Mission 100

According to Latest CBSE Board Syllabus

Lost Spring
Chapter – 2 | Flamingo
 The story, 'Lost Spring written by
Anees Jung revolves around the
Anees Jung pitiable condition of poor children
who are forced to live in slums and
work hard in very dirty conditions.

The story is divided into two parts.

The first part tells the writer's
impressions about the life of poor
ragpickers who have migrated from
Bangladesh but now settled in the
Seemapuri area of Delhi. The second
part narrates the miserable life of
the bangle makers in the town of
Firozabad.
Important Words
Chapter – 2 | Lost Springs
Mutters – to speak in a low voice

Glibly - speaking or spoken in

a confident way (but) without
careful thought or honesty

Hollow – meaningless

Embarrassed - feeling ashamed

Abound - exist in large numbers

Bleak – empty
Barefoot – wearing nothing in the feet

Shuffles - slides them over each

other

Excuse - a reason to justify a fault

perpetual state of poverty - never

ending condition of being poor

Desolation - the state of being empty

Panting - taking short and quick

breathes
Acquaintance - contact

Periphery - outer area

Metaphorically –
symbolically

Squatters - a person who

unlawfully occupies an
uninhabited building or
unused land

Wilderness - a wasteland

Tarpaulin - heavy-duty
waterproof cloth
Complete Chapter’s Summary
Sometimes I Find a Rupee in the Garbage
Saheb : The Ragpicker

Every morning the author meets Saheb

and his friends scrounging for ‘gold’ in
the garbage dumps of her
neighbourhood.

Saheb and his family are Bangladeshi

refugees. They left their home a long
time ago as storms destroyed their
fields and homes, leaving them
in a state of abject poverty.

That is why they came to a big city

(New Delhi) looking for ‘a better life’.
The author asks Saheb why does he do
ragpicking and not go to school. Saheb
informs her that there is no school in
his neighbourhood and if the
authorities build one, he would go.

The author then jokingly promises

him to open a school which makes
Saheb hopeful. After a few days, Saheb
asks her if she had opened the school.

The author feels embarrassed as she

made a promise she wouldn’t be able
to fulfill. She feels that her promise is
like many other unfulfilled promises
made to them.
Saheb-e-Alam: Lord of the Universe :

After some months of knowing him,

the author asks Saheb his full name.
Saheb’s full name is Saheb-e-Alam
which the author finds ironical as it
means ‘Lord of the Universe’.

She feels that Saheb would not

believe it as he, contrary to what his
name represents, roams around in the
streets, along with a bunch of
barefoot boys. One day, the author
curiously asked one of the boys about
why they don’t wear ‘chappals’.
Saheb-e-Alam: Lord of the
Universe :

The boy answer that his mother

would not bring them down from
the shelf. Another boy simply says
that he wants shoes.

The author had seen many

children walking barefoot and
found that they explain it as a
tradition and not lack of money.
She wonders if it is just an excuse
to hide their poverty.
The Story of the Priest’s Boy :

The condition of Saheb and his

friends reminds the
author of a story of the priest’s
boy. The boy prayed for a pair
of shoes everyday.

Many years later, the boy of

priest, residing the temple wore
a pair of shoes.

Now, many young boys like the

son of the priest wore
shoes but ragpicker boys still
remain shoeless.
Author’s visit to Seemapuri :

The author’s acquaintance with

the barefoot ragpickers takes her
to Seemapuri.

Seemapuri is a place on the

periphery of Delhi but it lacks
even the basic facilities offered by
Delhi.

The place is home to 10000 other

shoeless ragpickers like Saheb.
They are all Bangladeshi refugees
who came here back in 1971 with
the hopes of a better future.
However they live in very poor
conditions in mud structures with
roofs of tin and tarpaulin. The place
has no running water facility and no
drainage.

The ragpickers have lived here for

the past 30 years, without any
identity. But these people have
ration cards to get them food. And
wherever they get food, they
make it their home.

Children are brought up as partners

in survival in Seemapuri where
survival means ragpicking.
Different Meaning of Garbage for
Ragpickers :

Garbage is gold to these ragpickers and

ragpicking has become an art. It is their
only support and means of income. For
children, it is also a source of wonder.

Saheb tells the author that sometimes he

finds a rupee, even a ten-rupee note. The
author realises that garbage holds a
different meaning to both parents and
children.

Even children in Firozabad are employed in

the industry. The people there do not know.
Saheb No Longer his Own Master :
One winter morning the author
sees Saheb on his way to the milk
booth. He is carrying a steel
canister. He informs the author
that now he works at the tea stall
and is paid Rs 800 and all his
meals. But the author feels that
Saheb is not happy.

