and determined to achieve it.
wishes to train.
4. Saheb took up a job at a tea-stall, which paid
him 800 rupees and all his meals. No, he was not 11. No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea-
happy with the job because his ‘carefree’ days were stall. Although he is paid 800 rupees and is given
over, he now had a master to work under; he was all his meals, it bothers him that he is no longer his
no longer his own master. own master. His face has lost the carefree look. The
steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he
5. Garbage is like gold to the ragpickers in the
used to carry so lightly over his shoulder. The bag
sense that it is a means of sustenance for them.
Garbage gives them their daily bread and provides was his, the canister belongs to the man who owns
a roof over their heads. the tea-shop.
6. Saheb’s parents left Dhaka because repeated 12. The bangle makers cannot escape the vicious
floods swept away their fields and homes leaving circle of exploitation by middlemen, money
them on the verge of starvation. This led to their lenders, police and bureaucrats. They fear that
migration to India, where they hoped to find better organising themselves into cooperative might be
living conditions and livelihood opportunities. treated as being illegal. They are scared of being
7. Mukesh’s aim in life is to become a motor hauled up and beaten by the police. In addition
mechanic. Yes, it is indeed possible for Mukesh to the miseries, they also have to face many caste
to achieve his dreams through hard work and related stigmas. The bangle makers cannot escape
determination. He is willing to walk all the way their lineage. Years of exploitation has left them
to the garage and learn even though the garage is timid. This is why there are no leaders who would
quite far from his house. raise their problems.
8. For the sorry plight of the bangle makers, 13. The two worlds, which Anees Jung is
Anees Jung blames the sahukars, policemen, referring to are – one in which Mukesh and his
middlemen, bureaucrats, politicians and, to quite family is living in extreme poverty, unable to shake
an extent, the lineage of the bangle makers and the off the burden of caste related stigma; the second
stigmas with their caste. one consists of the sahukars, middlemen, the
196 CBSE Champion English Core Class 12
keepers of the law, politicians, etc. who are ready their lives more difficult for them than it already is.
to exploit the already powerless oppressed class of Anees Jung wants us to act, raise our voice
the society. against the injustice prevailing in our society. The
14. The full name of Saheb is Saheb-e-Alam, underprivileged often find themselves helpless
which means Lord of the Universe. He does not and at the mercy of their exploiters. Thus, Anees
know the meaning of his name. The irony here is Jung wants the children to develop compassion for
that Saheb in reality is a ragpicker and a refugee the oppressed and the will and courage to work for
from Bangladesh. He is not the ‘Lord of the Universe’. social and economic changes in the society.
15. The narrator, Anees Jung feels that the rag- 24. Seemapuri is a place on the outskirts of
pickers not wearing chappals is a subtle reference Delhi where 10,000 ragpickers, who migrated
to their economic condition, which is a perpetual from Bangladesh to Delhi in 1971, live with their
state of poverty. They live in unhygienic conditions, families. They live in structures of mud, with roofs
and due to their hand-to-mouth existence, the of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage
children are forced into labour early in life. As a or running water. No one can imagine that such
result, they are denied the opportunity of studying a place exists on the periphery of Delhi, the
and escaping such a life. capital of India. It stands in stark contrast to the
metropolitan city of Delhi.
16. Refer to answer 11.
In Delhi, there is luxury and affluence, there are a
17. Mukesh’s attitude towards the family business host of opportunities and dreams. On the contrary,
of making bangles is that of reluctance. He wants in Seemapuri there is squalor, hopelessness and
to break free from the family tradition and dares despair. The inhabitants here live in abject poverty
to rebel. Mukesh dreams of becoming a motor and are illegal occupants. Ironically, the ragpickers
mechanic for which he is willing to walk the long have lived here for thirty years without a sanction
distance from his home to the garage every day. or an identity. The only thing they do have are the
18. The writer says that garbage is gold for ration cards, which not only enable them to buy
the ragpickers because for children, garbage is grains, but also get their names on the voters’ list.
wrapped in wonder. They expect to get some coins, There is no chance for the people of Seemapuri to
notes or valuables in it. If fate permits, sometimes, strive towards the attainment of the opportunities
they find a rupee or even a ten-rupee note. For offered by Delhi. Thus, although Seemapuri is
adults, garbage is a means of livelihood. located at the periphery of Delhi, in the real sense,
19. Refer to answer 18. Delhi is as far as miles away from it.
20. Mukesh’s family’s attitude towards their 25. The Ragpickers of Seemapuri emigrated
situation is that of mute acceptance. They view to Delhi from Bangladesh, in 1971 in the hopes
bangle making as their destiny. They do not dream of a bright and promising future. However, their
of any other option because there is no will, to take situation in the city is not as comfortable as they
the initiative, left in them. expected. The ragpickers of Seemapuri live in
structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin.
