SUMMARY OF THIS CHAPTER THE LOST SPRING .

SOMETIMES I FIND A RUPEE IN THE GARBAGE

Saheb - the rag-picker

Saheb is a rag-picker who scrounges the garbage deposits to sustain his living. He and his family, refugees from Bangladesh, have come to the big city looking for gold. He is unable to study due to the lack of schools in his neighbourhood. The narrator jokingly makes a false promise to open a school for him but is later left embarrassed when he keeps approaching her enquiring about the school.

Sahebs full name, Saheb-e-Alam meaning lord of the universe, is ironical because he, along with others like him, is outright downtrodden. The author wonders if staying barefoot is just a tradition among the poor or only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty.

Recollecting the story of a priests son

The author recalls a story about a man from Udipi who, as a young son of a priest, used to pray for a pair of shoes. After thirty years, when the author visits the place, she finds that the situation has slightly improved because the son of the present priest now wears shoes and goes to school. However, the author pines at the thought of the still barefooted rag pickers of her neighbourhood.

The haven for rag-pickers Seemapuri

Seemapuri in Delhi, is home to 10,000 rag-pickers, mostly Bangladeshi refugees who came here in 1971. These people live in mud structures with roofs made of tin and tarpaulin. The ration cards, which allow them to buy grains, and the garbage are their means of survival. They believe that their transit shacks are a better place than their native villages that provide no food. Once in a while the children manage to find coins and rupee notes in the garbage heaps. The author notices how such occasional findings help the children to cling on to hope and life.

Discrepancy between Sahebs desire and reality

Saheb reveals his desire of playing tennis to the author. Even though he has managed to find a discarded pair of tennis shoes, the author knows, the game itself is out of his reach.

Contrary to his heartfelt desire, Saheb eventually ends up picking up a job in a tea stall where he is paid 800 rupees and all his meals. One morning, he meets the author on his way to a milk booth carrying a canister to fetch milk for his master, and the author observes how, in the process of earning a few hundred rupees, Saheb has lost his freedom and carefree look.

I WANT TO DRIVE A CAR

Mukesh and his family

Mukesh belongs to a family of bangle makers in Firozabad. Most of the families in the place are unaware of the illegality of their action in engaging children in such a hazardous industry. Even though children in such families take up the family profession, Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car.

Mukesh takes the author to his house which is one among many of the dilapidated houses of bangle makers, constructed in stinking lanes. Mukeshs father has been unable to change the condition of the house and the family, in spite of working very hard. The family now consisted of the father, the grandmother, the elder brother and his wife, and Mukesh.

Mechanical life of a bangle maker

According to Mukeshs grandmother, once born into the caste of bangle-makers, they have no way out but to surrender to their destiny. The grandmother recalls how her husband finally turned blind after working for years in the glass-blowing industry.

The lives of the people of Firozabad are centred on bangle-making. All their lives they work with colourful bangles only to go blind in their later years.

The author observes a young girl, Savita and ponders over the life of women in that region. Before marriage they make bangles, possibly without ever realizing its sanctity, and after marriage wear them. The only boon some of these people have is a roof over their heads; but, they are not able to manage a proper full time meal.

The unfavourable social system

Even after years of slogging, there has hardly been any change in the scenario of Firozabad. People seem to have stopped dreaming. The injustice of the social and legal system is the proverbial last straw for this already desolate section of people. The young men are bogged down by the police, the deceptive middlemen and their own destinies, leaving them no choice but to give in to the imposed way of life.

The prospect of Mukesh attempting to break this cycle seems to the author like a ray of hope: a small step, but a start nevertheless.

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SOMETIMES I FIND A RUPEE IN THE GARBAGE

Saheb - the rag-picker

Recollecting the story of a priests son

The haven for rag-pickers Seemapuri

Discrepancy between Sahebs desire and reality

Saheb reveals his desire of playing tennis to the author. Even though he has managed to find a discarded pair of tennis shoes, the author knows, the game itself is out of his reach.

I WANT TO DRIVE A CAR

Mukesh and his family

Mechanical life of a bangle maker

The lives of the people of Firozabad are centred on bangle-making. All their lives they work with colourful bangles only to go blind in their later years.