His face has lost its carefree look.

The steel canister seems heavier
than the plastic bag. The bag was
his, but the canister belongs to the
owner of the tea stall. Saheb is
no longer his own master.
Complete Chapter’s Summary
I Want to Drive a Car
Mukesh Wants to be his Own
Master :

The author meets Mukesh, who

insists on becoming a motor
mechanic.
The author feels that his dream is
unreal like a mirage amidst the
dusty streets of Firozabad a city
famous for its bangles.

Firozabad is the centre of India’s

glass-blowing industry, where
almost all generations of every
family have been involved in the
bangle making industry.
Mukesh Wants to be his Own
Master :

Even children in Firozabad are

employed in the industry. The
people there do not know that it
is illegal for children to work in
the glass furnaces with high
temperatures, in dingy cells
without air and light.

The children work day and night,

often losing the brightness of
their eyes.
Another Encounter with Poverty :

Mukesh volunteers to take the author

home. They walk down stinking lanes
choked with garbage, past small and
dirty constructions, where families of
humans and animals co-exist in a
primitive state.

They enter a half-built shack, one part

of which is thatched with dead grass.
Inside a frail young woman is cooking
the evening meal for the whole family.
She is the wife of Mukesh’s elder
brother.
The God-given Lineage :

Mukesh’s father has toiled hard

all his life, first as a tailor and
then as a bangle-maker. Still he
has been unable to renovate his
house or send his two sons
to school.

All he could manage to do was

to teach them the art of
bangle-making.

Mukesh grandmother tells the

author that bangle making is
their Karam and destiny.
It is a God given lineage that
they cannot escape. She
also informs her that the
industry does not pay them
well to even eat.

Seeing and Hearing their

laments the author wonders if
Mukesh’s father has achieved
what many have failed to
achieve in their lifetime. He has
a roof over his head.
Daring, Not a Part of Growing Up :

Every Household in Firozabad lives in

poverty. Nothing has changed over the
years. Years of hardship have killed all
hopes and dreams.

The author asks a group of young men to

organise themselves in a cooperative. But
they tell her that even if they get
organised, they will be taken to jail for
doing something illegal and are beaten
up. There is no leader among them.

The author finds two distinct worlds in

Firozabad.
One is the exploited family caught in a
vortex of poverty and the stigma of
the caste in which they were born.

The other is a vicious circle of those

who exploit them, the sahukars, the
middlemen, the politicians, the
lawmakers, the policemen and the
bureaucrats.

These have created such a burden

that a child accepts this profession as
naturally as his father did.

To do something else would mean to

dare which is not a part of growing up.
A Ray of Hope :

Amidst this hopelessness, the

author is filled with joy when she
finds that Mukesh thinks
differently.

The boy is filled with hope. His

dream of being a motor-mechanic
is still alive in his eyes as he is
willing to dare.

She know it will be difficult for

him but Mukesh is determined.
CBSE Sample Paper Questions
 Sample Paper Question

9. Saheb’s discarded and worn out tennis

shoes are

a. an indication to procure different ones.

b. a dream come true.
c. a sign of his poverty.
d. an insult to the sport itself.
Previous Year Questions
 Previous Year Questions
2020

Q. What does the writer mean when she

says, ‘Saheb is no longer his own master’?
 Previous Year Questions
2020

Answer:
Since Saheb now works in a tea-stall, he is now bound
to his master and feels burdened. The steel canister he
carries is very heavy as compared to his light plastic
bag. The bag was his own and the canister belongs to
his master whose orders he now has to follow. So he is
no longer his own master.
 Previous Year Questions
2019

What does the title, ‘Lost Spring’ convey?

 Previous Year Questions
2019

Answer:
The title ‘Lost Spring’ conveys how millions of children
in India lose out on living the ‘spring’ of their lives,
that is their childhood. The best phase of life is lost in
the hardships involved to earn their livelihood. Poverty
forces these young children to work in the most
inhuman conditions as a result of which they miss out
on the fun of childhood which hampers their growth.
 Previous Year Questions
2018

Q. Why could the bangle-makers not

organize themselves into a co-operative?
 Previous Year Questions
2018

Answer:
The bangle-makers are caught in a vicious web which starts from
poverty to indifferences then to greed and finally to injustice.
Mind-numbing toil kills their hopes and dreams.

The bangle makers of Firozabad were not able to organize

themselves into a cooperative because they had got trapped in a
vicious circle j of the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the
bureaucrats and the politicians.

Together they had imposed a baggage on these people which they

could not put down.
Expected Questions
Chapter – 2 | Lost Spring
Short Answer Questions
2/3 Marks
Q.1 What does the writer mean when she says,
‘Saheb is no longer his own master’?

