Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 2 Question Answer | Lost Spring

Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 2 Question Answer | Lost Spring | ASSEB

Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 2 — Lost Spring (Anees Jung) Question Answer | ASSEB

Welcome to HSLC Guru! This page offers a complete, exam-ready guide to Class 12 English Flamingo Chapter 2 — “Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood” by Anees Jung, prescribed for the ASSEB (Assam State Board of Secondary Education) Higher Secondary 2nd Year examination. Composed of two heart-wrenching vignettes — Saheb-e-Alam, the ragpicker boy of Seemapuri, and Mukesh, the bangle-maker child of Firozabad — the chapter explores the painful realities of poverty, child labour, exploitation and broken dreams. You will find here a clear summary in English and Assamese, the author profile, every NCERT textbook question (Think as you read · Understanding the text · Talking about the text · Working with words · Things to do), short and long question banks, MCQs, extract-based questions, character sketches and major themes — all in one place to help you score full marks in your ASSEB Class 12 board exam.

About the Author — Anees Jung

Anees Jung (born 1944, Hyderabad) is an internationally acclaimed Indian author, journalist and columnist. The daughter of poet and former adviser to the Nizam of Hyderabad, Nawab Hosh Yar Jung, she was educated in Hyderabad and at the University of Michigan, USA. She has worked as editor of several Indian and international publications and has written extensively on the lives of women and the underprivileged in the Indian subcontinent. Her notable books include Unveiling India, Night of the New Moon, Breaking the Silence, Seven Sisters and Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood (1999), from which this chapter is excerpted. Through sensitive prose and lived observation, she gives voice to those whom mainstream society ignores — exposing how poverty, tradition and apathy steal away the spring of childhood.

Summary (English)

“Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood” is an excerpt from Anees Jung’s book of the same name, published in 1999. Through two interconnected stories the author exposes the grim reality of children who are robbed of the carefree joys of childhood and forced into a life of exploitation, drudgery and hopelessness. The narrative is a passionate critique of the social, political and economic forces that perpetuate poverty in India.

Part I — “Sometimes I find a Rupee in the Garbage”: The first part centres on Saheb-e-Alam (“Lord of the Universe”), a young boy whose grand name stands in cruel contrast to his squalid existence. Saheb, along with his family and other Bangladeshi refugees, lives in Seemapuri, a slum on the periphery of Delhi. Driven from Dhaka in 1971 by storms that swept away their fields and homes, they have made garbage their livelihood. Every morning Saheb scrounges through rubbish heaps with bare feet, hunting for “gold” — a coin, a rupee note, a salvageable item. To the elders, garbage is a means of bread; to the children, it is wonder and possibility. The author meets Saheb who longs to go to school and play tennis. She jokingly promises to start a school, an empty promise that haunts her. Later, Saheb is seen carrying a steel canister, working at a tea stall for 800 rupees and meals. Though he earns money, the canister has replaced the lightweight plastic bag of the ragpicker — and with that, the boy has lost his carefree spirit. Saheb is no longer his own master.

Part II — “I Want to Drive a Car”: The second part shifts to Firozabad, the famed centre of India’s glass-blowing industry, where every other family is engaged in making bangles. Around 20,000 children labour here in dingy cells without air or light, working before hot furnaces with high temperatures, welding bits of glass — and many lose the brightness of their eyes before they reach adulthood. The author meets Mukesh, a boy who, unlike his resigned father, grandfather and elder brother, dares to dream a different dream — he wants to become a motor mechanic and learn to drive a car. His grandmother believes that “it is the destiny” of every Firozabadi to be born into the caste of bangle makers — a “god-given lineage” that cannot be broken. Savita, a young girl, sits soldering bangles whose worth — as a symbol of an Indian woman’s suhaag — she does not yet realize. The bangle-makers are caught in a vicious circle of sahukars (moneylenders), middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians. They cannot organize themselves into a cooperative because the elders fear being beaten by police and dragged to jail; the young feel doomed by the burden of caste, tradition and apathy. Mukesh’s dream of driving a car is faint, but it is real — and in his courage to dream lies the only hope of breaking the chain.

Together, the two stories form a powerful indictment of a society that allows millions of “Sahebs” and “Mukeshes” to lose their spring — their childhood — to the grinding wheels of poverty, tradition and institutional exploitation. The title “Lost Spring” symbolizes the stolen childhood of these children whose youthful joys are consumed by hunger, debt and despair.

সাৰাংশ (Assamese Summary)

“Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood” আনিছ জুঙৰ ১৯৯৯ চনত প্ৰকাশিত একে নামৰ গ্ৰন্থৰ এটা অংশ। দুটা পৰস্পৰ-সংলগ্ন কাহিনীৰ যোগেদি লেখিকাই দৰিদ্ৰতা, শিশু-শ্ৰম, পৰম্পৰাৰ বোজা আৰু সামাজিক-ৰাজনৈতিক শোষণৰ দ্বাৰা যিসকল শিশুৰ শৈশৱ চুৰি হৈছে, তেওঁলোকৰ কৰুণ বাস্তৱতা পাঠকৰ আগত উদঙাই দিছে।