The unfavourable social system

The prospect of Mukesh attempting to break this cycle seems to the author like a ray of hope: a small step, but a start nevertheless.

This story narrates about the children of the bangle makers of Firozabad. The essay does so through the lives of two children, Saheb-e-Alam and Mukesh whose spring or childhood is lost in misery and poverty. Saheb is the son of two parents who migrated from Bangladesh. They came to Delhi in 1971 as their house was swept away by repeated storms. Then they began to live in Seemapuri, a slum of Delhi. Saheb like many other children of the slum was a rag picker. They searched the rags and garbage and tried to find out coins. Sometimes they found one rupee coins and sometimes even ten rupee coins. Saheb did not attend any school as there was no school nearby. He was too poor to wear chappals. Saheb liked the game of tennis. Someone gave him a pair of tennis shoes. But he would never get the chance to play the game himself. At last, Saheb got employed in a tea stall. He was not happy as he had lost his freedom. But he had no choice in the matter.

The life of Mukesh at Firozabad was no better. Mukesh lived with his elder brother who was a bangle maker. He wanted to be a driver and a motor-mechanic, not at all eager to continue bangle making. But the people thought that it was their karam or the result of their karma in the previous birth 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 are engaged in bangle making and many of them lost their eyesight before becoming adults. They did not know that it was illegal for children to work in that hazardous condition in the glass factories. The story is the same in every 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 enough 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. Police, middle-men and others would not allow them to take any other vocation. Justice after all is the right of the rich and the powerful, not of the helpless like Mukesh. The condition of the life of Saheb or Mukesh was far from desirable. It should not be allowed to continue. But some people must bell the cat. The writer was happy when he came to know that some young men like Mukesh was ready to take the plunge, rebel against tradition and start a new life.

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Here is a summary of story 'Lost Spring'. Hope you may find your ans...

I. ?Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage?

The author comes across Saheb every morning. Saheb left his home in Dhaka long time ago. He is trying to sponge gold in the heaps of garbage in the neighbourhood. The author asks Saheb why he does that. Saheb mutters that he has nothing else to do. There is no school in his neighbourhood. He is poor and works barefooted.

There are 10,000 other shoeless rag-pickers like Saheb. They live in Seemapuri, on the outer edge of Delhi, in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin but devoid of sewage, drainage or running water. They are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. They have lived here for more than thirty years without identity cards or permit. They have right to vote. With ration cards they get grains. Food is more important for survival than identity, Wherever they ?nd food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow up in them, and become partners in survival. In Seemapuri survival means rag-picking. Through the years rag-picking has acquired the proportions of a ?ne art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread and a roof over their heads.
Sometimes Saheb ?nds a rupee or even a ten-rupee note in the garbage-heap. Then there is hope of ?nding more. Garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents. For children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival. One winter morning the author ?nds Saheb standing by the fenced gate of a neighbourhood club. He is watching two youngmen playing tennis. They are dressed in white. Saheb likes the game but he is content to watch it standing behind the fence. Saheb is wearing discarded tennis shoes that look strange over his discoloured shirt and shorts. For one who has walked barefoot, even shoes with a hole is a dream come true. But tennis is out of his reach.

This morning Saheb is on his way to the milk booth. In his hand is a steel canister. He works in a tea stall. He is paid 800 rupees and all his meals. Saheb is no longer his master. His face has lost the carefree look. He doesn't seem happy working at the tea-stall.

II. ?I Want to Drive a Car?

The author comes across Mukesh in Firozabad. His family is engaged in bangle making, but Mukesh insists on being his own master. ?I will be a motor mechanic,? he announces. ?I will learn to drive a car,? he says.

Firozabad is famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. Families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for women. None of them know that it is illegal for children like Mukesh to work in the glass
furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light. They slog their daylight hours, often losing the brightness of their eyes. If the law is enforced, it could get Mukesh and 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces.

