LOST SPRING BY ANEES JUNG

1.​ THEME: explores the grinding poverty of the ill clad, half-fed rag-pickers of Seemapuri / and the life of
bangle makers wrapped in poverty and starvation caught in a vicious web of fatalism, social and political
system.
2.​ Barefoot rag pickers in the author’s neighbourhood
a.​ Exploring garbage dumps every morning for a coin or a rupee
b.​ “Why do you do this?”—I have nothing else to do—no school in neighbourhood
c.​ False promise—not meant --- starting a school
d.​ Their bleak, dark and cheerless world—full of such promises
e.​ Saheb-e-Alam—lord of the universe
f.​ Irony—the lord of the universe goes about barefoot searching garbage dumps for money—poverty
stricken—struggling every minute for survival
g.​ Never had a pair of chappals or shoes
h.​ Saheb’s family—migrated from Bangladesh b/s floods and storms swept away fields—no means of
survival
3.​ Seemapuri—a place on the periphery of Delhi—yet miles away from it metaphorically—(miles away from
the glory, magnificence, prosperity, opportunity and glitter of Delhi)
a.​ Ppl. in Seemapuri—Bangladesh refugees—more than ten thousand rag pickers
b.​ Structures of mud-roofs of tin and tarpaulin—devoid of drainage—no sewage—running water.
c.​ No identity—no permits—only ration cards for voting
d.​ Food more imp. Than identity—don’t want to go back home
4.​ All Seemapuri dwellers engaged in rag picking—a fine art.
a.​ Garbage -for elders—their daily bread—roof over their heads – means of survival
b.​ For children—wrapped in wonders—hope to find money.
5.​ Saheb is employed
a.​ Seen going to milk booth – steel canister in hand
b.​ Works in a tea stall – Rs. Eight hundred and all his meals
c.​ Not happy – no longer his own master—lost carefree look
d.​ No more his own master—lost his freedom—his childhood forever.
e.​ Bent into humiliating slavery by crushing poverty.

BANGLES: symbolize happiness, joy, prosperity, sanctity and blissful state of married life.

IRONY: the ppl. who make bangles live a life of crushing, grinding poverty, hunger, starvation, exploitation losing
their sight before they are adult.

6.​ I want to drive a car—Mukesh’s dream

a.​ Firozabad: a small dusty town in north India—famous for glassblowing industry—making bangles for
all women in the world.
b.​ Families spending generations working around furnaces—welding glass – posishing bangles.
7.​ Hazards of bangle making industry:
a.​ Hot burning furnaces with high temperature
b.​ Dingy cells without air and light
c.​ Twenty thousand children slogging their day light hours—losing their sight
d.​ Children and parents in dark hutments – weld pieces of coloured glass – by the side of single flickering
oil lamps—eyes more adjusted to dark than to the light – lose their sight before becoming adults.
8.​ Author goes to Mukesh’s house (being renovated)
a.​ Walk down stinking lanes—choked with garbage
b.​ Past dirty and small houses with crumbling walls and wobbly doors
c.​ No windows—crowded up by humans and animals co-existing in deplorable conditions.
9.​ Mukesh’s house—(half-built – thatched—wobbly doors)
a.​ His sister-in-law (elder brother’s wife) frail, weak and young
b.​ Cooking evening meal on a fire-wood stove – commanding respect as bahu – withdraws behind the wall
and veils her face when father-in-law comes
c.​ Mukesh’s father—a bangle maker—poor—no schooling for children

10.​ Grandmother’s fatalistic attitude:

a.​ Believes it to be their KARAM—their destiny
 b.​ Being born in the cast of bangle makers—a stigma
c.​ God-given lineage—never to be broken
d.​ All very helpless—resigning themselves to fate—initiative – crushed and tramples under perpetual state
of poverty.
11.​ Cannot form a co-operative:
a.​ Hauled up by police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal.
b.​ No leader among them who could help them see things and understand from a different perspective.
c.​ Stuck in a vicious circle of poverty, apathy and injustice.
d.​ The poverty and plight of one generation continues to plague the next.
e.​ Courage and daring – not part of growing up – no voices of protest against injustice and exploitation.
12.​ Mukesh—shows a flash (glimpse) of daring initiative—wants to break the vicious web of poverty, hunger
and exploitation—wants to become a motor mechanic.
1.​ What is the irony in Saheb’s name?
Saheb’s full name is Saheb-e-Alam which means ‘lord of the universe’. But this Saheb-e-Alam was an
impoverished rag picker, moving about barefoot, scrounging garbage heaps for a coin, a rupee note or
something valuable. Living in a bleak world, every minute of his life was a struggle.
2.​ Explain “For children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents.
For elders in Seemapuri, garbage is their daily bread, a roof over their heads. Here, rag picking has acquired
the proportions of a fine art. It is a means of survival for them. For children, it is wrapped in wonders.
Sometimes, they find a coin, a note or something valuable in it. This gives the hope of finding more.
3.​ Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall?
No Saheb is not happy working at the tea stall. The steel canister is heavier than the plastic bag he carried on
his shoulders. Burdened with responsibility, he lost his freedom, he lost his carefree look. Abject poverty
bent him into humiliating slavery of the tea stall owner. He was no more his own master.
4.​ Seemapuri is located in the periphery of Delhi, yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Explain.
Seemapuri is a huge slum located at the outskirts of Delhi. More than ten thousand rag pickers live there in
virtual hell, without drainage, sewage or running water. Though, it is located close to Delhi, it is miles away
from the glory, magnificence, opportunity, prosperity, sunshine and happiness of the progressive society of
Delhi.
5.​ “But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.” What promise does the author recall?
The author asked Saheb about going to school. Saheb explained that there was no school in his
neighbourhood. He promised to go to school when they built one. Half joking, the author asked whether he
would come in case she started one. Saheb smiled broadly and agreed to come. After a few days, he asked
the author if her school was ready. The author felt embarrassed. She had made a promise that was not meant.
6.​ Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangle industry?
The people engaged in bangle industry have to work under extremely hazardous conditions. They work by
the side of hot burning furnaces with high temperature in small and congested places without proper air,
light or ventilation. Boys and girls with their fathers and mothers sit in dark hutments, next to lines of
flames of flickering oil lamps welding pieces of glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted
to the dark that to the light outside. Therefore, they end up losing their sight before they are adults.
7.​ “It is his karam, his destiny.” What does Mukesh’s grandmother’s voice express?
“It is his karam, his destiny… Can a god given lineage ever be broken?” The grandmother’s voice
represents the voice of the people of Firozabad. Grinding poverty, injustice, exploitation has become a
legacy passing from one generation to another. Years of mind numbing toil has killed all their initiative,
their ability to dream. They have accepted all this as something fixed for them by gods. They seem to have
resigned themselves to their fate.
8.​ Which two distinct worlds does the author notice among the bangle making industry?
The families of the bangle makers belong to one of these worlds. These workers are caught in the web of
poverty, exploitation, greed, apathy and injustice. They are 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 money lenders, the
middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of the law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.