প্ৰথম অংশ — “Sometimes I find a Rupee in the Garbage”: এই অংশৰ মুখ্য চৰিত্ৰ চাহেব-এ-আলম, এজন বাংলাদেশী শৰণাৰ্থী পৰিয়ালৰ পুতেক, যাৰ নামৰ অৰ্থ “বিশ্বজগতৰ অধিপতি” হ’লেও বাস্তৱত সি দিল্লীৰ চিমাপুৰী বস্তিত আবৰ্জনাৰ পৰা ৰূপালী মুদ্ৰা বিচাৰি ফুৰে। ১৯৭১ চনত ঢাকাৰ গাঁৱত প্ৰাকৃতিক দুৰ্যোগৰ ফলত পথাৰ-পদুলি ধ্বংস হোৱাৰ পাছত তেওঁলোক দিল্লীৰ পৰিৱেশলৈ আহি বহিল। এই শিশুসকলৰ বাবে আবৰ্জনা হ’ল সোণৰ সমান — য’ৰ পৰা এটা মুদ্ৰা, এখন টকা বা বিক্ৰী কৰিব পৰা বস্তু পোৱা যায়। চাহেবে স্কুললৈ যাব, টেনিছ খেলিব বিচাৰিছিল। লেখিকাই ৰসিকতাৰ ছলেই হ’লেও স্কুল খোলাৰ প্ৰতিশ্ৰুতি দিয়াত সি বিশ্বাস কৰিছিল — কিন্তু সেই প্ৰতিশ্ৰুতি কেতিয়াও পূৰণ নহ’ল। পাছত সি এখন চাহৰ দোকানত মাহে ৮০০ টকাত কাম কৰিবলৈ লয়। হাতত প্লাষ্টিকৰ মোনাৰ ঠাইত ষ্টিলৰ কেনিষ্টাৰ আহি পৰাৰ লগে লগে সি নিজৰ স্বাধীনতা হেৰুৱালে — চাহেব আৰু নিজৰ মালিক নহয়।

দ্বিতীয় অংশ — “I Want to Drive a Car”: দ্বিতীয় অংশত লেখিকাই উত্তৰ প্ৰদেশৰ ফিৰোজাবাদলৈ পাঠকক লৈ যায় — ভাৰতৰ কাঁচ-শিল্পৰ ৰাজধানী, য’ত প্ৰায় ২০,০০০ শিশুৱে অন্ধকাৰ আৰু ভেণ্টিলেশনহীন কোঠাত উচ্চ উষ্ণতাৰ ভাটীৰ সন্মুখত বাঁহী-চুৰিয়াৰ কাম কৰে। দীঘল সময় কাম কৰি বহু শিশুৱে অকাল বয়সতে চকুৰ জ্যোতি হেৰুৱায়। লেখিকাই ক’ব বিচৰা মুকেছ এই পৰিয়ালৰ কনিষ্ঠ পুত্ৰ, কিন্তু সি পৰিয়ালৰ অইন সকলোতকৈ বেলেগ — সি মটৰ মেকানিক হ’ব আৰু গাড়ী চলাব শিকিব বিচাৰে। মুকেছৰ আইতাকে কয় যে বঙালী সাঁচৰ এই ভাগ্য ভগৱানৰ দান, ইয়াক ভংগ কৰিব নোৱাৰি। চৱিতা নামৰ এজনী যুৱতীয়ে ছ’ল্ডাৰিং কৰি বাঁহী বনাই থকা দেখা যায়, কিন্তু বাঁহীৰ সৌভাগ্যৰ প্ৰতীকী মূল্য সি এতিয়ালৈকে বুজি পোৱা নাই। এই বাঁহী-নিৰ্মাতাসকল মহাজন, মধ্যস্থ ব্যৱসায়ী, পুলিচ, আমলা আৰু ৰাজনীতিবিদৰ এক ভয়াৱহ চক্ৰত আৱদ্ধ। সংঘবদ্ধ হ’বলৈ চেষ্টা কৰিলে পুলিচৰ মাৰ আৰু কাৰাবাসৰ ভয়, যুৱসকলে পৰম্পৰা আৰু ভাগ্যৰ বোজাত দম খাই উঠিছে। তথাপি মুকেছৰ সপোন কম-কম হ’লেও সঁচা — আৰু এই সপোন দেখাৰ সাহিকেই হ’ল শৃংখল ভাঙাৰ একমাত্ৰ আশা।

“Lost Spring” শিৰোনামটিৰ অৰ্থ “হেৰোৱা বসন্ত” — আৰু বসন্ত হ’ল শৈশৱৰ প্ৰতীক। দৰিদ্ৰতা, পৰম্পৰা আৰু সামাজিক উদাসীনতাৰ চক্ৰত বন্দী লক্ষ লক্ষ ভাৰতীয় শিশুৰ চুৰি হোৱা শৈশৱৰ এক হৃদয়স্পৰ্শী চিত্ৰ এই অধ্যায়টিয়ে ৰচনা কৰিছে।

Think as You Read

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

Answer: Saheb is looking for “gold” in the garbage dumps — that is, anything of value such as a stray coin, a rupee note, or any object that can be sold or used. Sometimes he even finds a silver rupee. He lives in Seemapuri, a slum on the periphery of Delhi. He and his parents originally came from Dhaka in Bangladesh, leaving their green fields after storms swept away their homes and crops. They migrated to Delhi in 1971 hoping for a better life and settled in Seemapuri among other refugees.