They walk down stinking lanes choked with garbage, past homes that remain hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. Humans and animals co-exist there. They enter a half-built shack. One part of it is thatched with dead grass. A frail young woman is cooking evening meal over a ?rewood stove. She is the wife of Mukesh's elder brother and already in charge of three men??her husband, Mukesh and their father. The father is a poor bangle maker. Despite long years of hard labour, ?rst as a tailor and then as a bangle maker, he has failed to renovate a house and send his two sons to school. All he has managed to do is teach them what he knows: the art of making bangles.

Mukesh's grandmother has watched her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. She says that it is his destiny. She implies that god-given lineage can never be broken. They have been born in the caste of bangle makers and have seen nothing but bangles of various colours. Boys and girls sit with fathers and mothers welding pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. They work in dark hutments, next to lines of ?ames of ?ickering oil lamps. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. They often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.

Savita, a young girl in a drab pink dress, sits along side an elderly woman. She is soldering pieces of glass. Her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine. Perhaps she does not know the sanctity of the bangles she helps make. The old woman beside her has not enjoyed even full meal in her entire life time. Her husband is an old man with ?owing beard. He knows nothing except bangles. He has made a house for the family to live in. He has a roof over his head.

Little has moved with time in Firozabad. Families do not have enough to eat. They do not havw money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles. The youngmen echo the lament of their elders. They have fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen who trapped their fathers and forefathers. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream. They are unwilling to get organised into a cooperative. They fear that they will be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal. There is no leader among them. No one helps them to see things differently. All of them appear tired. They talk of poverty, apathy, greed and injustice.

Two distinct worlds are visible--one, families caught in poverty and burdened with the stigma of caste in which they are born; the other, a vicious circle of money-lenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law and politicians. Together they have imposed the baggage on the child that he cannot put it down. He accepts it as naturally as his father. To do anything else would mean to dare. And daring is not part of his growing up. The author is cheered when she senses a flash of it in Mukesh who wants to be a motor mechanic.

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I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage. The first part tells the writer’s impressions about the life of the poor rag pickers. The rag pickers have migrated from Dhaka and found a settlement in Seemapuri. Their fields and homes had been swept away by storms. They had come to the big city to find a living. They are poor. The writer watches Saheb every morning scrounging for “gold” in her neighbourhood. Garbage is a means of survival for the elders and for the children it is something wrapped in wonder. The children come across a coin or two from it. These people have desires and ambitions, but they do not know the way to achieve them. There are quite a few things that are unreachable to them, namely shoes, tennis and the like. Later Saheb joins a tea stall where he could earn 800 Rupees and all the meals. The job has taken away his freedom. II – I want to drive a car. The second part deals with the life of Mukesh, who belongs to the family of Bangle-makers. Firozabad is best known for its glass-blowing industry. Nearly 20,000 children are engaged in this business and the law that forbids child labour is not known here. The living condition and the working environment is a woeful tale. Life in dingy cells and working close to hot furnaces make these children blind when they step into the adulthood. Weighed down by the debt, they can neither think nor find a way to come of out of this trap. The politicians, middlemen, policemen and bureaucrats will all obstruct their way of progress. The women in the household consider it as their fate and just follow the tradition. Mukesh is different from the rest of the folk there. He dreams to become a motor mechanic. The garage is far away from his house but he shall walk. Main points I – Sometimes I find a rupee in the garbage. 1. The writer encounters Saheb every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage. 2. Saheb-e-Alam, a refugee from Dhaka, Bangladesh is a ragpicker. 3. Wants to go to school, but can’t – very poor. 4. Lives in Seemapuri – a locality on the periphery of Delhi without any basic amenities. 5. Most of the rag pickers live here. 6. Food is more important for them than identity. 7. Rag picking is different for children and adult. 8. For adults – a mean of survival 9. For children – wrapped in wonders 10. Sahib gets a job in tea stall, earns Rs. 800/- and all his meal but still unhappy 11. Loses his freedom and carefree look. II – I want to drive a car. 1. The writer comes across Mukesh in Firozabad. 2. His family is engaged in making bangles but Mukesh insists on being his own master. 3. He desires to become a motor mechanic. 4. They work in dingy cells without air and light and furnaces with high temperatures. 5. As a result, most of them become blind at a very young age. 6. They don’t have money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles. 7. They can’t organize into a co-operative. 8. They are afraid of being hauled up by the Police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal. 9. There is no leader among them. 10. They talk of poverty, apathy, greed and injustice. 11. So poor that they can’t even dream – to do anything means to dare – and daring is not part of their growing. 12. The author is cheered when she senses a flash of it in Mukesh who wants to be a motor mechanic.

