About the author
Anees Jung, born on 15 December 1944 in Rourkela, spent her early years in Hyderabad. She studied in Hyderabad and the United States. Coming from a family of writers, she pursued a career in writing and became a well-known journalist, editor, and columnist. Anees wrote several books, and her work often focuses on societal issues like poverty and the exploitation of children.
The lesson “Lost Spring” is taken from her book “Lost Spring: Stories of Stolen Childhood”, where she highlights the struggles of underprivileged children.
15 दिसंबर 1944 को राउरकेला में जन्मी अनीस जंग ने अपने शुरुआती साल हैदराबाद में बिताए। उन्होंने हैदराबाद और संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका में पढ़ाई की। लेखकों के परिवार से आने के कारण, उन्होंने लेखन में अपना करियर बनाया और एक प्रसिद्ध पत्रकार, संपादक और स्तंभकार बन गईं। अनीस ने कई किताबें लिखीं और उनका काम अक्सर गरीबी और बच्चों के शोषण जैसे सामाजिक मुद्दों पर केंद्रित होता है।
पाठ “लॉस्ट स्प्रिंग” उनकी पुस्तक “लॉस्ट स्प्रिंग: स्टोरीज़ ऑफ़ स्टोलन चाइल्डहुड” से लिया गया है, जहाँ उन्होंने वंचित बच्चों के संघर्षों पर प्रकाश डाला है।
Lost Spring Summary in Hindi
भाग 1: “कभी-कभी मुझे कूड़े में एक रुपया मिल जाता है।”
साहब: ढाका का एक युवा कूड़ा बीनने वाला अब सीमापुरी में रहता है। उसका परिवार गरीबी और तूफानों के कारण अपने खेतों को नष्ट करने के कारण पलायन कर गया।
सीमापुरी में जीवन: इस जगह पर बुनियादी सुविधाओं का अभाव है, और निवासी कूड़ा बीनकर अपना जीवन यापन करते हैं। कूड़ा उनके लिए “सोने” जैसा है क्योंकि यह भोजन और आश्रय प्रदान करता है।
साहब की वास्तविकता: वह स्कूल जाने का सपना देखता है लेकिन उसे अवसर नहीं मिलते। बाद में, वह एक चाय की दुकान पर काम करता है, जिससे उसका लापरवाह स्वभाव खत्म हो जाता है। ₹800 और भोजन कमाने के बावजूद, उसे एहसास होता है कि वह अब अपना मालिक नहीं है।
भाग 2: “मैं कार चलाना चाहता हूँ।”
मुकेश: भारत के चूड़ी उद्योग के केंद्र फिरोजाबाद में रहता है, जहाँ पीढ़ियों ने खराब परिस्थितियों में काम किया है।
बाल श्रम: हज़ारों बच्चे खतरनाक भट्टियों में काम करते हैं, जिससे उनका स्वास्थ्य और दृष्टि चली जाती है। बाल श्रम के खिलाफ़ कानून मौजूद हैं, लेकिन शायद ही कभी लागू किए जाते हैं।
सपने और संघर्ष: मुकेश अपने परिवार की गरीबी और पारंपरिक काम के चक्र से मुक्त होकर मोटर मैकेनिक बनने का सपना देखता है।
Lost Spring Class 12 Explanation in Hindi
अब हम Class 12 NCERT English Flamingo Prose Chapter 2 यानी Lost Spring Class 12 Paragraph wise Explanation करना शुरू करते हैं।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-1
‘Sometimes I find a Rupee in the garbage’“Why do you do this?” I ask Saheb whom I encounter every morning scrounging for gold in the garbage dumps of my neighbourhood. Saheb left his home long ago. Set amidst the green fields of Dhaka, his home is not even a distant memory. There were many storms that swept away their fields and homes, his mother tells him. That’s why they left, looking for gold in the big city where he now lives.“I have nothing else to do,” he mutters, looking away.“Go to school,” I say glibly, realising immediately how hollow the advice must sound.
