LOST SPRING

About the Author: He Anees Jung raises voice against child labor by educating poor children. She works in
support of enforcing strict laws against this.

T H E M E O F T H E S T O RY:

I. The story ‘Lost Spring’ addresses the pitiable condition of the poor children who are
unable to enjoy their childhood due to their poor socio economic condition that
prevails in the place they dwell in.

II. These children live a life that is far distant and different from a life of a normal child
who receives education and is not forced into labor in his early life. The story gives the
call to end child exploitation and let these children enjoy the days of spring that would
bring joy under their feet.
 ‘Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage’

S U M A RY

The story describes the life of the rag pickers who have migrated from Dhaka to Seemapuri
in search of a living. Their green fields back home had been swept away by the storms. Saheb
is one such rag picker who scroungers for ‘gold’ as in garbage every morning because
garbage to them is gold and their daily bread.
The word garbage has different meaning for their parents and these children. To their
parents it’s their means of survival and for the children it is wrapped in wonder. Sahib gets
really fascinated when he tells the narrator that sometimes he even finds a ten rupee note
in the garbage. These children have dreams and desires but no means to achieve them.
zThey lack basic amenities like shoes and try to be happy by justifying that it is a tradition
to remain or stay barefoot. They are caught in a web of poverty and are burdened by the
blemishes of caste in which they are caught

‘I want to drive a car’

S U M M A RY

The story deals with the life of Mukesh who belongs to the family of bangle makers.
Approximately 20,000 children are engaged in this business of bangle making unaware of
the law that forbids them to do so. They live in very poor conditions and miserable
working conditions.
The children working under such harmful and terrible atmosphere lose their eyesight or
sometimes even go blind before stepping into adulthood. Infact their eyes are more
adjusted to the dark than to the light. Mukesh’s grandmother has accepted this lifestyle and
says that it’s her husband’s ‘karam’, his destiny that he has gone blind with the dust from
polishing the bangles. On being asked by the narrator that why don’t they organize
themselves into cooperatives they reply that even if they get organized they will be the one
who will be mistreated, beaten and jailed by the police for doing something illegal.
Because there is no leader among them they don’t look things differently. They are caught
in a vicious circle of the ‘sahukaars’, the keepers of the law, the bureaucrats and the
politicians. However Mukesh is different from the rest of the folk there. He dreams to
become a motor mechanic and wants to go to the garage and learn. He is content to dream
of cars that he sees hurtling down the streets of his town.