Lost spring- Anees Jung

Short Answer Questions

a) Garbage to them is gold; why does the author say so about the rag-pickers?
Seemapuri is a place where rag pickers live without identities and have no basic amenities,
yet they are happy here because they get food by hunting and scouring through garbage
and selling usable items for cash, occasionally finding some coins or currency notes, which
would make them immensely happy. Therefore, Garbage is gold to them, because it
provides items which can further be used to buy food and is a means of survival.
b) How is Mukesh different from the other bangle makers of Firozabad?
Mukesh, who hailed from the city of Dhaka, was different from other bangle makers of
Firozabad because he had the courage and willpower to break free from the traditional
occupation of bangle making and chase his dreams. He wanted to be a motor mechanic and
someday drive cars because he was fascinated and inspired when he saw fast vehicles
hurtling down the streets of Firozabad.
c) Whom does Anees Jung blame for the sorry plight of the bangle makers?
Anees Jung blames the middlemen, the policemen, the lawmakers, the bureaucrats and the
politicians for the sorry plight of the bangle makers. They conspire against and exploit the
poor bangle makers by preventing them to form a co-operative society. The families of
Firozabad are caught in a web of poverty, burdened by the stigma of the caste in which they
are born and are ostracized because of the vicious circle of entrapment in the bangle making
industry.
d) 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?
Yes, I agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept. People say things in a light
manner, never knowing how seriously the one wracked with poverty might take it. They
make promises to spread temporary happiness, fleeting hope and false assurance. It makes
the person feel powerful in that moment, ensures self-satisfaction and fuels one’s ego. The
author made an empty promise to Sahib by encouraging them to study and attend school,
nonchalantly saying that she would build a school for them. Sometime later, when Sahib
asks her about the promised school, the author realizes how shallow and meaningless her
promise was and felt embarrassed.

Long Answer Questions

a) 'Lost Spring' explains the grinding poverty and traditions that condemn thousands of
people to a life of abject poverty. Do you agree? Why/Why not?
I agree. Lost spring is a grave tale of grinding poverty and the toxic traditions to which
thousands of people have succumbed. It speaks wisely about how some poor people are
happy despite their miserable condition and standards of living, and how some are utterly
hopeless and devoid of optimism and joy. The story revolves around the pitiful
circumstances of families who moved to India in search of better opportunities and are
forced to live as rag pickers for survival, and families born in poverty who have been forced
to live in slums and toil in unsanitary and unsafe environments for survival. The first part of
the story tells the writer’s impression about the life of rag pickers who have migrated from
Dhaka, Bangladesh, but now have settled in the Seemapuri area of Delhi. They must hunt for
usable items in heaps of garbage so that they can further sell them for money to buy food.
The second part of the story tells us about the desolation and despair of the bangle makers
in the town of Firozabad. The stark reality of these families is despite their back-breaking
work, they can barely afford to scrape by, having even one square meal a day. They are
victims of exploitation by corrupt authoritative figures, and they are stuck in a vicious
repetitive cycle.
b) The bangle makers of Firozabad make beautiful bangles and make everyone happy but
they live and die in squalor. Elaborate.
The above statement throws into sharp contrast the situation of the bangle makers of
Firozabad against that of what they make to earn a livelihood. While the bangles symbolise
beauty, grace and delight, the makers live ugly lives where exploitation is the norm, and the
families of bangle- makers have surrendered to the corrupt system which is meant to
protect them. They are victims of a society that is designed for equality and justice, and they
are instead subjected to social stigma, ostracism and alienation. The bangles represent
auspicious new beginnings for the lucky Indian bride, while each bangle is being carefully
crafted by the nimble fingers of children with lightless eyes. The sheer disparity between the
sanctity that the bangles depict and the polluted environment in which they are created
speaks volumes of irony.