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

Answer: The author offers two explanations. First, some people say it is a tradition among the poor to stay barefoot. Secondly, the author observes that this is in fact a “perpetual state of poverty” — an excuse for not being able to afford footwear. She remembers a man from Udipi who, as a child, prayed for a pair of shoes, and decades later his prayer was answered. The author concludes that lack of footwear is not tradition but a mark of grinding poverty disguised as custom.

3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.

Answer: No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea stall. Although he earns 800 rupees a month and gets all his meals, he has lost his freedom and the carefree spirit of a ragpicker. The steel canister he carries belongs to the tea-stall owner, not to him; the lightweight plastic bag of his earlier days was at least his own. He has now become accountable to a master and is “no longer his own master.” His face has lost the carefree look of a child.

4. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?

Answer: Firozabad is famous for its glass-bangle industry. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have been engaged for generations in the making of bangles for the women of the country. Every other family in Firozabad makes bangles. Bangles symbolize the suhaag (the auspicious married status) of an Indian woman, making the town’s product culturally vital.

5. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

Answer: Working in the glass bangles industry is extremely hazardous. The workers, including thousands of children, work in dingy cells without air or light, before hot furnaces at very high temperatures, welding glass. Long hours in such conditions cause many of them to lose their eyesight even before they become adults. They also suffer from skin diseases, respiratory disorders, and burns. The dust from polishing glass is harmful to the lungs, and the heat is unbearable.

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

Answer: Mukesh’s attitude differs sharply from that of his family. While his father, grandfather and elder brother have accepted bangle-making as their god-given destiny and resigned themselves to poverty, Mukesh dares to dream of a different future. He insists on becoming a motor mechanic and learning to drive a car. He is determined to walk to a garage — even though it is far away — to learn the trade. Unlike the rest of his family, he refuses to surrender to the caste-based tradition that condemns him to bangle-making.

Understanding the Text

1. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?

Answer: People migrate from villages to cities chiefly because of poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities in rural areas. Saheb’s family, for instance, fled Dhaka after storms destroyed their fields and homes. Other reasons include natural calamities (floods, drought), partition or war, lack of basic amenities such as schools, hospitals and electricity in villages, and the hope that cities will offer jobs, food and a better life. Many migrants end up living in slums, scavenging for survival; yet for them the city still represents hope and the chance of finding “gold in garbage” rather than starvation in the village.

2. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?

Answer: Yes, sadly, promises made to poor children are rarely kept. In the chapter, the author casually asks Saheb if he would attend a school if she started one — a half-serious remark. Saheb’s eager “yes” makes her ashamed because she knew she would not really be able to start a school. People often make such empty promises because the problem of poverty is so vast and embedded in social structures that most well-meaning individuals lack the resources or commitment to follow through. The poor learn to live on these unfulfilled promises, but each broken word steals a little more of their hope.

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

Answer: The bangle workers of Firozabad are trapped in two interlocking vicious circles. The first is the burden of caste, tradition and the belief that bangle-making is their god-given lineage which cannot be broken. The second is a powerful nexus of sahukars (moneylenders), middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians. The middlemen pay the workers a pittance for their bangles; the moneylenders trap them in unending debt; the police harass and beat them whenever they try to organize; the bureaucracy turns a blind eye; and the politicians use them as vote banks but never legislate effectively for them. Together these forces form an inescapable web of exploitation.

Talking about the Text

1. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?

Answer: Mukesh can realise his dream of becoming a motor mechanic if he combines his strong determination with hard work, courage and perseverance. He must continue to defy the family belief that bangle-making is his destiny and walk every day to the garage — even though it is “a long way from his home” — to learn the trade. He should educate himself wherever possible, save whatever he can, and resist the pressure of debt and tradition. Government agencies, NGOs and vocational schemes can also help him with formal training. With time, his small flash of courage can become the spark that lights up his entire life, and perhaps inspires other children of Firozabad to dream beyond the bangle furnace.

2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

Answer: The hazards include working long hours before hot furnaces in suffocating, ill-lit cells; injury and burns from molten glass; loss of eyesight at an early age due to the intense glare and dim light; respiratory ailments due to polishing dust; skin diseases from the heat; deformities from sitting in cramped postures; mental and emotional stunting because the children never go to school. Above all, child labour denies these children their childhood.

3. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?

Answer: Child labour should be eliminated because every child has the right to a free, joyful and educated childhood. Childhood is the foundation of physical, mental and emotional development, and forcing children into hazardous work robs them of this foundation, leaving them weak, illiterate and exploited for life. The Indian Constitution and the Right to Education Act prohibit child labour, but enforcement is weak. Elimination requires (a) strict enforcement of existing laws and surprise inspection of factories; (b) compulsory and free quality schooling up to age 14; (c) financial support to poor families so they don’t need their children’s wages; (d) rehabilitation of rescued children with vocational skills and counselling; (e) public awareness campaigns; (f) consumer responsibility — refusing to buy products made with child labour; and (g) cooperation between government, NGOs and society at large.

Working with Words — Vocabulary

1. Look at the following phrases from the text. What do they mean?

Phrase	Meaning
Looking for gold in the garbage	Searching for valuable items (coins, notes, sellable scrap) among rubbish — the ragpicker’s livelihood.
And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art.	Rag-picking has become so essential and skilful for the slum dwellers that it has the status of a profession or even an art form.
The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulders.	Saheb’s tea-stall job, though paid, is a heavier burden because he has lost the freedom of his ragpicker days; the canister belongs to his master, the bag was his own.

