1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Ans: Saheb is looking for gold in the garbage dumps. For a ragpicker like Saheb, garbage is like gold because in those garbage dumps he can find something for survival.
Saheb lives with his family in a place called Seemapuri, located in the periphery of Delhi. Saheb has come from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2. What explanation does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Ans: The author of Lost Spring, Anees Jung, says that she has often seen children walking on the streets without wearing shoes all across the country. To this, the author offers the explanation that it is perhaps not due to lack of money but tradition to stay barefoot or that it might be an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty.
3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? Explain.
Ans:
No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea stall. Although he is paid eight hundred rupees and given food, he has lost the happy and carefree look he had before. Earlier, he used to carry a plastic bag lightly on his shoulder, which showed he was free and independent. Now, he carries a heavy steel canister that belongs to the tea stall owner. This shows that he is no longer his own master. He now works under someone else and has lost his freedom.
4. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Ans:
The city of Firozabad is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry, and it is primarily famous for its bangles.
5. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans: Firozabad is a city famous for its glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles, etc. But there are a lot of hazards related to working in the glass bangles industry. First of all, they engage children to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures in small cells without sufficient air and light which often leads to losing the brightness of their eyes. Even in the small hutments, small boys and girls sit with their parents in the light of flickering oil lamps and weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. In this process, their eyes get more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.
6. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Ans: Mukesh’s family, like generations before them, are trapped in the dangerous and poorly paid glass bangle industry. They see it as their unavoidable fate or tradition, having lost all hope, initiative, and even the ability to dream of a different life due to extreme poverty, constant hunger, and exploitation by middlemen. They passively accept their situation.
Mukesh’s attitude is completely different. He actively rebels against this fate. Instead of accepting bangle-making as his future, he dares to dream of becoming a motor mechanic. He shows remarkable initiative and determination by being willing to walk a long distance to a garage to learn this new skill. His desire to break free from the family’s traditional work highlights his refusal to accept their hopelessness.
7. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Ans: The bangle makers of Firozabad remain trapped in poverty due to several powerful forces. Many of them are born into this work because of their caste and family tradition, and they see no other option. They work in very dangerous and unhealthy conditions, such as near hot furnaces or in dark rooms, which often leads to serious health problems like lung disease, injuries, or even blindness. They earn so little that they struggle to buy even basic food, and have no money left to improve their lives. Middlemen and moneylenders pay them very low wages and keep them in debt, making it impossible for them to break free. Over time, this constant struggle and exploitation break their spirit, and they stop dreaming of a better life. Even when they try to raise their voices or form groups for change, the police and politicians support the rich and powerful, not the poor workers. They often face threats, beatings, or even jail. Also, because they lack proper education, they don’t have the knowledge or leadership to fight against this unfair system.
Extra Questions:
Q. Garbage to them is gold – why does the author say this about the ragpickers?
Ans: The author says that garbage is gold to the ragpickers because it is the only source of food for the poor ragpickers. Seemingly, ragpicking is the sole way of surviving in Seemapuri.
Q. What is the irony inherent in Saheb’s name?
Ans: Saheb’s full name is Saheb-e-Alam. The irony inherent in his name is that his name literally means “Lord of the universe” but Saheb’s life in reality is exactly the opposite to what his name represents. He roams the streets barefoot searching for food and other useful things in the garbage dumps.
Q. Why did Saheb’s family leave their home in Dhaka and come to Seemapuri?
Ans: Saheb’s mother said that there were many storms that devastated their fields and homes in Dhaka, and this is the reason why they came to Seemapuri in search of a source of survival.
Q. State the pathetic condition of the ragpickers in Seemapuri.
Ans: About ten thousand ragpickers live in Seemapuri in huts made of mud, with roofs of tin or tarpaulin. These temporary houses do not have proper sewage, drainage, or running water. The ragpickers have been living there for over thirty years without any official identity or permits. However, they have ration cards that get their names on the voters’ list and allow them to buy food grains.
Q. What does the title of the story Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood signify?
Ans: The title of the story Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood signifies the miserable condition of those children who lost all the joys of their childhood and were forced to live a life of hardships at an early age because of poverty. The title also reflects the poverty and some traditions which lead many children into an unfortunate life of exploitation.
Q. Give a brief description of Mukesh’s father’s life.
Ans: Like many other heads of the families in Firozabad, Mukesh’s father was also an impoverished bangle maker. Despite long years of hard labour, he could not rise up from his miserable financial condition. Though he worked for many years – first as a tailor, then as a bangle maker – yet he failed to renovate his house and send his two sons to school. All he could manage to do was teach them what he knew – the art of making bangles.