“कभी-कभी कूड़े में मुझे एक रुपया मिल जाता है।”
“तुम यह क्यों करते हो?” मैं साहेब से पूछती हूँ जो मुझे हर सुबह मेरे पड़ोसी के कूड़ा फेंकने के स्थान पर धन माँगते या ढूंढते हुए मिलता है। साहेब ने अपना घर बहुत पहले छोड़ दिया। ढाका के हरे-भरे खेतों में स्थित अपने घर की उसे दूर-दूर तक कोई स्मृति नहीं है। उसकी माँ उसे बताती है कि बड़े-बड़े तूफान आते थे और उनके खेतों और घरों को बहा ले जाते थे। इसी कारण उन्होंने उस शहर को (ढाका को) छोड़ दिया और धन की तलाश में इस बड़े शहर में आ गए जहाँ वह अब रहता है।
“मेरे पास करने को इसके अलावा और कुछ नहीं है।” निगाह बचाते हुए वह बुदबुदाता है।
“स्कूल जाया करो।” मैंने बड़ी चतुराई के साथ कहा और तुरंत ही यह महसूस किया कि मेरी सलाह कितनी खोखली लगी होगी।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-2
“There is no school in my neighbourhood. When they build one, I will go.”“If I start a school, will you come?” I ask, half-joking. “Yes,” he says, smiling broadly.A few days later I see him running up to me. “Is your school ready?”“It takes longer to build a school,” I say, embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant. But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.After months of knowing him, I ask him his name. “Saheb-eAlam,” he announces. He does not know what it means. If he knew its meaning — lord of the universe — he would have a hard time believing it. Unaware of what his name represents, he roams the streets with his friends, an army of barefoot boys who appear like the morning birds and disappear at noon. Over the months, I have come to recognise each of them.“Why aren’t you wearing chappals?” I ask one.“My mother did not bring them down from the shelf,” he answers simply.
“मेरे पड़ोस में कोई स्कूल नहीं है। जब कोई स्कूल बनायेंगे तब आऊँगा।”
“यदि मैं स्कूल शुरू करूँ तो क्या तुम आओगे?” मैं थोड़े मजाक भरे अंदाज में पूछती हूँ।
“हाँ,” वह खुलकर मुस्कुराते हुए कहता है। मैं कुछ ही दिन बाद देखती हूँ कि वह मेरे पास दौड़कर आता है, “क्या आपका स्कूल तैयार हो गया है?” जो मैं वास्तव में पूरा करना ही नहीं चाहती थी, ऐसा वायदा करने के कारण ग्लानि से भरी मैं कहती हूँ, “स्कूल बनाने में काफी समय लगता है। “किन्तु मेरे जैसे वायदे उसके फीके संसार के हर कोने में भरे पड़े हैं। उसे महीनों जानने के बाद, मैं उससे नाम पूछती हूँ। वह घोषणा करता है ‘साहेब-ए-आलम।’ वह नहीं जानता कि इसका (उसके नाम का) का क्या अर्थ है। अगर उसे इसका अर्थ- ‘संसार का मालिक’ पता लग जाये तो उसे इस नाम पर विश्वास करना मुश्किल हो जाये। अपने नाम के अर्थ से अनभिज्ञ वह अपने मित्रों के साथ गलियों में घूमता रहता है जो नंगे पैरों वाले लड़कों की ऐसी फौज है जो सुबह के पक्षियों की भाँति दिखाई पड़ते हैं और दोपहर में गायब हो जाते हैं। महीनों से मिलते रहने के कारण मैं उनमें से प्रत्येक को पहचानने लगी हूँ।
मैं उनमें से एक से पूछती हूँ, “तुमने चप्पले क्यों नहीं पहन रखी है?”
वह सीधा-सा उत्तर देता है, “मेरी माँ ने उन्हें ‘ताक या ताँड़ से नीचे नहीं उतारा।”
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-3
“Even if she did he will throw them off,” adds another who is wearing shoes that do not match. When I comment on it, he shuffles his feet and says nothing. “I want shoes,” says a third boy who has never owned a pair all his life. Travelling across the country I have seen children walking barefoot, in cities, on village roads. It is not lack of money but a tradition to stay barefoot, is one explanation. I wonder if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty.I remember a story a man from Udipi once told me. As a young boy he would go to school past an old temple, where his father was a priest. He would stop briefly at the temple and pray for a pair of shoes. Thirty years later I visited his town and the temple, which was now drowned in an air of desolation. In the backyard, where lived the new priest, there were red and white plastic chairs. A young boy dressed in a grey uniform, wearing socks and shoes, arrived panting and threw his school bag on a folding bed. Looking at the boy, I remembered the prayer another boy had made to the goddess when he had finally got a pair of shoes, “Let me never lose them.” The goddess had granted his prayer. Young boys like the son of the priest now wore shoes. But many others like the ragpickers in my neighbourhood remain shoeless.