2. Notice the use of nouns formed from verbs. Form abstract nouns and use them.

Verb	Abstract Noun	Sentence
Appal	Appalment / Appalling state	The appalling state of Firozabad’s bangle workers shocks every reader.
Scrounge	Scrounging	Scrounging through garbage is the daily livelihood of Saheb.
Perpetuate	Perpetuation / Perpetual state	Poverty has become a perpetual state for the migrants of Seemapuri.
Imperish	Imperishability	The imperishability of poverty in Firozabad is a national shame.
Mesmerise	Mesmerisation	The mesmerisation of childhood ends when Saheb takes the canister.

Important Words and Meanings

Word	Meaning
Saheb-e-Alam	Lord of the Universe (used ironically for the ragpicker boy).
Ragpicker	One who collects scrap or rubbish for sale.
Periphery	The outer edge or boundary of a place.
Scrounging	Searching about, especially through rubbish, for what can be found.
Perpetual	Never-ending; continuous.
Mirage	An optical illusion; here, a false hope.
Drudgery	Hard, dull, monotonous work.
Imperishable	Indestructible; unable to be destroyed.
Suhaag	A married woman’s auspicious status (symbolised by bangles, sindoor, etc.).
Sahukars	Moneylenders.
Bureaucrats	Government officials of high rank.
Lineage	Family line; ancestry.
Mesmerised	Hypnotised; held spellbound.
Wretched	Miserable; very unhappy.
Squatters	People who occupy land or buildings without legal right.

Noticing Form — Grammar

1. Read these sentences and notice how the verbs in italics are used. Identify the form/tense:

Saheb is no longer his own master. — Simple Present (state of being).
Few airplanes fly over Firozabad. — Simple Present (general fact).
The cry not to be born as a girl has always been fated. — Present Perfect Passive.
Mukesh insists on being his own master. — Simple Present (habitual action).
Garbage to them is gold. — Simple Present (universal truth in their lives).

2. Use the correct verb forms to complete these sentences:

The bangle-makers of Firozabad have lived for generations near the hot furnaces.
Mukesh is determined to be a motor mechanic.
Anees Jung has portrayed the misery of stolen childhood very movingly.
Saheb has lost his carefree look since he started working at the tea stall.

Things to Do

1. Are the lives of children in factories really better than those of their parents?

Answer: No, the lives of children working in factories such as those of Firozabad are not better than those of their parents — they are simply a continuation of the same misery into the next generation. The children inherit the same poverty, hazardous working conditions, lack of education, debt and exploitation. They also lose their eyesight, suffer health problems, and miss the joys of childhood. The only difference is that they are even more vulnerable than their parents because of their tender age.

2. Read the following poem (“The Schoolboy” by William Blake) and discuss it in class:

Answer: Blake’s poem laments the loss of joy and freedom that comes with confining children to school on a “summer’s morn.” Although the situations are different, the underlying theme matches Anees Jung’s chapter: childhood is a precious “spring” that ought not to be drained or imprisoned, whether by drudgery in a factory or by joyless schooling. Both texts plead for children to be allowed to grow in freedom, joy and curiosity.

3. Project: Find out about an NGO working for street children or child labourers in your area; collect information; prepare a report.

Answer: Examples of well-known NGOs working for child welfare in India include Bachpan Bachao Andolan (founded by Kailash Satyarthi), CRY (Child Rights and You), Save the Children India, Pratham, Smile Foundation and Goonj. Students should research their work — rescue, rehabilitation, education and advocacy — and prepare a written or oral report.

Additional Short Answer Questions (2–3 marks)

1. Where did Saheb’s family come from and why did they leave?

Answer: Saheb’s family came from Dhaka in Bangladesh. They left their green fields after storms swept away their houses and crops, leaving them with nothing. They migrated to Delhi in 1971 in search of a livelihood and settled in the slum of Seemapuri.

2. What is ironical about Saheb’s full name?

Answer: Saheb’s full name is “Saheb-e-Alam,” which means “Lord of the Universe.” The irony is that this so-called lord of the universe is a barefoot ragpicker who roams the streets in search of food and small coins in garbage heaps. His grand name stands in stark contrast to his miserable existence.

3. What does garbage mean to the children and to the elders of Seemapuri?

Answer: To the children of Seemapuri, garbage is wrapped in wonder — they sometimes find a coin, a note or even a silver rupee in it. For them it is a source of surprise and joy. To the elders, however, garbage is a means of survival — bread, shelter and life itself. Thus garbage is “gold” to both, but in different senses.

4. Why is Saheb wearing tennis shoes too big for him?

Answer: Saheb is wearing discarded tennis shoes that have a hole in one of them. The shoes are oversized because they have been thrown away by some rich boy and given to him in charity. Yet Saheb is happy to wear them — for a child who has been barefoot all his life, even a torn pair of shoes is a dream come true.

5. Why does the author feel embarrassed when Saheb asks her about the school?

Answer: The author had once jokingly told Saheb that she would build a school. Later, when he asked her if it was ready, she felt embarrassed because she had spoken without seriousness, and had no real intention or plan to actually start a school. She regretted having raised false hope in a poor child.