SOMETIMES I FIND A RUPEE IN THE GARBAGE

Saheb - the rag-picker

Saheb is a rag-picker who scrounges the garbage deposits to sustain his living. He and his family, refugees from Bangladesh, have come to the big city looking for gold. He is unable to study due to the lack of schools in his neighbourhood. The narrator jokingly makes a false promise to open a school for him but is later left embarrassed when he keeps approaching her enquiring about the school.

Sahebs full name, Saheb-e-Alam meaning lord of the universe, is ironical because he, along with others like him, is outright downtrodden. The author wonders if staying barefoot is just a tradition among the poor or only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty.

Recollecting the story of a priests son

The author recalls a story about a man from Udipi who, as a young son of a priest, used to pray for a pair of shoes. After thirty years, when the author visits the place, she finds that the situation has slightly improved because the son of the present priest now wears shoes and goes to school. However, the author pines at the thought of the still barefooted rag pickers of her neighbourhood.

The haven for rag-pickers Seemapuri

Seemapuri in Delhi, is home to 10,000 rag-pickers, mostly Bangladeshi refugees who came here in 1971. These people live in mud structures with roofs made of tin and tarpaulin. The ration cards, which allow them to buy grains, and the garbage are their means of survival. They believe that their transit shacks are a better place than their native villages that provide no food. Once in a while the children manage to find coins and rupee notes in the garbage heaps. The author notices how such occasional findings help the children to cling on to hope and life.

Discrepancy between Sahebs desire and reality

Saheb reveals his desire of playing tennis to the author. Even though he has managed to find a discarded pair of tennis shoes, the author knows, the game itself is out of his reach.

Contrary to his heartfelt desire, Saheb eventually ends up picking up a job in a tea stall where he is paid 800 rupees and all his meals. One morning, he meets the author on his way to a milk booth carrying a canister to fetch milk for his master, and the author observes how, in the process of earning a few hundred rupees, Saheb has lost his freedom and carefree look.

I WANT TO DRIVE A CAR

Mukesh and his family

Mukesh belongs to a family of bangle makers in Firozabad. Most of the families in the place are unaware of the illegality of their action in engaging children in such a hazardous industry. Even though children in such families take up the family profession, Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car.

Mukesh takes the author to his house which is one among many of the dilapidated houses of bangle makers, constructed in stinking lanes. Mukeshs father has been unable to change the condition of the house and the family, in spite of working very hard. The family now consisted of the father, the grandmother, the elder brother and his wife, and Mukesh.

Mechanical life of a bangle maker

According to Mukeshs grandmother, once born into the caste of bangle-makers, they have no way out but to surrender to their destiny. The grandmother recalls how her husband finally turned blind after working for years in the glass-blowing industry.

The lives of the people of Firozabad are centred on bangle-making. All their lives they work with colourful bangles only to go blind in their later years.

The author observes a young girl, Savita and ponders over the life of women in that region. Before marriage they make bangles, possibly without ever realizing its sanctity, and after marriage wear them. The only boon some of these people have is a roof over their heads; but, they are not able to manage a proper full time meal.

The unfavourable social system

Even after years of slogging, there has hardly been any change in the scenario of Firozabad. People seem to have stopped dreaming. The injustice of the social and legal system is the proverbial last straw for this already desolate section of people. The young men are bogged down by the police, the deceptive middlemen and their own destinies, leaving them no choice but to give in to the imposed way of life.

The prospect of Mukesh attempting to break this cycle seems to the author like a ray of hope: a small step, but a start nevertheless.

