INDEX

1.INTRODUCTION

2.ABOUT LOST SPRING

3.STORY 1

4.STORY 2

5.STORY 3

6.COMPARING WITH LOST SPRING

7.WHAT DOES LOST SPRING CONVEY

8.THE CAUSE FOR STRUGGLE

9.IS THERE A SOLUTION?

10.CONCLUSION

11.BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION

In this investigatory project, more stories of stolen childhood that is similar to that of Saheb-
e-Alam and Mukesh from the lesson The Lost Spring (class 12 NCERT textbook).
I would also be comparing the livelihoods of the other children like Alejandra, Hamisi and
Sandy with that of Saheb and Mukesh
I would highlight the issues or the moral value that the lesson is trying to convey, that is,
decoding the value and message of the lesson.
I would also provide my investigation of what may be the cause that has changed the lives
very bad and gruesome for these innocent kids whose childhood are stolen and they are
already burdened with responsibilities.
We will see if there is a solution for this hard and toiling life of small children who should be
enjoying their childhood instead of doing odd jobs for survival. Can they be free or attain
freedom from this cruel life?

ABOUT LOST SPRING

The Lost Spring summary describes the terrible condition of poor children. These children
are those who didn’t get to enjoy childhood because of the prevailing socio-economic
condition in this world. This is something that one can see all over the world. These children
don’t have the opportunity for schooling. Moreover, there is a lot of pressure on these
children to enter into labour early in life. These unfortunate children are forced into labour.
This certainly denies them education as well as the opportunity to have enjoyment. The
author Anees Jung raises voice to eliminate child labour. Jung does so by raising awareness
regarding child education and strict law enforcement against child labour. The call is to put an
end to the exploitation of children. This way the children will be able to enjoy the days of the
spring and have fun.
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 in their fields and homes due to the storms. They had come to
the big city in the hope of finding living there. However, the reality was, in fact, painful for them
and they had to face many hardships. They are certainly 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 are able to find a coin or two from it. These people have ambitions
and desires. The problem is that they do not know the way to make them possible. There are
quite a few things that they are unable to reach. Later Saheb joins a tea stall where there is a
possibility for him to earn 800 Rupees and all the meals. However, this job has deprived him of
his freedom. As such 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 amazing 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. This is certainly very
dangerous as it makes these 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

Now that we know about Saheb and Mukesh we shall explore the stories of other pity kids
around the world

STORY 1

Twelve-year-old Alejandra is woken up at four in the morning by her father, Don José. She does
not go to school, but goes to collect curiles, small molluscs in the mangrove swamps on the
island of Espiritu Santo in Usulután, El Salvador.

In the rush to get to work, Alejandra does not take time to eat breakfast. It is more important to
make sure she has the things she needs to make it through a workday that can mean spending up
to 14 hours in the mud. These items include about a dozen cigars and at least four pills to keep
her from falling asleep. A good part of the money that she earns goes to buy these things.

In the mangrove swamp without shoes, Alejandra has to face bad weather, mosquito bites and
cuts and scrapes from having to pull the curiles out from deep in the mud. The cigars help to
repel the mosquitoes, but when she runs out of cigars Alejandra has to put up with the insects as
she moves from branch to branch and from one area to another in search of shells. When she
returns from work, her body is nearly always covered with bites.

She earns very little. If she is lucky in one day Alejandra manages to collect two baskets of
curiles (150 shells), worth little more than 12 colones, or $1.40. Alejandra, who has seven
younger brothers and sisters, has no time to go to school or play with other children. Anyway,
she prefers not to play with other children because they say she smells bad and exclude her from
their games for being a curiles worker.
 Little by little Alejandra has lost her self-esteem. Like the other children who work collecting
curiles, she feels separate from the rest of society. For Alejandra, life seems like a tunnel with no
exit.

STORY 2

Even though he is only 11 years old, Hamisi already has had a career as a miner. He dropped out
of his third year of primary school and left his home village of Makumira in Tanzania after his
father was unable to pay for his uniform and school fees. Although Hamisi's parents have their
own half-acre coffee farm, their income fell sharply because of the decline in the market price
for coffee throughout the world.

