Lost Spring Class 12 English Summary of the Story
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
The story, “Lost Spring” deals with the deplorable condition of poor children who get forced to miss the simple joyful moments of childhood because of their socio-economic conditions. These children are not given the opportunity of schooling and are compelled to start working early in life. The author Anees Jung strives hard to advocate elimination of child labour through her book.
I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage.
The first part talks about the writer’s impressions about the life of the unfortunate rag pickers. The rag pickers migrate from Dhaka and find a settlement in Seemapuri.
The story is of Saheb – a rag picker. The author meets him and asks why he does not go to school. On getting a reply that there was no school in his locality, she makes a false promise that she would open a school for him. She talks to the boy and gets to know that his parents came to the city in search of better life and he ended up living on the streets. Saheb is the son of parents who migrated from Bangladesh. They came to Delhi in 1971 as their house and fields were destroyed by storms. Then they began to live in Seemapuri, a slum near Delhi. The author explores the life in the slums of Seemapuri – the place where Saheb lives.
They live without any identity like the ration card, or voter card – after all filling the stomach is more important than having an identity. It is a very sad thing that the garbage that others throw away is like gold to them and they look for food and livelihood in that. The story explores the problems Saheb faces – getting exposed to hazardous waste in the garbage dumps, walking about barefoot, no nourishment or clothes on his body.
The author then comments on the discrepancy between Saheb’s desire and the reality. He yearns to be comfortably off, enjoy pleasures of life, play tennis and wear shoes but ends up working in a tea-stall. He no longer remains a free bird nor a master of his own.
II – I want to drive a car.
In the second part, the author meets a boy called Mukesh. Mukesh stays in Firozabad and belongs to a family of bangle makers.
Firozabad is popular for its glass-blowing industry. The working environment and the living conditions are pathetic there.
Children work in dingy cells and around hot furnaces that make them blind early in adulthood. Since they are weighed down by debt, they cannot think or find any way to escape this trap.
Mukesh wanted to be a driver and a motor-mechanic, and was not at all eager to continue bangle making. But the people thought that it was their karma that they were born into the caste of bangle-makers. So they were destined to make bangles and they could not do anything else. Thousands of children were engaged in bangle making and many of them lost their eyesight before becoming adults. aevery family. Mukesh took the writer to his house where the writer came to know that his grandfather had become blind working in the factory. Similarly in another family, the author came to know how the husband was happy that he had been able to make a house for his own family to live in but the wife complained that she did not get a full meal in her whole life. Hundreds of years of slavery had killed the initiative of people to think of a better life. They carried on their miserable life as they did not have the courage to rebel against tradition. They did not have money to start their own new kind of enterprise. If someone dared to start a new line, there were police, middle-men, sahukars and politicians to persecute them.
But Mukesh is different from rest of the folks there. He dreams to become a motor mechanic aand the author is happy to know about that.
Lost Spring Class 12 English Character Sketch
CHARACTER SKETCH: Saheb-e-Alam
Shaeb-e-Alam was a rag-picker who lived in Seemapuri. His family had migrated from Dhaka to India with the hope of finding better life conditions. Every morning, he roamed about streets collecting garbage. Many other boys also accompanied him. His family lived in miserable conditions. He used to search valuable things in garbage to earn his livelihood but despite being poor, he was full of hope. Later, he was employed in a teastall. He now became a labourer and lost his carefree life. He was burdened with responsibility of the job. He lost his childhood due to his poverty which made him work as a child labour.
CHARACTER SKETCH: Mukesh
Mukesh lived in Firozabad and was born in the family of bangle makers. He aspired to become a motor mechanic.
Unlike others in Firozabad who were burdened in the stigma of caste in which they were born, Mukesh did not want to follow the traditional profession. In this way, he was a path breaker and had a determination to change his circumstances. Mukesh was born in a very poor family.
To increase the income of the family, he also worked with his father in glass furnaces, making bangles. There was a spark of rebellion in him. He was confident and determined to become a motor mechanic. His dreams and aspirations were practical. He dreamt only of what he could achieve or what was within his reach.