दूसरा जिसने बेमेल जूते पहन रखे हैं कहता है, “वह उतार भी दे तो वह उन्हें फेंक देगा।” जब मैं इस (बेमेल जूतों) पर टिप्पणी करती हूँ तो वह अपने पैरों को इधर-उधर घसीटता है और कुछ नहीं कहता है। एक तीसरा लड़का जिसके पास जीवन में कभी जूतें नहीं रहे कहता है, “मुझे जूते चाहिए।” देश-भर में घूमते हुए मैंने शहरों में व गाँव की सड़कों पर बच्च्चों को नंगे पैर घूमते हुए देखा है। यह पैसों की कमी के कारण नहीं है वरन् नंगे पैर रहना एक परंपरा है, यह नंगे पैर रहने के औचित्य को सिद्ध करने के लिए एक स्पष्टीकरण है। मैं हैरान हूँ कि क्या सतत् बनी रहने वाली गरीबी की दशा की व्याख्या के लिए यह एक बहाना नहीं है।
मुझे एक कहानी याद आती है जो उडिपि के एक आदमी ने एक बार मुझे सुनायी थी। जब वह लड़का था तब वह स्कूल जाते वक्त एक पुराने मंदिर के पास से गुजरा करता था जहाँ उसके पिता पुजारी थे। वह थोड़ी देर मंदिर पर ठहरता और एक जोड़ी जूते के लिए प्रार्थना करता था। तीस साल पश्चात् मैं उसके कस्बे और मंदिर गयी, जो अब उजाड़ के प्रभाव में डूबा था पिछवाड़े में, जहाँ नया पुजारी रहता था, लाल और सफेद प्लास्टिक की कुर्सियों थीं। सलेटी रंग के गणवेश में मोजे और जुरे पहने हुए एक छोटे लड़का हाँफता हुआ आया और अपना बस्ता फोल्डिंग पलंग पर पटक दिया। लड़के की ओर देखते हुए, मुझे वह प्रार्थना याद आई जो एक दूसरे लड़के ने उस समय देवी से की थी जब उसे अन्ततः एक जोड़ी जूते मिल गये थे, “मैं इन्हें कभी न खोऊँ।” देवी ने उसकी प्रार्थना स्वीकार कर ली थी। अब पुजारी के पुत्र की तरह छोटे लड़कों ने जूते पहन रखे थे। परन्तु मेरे पड़ोस में कूड़ा-करकट बीनने वालों की तरह के अन्य बहुत से लड़के बिना जूतों के रहते हैं।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-4
My acquaintance with the barefoot ragpickers leads me to Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. Saheb’s family is among them. Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. In structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage or running water, live 10,000 ragpickers. They have lived here for more than thirty years without an identity, without permits but with ration cards that get their names on voters’ lists and enable them to buy grain. Food is more important for survival than an identity. “If at the end of the day we can feed our families and go to bed without an aching stomach, we would rather live here than in the fields that gave us no grain,” say a group of women in tattered saris when I ask them why they left their beautiful land of green fields and rivers. Wherever they find food, they pitch their tents that become transit homes. Children grow up in them, becoming partners in survival. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads, even if it is a leaking roof. But for a child it is even more.
नंगे पाँव कूड़ा बीनने वालों से मेरा परिचय मुझे सीमापुरी ले जाता है, एक स्थान जो दिल्ली की सीमा पर हैं लेकिन लाक्षणिक रूप से या फिर अन्य प्रकार से दिल्ली से मीलों दूर है। यहाँ रहने वाले गैर-कानूनी बशिन्दे हैं जो सन् 1971 में बांग्लादेश से आये थे। साहेब का परिवार उन्हीं में से एक है। सीमापुरी उस समय बीहड़ था। यह अभी भी है परन्तु अब यह खाली नहीं है। टिन और तिरपाल के नालीहीन और जलापूर्तिविहीन कच्चे घरों में दस हजार कूड़ा बीनने वाले रहते हैं। वे तीस वर्ष से भी ज्यादा समय से बिना पहचान के और बिना परमिट के रह रहे हैं किन्तु उनके पास राशन कार्ड है जिससे उनके नाम मतदाता सूची में शामिल हो जाते हैं और जिनसे वे अनाज खरीद पाते हैं। जीने के लिए पहचान की अपेक्षा भोजन ज्यादा महत्त्वपूर्ण होता है।
“अगर दिन के अंत में हम अपने परिवार को भोजन दे सके और बिना पेट दर्द के सो सकें तो, हम उन खेतों की अपेक्षा यहाँ रहना ज्यादा पसंद करेंगे जिन्होंने हमको कोई अनाज नहीं दिया।” ऐसी फटी हुई साड़ियाँ पहने महिलाओं का एक समूह कहता है जब मैं उनसे पूछती हूँ कि उन्होंने अपने हरे-भरे खेतों और नदियों के सुन्दर देश को क्यों छोड़ दिया। उन्हें जहाँ भी भोजन मिल जाता है, वहीं वे अपने तम्बू गाड़ लेते हैं जो उनके अस्थाई घर बन जाते हैं। बच्चे इन्हीं में तो बड़े होते हैं और उनके अस्तित्व के साझेदार बनते हैं और सीमापुरी में उत्तरजीविता का अर्थ होता है – कूड़ा बीनना। वर्षों की अवधि में इसने एक ललित कला का रूप ले लिया है। कूड़ा उनके लिए सोना या धन संपत्ति है। यह उनकी रोज की रोटी है, उनके सिरों पर छत है भले ही यह एक टपकती हुई छत क्यों न हो किंतु एक बच्चे के लिए यह छत इससे भी कहीं ज्यादा है।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-5
