LOST SPRING Stories Of The Stolen Childhood (Flamingo)

1. What is the Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Who is he and where has he come from?

Saheb is a young boy of school going age. He is looking for gold in Garbage dumps in the big city. He had left his home in Dhaka, Bangladesh and come to the big city in search of livelihood. He has nothing else to do but pick rags. Garbage has become a means of survival for elders and for children like Saheb it is something wrapped in wonder. The children come across a coin or two in it. These people have desires and ambitions but they do not know the way to achieve them. In this story the big city refers to Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away.


2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?

One explanation offered by the author is that it is a tradition to stay barefoot in India. It is not lack of money, when the author asked the children about not wearing footwear, the children offered very solid excuses. One answer is that his mother has not brought them down from the shelf. Another child points out that he will throw them if she brings it down. The third one replies that he has never owned a pair all his life. Finally, the author concludes that those are all excuses to explain away a perpetual state of poverty.


3. Is Saheb happy working at a tea stall? Explain.

Saheb is not really happy working at the tea stall because working for a master meant sacrificing his freedom and his “care free look”. Even though the job at the tea stall pays him 800 rupees and all his meals he seems less content than before.


4. Why is Saheb not happy?

He sadly realizes that he is no longer his own master and this loss of identity weighs heavily on his tender shoulders.


5. “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?

“Lost Spring” is a good narration of grinding poverty and traditions to which thousands of people have succumbed. The story revolves around the pitiable condition of poor children who have been forced to live in slums and work hard in dirty conditions. The story is divided into two parts. The first part tells the writers impression about the life of poor ragpickers who have migrated from Bangladesh but now have settled in a place called Seemapuri at the outskirts of Delhi.
The second part of the story narrates the miserable life of the bangle-makers in the town Firozabad. The stark reality of these families is that in spite of back breaking hard work that they put in. They cannot have two square meals a day. Besides they are victims of exploitation by those above them and also suffer the consequence of blind belief in traditions.


6. What is the significance of the story of the man from Udupi?

The story from Udupi provides an insight into poverty against the changing times of India. The man from Udupi was a son of a temple priest. As a child he always used to pray for a pair of shoes. Much later, when the narrator visited the same temple, he came across the son of a new priest who was wearing grey socks and shoes. This shows how people’s priorities change along with time. Shoes are now easily available for the priest son. He does not have to pray for it. However, there is still a section of the Indian society who are struggling with poverty on a daily basis. Their condition has not improved. They are ragpickers. They still walk barefoot.


7. “it has acquired the proportion of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold”.
a) What has acquired the proportion of a fine art?
b) Why is garbage referred to as Gold?

“it” in the statement refers to rag picking. Over the years the rags became a source of treasure for rag pickers. The more skilled the ragpicker was the better things he would get when looking through the rags. Thus, rag picking had acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage is gold to the rag pickers of Seemapuri because it provides them items which can buy them food and is means of survival. Moreover, it is gold because the rag pickers can find stray coins and currency notes in it.


8. What prompted the author to remark that promises like the one she made abound in every corner of Saheb’s bleak world?

The author had promised to open a school in which Saheb could study but had no intention of doing so. She says that hollow promises like her guaranteeing a better life were made to the deprived section of the society all the time but were never fulfilled.


9. “Lost Spring” is a sad commentary on the political system of our country that condemns thousands of people to a life of abject poverty. Comment.

Saheb, optimistic and enthusiastic boy of school going age. He has nothing else to do except rag picking with a prospect of finding gold in garbage. He does not have the opportunity to go to school. He is excited at the prospect of finding a coin or even a ten rupee for rummaging in the garbage. He lost the spark of childhood and roams barefooted with his friends. Finally, he ends up working in a tea stall for Rs. 800 per month.
Mukesh, born at Firozabad in a bangle maker family. Unaware of the child labor act around 20,000 children are working under inhuman conditions, dark rooms and hot furnaces. These families are caught in the web of poverty and vicious circle of middlemen, politicians, policemen, bureaucrats and money lenders. They have submitted themselves to their fate. Together they have imposed burden on their children before these children are aware they accept it as naturally as their parents.


10. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?

Firozabad is famous for bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the center for India’s glass blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces welding glass, making bangles for women all over India.


11. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?

These bangles makers have to work in dingy cells without air and light, in the high temperature of the furnace. The dust from polishing the bangles is injurious to eyes. Often the workers suffer from loss of eyesight due to hot furnaces and dim lighting.


12. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?

Mukesh belongs to a family of bangle makers with an unbreakable lineage. They believe that it is their destiny to toil as bangle makers. But Mukesh dreams of a better and safer career. He has a clear dream of becoming a motor mechanic and he is determined to fulfill his dreams. He is a brave boy.


13. Significance of the line. “Few planes fly over Firozabad”

This is an ironical statement. This is in reference to the dream of Mukesh the boy who had a dream of driving a car and become a motor mechanic. These lines signify that Firozabad was not a developed city. There were no means and motivations for children to dream of flying planes. Mukesh only dreamt of driving a car as he used to see lots of cars moving across the road. Moreover, the children of Firozabad cannot cherish such far fetched dream. I interpret that it means no goals could be as high as flying planes.


14. Mukesh’s attitude is different from that of Saheb – Substantiate.

Mukesh’s attitude is different from that of Saheb. Mukesh was optimistic about a bright future unlike Saheb. Saheb lacked determination and had simple dreams. But Mukesh had a clear dream of becoming a motor mechanic and he was very determined to fulfill his dream.


15. Explain the contrast between the colours of the bangles and the atmosphere of the place where these bangles are made?

The bangles are of every colour born out of seven colours of the rainbow. They were sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue pink and purple. In contrast Boys and girls worked in dark hutments next to the flickering flames of lamps around furnaces, blowing glass, welding and soldering it to make bangles.


16. “She still has bangles on her wrist but no light in her eyes” – Explain.

“She” here refers to an elderly woman who became a bride long ago. Since her husband an old man is still alive. She still has bangles on her wrist. She has however not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire life time. So, there is no light in her eyes.


17. “As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine. I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make”. Explain briefly.

“Her” refers to Savita a young girl, she was soldering pieces of glass. The author basically wants to share the idea that she will also be a bride one day and get her hands dyed with red henna and wear bangles on her wrist, then she will know the significance of the product she is making. In India, bangles symbolizes an Indian woman’s suhaag, auspiciousness in marriage.


18. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?

The forces that conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty are some middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians. They all exploited the workers of Firozabad. Even after working so hard the bangles makers remain poor. These families are also burdened by the stigma of caste in which they are born, they do not do any other job except bangle making.


19. “They talk endlessly in a spiral that moves from apathy to greed and to injustice”. Explain.

It means that the bangle makers are unable to move to new occupations because of the apathy i.e. the unenthusiastic nature of bureaucrats who are too lazy to do anything for people and the greed of middlemen who exploit them to earn more and more, the injustice of the police who put them in jails and beats them for doing something illegal if they try to dare and dream.