English

Chapter:2 Lost Spring

Summary of Lost Spring

‘Lost Spring’ is a portrayal of how poverty affects childhood. The writer, Anees Jung,
has focused on children living in slums under inhuman conditions that affect not only
their childhood but also their future as adults. This leads to further deterioration of their
subsequent generations. The chapter talks about two boys, Saheb and Mukesh, who
dream about becoming something better in life or achieving basic human rights like
education. But the writer also shows how the society around them is full of forces that
only try to preserve and prolong their present conditions.

Lost Spring Summary

‘Lost Spring’, written by Indian writer Anees Jung, is an excerpt from her book ‘Lost
Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood’. In it, she analyses the lives of children living in
poverty. This chapter presents stories about two children who face poverty in all
aspects of their lives and yet have the courage to dream big. The writer, Anees Jung, is
the narrator in both stories in the chapter.

‘Sometimes I Find a Rupee in the Garbage’

The narrator talks about a boy named Saheb. He is a ragpicker whom the narrator sees
every morning. She talks to him and finds out that he came from Dhaka long back when,
according to his mother, his house was swept away by storms. That was the reason why
his family had come here to earn a living. The narrator asks him to join a school, but he
replies that there is no school in his neighbourhood. The narrator promises him that she
will start a school, and he is welcome there. Saheb’s face lights up. A few days later,
Saheb comes up to the narrator, asking her if her school is ready. The narrator realises
that promises like these are made to children like Saheb all the time, and they are never
kept.

The narrator goes on to talk about how children in extreme poverty live and what the
conditions surrounding them are like. She talks about how children walk barefoot on the
streets, and the excuse given for this is that it’s a tradition to walk barefoot. She thinks
that more than tradition, it might be an excuse to justify a continuous state of poverty.
She remembers another incident where a man from Udipi told her that he used to pray
for a pair of shoes at a temple in his childhood. Thirty years later, when the narrator
visited the temple and the town, she could see a little boy walking in his shoes. Their
prayers were answered.

To give us a background of Saheb, the narrator talks about Seemapuri – a place near
Delhi where the ragpickers who came from Bangladesh in 1971 settled down. They have
not been given any identities or permits. Only ration cards are given to them that help
them eat food and vote for politicians. They are deprived of any other rights. Over the
years, ragpicking has become an art for them. To a child like Saheb, finding a rupee or
a ten rupee note is a big achievement. One day, she sees Saheb wearing a pair of tennis
shoes. One of them had a hole in it, and it did not seem to bother him because it was a
dream come true for a child who had always walked barefoot.

Later, the narrator sees Saheb with a steel canister in his hand. She learns that he has
started working at a tea stall recently and is paid 800 rupees in addition to daily meals.
When asked if he was happy with his new job, Saheb looked downcast. He was working
under someone, and his freedom was taken away from him. He no longer had a carefree
attitude, and the steel canister seemed heavier than the plastic bag that he used to
carry for ragpicking.

‘I Want to Drive a Car’

This excerpt is about the fate of bangle makers in Firozabad. The author portrays the
kind of poverty that looms over the houses and streets of bangle makers in this town.
Mukesh, a young boy from Firozabad takes the narrator to his house, where she
discovers the grim conditions under which the people work — around furnaces with high
temperatures without proper air or light. They do not know that it is illegal for children
to be working under these kinds of conditions.

The narrator observes that bangle-making is done by people belonging to a particular

caste specialising in it. The art has been passed down from parents to their children for
generations. Even after the whole family worked at the bangle factory, they remained
poor. Mukesh’s family was not able to build a proper house yet. The same is the fate of
other people living in this area. The sorrow and desperation of being unable to feed
themselves even three proper meals daily reduced their courage to fight against the
situation.

When asked why they cannot form a cooperative to improve their living conditions, they
said they fear being beaten and hauled away by the police for doing something illegal.
Their fathers and forefathers were trapped by middlemen. The younger generations are
still paying the price for that. The bangle makers are downtrodden due to the poverty
and stigma of their caste. The narrator points out the presence of a vicious circle here:
The involvement of sahukars, policemen and middleman who do not let these people
rise up in society.

Therefore no one dares to break away from this line of the profession, from this tragic
world of poverty and suppression. Mukesh dreams of being a motor mechanic, and the
narrator sees a flash of rebellion in his eyes. She asked him if he would like to be a pilot
someday. Mukesh seemed embarrassed and replied that he was happy dreaming about
being a motor mechanic. Flying a plane was a dream beyond his reach.

Conclusion of Lost Spring

The lost spring summary shows how we humans create a vicious circle of suppression
and torture for our fellow human beings that leads to a social and economic imbalance
in society. While one class of human beings get to enjoy the benefits of human rights
and identity, another class of human beings is subjected to fear of entrapment and
punishment with the wrongful use of socioeconomic politics. The most affected victims
of these processes are innocent children who miss out on their rights as human beings,
when they are employed before they come of age or are deprived of basic needs such
as education, clothes, shelter and food. These children lead to another generation of
impoverished and illiterate children — a vicious circle that keeps continuing till they are
obliged to accept that it’s their fate.

Frequently asked Questions on CBSE Class 12 English Lost

Spring

Q1

What is the main theme of Lost Spring?

Lost spring talks about the Illegal and unhealthy socioeconomic politics that keep
children living in poor societies from improving their conditions and moving up the
societal ladder.
Q2

What is the summary of Lost Spring?

Lost spring talks about children living in poverty who are victims of treacherous politics
and bad socio-economic conditions. They suffer and do not even get to enjoy basic
human rights like food, clothing, shelter and education.

Q3

What are the two worlds in Lost Spring?

The author talks about two worlds the children living in poverty have to deal with. One is
the world of poverty and the stigma of their caste as a lower rank in society. The other
is a vicious circle which is managed by sahukars, middlemen and policemen who work in
various ways to stop them from moving upward in society.