“I sometimes find a rupee, even a ten-rupee note,” Saheb says, his eyes lighting up. When you can find a silver coin in a heap of garbage, you don’t stop scrounging, for there is hope of finding more. It seems that for children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents. For the children it is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival.One winter morning I see Saheb standing by the fenced gate of the neighbourhood club, watching two young men dressed in white, playing tennis. “I like the game,” he hums, content to watch it standing behind the fence. “I go inside when no one is around,” he admits. “The gatekeeper lets me use the swing.”Saheb too is wearing tennis shoes that look strange over his discoloured shirt and shorts. “Someone gave them to me,” he says in the manner of an explanation. The fact that they are discarded shoes of some rich boy, who perhaps refused to wear them because of a hole in one of them, does not bother him. For one who has walked barefoot, even shoes with a hole is a dream come true. But the game he iswatching so intently is out of his reach.
“कभी-कभी मुझे एक रुपया मिल जाता है, यहाँ तक कि दस रुपये का नोट भी कभी-कभी मिल जाता है” साहेब कहता है, उसकी आँखें चमक उठती है। जब कूड़े में आपको एक चाँदी का सिक्का मिल सकता है तो आप ढूँढना बन्द नहीं करते क्योंकि ज्यादे पाने की आशा बनी रहती है। ऐसा लगता है कि बच्चों के लिए कूड़े का अर्थ उनके माता-पिता के लिए जो अर्थ इसका (कूड़े का) होता है उससे भिन्न होता है। बच्चों के लिए यह आश्चर्य में लिपटी चीज होती है और बड़े-बूढ़े लोगों के लिए (यह कूड़ा) जिन्दा रहने का साधन होता है।
सर्दी की एक सुबह मैं साहेब को पास के क्लब के बाड़ लगे दरवाजे के नजदीक खड़े हुए देखती हूँ, जहाँ से वह सफेद वेशभूषा पहने दो युवकों को टेनिस खेलते हुए ध्यानपूर्वक देख रहा है। “मुझे यह खेल पसंद है।” वह गुनगुनाता है, और इस बाड़ के पीछे से खड़ा होकर देखकर ही संतुष्ट है। “जब कोई आसपास नहीं होता है तो मैं अंदर चला जाता हूँ।” वह स्वीकार करता है। “द्वारपाल मुझे झूले पर झूलने देता है।”
साहेब ने भी टेनिस खेलने वाले जूते पहन रखे हैं जो उसकी रंग उड़ी शर्ट और नेकर पर विचित्र लग रहे हैं। “किसी ने ये मुझे दिये थे” स्पष्टीकरण के ढंग से वह कहता है। यह तथ्य कि ये किसी धनी लड़के के त्यागे हुए जूते हैं, जिसने शायद उनमें से एक में छेद होने के कारण इन्हें पहनने से इन्कार कर दिया, उसे परेशान नहीं करता है। ऐसे किसी व्यक्ति के लिए जो नंगे पैर घूमा है, छेद वाले जूते भी सपने के सच होने से कम नहीं है। परन्तु वह खेल जिसे वह इतने ध्यानपूर्वक देख रहा है, उसकी पहुँच से बाहर है।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-6
This morning, Saheb is on his way tothe milk booth. In his hand is a steel canister. “I now work in a tea stall down the road,” he says, pointing in the distance. “I am paid 800 rupees and all my meals.” Does he like the job? I ask. His face, I see, has lost the carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder. The bag was his. The canister belongs to the man who owns the tea shop. Saheb is no longer his own master! “I want to drive a car”Mukesh insists on being his own master. “I will be a motor mechanic,” he announces.“Do you know anything about cars?” I ask.“I will learn to drive a car,” he answers, looking straight into my eyes. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets thatfill his town Firozabad, famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land it seems.