Hamisi had heard stories of people making money from mining and decided to try his luck. He
asked his mother for a small amount of money to buy some socks and other items, but instead
used this for the bus fare to Mererani, a town in northern Tanzania about 70 kilometres from his
home.

When he arrived at the village, he approached a boy and asked him where the mining site was
located. It was very difficult for him to get work right away because he was a newcomer and
had no relatives there, but he managed to make friends with some children who knew the
place and could help him.

After several days of hanging around the mining site, he was hired by one of owners to work
as an assistant “errands” boy. The following day, he and another child of his age were sent
down into the pit, where the gemstone Tanzanite was being mined, to deliver tools and bring
up used bottles of drinking water.

From that day, he worked as a service boy, going back and forth between the surface and the
pits. "You have got to get deep into the mining pit by a rope, take what you have been
ordered and then go back to the surface," Hamisi says. The inside of the mining pit, which
can be as deep as 300 metres, is totally dark and extremely hot. Those who go into the mine
need to wear a special torch (or flashlight) on their foreheads to find their way around. Their
skin turns to black because of the humidity and heat as well as the mud, Hamisi says.

"I nearly suffocated inside the pits due to an inadequate supply of oxygen," he adds. At the
mining sites and in the township children like Hamisi are called "nyokas", or "snake boys",
because they crawl along the small tunnels underground just like snakes. The health of the
snake boys is very poor, as they breathe in the harmful graphite dust found in the mines and
they do not have enough to eat. Hamisi often worked up to 18 hours a day with only one meal
of buns and boiled or cooked cassava.

Children working in the Mererani mines earn the equivalent of between 60 cents and $1.20 a
day when they are given tasks to do. Some children look through the gravel left by the pit
owners in the hope of finding a gemstone. When they do, which is only very rarely, they can
earn between $24 and $122. It is because of stories of finding gemstones that children like
Hamisi are attracted to the mines. But like many others, Hamisi was disappointed by the
terrible conditions and he did not make the fortune that he had heard about.

STORY 3

Sandy cannot see his hands in the darkness of his shack made from palm bark and zinc on a
hillside in the Dominican Republic. But he feels them because of the pain from wounds on his
left thumb caused by the knife he uses to trim garlic plants. It is dawn and he has to hurry if he is
to get a place in the landowner's truck. He jumps from the worn mattress that he shares with
three other brothers. He does not have breakfast because there is not any. Nor does he wear
working boots because he has none.

Sandy manages to climb into the back of the truck before the others, who are adults and other
children like him, without a childhood. In the cold and fog, the icy wind cuts his unprotected
face. Sandy does not look beyond his hands and forgets his discomfort. His hands are his most
valuable working assets. They pick potatoes, extract onions, dig up lettuce, behead beets and cut
and gather garlic bulbs. He knows that he can bring home between 80 and 120 pesos, or $5 to
$7, to contribute to the low family income and to buy a pair of shoes. He works in the fields
every day from dawn to the middle of the afternoon.

Sandy does not go to school. For a short time, a few years ago, when the family lived in the
mountains, he took a long and steep road to go to classes. "But we were so far away that he
never learned anything," says his mother, Viola Delgado. "How could he learn if with the
sweating of the trek he forgot what he was taught in school?" A mother of eight children, the 40-
year-old Mrs. Delgado is illiterate, like her husband.

In her hut, only a thin sheet separates the cramped "living room" from the beds. A wooden table
and wobbly chairs make up the furnishings. Like other huts in El Chorro, there is no electricity
or running water. There is no nearby faucet or toilet. El Chorro is on a hill above the Constanza
valley, which is the most fertile in the country. The people living in these huts, about five
minutes from town, are farm workers who have come here because there is plenty of agricultural
work. But they remain poor because pay is so low.

