LOST SPRING
By Anees Jung
Character Analysis
1. Saheb e Alam was a young boy whose family once lived in
the green fields near Dhaka.
Violent storms swept away their fields and homes, so they
shifted to India. In India, he lived
in Seemapuri , on the outskirts of Delhi and was a rag picker .
Hard working and focussed: Saheb would roam the streets
with his friends, an army of
barefoot boys, scrounging in the garbage for valuable things to
earn his livelihood.
Poor and illiterate: His family lived in extreme poverty. He was
deprived of education and
basic amenities of life. He desired to wear shoes and play
tennis.
Cheerful and optimistic: Despite being poor, he was
full of hope and was always very
enthusiastic during his work in hope of finding money. He
believed the author’s glib promise
of opening a school.
Character Analysis
1. Saheb e Alam was a young boy whose family once lived in
the green fields near Dhaka.
Violent storms swept away their fields and homes, so they
shifted to India. In India, he lived
in Seemapuri , on the outskirts of Delhi and was a rag picker .
Hard working and focussed: Saheb would roam the streets
with his friends, an army of
barefoot boys, scrounging in the garbage for valuable things to
earn his livelihood.
Poor and illiterate: His family lived in extreme poverty. He was
deprived of education and
basic amenities of life. He desired to wear shoes and play
tennis.
Cheerful and optimistic: Despite being poor, he was
full of hope and was always very
enthusiastic during his work in hope of finding money. He
believed the author’s glib promise
of opening a school.
Character Analysis
1. Saheb e Alam was a young boy whose family once lived in
the green fields near Dhaka.
Violent storms swept away their fields and homes, so they
shifted to India. In India, he lived
in Seemapuri , on the outskirts of Delhi and was a rag picker .
Hard working and focussed: Saheb would roam the streets
with his friends, an army of
barefoot boys, scrounging in the garbage for valuable things to
earn his livelihood.
Poor and illiterate: His family lived in extreme poverty. He was
deprived of education and
basic amenities of life. He desired to wear shoes and play
tennis.
Cheerful and optimistic: Despite being poor, he was
full of hope and was always very
enthusiastic during his work in hope of finding money. He
believed the author’s glib promise
of opening a school.
Character Sketches:
Saheb- Saheb e Alam is a young boy who lives in the Seemapuri slum which is
on the periphery of Delhi. His family is one of the squatters who came from
Dhaka. According to the writer, Saheb would be in utter disbelief if he knew
that the meaning of his name is ‘lord of the world’ which is ironic considering
the conditions that he lives in. Saheb e Alam, like others who live in Seemapuri,
is a ragpicker. He comes in the morning and disappears by afternoon along with
a group of friends who roam around the streets barefooted. For Saheb e Alam
ragpicking is a source of joy and mystery. This is because he sometimes finds a
rupee in the pile of garbage and once you find that, there is always some hope to
find more. He lives in a deprived condition in seemapuri where even the most
basic amenities are unavailable. As a ragpicker Saheb was his own boss, a free
man but, when he took up a job at the tea stall, he sacrificed his freedom.
Mukesh- The people of Firozabad are engaged in making bangles and so is
Mukesh and his family. Mukesh lives in a small house which he proudly says is
being renovated. It is situated in a small street which is filled with garbage and
tightly packed houses. His family consists of his grandparents, his elder brother
and his wife who is just a few years older than Mukesh. In a place like
Firozabad people have accepted bangle making as their ‘karam’ and poverty,
their fate. Nobody thinks of following a different path and the same is taught to
their children. In such a place, Mukesh was courageous enough to dream of
becoming a motor mechanic. He is determined to make this dream come true no
matter what difficulty he faces. On being asked whether he would become a
pilot, Mukesh shows a hint of embarrassment. His dream of becoming a motor
mechanic might have arisen from the cars passing down the streets of the town
but a plane would rarely fly over Firozabad.
Answer the Following:
Q1. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from
villages to cities?
Ans. People migrate from villages to cities in search of livelihood. Their fields
fail to provide them means of survival. Cities provide employment, jobs or other
means of getting food. The problem in case of the poor is to feed the hungry
members. Survival is of primary concern.
Q2. How does Saheb’s life change when he starts working at the tea-stall?
Ans. Saheb now has a regular income. He is paid 800 rupees and all his meals.
Thus, food is no problem. But his face has lost the carefree look. The steel
canister in his hand now seems a burden. He is no longer his own master. He
may have to work for longer hours. The helplessness of doing things at his own
will makes him sad.
Q3. Which two distinct worlds does the author notice among the bangle-
making industry ?
Ans. The families of the bangle-makers belong to one of these worlds. These
workers are caught in the web of poverty. They are also burdened by the stigma
of the caste in which they are born. They know no other work. The other world
is the vicious circle of the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the
keepers of the law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.
Q4. What do bangles symbolise? When, according to the author, will Savita
know “the sanctity of the bangles she helps make?” How is the Indian bride
dressed?
Ans. Bangles symbolise auspiciousness in marriage for an Indian woman.
Savita will come to know “the sanctity” of the bangles when she becomes a
bride. The head of a bride is draped with a red veil. Her hands are dyed with red
henna. Red bangles are rolled on to her wrists.
Q5. “She still has bangles on her wrist but no light in her eyes.” What
exactly does the author want to convey through this?
Ans. ‘She’ is an elderly woman who became a bride long ago. Since her
husband, an old man with a flowing beard is still alive, she still has bangles on
her wrist. She has, however, not enjoyed even one full nteal in her entire
lifetime. So, there is no light in her eyes. This is just a comment on the abject
poverty and helplessness of the bangle-makers.
Detailed Answers:
Q1. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. The glass bangles industry has many health hazards. It usually employs
small children. It is illegal to employ very young children in hazardous
industries, but certain forces like! middlemen, moneylenders, police and
politicians combine to entrap the poor workers.
Let us first consider the places where bangle makers work. It is a cottage
industry. They work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures. The dingy
cells are without air and light. Boys and girls work hard during day next to lines
of flames of flickering oil lamps.
They weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more
adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why, they often end up
losing their eyesight before they become adults.
Glass blowing, welding and soldering pieces of glass are all health hazards.
Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles adversely affects the eyes and
even adults go blind. Thus, the surroundings, prevailing conditions and the type
of job involved-all prove risky to the health of the workers.
Q2.What are the dreams of the poor like ‘Saheb-e-Alam’ and Mukesh?
Could these be realised? What is the reality of the situation?
Ans. Poor rag-pickers like Saheb spend the early years of their lives looking for
gold in garbage dumps. The parents of these street children have no fixed
income. They wage war against poverty and hunger. They have no dreams
except finding the means of survival. Garbage to them is gold. It is the source of
their daily bread and provides a roof over their heads. He ends up as a servant at
a tea-stall and loses his freedom.
Mukesh, the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad, has a dream of becoming
a motor mechanic. He wants to learn to drive a car. He thinks of joining a
garage to fulfil his dream. He knows that the garage is far away, yet he has
decided to walk. He realises the reality and is willing to overcome the obstacles.
His daring to rise and decision to get free from the trap laid by vicious
moneylenders and middle men arouse a sense of hope.Deprived of education,
proper food and upbringing, these children are forced into labour early in life
