Lost Spring By Anees Jung Summery

LOST SPRING

By-Anees Jung

Introduction

The story, 'Lost Spring' written by Anees Jung revolves around the pitiable condition of poor children who are forced to live in slums and work hard in very dirty conditions. The story is divided into two parts. The first part tells the writer's impressions about the life of poor ragpickers, who have migrated from Bangladesh but are now settled in the Seemapuri area of Delhi. The second part narrates the life of the bangle-makers in the town of Firozabad. The story talks about the miserable life of the two children whose spring/childhood is lost in misery and poverty.

Theme

The chapter, 'Lost Spring' is divided into two parts, and both the parts depict the plight of street children, who are forced into labour in their early childhood. The theme of the chapter is poverty, and how the poor children are condemned to a life of exploitation, which results in the loss of childhood, innocence, education and play.

Summary

'Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage'

The author watches a ragpicker named Saheb who scrounges the garbage heaps for some coins and other things to sustain his living. Saheb and his family were Bangladeshi migrants. He is unable to study due to lack of schools in his neighbourhood.

There were a number of ragpickers like Saheb and all of them were barefoot. It was more of a tradition for ragpickers to remain barefoot. They used it as an excuse to conceal their poverty. They have no means to wear paper shoes, though they yearn to possess a pair.

Seemapuri in Delhi is a haven for ragpickers. The author feels that for children, garbage is a mysterious gift, whereas for the elders it is just a means of survival.

The author then comments on the discrepancy between Saheb's desire and the reality. He yearns to be comfortably off, enjoy pleasures of childhood, play tennis and wear shoes. Later, Saheb starts working at a tea stall. He is paid Rs 800 and all the meals. But now, he is no longer a free bird and a master of his own self.

Summary

'I want to drive a car'

In the second part, the author meets a boy named Mukesh. Mukesh stays in Firozabad and belongs to a family of bangle-makers. Most of the families in Firozabad are engaged in making bangles. About 20,000 children work in the glass furnaces of Firozabad. They have to work in very unhealthy conditions. Mukesh takes the author to his dilapidated house, located in stinking lanes. Though Mukesh's father works hard, he has been unable to change the deplorable condition of his family, Mukesh's grandmother regards it as their destiny. She says that they were born in the caste of bangle-makers and have seen nothing but bangles in their life. The author feels that the life of bangle-makers is a vicious cycle of pain and misery, of which there is no end.

The author sees a girl named Savita in another hutment. She says that she has not enjoyed even one full meal all her life. The author says that the cry of poverty rings in every home in Firozabad. These poor people are exploited by sahukars, policemen, middlemen, bureaucrats and politicians. The author feels happy that Mukesh had decided to go to a garage and learn the job of a motor mechanic. Dreaming of flying airplanes seems too distant and too big a dream for him. At least, being a mechanic will help him to be a master of his own. He would be able to remain independent unlike Saheb.

Word Meaning

Part I

'Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage'

• Abound- exist in large numbers
• Acquaintance - contact
• Amidst- in the middle of
• Barefoot- wearing nothing in the feet
• Bleak- empty 
• Bother - worry
• Content- satisfied
• Desolation - the state of being empty
• Discarded - thrown away
• Embarrassed - feeling ashamed
• Excuse- a reason to justify a fault
• Glibly speaking or spoken in a confident way, but without careful thought 
• He would have a hard time -believing it would be difficult for him to come out from poverty
• Saheb Alam -meant 'the Lord of the Universe'
• Hollow- meaningless
• Lighting up- show joy and happiness
• Metaphorically-symbolically
• Mutters- to speak in a low voice
• Panting - taking short and quick breathes
• Periphery- outer area Permits legal documents
• Perpetual state of poverty never ending condition of being poor
• Scrounging- searching for
• Shuffles- slides them over each other
• Squatters- a person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unuse
• Tarpaulin- heavy-duty waterproof cloth
• Tattered-torn 
• Transit homes- a temporary home
• Wilderness- a wasteland

Part II

'I want to drive a car'

• Amidst- in the middle of
• Apathy- lack of concern
• Auspiciousness-good omen
• Baggage- burden
• Bangs - hits
• Beam- shine brightly
• Brightness of their eyes- here, refers to the power to see 
• Bureaucrats- government officials
• Choked- blocked
• Coexisting- present at the same time and place
• Crumbling- falling down
• Dawn on her - she will realize
• Daylight hours- hours of the day when there is sunlight
• Destiny - fate
• Dingy-dark, dim
• Distinct-separate
• Drab- faded, colourless
• Draped- covered
• Echo - repeat
• Furnaces- a closed room or container where heat is produced
• Glass-blowing industry -industry related to making glass
• God-given lineage - here, a profession carried on through the generations of a family glass bangle making
• Greed- intense and selfish desire for something
• Hauled up- dragged, taken away
• Hovels- slums
• Hurtling down - moving around
• Imposed- forced upon
• Impoverished - very poor
• Labour- hard work
• Lament- complaint
• 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
• Mind numbing - boring
• Mounds - heaps
• Piled- kept one on top of the other
• Primeval- prehistoric
• Reaped- received as a benefit
• Renovate- repair
• Rings- a sound which is repeated
• Sanctity - the state of being sacred or holy
• Ser- a unit of measuring quantity
• Shanty town- a town that is full of small, roughly built huts
• Slog- work hard
• Soldering - joining
• Spiral- here, a never-ending continuous process
• Stigma- dishonor
• Stinking- bad smell
• To dare- to do something courageous
• Toil- physical hard work done to earn a living
• Tongs- an instrument with two moveable arms joined at one end
• Unkempt-not taken care of
• Veil- a piece of fine material worn by women to protect or hide the face, cover or hide
• Vicious- cruel
• Volunteers- freely offers to do something
• Welding - joining
• Withdraws- goes back
• Wobbly- unsteady
• Yard- the open area at the back of the house