6. What does the author mean by “Saheb is no longer his own master”?

Answer: When Saheb starts working at a tea stall for 800 rupees a month, he loses his independence. As a ragpicker he was free to roam, choose his hours and follow his fancies; now he must obey the tea-stall owner. The lightweight plastic bag he carried as his own is replaced by a steel canister belonging to his master. Hence he is no longer his own master.

7. What is Mukesh’s dream and how does he plan to fulfil it?

Answer: Mukesh dreams of becoming a motor mechanic and learning to drive a car. To fulfil his dream he plans to walk to a garage — even though it is far away from his home — and learn the trade by working there. Unlike his family, he is determined to break the chain of bangle-making.

8. Why is the bangle industry a vicious circle for its workers?

Answer: The bangle industry is a vicious circle because the workers are trapped at every level — by debt to moneylenders, low wages from middlemen, harassment by the police, indifference of bureaucrats, exploitation by politicians, and the inner burden of caste and tradition. They cannot organise themselves, and any attempt to break free is crushed. Generation after generation is consumed by it.

9. What does the title “Lost Spring” signify?

Answer: Spring symbolises childhood — a season of growth, freshness and joy. The title “Lost Spring” signifies the lost or stolen childhood of millions of poor Indian children who, like Saheb and Mukesh, are forced into labour and deprivation. Their spring — the bright season of their life — is consumed before it has even bloomed.

10. Who is Savita and what does she symbolise?

Answer: Savita is a young girl from Firozabad who sits beside an elderly woman, soldering pieces of glass into bangles. She works mechanically, unaware that the bangles she makes symbolise an Indian woman’s suhaag (married status). She symbolises the lost innocence of childhood and the fact that the very children making bangles for happy brides have themselves no childhood and no joyous future to look forward to.

11. Why does Mukesh’s grandmother believe that bangle-making cannot be given up?

Answer: Mukesh’s grandmother believes that bangle-making is a god-given lineage which cannot be broken. According to her, those born in this caste are destined to make bangles, and any attempt to give it up would be against the will of God. Such fatalism keeps the entire community trapped in poverty.

12. What two distinct worlds does the author refer to in the bangle-makers’ story?

Answer: The author refers to two distinct worlds. One is the world of the family caught in the web of poverty, burdened by the stigma of caste and tradition. The other is the world of the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the bureaucrats and the politicians who together sustain a vicious circle of exploitation. Between these two worlds the bangle-makers have nowhere to escape.

13. What was Saheb’s reaction when the author asked him whether he would go to school?

Answer: Saheb’s eyes lit up at the prospect of going to school. He readily agreed and asked her hopefully whether she would really start one. The eagerness of the boy, accustomed to deprivation, embarrassed the author who had spoken half-jokingly.

14. How does the author describe the houses of Firozabad?

Answer: The author describes the houses of Firozabad as hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. They are crowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in a primeval state. The lanes are stinking and choked with garbage. Such squalid surroundings stand in stark contrast to the beauty of the bangles produced inside them.

15. Why are the bangle-makers unable to form a cooperative?

Answer: The bangle-makers are unable to form a cooperative because of two reasons: (a) the older generation is afraid of the police, who would arrest, beat them and drag them to jail for “doing something illegal”; and (b) the younger generation has no leader and is crushed by years of mute submission. Without leadership and without unity, they cannot challenge the powerful exploitation network.

Long Answer Questions (5–6 marks)

1. Describe the living conditions of the ragpickers of Seemapuri.

Answer: Seemapuri is a slum on the outskirts of Delhi, a place geographically close to but socially miles away from the capital. About 10,000 ragpickers live here in mud structures with tin and tarpaulin roofs. There is no sewage, no drainage, no running water and no proper sanitation. The inhabitants are mostly Bangladeshi refugees who came in 1971 after their fields were destroyed by storms. They have neither identity cards nor permanent papers, but they do have ration cards which give them a sense of belonging in a city where the only access to food is the ration shop. Children grow up amid garbage and learn to scavenge as soon as they can walk. The author describes how garbage to the children is wrapped in wonder, but to the elders it is the basic means of bread. The squalor, hopelessness and statelessness make Seemapuri a symbol of forgotten urban India.

2. How does Saheb’s life change after he starts working at the tea stall? Discuss with reference to the symbol of the steel canister.

Answer: Saheb’s life undergoes a paradoxical change after he begins to work at the tea stall. Outwardly his condition has “improved” — he earns 800 rupees a month and gets all his meals — but inwardly his condition has worsened. As a ragpicker, although desperately poor, he was free; he could roam where he liked, look forward to the surprises of garbage, and play with his friends. As a tea stall worker he must obey his employer, work fixed hours, and walk daily to the same place. The plastic bag he once slung lightly across his shoulder belonged to him; the steel canister he now carries belongs to the owner of the tea stall. The canister becomes a symbol of his bondage. It is heavier than the bag because along with milk it now carries the weight of his lost freedom and lost childhood. The author concludes mournfully that Saheb is no longer his own master.

3. “Mukesh’s dream is a flash of hope amid darkness.” Discuss.