Answer: Since Saheb now works in a tea-stall,

he is now bound to his master and feels
burdened. The steel canister he carries is very
heavy as compared to his light plastic bag. The
bag was his own and the canister belongs to
his master whose orders he now has to follow.
So he is no longer his own master.
Q.2. Is it possible for Mukesh to realize his
dream? Justify your answer?

Answer:
Mukesh’s determination is going to prove
instrumental in helping him to realize his dream.
His dream can become a reality only if he is able
to find a garage where he can be taken in as an
apprentice and then he will have to learn how to
drive a car. He will then be able to graduate
himself to be a good mechanic.
Q.3. Mention any two problems faced by the
bangle sellers.

Answer:
The bangle makers had to work in the glass
furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells
without air and light. They are exposed to various
health hazards like losing their eyesight as they
work in abysmal conditions in dark and dingy
cells.
They were also caught in a web of
poverty, burdened by the stigma of
caste in which they were born and also
caught in a vicious circle of sahukars,
middlemen and policeman.
Practice Question
Q.4. How is Mukesh’s attitude towards life
different from that of his family?
Q.4. How is Mukesh’s attitude towards life
different from that of his family?

Answer: Unlike his family Mukesh insists on

being his own master. He dreams to be a
motor mechanic which in itself is a daring
thought because he wants to break away
from the family’s work of making bangles
wherein his forefathers have spent
generations working around furnaces.
Long Answer Questions

4/5/6 Marks
Q.1. The bangle-makers of Ferozabad make
beautiful bangles and make everyone happy but
they live and die in squalor. Elaborate.

Answer: Through the story of the bangle-makers

of Ferozabad, the author expresses her concern
over their exploitation in the hazardous job of
bangle-making. Extreme poverty, hard work and
dismal working conditions result in the loss of
the childhood of children who are in this
profession.
The working conditions of all bangle-makers are
pathetic and miserable. They work in high
temperature, badly lit and poorly ventilated glass
furnaces due to which child workers especially
are at risk of losing their eyesight at an early age
and get prone to other health hazards.

The stinking lanes of Ferozabad are choked with

garbage and humans and animals live together in
these hovels.
There is no development or progress in their
lives with the passage of time. They have no
choice but to work in these inhuman
conditions.

Mind-numbing toil kills their dreams and

hopes. They are condemned to live and die
in squalor, subjected to a life of poverty and
perpetual exploitation.
Q.2. “For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the
elders it is a means of survival.” What kind of life do
the rag-pickers of Seemapuri lead?

Answer:
Garbage, for the rag pickers of Seemapuri, is
considered to be nothing less than gold. Picking
garbage helps them to earn their daily bread, gives
them a roof over their head and is their only means of
livelihood and survival.
For the innocent children garbage is wrapped in
wonder as they marvel at the prospect of finding a
coin, a currency note or a curio that sustains their
hope.

These children grow up to become partners in survival

with their parents. Seemapuri houses around 10,000
ragpickers mostly Bangladeshi refugees, who have
lived there for more than thirty years without an
identity and without permits.
These people live in mud structures with roofs made
of tin and tarpaulin. The ration cards that enable
them to get their names on voters’ lists and enable
them to buy grain and garbage are their means of
survival.
Food is more important to them for survival than an
identity.
MCQs
Q1- Who is the author of Lost Spring?

A) James Bond
B) Arundhati Roy
C) Sudha Murthy
D) Anees Jung
Q2- This story is an excerpt from which
book of the author?

A) Lost Spring - Stories of Stolen Childhood

B) Unveiling India
C) Breaking the Silence
D) The Song of India
Q3- What does the author analyze in the
story?

A)Rich people
B) Garbage
C) Poor children and their exploitation
D) Her works
Q4- What is the central theme of the story
Lost Spring?

A) Pitiable Poor children and their lost

childhood
B) Garbage
C) Saheb and Mukesh
D) Spring Season
Q5- What forces the children to live a life of
exploitation?

A) Greed
B) Extreme Poverty
C) Peers
D) Parents
Q6- According to the author what was garbage
for the parents?

A) Means of entertainment
B) Means of joy
C) Means of sorrow
D) Means of survival
Q7- According to the author what was
garbage for the children ?

A) Means of entertainment
B) Means of timepass
C) Means of playing
D) A wonder
Q8- Who was Saheb?

A) A shopkeeper
B) A servant
C) A ragpicker
D) All
Q9- What was Saheb looking for?

A) Eggs
B) Gold
C) Ice-Cream
D) Toys
Q10- Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall?

A) Yes
B) Yes, he earns money
C) No earning
D) No, earning but no freedom