As soon as they reach a certain height and age, the children go with their parents to the
plantations. They are exposed to the excessive chemicals, or herbicides and pesticides, that are
applied to the fields. They are often barefoot and underfed -- they drink bottled refreshment to
keep them going during the workday. The children are often sick.

Sandy says he would like to study and continue to help his family. His mother also would like
him to go to school. "It's more advantageous for me if they go to school, even if they don't earn
anything, for they don't make much with a day's work anyway." There are helpers and
community workers in Constanza and El Chorro who are encouraging the children to go to
school. They see a big difference in the children after just a short time at school. The kids speak
better, keep their notebooks tidy and are interested in school, not earning money. Sandy will
soon be one of those children
COMPARING WITH LOST SPRING

Let us look at the difference and similarities between these 5 stories of these 5 different children.

DIFFERENCES

There are no much differences among these children who, at the end of day, sleep with pain and
misery. The main differences are that they all belong to different countries and do different jobs
(which they should not even do at the first place) but their struggles are common and similar.
Another is that only Sandy and Mukesh follow their odd jobs of their parents while rest of them
do other odd jobs but different from that of their parents. Except Saheb, Hamisi and Mukesh
other children had more than 2 siblings. Sandy is among the 4 while Alejandra has 7 other
siblings. This indicate that even these factors lead them to do this kind of harsh factors due to
more family members. Except Sandy other children have very very less chance of coming out of
their misery-filled life cycle.

SIMILARITIES

• All the children facing these kinds of harsh realities belongs to the age group of 11-13

• They are living together with the community of people with these odd jobs

• Their entire childhood is stolen and they are made to face the realities that they are not
supposed to

• All of them are physically hurt due to their odd jobs. They have a deteriorating health.

• As they are made to face this kind of hardships before their age of maturity, they are also
mentally affected

• Their background is so poor such that even after these children working for their
families, still they don’t have easy access to basic necessities for the human survival.

• None of them have access to proper education as their time gets killed by the jobs they
are doing

• None of the children are treated properly by the society

• They all are trapped by the vicious cycle

Now that the investigation on the children like Mukesh and Saheb is over, let us see more about
the lesson ‘The Lost Spring’ and its message towards us. What the lesson wants us to know
about? Let us find out.

WHAT DOES LOST SPRING CONVEY?

Spring, as we all know, is a season of optimism and hope. It also serves as a metaphor for our
childhood years. Every child wishes for new beginnings and a bright future from the time he
or she is born until late childhood. Childhood is characterized by innocence, energy, and a
strong desire for outdoor activities, as well as fun and play. And there are no time constraints
when it comes to playing. It is also a time for learning new skills and going to school.
The chapter's theme is the perpetual poverty of certain groups of people, as well as the
traditions that force poor children to live a life of exploitation. They are trapped in a vicious
circle. The author's two stories describe the plight of street children who are forced to work
rather than attend school when they are young. The sufferings are exacerbated by society's
biased behaviour.
Through her book, author Anees Jung works hard to end child labour. She promotes child
education and the government's strict enforcement of anti-child labour laws. The message is
to put an end to child exploitation and allow all children to enjoy the joys of spring. Anees
Jung depicted two stories in 'Lost Spring,' both of which depict grinding poverty, pitiable
living conditions, and other traditions that condemn children to a life of exploitation.