Answer: In the desperate landscape of Firozabad, where 20,000 children labour in glass furnaces, where families live in stinking lanes, where the elders accept their fate as god-given, Mukesh’s dream of becoming a motor mechanic stands out like a flash of light in deep darkness. Unlike his father, his grandfather and his elder brother who have surrendered to caste and tradition, Mukesh refuses to accept his destiny. He insists on being his own master. He plans to walk all the way to a faraway garage to learn the trade, and even dares to dream of driving a car — almost a “mirage” for a child of his background. Although the chance of fulfilling such a dream is slim, the very fact that Mukesh dreams differently is significant. His courage to dream offers a glimmer of hope that the next generation may break the chain of exploitation. Anees Jung uses Mukesh’s small flame to remind us that even one defiant child is enough to puncture the darkness.

4. Compare and contrast the two stories — Saheb’s and Mukesh’s. What common message does Anees Jung want to convey?

Answer: Both Saheb and Mukesh are children whose spring of life has been stolen by poverty. Saheb is a ragpicker in Seemapuri while Mukesh is a bangle-maker in Firozabad. Both work in dehumanising conditions, miss schooling, and are denied the joys of childhood. Both belong to communities trapped in vicious cycles — one of statelessness and migration, the other of caste and exploitation. Yet they differ in their attitudes. Saheb seems to surrender to circumstances. He gives up his rag-picker’s freedom for the tea stall’s canister and loses his carefree spirit. Mukesh, by contrast, dares to defy his family’s belief and refuses to surrender to destiny. He clings to his dream of being a motor mechanic. The contrast between resignation and defiance is the heart of the chapter. The common message is that millions of children in India are robbed of their childhood by poverty, tradition and institutional exploitation, but also that hope lies in the courage of children like Mukesh who dare to dream differently. Society must protect every child’s right to childhood, education and dignity.

5. How does Anees Jung sensitize the reader to the conditions of child labour in India?

Answer: Anees Jung sensitizes the reader through vivid imagery, intimate observation and quiet, restrained anger. Instead of preaching, she introduces individual children — Saheb, Mukesh, Savita — and lets their faces, names and dreams speak for themselves. She uses concrete images: the silver rupee in the garbage, the discarded tennis shoes, the steel canister, the dingy bangle cells, the burnt eyes of children. She juxtaposes such images with names and symbols that ought to mean greatness — Saheb-e-Alam (Lord of the Universe), the bangle (the symbol of suhaag) — to expose the cruel irony of these children’s lives. She points out the systemic web of exploitation by sahukars, middlemen, police, bureaucrats and politicians, but she also locates hope in Mukesh’s tiny flame of ambition. By turning statistics into stories, she awakens the conscience of every reader to the urgency of ending child labour and ensuring that no child loses his or her spring.

6. Examine the role of poverty and tradition in keeping the workers of Firozabad in misery.

Answer: Poverty and tradition act as twin chains that keep the workers of Firozabad in eternal misery. Poverty traps them in debt to moneylenders and forces every member of the family — including children — into the bangle furnaces just to put bread on the table. They have no money for education, no time for play, no margin for dreams. Tradition, on the other hand, sanctifies their poverty. Mukesh’s grandmother insists that bangle-making is their god-given lineage, that destiny cannot be challenged. Caste, religion and superstition are used to make the workers believe that misery is the will of God and that any attempt to escape it would be sinful. Together poverty and tradition produce a sense of fatalism that paralyses any will to resist. Until both are broken — through education, opportunity and reform — the workers of Firozabad will remain trapped in the lost spring of their childhood.

7. The author says, “Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.” What does this imply about the lives of the bangle-makers?

Answer: The remark “Few airplanes fly over Firozabad” symbolises that the bangle-makers’ world is cut off from the modern, progressive India that flies overhead in airplanes. They live in stagnant lanes, while the country zooms forward into the skies. Mukesh’s dream of becoming a motor mechanic and driving a car is itself a tentative step toward catching up with that fast-moving outside world. The line emphasises the isolation, immobility and forgottenness of the bangle community.

8. Discuss the irony in the lives of children of Firozabad as portrayed by Anees Jung.

Answer: The irony is sharp and tragic. Firozabad’s children make bangles — the very symbol of the auspicious married status of Indian women — yet their own lives are devoid of any auspice. They lose their eyesight before they become adults; they breathe glass dust; they sit in dingy cells before hot furnaces. Their work brings happiness and adornment to brides across the country, but they themselves cannot afford a single moment of joy. They are surrounded by colour but live in darkness. Saheb, similarly, is named “Lord of the Universe” but is in reality a barefoot ragpicker. The irony of the chapter exposes a society that profits from beauty produced by suffering.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. Who is the author of “Lost Spring”?

(a) Anees Jung
(b) Anita Desai
(c) Mahatma Gandhi
(d) Selma Lagerlöf

Answer: (a) Anees Jung

2. Where does Saheb live?

(a) Firozabad
(b) Seemapuri
(c) Dhaka
(d) Mumbai

Answer: (b) Seemapuri

3. What does Saheb’s full name “Saheb-e-Alam” mean?

(a) Lord of the Universe
(b) Owner of Earth
(c) Beloved of God
(d) King of Kings

Answer: (a) Lord of the Universe

4. Why did Saheb’s family migrate from Dhaka?

(a) For better education
(b) Because storms swept away their homes and fields
(c) For religious freedom
(d) Because of war