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. They end up losing their fields and homes due to storms. They then come to the big city to find a living, but are poor. The author then watches Saheb, the rag picker, every morning who is always scrounging for “gold” in her neighbourhood. Garbage is actually the means of survival for the elders and it is something wrapped in wonder for the children. Sometimes, the children find a coin or two from it. Even these kids have desires and ambitions, but they have no clue about how to achieve them. There are many things that are unreachable to them, for instance, shoes, tennis and similar stuff. Later on, Saheb starts working at a tea stall where he earns 800 Rupees and also gets to eat all the meals. But the job takes away his freedom.The second part is about the life of Mukesh, who comes from the family of bangle-makers. Firozabad is quite popular for its glass-blowing industry. A staggering 20,000 children are a part of this business and any law that forbids child labour is brutally ignored here. Also, the working environment and the living conditions are pathetic. Children live in dingy cells and work around hot furnaces that make them blind when they enter adulthood. Since they are weighed down by debt, they cannot think or find any way to escape this trap. The politicians, policemen, middlemen and bureaucrats obstruct their way of progress. Most women in such families think that this is their fate and just follow the tradition. But Mukesh is very different from the rest of the folks there. He has dreams of becoming a motor mechanic. The garage is quite far from his house but he shall walk.

The Lost Spring Summary

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. They end up losing their fields and homes due to storms. They then come to the big city to find a living, but are?poor. The author then watches Saheb, the rag picker, every morning who is always scrounging for ?gold? in her neighbourhood. Garbage is actually the means of survival for the elders and it is something wrapped in wonder for the children. Sometimes, the children find a coin or two from it. Even these kids have desires and ambitions, but they have no clue about how to achieve them. There are many things that are unreachable to them, for instance, shoes, tennis and similar stuff. Later on, Saheb starts working at a tea stall where he earns 800 Rupees and also gets to eat all the meals. But the job takes away his freedom.

II???I?want to drive a car.

The second part is about the life of Mukesh, who comes from the family of bangle-makers. Firozabad is quite popular for its glass-blowing industry. A staggering 20,000 children are a part of this business and any law that forbids child labour is brutally ignored here. Also, the working environment and the living conditions are pathetic. Children live in dingy cells and work around hot furnaces that make them blind when they enter adulthood. Since they are weighed down by debt, they cannot think or find any way to escape this trap. The politicians, policemen, middlemen and bureaucrats obstruct their way of progress. Most women in such families think that this is their fate and just follow the tradition. But Mukesh is very different from the rest of the folks there. He has dreams of becoming a motor?mechanic. The garage is quite far from his house but he shall walk.

The first part tells the author’s impressions regarding the life of poor rag pickers. The rag pickers have come from Dhaka. Furthermore, the settlement of the rag pickers is in the area of Seemapuri. Destruction has come to their fields and homes due to the storms. They had come to the big city in the hope of finding a living there. However, the reality was, in fact, painful for them, and they had to face many hardships. They are poor and lack various resources.
The writer watches Saheb every morning as he scrounges for “gold” in the neighbourhood. The means of survival for these rag pickers is the garbage. Furthermore, for the children, it is a wondrous thing. The children can find a coin or two from it. These people have ambitions and desires. The problem is that they do not know how to make them possible. There are quite a few things that they are unable to reach. Later Saheb joins a tea stall where he can earn 800 Rupees and all the meals. However, this job has deprived him of his freedom. Their condition is pretty hopeless and full of misery.
The second part explores the life of Mukesh. Mukesh is a boy who belongs to the family of Bangle-makers. Firozabad is famous for its exceptional glass-blowing industry. There is an engagement of nearly 20,000 children in this particular business. Furthermore, no one over there understands or respects the law that forbids child labour. Moreover, the living condition, as well as the working environment, are both horrendous.
These children live in dreary cells. Also, they work close to hot furnaces. These are very dangerous as it makes children blind when they enter adulthood. Furthermore, these children have to deal with the pressure of debt. Moreover, they are unable to think of a solution to solve this problem. There is no way for these children to come out of this trap.
The policemen, bureaucrats, middlemen, and politicians will all hinder their way of progress. The women in the household consider it to be their destiny or fate. As a result of such thinking, they just follow the established tradition. There is something different about Mukesh. He is not like the rest of the folk there. This is because Mukesh has big dreams. He has a desire to become a motor mechanic in future. The garage is far away from where he lives but he has the determination to walk.