DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL, BOPAL, AHMEDABAD

CLASS XII- (2020-21)

ENGLISH NOTES

LOST SPRING - Anees Jung

Anees Jung was born in Hyderabad in 1944. Her father, Nawab Hosh Yar Jung, was one of
the principal advisers to the last reigning Nizam of Hyderabad. She went on to study at
Osmania University and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where she took a Master’s
degree in sociology and American studies. She has been the editor of a magazine, Youth
Times, and has written for several of the world’s major newspapers. She has also written two
books—When a Place Becomes a Person and Poems in Prose. Anees Jung lives in New
Delhi. Her most noted work, Unveiling India (1987) was a detailed chronicle of the lives of
women in India.
Anees Jung's Lost Spring: Stories of stolen childhood (2005) focuses on children from
deprived backgrounds, and includes the story of Idrees, a child who is kidnapped and forced
to work in the carpet industry in Mirzapur. Others are maltreated by alcoholic fathers or
married off early and abused, though some find refuge in schools set up by well-meaning
NGOs. A section of this book is part of the English curriculum in many Indian schools. Jung
is noted for her lively and vivid descriptions.

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The Bangle Makers of Firozabad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73WdCphV96g
The story of the rag pickers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcz6bk3xIGM

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Introduction
‘Lost Spring’ is an excerpt from ‘Stories of Stolen Childhood’ written by Anees Jung.
In this story, the author unveils the utter destitution of the rag pickers of Seemapuri and the
bangle makers of Firozabad. This story describes the grinding poverty and traditions that
compel the children to live a life of exploitation.
It exposes a national shame; children slaving in shanty restaurants; making locks, bangles and
fireworks; struggling as ragpickers; rolling bidis; weaving saris and carpets: packing and
hauling loads in factories and stone quarries. With her trademark sensitivity and insight, she
analyses the grinding poverty and traditions sanctified by caste and religion which condemn
these children to a life of exploitation.

Justification of the Title

Spring is the season of optimism and hope. Being full of colour, fragrance and freshness, it is
also a season of renewal, rejuvenation and growth. The title Lost Spring has a tinge of irony
which is evident in the lives of the children condemned to poverty and a life of exploitation.
The childhood of human life is often likened to spring, as it marks the beginning of life and
has a tremendous scope for growth. It is full of joy, pleasure and playfulness. Millions of
children like Saheb e Alam and Mukesh experience no spring in their lives, for their
childhood is consumed in making a living. Education, innocence and pleasure are not for
them to enjoy. They are forced to become partners in survival and lose their childhood in
carrying the burden of poverty and illiteracy. Saheb and Mukesh have lost their childhood in
the struggle for survival. There is no childhood in their childhood.
The title brings out the depravity of child labour and Anees Jung has quite appropriately titled
her book Lost Spring: Stories of stolen childhood.

Thematic Analysis
Extreme Poverty: The chapter showcases the grinding poverty of the squatters of Seemapuri
for whom food is more important for survival than an identity. They dwell in structures of
mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water.
The bangle makers of Firozabad live in stinking lanes choked with garbage, in homes that
remain hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, crowded with families of
humans and animals coexisting in a primeval state. The impoverishment is such that they
haven’t enjoyed even one full meal in their entire lifetime.
Illiteracy and Child Labour: Poverty is considered to be the most important cause of child
labour and it deprives children of schooling and acquiring human skill. The poor children
grow as unskilled workers and earn low wages in adulthood. So, poverty persists and the
parents are forced to send their children to work and a child-labour trap is formed. Saheb and
Mukesh have never been to a school.

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Word Meanings
Scrounging – searching for
Amidst – in the middle of
Glibly - speaking in a confident way, but without careful thought or honesty
Hollow – meaningless
Abound - exist in large numbers
Bleak – empty
Desolation - the state of being empty
Panting - taking short and quick breaths
Acquaintance - contact
Periphery- outer area, suburbs
Metaphorically– symbolically
Squatter - a person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land
Wilderness- a wasteland
Tarpaulin- heavy-duty waterproof cloth
Looking straight into my eyes – with confidence and determination
Looms like a mirage - seems that it will be true in the future but actually it will not be so
Amidst – in the middle of
Glass-blowing industry - industry related to making glass
Furnace - a closed room or container where heat is produced
Welding - the process of joining metal or glass pieces by heating them
Dingy – dark, dim
Slog – work hard, toil
Choked – blocked
Hovels – slums
Crumbling – falling down
Wobbly – unsteady
Coexisting - present at the same time and place
Primeval – prehistoric, primitive
Impoverished – very poor
Destiny – fate

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God-given lineage - here, a profession carried on through the generations of a family – glass
bangle making
Mounds – heaps
Unkempt – not taken care of
Piled – kept one on top of the other
Shanty town - a town that is full of small, roughly built huts
Dawn on her – she will realize
Draped - covered
Ser – a unit of measuring quantity
Lament – complaint
Mind – numbing – boring or tedious
Toil – physical hard work done to earn a living
Vicious – cruel
Hauled up – dragged, taken away
Spiral – here, a never-ending continuous process
Apathy – lack of concern
Greed – intense and selfish desire for something
Distinct – separate
Stigma – dishonour
Bureaucrats – government officials
Imposed – forced upon
Baggage – burden
To dare – do something courageous

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.