Answer: (b) Because storms swept away their homes and fields

5. What is “gold” for the ragpickers of Seemapuri?

(a) Real gold ornaments
(b) Garbage with valuables in it
(c) Coal
(d) Bangles

Answer: (b) Garbage with valuables in it

6. How much does Saheb earn at the tea stall per month?

(a) ₹500
(b) ₹800
(c) ₹1000
(d) ₹1500

Answer: (b) ₹800

7. The steel canister Saheb carries belongs to —

(a) Saheb
(b) The tea-stall owner
(c) His mother
(d) The author

Answer: (b) The tea-stall owner

8. Where is the bangle industry located?

(a) Surat
(b) Firozabad
(c) Lucknow
(d) Hyderabad

Answer: (b) Firozabad

9. Approximately how many children work in Firozabad’s glass furnaces?

(a) 5,000
(b) 10,000
(c) 20,000
(d) 50,000

Answer: (c) 20,000

10. What does Mukesh want to be?

(a) Pilot
(b) Bangle-maker
(c) Motor mechanic
(d) Doctor

Answer: (c) Motor mechanic

11. What hazardous condition do bangle-makers work in?

(a) High furnaces, dingy cells with no air or light
(b) Open fields
(c) Air-conditioned rooms
(d) Underground tunnels

Answer: (a) High furnaces, dingy cells with no air or light

12. Bangles in India symbolise —

(a) Wealth
(b) The suhaag of an Indian woman
(c) Fashion
(d) Caste

Answer: (b) The suhaag of an Indian woman

13. Who is Savita?

(a) Saheb’s mother
(b) Mukesh’s sister
(c) A young girl soldering bangles
(d) The author’s friend

Answer: (c) A young girl soldering bangles

14. Mukesh’s grandmother believes bangle-making is —

(a) A lucrative business
(b) A god-given lineage
(c) A burden
(d) A new trade

Answer: (b) A god-given lineage

15. Why can the bangle-makers not form a cooperative?

(a) They have no leader and fear police harassment
(b) They are too rich
(c) The government has banned cooperatives
(d) They prefer working alone

Answer: (a) They have no leader and fear police harassment

16. What does the title “Lost Spring” symbolise?

(a) A lost season
(b) Stolen childhood of poor children
(c) Lost wealth
(d) Lost flowers

Answer: (b) Stolen childhood of poor children

17. Who keeps the bangle-makers trapped in poverty?

(a) Sahukars, middlemen, police, bureaucrats and politicians
(b) Schoolteachers
(c) Doctors
(d) Farmers

Answer: (a) Sahukars, middlemen, police, bureaucrats and politicians

18. Saheb wants to —

(a) Play tennis and go to school
(b) Drive a car
(c) Become a doctor
(d) Make bangles

Answer: (a) Play tennis and go to school

19. “Lost Spring” was published in —

(a) 1989
(b) 1999
(c) 2005
(d) 1971

Answer: (b) 1999

20. The two cities discussed in the chapter are —

(a) Mumbai and Kolkata
(b) Seemapuri (Delhi) and Firozabad
(c) Hyderabad and Chennai
(d) Lucknow and Patna

Answer: (b) Seemapuri (Delhi) and Firozabad

21. Saheb’s family came from —

(a) Pakistan
(b) Nepal
(c) Dhaka, Bangladesh
(d) Sri Lanka

Answer: (c) Dhaka, Bangladesh

22. The author’s promise of starting a school made Saheb —

(a) Sad
(b) Hopeful and excited
(c) Angry
(d) Indifferent

Answer: (b) Hopeful and excited

23. The barefoot children of Seemapuri lack footwear because of —

(a) Tradition
(b) Choice
(c) Perpetual poverty
(d) Religious belief

Answer: (c) Perpetual poverty

24. Saheb’s eyes lit up when he saw the author at the —

(a) Tea stall
(b) Garbage dump
(c) Iron gate of a club where boys were playing tennis
(d) Railway station

Answer: (c) Iron gate of a club where boys were playing tennis

25. The “two distinct worlds” in Mukesh’s life refer to —

(a) Family-tradition world and exploitative power-network world
(b) Day and night
(c) Rich and poor
(d) East and West

Answer: (a) Family-tradition world and exploitative power-network world

Extract-Based Questions

Extract 1: “Saheb left his home long ago. Set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant memory. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes, his mother tells him.”

(a) Where did Saheb’s home originally lie? — Amidst the green fields of Dhaka in Bangladesh.
(b) Why is Saheb’s old home not even a distant memory? — Because he left it as a small child and storms had destroyed it.
(c) What forced Saheb’s family to leave their home? — Storms which swept away their fields and houses.
(d) Who is “his mother” in the extract? — Saheb’s mother.

Extract 2: “Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it is a leaking roof. But for a child it is even more.”

(a) Whom does “them” refer to? — The ragpickers of Seemapuri.
(b) Why is garbage “gold” to them? — Because it is their only means of livelihood — bread and shelter.
(c) What is garbage for a child like Saheb? — A source of wonder; sometimes a coin or note can be found in it.
(d) Identify the literary device used. — Metaphor (garbage = gold).

Extract 3: “I want to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets that fill his town.”

(a) Who is “he” in the extract? — Mukesh, the bangle-maker boy.
(b) What is his dream? — To learn to drive a car / become a motor mechanic.
(c) Why is the dream compared to a mirage? — Because it is far away and seemingly unattainable for someone of his background.
(d) What does the comparison reveal about the author’s tone? — Sympathetic but realistic; she admires Mukesh’s courage while recognising the obstacles.