THE CAUSE FOR THE STRUGGLE

‘Poverty is certainly the greatest single force driving children into the workplace.’ When
families cannot afford to meet their basic needs like food, water, education or health care,
they have no choice but to send their children to work to supplement the household income.
Poverty is considered as one of the most important causes of child labour as it is linked to
other driving factors including: low literacy and numeracy rates, lack of decent work
opportunities, natural disasters and climate change, conflicts and mass displacement. Poverty
and child labour form a vicious cycle, without tackling one, we cannot eradicate the other.
‘The availability and quality of schooling is among the most important factors.’ School needs
to be a welcoming environment, with appropriate class sizes, a curriculum designed for the
local context, and affordable for rural communities. Getting children into school and out of
harmful work is one thing but keeping them there a means creating quality
education accessible for all
‘Children who were involved in child labour often lack the basic educational grounding
which would enable them to acquire skills and to improve their prospects for a decent adult
working life.’ If young people cannot access work which is safe, with social protection, fair
pay, equality for men and women and which provides a space for workers to express their
opinions, they often have no choice but to do work which is hazardous. When children above
the minimum working age are doing hazardous work, this is also considered child labour.
‘The view that work is good for the character-building and skill development of
children.’ When families do not understand the dangers of child labour, and how these impact
on the health, safety, well-being and future of their child, they are more likely to send their
children to work. Some cultural beliefs and social norms can also be drivers of child labour
‘In rural areas, farmers who see their crops destroyed on account of climate changes have no
other choice but to send their children out to work.’ The effects of natural disasters and
climate change is one which is becoming of increasing concern. Rural families who depend
on reliable seasons for farming are particularly vulnerable to altered patterns of rainfall, soil
erosion, or extreme weather. When crops are destroyed or farming land is ruined, families
struggle to make a living and are more likely to send their children to work in neighbouring
farms
‘There is a strong correlation between child labour and situations of conflict and
disaster’ According to the ILO children make up more than half of the total number of people
displaced by war. These children are particularly vulnerable to forms of exploitation,
including child labour, due to an increase in economic shocks, a breakdown of social support,
education and basic services, and disruption of child protection services. The incidence of
child labour in countries affected by conflict is almost twice as high as the global average.
Children are also vulnerable to becoming involved in armed conflict, this is considered one of
the Worst Forms of Child Labour

IS THERE A SOLUTION?

In order to eliminate the social issue of child labour, there is need to follow some effective
solutions on urgent basis to save the future of any developing country. Following are some
solutions to prevent child labour:
• Creating more unions may help in preventing the child labour as it will encourage
more people to help against child labour.
• All the children should be given first priority by their parents to take proper and
regular education from their early childhood. This step needs much cooperation by the
parents as well as schools to free children for education and take admission of
children from all walks of life respectively.
• Child labour needs high level social awareness with the proper statistics of huge loss
in the future for any developing country.
• Every family must earn their minimum income in order to survive and prevent child
labour. It will reduce the level of poverty and thus child labour.
• Family control will also help in controlling the child labour by reducing the family’s
burden of child care and education.
• There is need of more effective and strict government laws against child labour in
order to prevent children from working in their little age.
• Child trafficking should be completely abolished by the governments of all countries.
• Child workers should be replaced by the adult workers as almost 800 million adults
are unemployed in this world. In this way adult will get job and children will be free
from child labour.
 • Employment opportunities should be increased for adults in order to overcome
problem of poverty and child labour.
• Business owners of factories, industries, mines, etc should take the pledge of not
involving children in any type of labour.

CONCLUSION

At the end of this investigatory project what I could learn is that there are many children of
my age and even below who are struggling 100 times more than I do. So, whoever it might
be, one must learn to appreciate whatever they got and always aim to get improved and make
a prime version of themselves where they could be able to create some impact on the society
by helping these types of children who are struggling and are trapped inside a street with two
dead ends.

Even though the solutions are discussed above, it is very less likely to happen is the gruesome
fact. When people are busy with their own works it is difficult for them to form unions.
Parents are not able to give first priority to children because they are forced to make them
work due to poverty. Almost every people are aware about this but they have no time to
interfere on other’s life. So, awareness does not make a big change. In a cruel world of
corruption, deception and greed, one will not follow a rule just because they took a pledge.

Little of humanitarianism and a little of social power could be a change. That change could
be me, you or us. It could me anyone but deep inside one must be always aware of the fact
that it should start with oneself. When everyone thinks the same then there is the revolution
that makes the world a better place. The innocent children did nothing wrong to be in that
kind of situation. So keeping that in mind we should always ought to help the people who are
waiting for a small spark that could change their lives.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Class XII English textbook (NCERT)

www.ilo.org

www.toppr.com

www.eclt.org

www.4to40.com