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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.

2. Mukesh lived in Firozabad and was born in a family of bangle makers. He aspired to
become a motor mechanic. Mukesh was determined to fight the vicious circle of poverty that
had shackled his father and brothers.

Strong and determined: He dreamed of becoming a motor mechanic. He had the courage
overcome the obstacles in his path, if the garage was far away, he would walk to get there.

Realistic and practical: Mukesh’s dreams are grounded in reality. He is content to dream of
cars that he sees hurtling down the streets of his town. He doesn’t aspire to fly a plane.

Courageous path breaker: Unlike the others in Firozabad who were burdened by the stigma of
caste in which they are born, Mukesh did not want to follow the traditional profession of
bangle making. He had a willingness to work hard and fulfil his desires.

Analysis of Symbols
Garbage: Survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the
proportions of a fine art. Garbage to the squatters is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over
their heads, even if it is a leaking roof. But for a child it is even more. For the children it is
wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival. They marvel at the chance of
finding a silver coin or a currency note. It really thrills them and gives them a hope of finding
more elusive notes.
Glass Bangles: Spirals of bangles- sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink, purple, every
colour born out of the seven colours of the rainbow are made in Firozabad the centre of
India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around
furnaces, welding bangles in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without
air and light. Extreme poverty, hard work and dismal working conditions result in the loss of
the childhood of children who are in this profession.
The glittering, beautifully hand-crafted glass bangles symbolise the tears, sweat and blinding
toil of the craftsmen who lead lives of deprivation and grinding poverty.

RTC
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 all the women in the land it seems. Mukesh’s family is
among them.

(a) Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?

(b) What does Mukesh want to learn?
(c) Why is his dream likened to a mirage?

Extra Questions

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Q1. What does the writer mean when she says, ‘Saheb is no longer his own master’?

Since Saheb now works in a tea-stall, he is bound to his master and feels burdened. His face
has lost the carefree look. The steel canister he carries is very heavy as compared to his light
plastic bag. The bag was his own and the canister belongs to his master whose orders he now
has to follow. So he is no longer his own master.
Q2 Why didn’t the bangle makers of Firozabad organise themselves into a cooperative?
The bangle-makers are caught in a vicious web which starts from poverty to indifference,
greed and finally to injustice. Mind-numbing toil kills their hopes and dreams.
The bangle makers of Firozabad were not able to organise themselves into a cooperative
because they had got trapped in a vicious circle of the sahukars, the middlemen, the
policemen, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Together they had imposed a baggage on these
people which they could not put down.
Even if they get organised, they are the ones who will be hauled up by the police, beaten and
dragged to jail for doing something illegal. There is no leader among them, no one who could
help them see things differently. Their fathers are as tired as they are. Years of mind-numbing
toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.

Q3. Why did Saheb’s parents leave Dhaka and migrate to India?

Saheb’s home was set amidst the green fields of Dhaka. His mother told him that many
storms had swept away their fields and homes. That is why his parents were forced to leave
Dhaka and migrate to India, looking for gold in the big city where they now live. Wherever
they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow up in them,
becoming partners in survival.
Q4. Would you agree that promises made to the poor children are rarely kept? Why do you
think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
The promises made to the poor are rarely kept. The author asks Saheb half-jokingly, whether
he will come to her school if she starts one. Saheb agrees to do so. A few days later he asks if
the school is ready. The writer feels embarrassed at having made a promise that was not
meant. Promises like hers abound in every comer of their bleak world.
Q5. How in your opinion can Mukesh realize his dream?
Mukesh has already taken the first step to make his dream come true by daring to think of a
different life. He can definitely realize his dream if he breaks the age-old belief of a God
given lineage. Mukesh is equally determined to come out of this vicious circle of the corrupt
forces, a spiral that moves from poverty to apathy.
His dream looms like a mirage, but also evident is the flash of daring and courage. The
garage is a long way from his home but he is determined to walk and fulfil his ambition of
becoming a motor mechanic.
Assignment Questions
I. Answer in 30 – 40 words:
(a) Describe the irony in Saheb’s name.

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 (b) How are Saheb and Mukesh different from each other?
(c) Whom does Anees Jung blame for the sorry plight of the bangle-makers?

II. Answer in 120 – 150 words:

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?

Board questions
I. Answer in 30 – 40 words:
(a) Garbage has two different meanings—one for the children and another for the adults.
Comment. (Compartment 2015)
(b) Why does the author say that the bangle makers are caught in a vicious web? (All
India 2017)
(c) What does the writer mean when she says, ‘Saheb is no longer his own master’?
(Delhi 2012)
(d) “It is his karam, his destiny.” What is Mukesh’s family’s attitude towards their
situation?(2014)

II. Answer the following questions in 120 – 150 words:

a. What change did Anees Jung observe in Saheb when she saw him standing by
the gate of the neighbourhood club? (All India 2016 )
b. The bangle-makers of Ferozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone
happy but they live and die in squalor. Elaborate. (Delhi 2010)

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