Extract 4: “Few airplanes fly over Firozabad. Some, like Mukesh, want to be a different person. ‘I will be a motor mechanic,’ he announces.”

(a) Why does the author say few airplanes fly over Firozabad? — To stress that Firozabad is cut off from modern, progressive India.
(b) Who wants to be a different person? — Mukesh.
(c) What does he plan to become? — A motor mechanic.
(d) What quality of Mukesh is highlighted here? — Courage to dream beyond his caste-bound destiny.

Extract 5: “It is his Karam, his destiny, says Mukesh’s grandmother…that has hardened her own life…she still believes in destiny.”

(a) What does Mukesh’s grandmother believe? — That bangle-making is the family’s god-given destiny that cannot be broken.
(b) How has destiny hardened her life? — Her husband went blind from polishing glass; she has known only poverty and toil.
(c) What does the extract reveal about the community’s mindset? — Fatalism — surrender to caste and tradition.
(d) What attitude does Mukesh have in contrast? — Defiance and determination to break away.

Character Sketches

Saheb-e-Alam

Saheb, whose full name “Saheb-e-Alam” ironically means Lord of the Universe, is a young Bangladeshi-refugee boy living in the Seemapuri slum on the outskirts of Delhi. Driven from Dhaka by storms that destroyed his family’s fields, he has grown up scrounging through garbage heaps for “gold” — coins, currency notes, and resaleable items. Saheb is innocent, hopeful and full of childish wonder; even discarded tennis shoes excite him, and the briefly held promise of a school makes his eyes light up. He longs to play tennis and to go to school, but circumstances do not permit it. Eventually he takes a job at a tea stall for ₹800 a month and his meals; in doing so he gains income but loses his freedom. The steel canister he now carries belongs to the tea-stall owner — a symbolic chain heavier than the lightweight plastic bag of his ragpicker days. Saheb represents millions of poor children whose childhood has been “stolen” by poverty, statelessness and apathy — a true Lost Spring.

Mukesh

Mukesh is a young boy who belongs to a family of bangle-makers in Firozabad. Although he comes from a community whose every member has surrendered to the destiny of working in glass furnaces, Mukesh stands out as the rebel. He refuses to accept the family’s belief that bangle-making is a god-given lineage that cannot be broken. Bold, ambitious and self-respecting, he wants to become a motor mechanic and learn to drive a car. He is willing to walk a long distance to a garage to acquire the skill. Although his dream “looms like a mirage” amidst the dust of his town, his determination is genuine. Unlike his father, grandfather and elder brother who are resigned to their fate, Mukesh insists on being his own master. He represents the spark of hope amid the darkness of Firozabad — proof that even one defiant child can begin to unravel the web of caste, tradition and exploitation. His courage to dream is the true light of the chapter.

Anees Jung (the Narrator)

The narrator, Anees Jung herself, is a sensitive, observant and compassionate writer. She walks through Seemapuri and Firozabad not as a distant journalist but as a sympathetic listener — speaking to Saheb, Mukesh, Savita and others, recording their dreams as well as their despair. She is honest enough to admit her own embarrassment at making empty promises (the school for Saheb), and she is courageous enough to name the powerful nexus that exploits the bangle-makers. Her tone is restrained yet deeply moral; her narrative voice turns statistics into faces, and faces into a powerful indictment of social apathy.

Major Themes

Theme	Explanation
Stolen Childhood / Lost Spring	The central theme — children like Saheb and Mukesh lose the joys of childhood to poverty, labour and exploitation. Spring (childhood) is stolen before it can bloom.
Poverty	Poverty is shown not just as lack of money but as a perpetual state that denies food, shelter, education, dignity and dreams.
Child Labour and Exploitation	Around 20,000 children working in Firozabad’s furnaces and countless ragpickers in Seemapuri illustrate how children are exploited as cheap, voiceless labour.
Caste and Tradition	Tradition, caste and the belief in “god-given lineage” trap entire communities in inherited misery and stop them from changing their fate.
Vicious Circle of Exploitation	The nexus of sahukars, middlemen, police, bureaucrats and politicians ensures that the workers remain economically and politically powerless.
Migration and Statelessness	Saheb’s family’s migration from Dhaka to Delhi reflects the plight of millions who lose their homeland to natural disasters and war and live as squatters on the city’s edge.
Broken Promises and Apathy	The author’s casual school-promise to Saheb symbolises how society makes empty commitments to the poor without ever fulfilling them.
Hope and Defiance	Mukesh’s determination to be a motor mechanic represents the small but vital spark of hope — that the chain of exploitation can be broken by one courageous dream.
Irony	Saheb-e-Alam (Lord of the Universe) is a barefoot ragpicker; bangle-makers create symbols of marital joy while living in misery — the irony cuts to the heart of the narrative.

Conclusion

“Lost Spring” by Anees Jung is far more than a school chapter — it is a moral mirror held up to society. Through the linked stories of Saheb in Seemapuri and Mukesh in Firozabad, the author makes us listen to the silent screams of millions of Indian children whose spring has been lost to poverty, tradition and institutional exploitation. Yet the narrative is not without hope. In Mukesh’s small dream of driving a car shines the larger possibility that one day the chains of caste, debt and apathy will break. As students of ASSEB Class 12, our duty is not merely to memorise this chapter but to internalise its message — to recognise the worth of every child’s spring and to commit ourselves, in whatever way we can, to ensuring that no child loses it again.