21. Refer to answer 10.
It lacks proper sewage and drainage system and
22. Refer to answer 18. running water. All these years, they have lived
23. Anees Jung, in ‘Lost Spring’ vividly highlights without an identity and they are still living like
the miserable life of street children and bangle that. In spite of no proper identity and permits,
makers of Firozabad. Through children, like Saheb, they are surviving. They all have ration cards,
Savita and Mukesh, she delves deep into the poverty which puts them on voters’ list. This enables
and tradition, which forces a life of exploitation on them to buy grain. Survival is all that matters to
these three and many others like them. them. This is why they pitch their tents wherever
It is sad that they are caught in the vicious circle there is food. Garbage and ragpicking are means
of poverty and exploitation generations after of survival for the people in Seemapuri, it earns
generations. It is not easy to escape it because them their daily bread and puts a roof over their
there is the stigma of caste in which they are head. Sometimes, while scrounging, the garbage,
born. Moreover, the sahukars, the middlemen, finding money, whether one rupee or ten, it the
policemen, keepers of law, bureaucrats, etc. make highlight of their day, especially for the children;
Lost Spring 197
it gives them hope. Therefore, the writer is right of Firozabad, he had the courage to break free
when she says, “garbage to them is gold.” from the family vocation of bangle-making. He
26. Difficulties faced by the bangle makers wanted to be a motor mechanic and make his own
of Firozabad are many. They live in a state of destiny. He was determined to achieve his goal
perpetual poverty, in ready-to-crumble houses, and was prepared to work hard for it. Although
crowded with a number of families. Besides the garage, where Mukesh wanted to train to be a
remaining uneducated for the rest of their lives, motor mechanic, was quite far from his house , he
they have to work extremely hard for long hours was willing to walk the long distance for the sake
in the glass furnaces in high temperature. Since of his dreams.
they work in the dark and dingy cells, many lose 30. In ‘Lost Spring’ Anees Jung observes that the
their eyesight at a young age. Their difficulties are life and activities of the people like Saheb-e-Alam
not limited to just health problems. They are set depends wholly on garbage. For them it is no less
at a much deeper level. The bangle makers are than gold, in fact, it is their daily bread. The poor
burdened by the stigma of the caste in which they ragpickers are often barefoot, which she thinks is
are born. An adult bangle maker knows nothing “an excuse to explain a perpetual state of poverty”.
except how to make bangles. So, that is all that he Although, Saheb-e-Alam wants an education, he
can teach his young ones and this continues for and other ragpickers are unschooled. (Later, Saheb
generations. The bangle makers cannot escape the too takes up a job at a tea stall.) They are migrants
vicious circle of exploitation by middlemen, money (squatters) from Bangladesh, who came to Delhi
lenders, police and bureaucrats. They cannot even in 1973. Presently, they live in structures of mud
organise themselves into a cooperative due to the with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage,
fear that it might be treated as being illegal. This drainage or running water. They pitch their
is why there are no leaders who would raise their tents wherever they find food. They have lived
problems. The bangle makers continue to face in Seemapuri for more than thirty years without
apathy and injustice all their lives. identity and without permits. However, they carry
27. Refer to answer 26. their ration cards. No matter how much hardship
28. Mukesh’s attitude towards his situation is they face, the ragpickers of Seemapuri have no
different from that of Saheb because unlike Saheb, intention of going back to their own country.
Mukesh is ambitious. Mukesh has his roots in 31. In ‘Lost Spring’ Anees Jung analyses the
Firozabad. He is born in a family of bangle makers grinding poverty and traditions, which condemn
and must follow his father’s footsteps for now. thousands of people to a life of abject misery and
However, he wants to break the family tradition the slum children to exploitation. The basis of her
and become a motor mechanic. Saheb, on the analysis are the ragpickers of Seemapuri where
other hand, is a rootless migrant from Bangladesh she meets a little boy named Saheb and Mukesh,
who is content being a ragpicker at Seemapuri. whose family is one of the families who have been
Although, he fancies the idea of going to school, the bangle makers of Firozabad for generations.
he starts working at a tea stall because the salary Both these children want education so that they
is good. Mukesh too is greatly unhappy about his can either escape their situation or change it.
prevailing poverty. However, he is determined But, Saheb and Mukesh and others like them are
to change it. He is ready to walk a long distance caught in the vicious circle of poverty, apathy and
every day to a garage and train to become a motor injustice and are affected by the greed of others.
mechanic. This is why, education and healthy and clean living
29. Mukesh had seen his parents and other conditions are a distant dream for them. Every
bangle makers of Firozabad suffer all their life. He day, they have to face various hardships. Yet, they
had witnessed them being unable to escape the cannot organise themselves into cooperative due
vicious circle of poverty and exploitation. While to the fear that it might be treated as being illegal.
others believed that it was their destiny to be Ultimately, slum children like Saheb and Mukesh
born poor and poverty stricken, Mukesh wanted have to carry forward the family occupation or
to disprove this belief by choosing a new line of find odd jobs to earn a living. In the process, their
work. Unlike other children of his age in the town childhood is the lost spring of their life.