आज सुबह साहेब दूध की दुकान पर जा रहा है। उसके हाथ में स्टील का एक कनस्तर है। “मैं इस सड़क पर आगे एक चाय की दुकान में काम करता हूँ”, दूर इशारा करते हुए वह कहता है। “मुझे 800 रुपये और सभी वक्त का भोजन मिलता हैं।” “क्या उसे काम पसंद है?” मैं पूछती हूँ। मैं देखती हूँ उसके चेहरे की निश्चिन्तता, बेफ्रिकी या स्वतंत्रता का भाव खो जाता हैं। स्टील का कनस्तर प्लास्टिक के उस बैले से कहीं ज्यादा भारी लगता है जिसे वह बड़े आराम से अपने कंधे पर ले जाया करता था। थैला उसका था। कनस्तर उस आदमी का है जो चाय की दुकान का मालिक है। साहेब अब अपना स्वयं का मालिक नहीं रहा है।
“मैं कार चलाना चाहता हूँ।”
मुकेश अपना स्वयं का मालिक बने रहने पर जोर देता है। “मैं मोटर मैकेनिक बनूँगा।” वह घोषणा करता है। “क्या तुम कारों के बारे में कुछ जानते हो?” मैं पूछती हूँ।
“मैं कार चलाना सीख लूंगा।” सीधा मेरी आँखों में देखते हुए वह कहता है। उसका सपना उसके अपनी चूड़ियों के लिए मशहूर कस्बे फिरोजाबाद की गलियों की धूल के बीच एक मरीचिका-सा प्रतीत होता है। फिरोजाबाद का हर दूसरा परिवार चूड़ी बनाने में लगा है। यह भारत को काँच की आकृति देने वाले उद्योग का केन्द्र है जहाँ परिवारों ने भट्टियों के आस-पास काम करते हुए काँच तोड़ते हुए लगता है देश की सभी औरतों के लिए चूड़ियाँ बनाते हुए पीढ़ियाँ बिता दी हैं।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-7
Mukesh’s family is among them. None of them know that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light; that the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight hours, often losing the brightness of their eyes. Mukesh’s eyes beam as he volunteers to take me home, which he proudly says is being rebuilt. We walk down stinking lanes choked with garbage, past homes that remain hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors, no windows, crowded with families of humans and animals coexisting in a primeval state. He stops at the door of one such house, bangs a wobbly iron door with his foot, and pushes it open. We enter a half-built shack. In one part of it, thatched with dead grass, is a firewood stove over which sits a large vessel of sizzling spinach leaves. On the ground, in large aluminium platters, are more chopped vegetables. A frail young woman is cooking the evening meal for the whole family. Through eyes filled with smoke she smiles. She is the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. Not much older in years, she has begun to command respect as the bahu, the daughter-in-law of the house, already in charge of three men — her husband, Mukesh and their father. When the older man enters, she gently withdraws behind the broken wall and brings her veil closer to her face. As custom demands, daughters-in-law must veil their faces before male elders. In this case the elder is an impoverished bangle maker. Despite long years of hard labour, first as a tailor, then a bangle maker, he has failed to renovate a house, send his two sons to school. All he has managed to do is teach them what he knows — the art of making bangles.
मुकेश का परिवार उन्हीं में से एक है। उनमें से कोई नहीं जानता कि उन जैसे बच्चों का बिना हवा-प्रकाश की अंधेरी गन्दी कोठरियों में ऊँचे तापमान वाली काँच की भट्टियों पर काम करना गैरकानूनी है; और यह कि यदि कानून लागू कर दिया जाये तो उसे और उन सभी 20,000 बच्चों को गर्म भट्टियों से अलग कर दिया जायेगा जहाँ वे अपने दिन के घण्टों में घोर परिश्रम करते हैं और प्रायः अपनी आँखों की चमक खो बैठते हैं। मुकेश जब मुझे अपने घर ले जाने की पेशकश करता है। तो उसकी आँखें चमक उठती हैं, वह गर्व से कहता है कि उसका घर फिर से बनाया जा रहा है। हम कूड़े से अटी पड़ी बदबूदार गलियों से गुजरते हैं, ऐसे गन्दे घरों के करीब से गुजरते हैं जो टूटी दीवारों, डगमगाते दरवाजों और बिना खिड़कियों के हैं और जिनमें मनुष्यों और जानवरों के परिवार आदिम-युग की भाँति साथ-साथ रह रहे हैं।
वह ऐसे ही एक घर के दरवाजे पर रूक जाता है लोहे के एक डगमगाते दरवाजे को जोर से लात मारता है और उसे खोल देता है। हम एक अधबनी झोपड़ी में प्रवेश करते हैं। उसकी सूखी घास के छप्पर वाले एक हिस्से में एक चूल्हा है जिस पर एक बड़ा बर्तन रखा है जिसमें पालक की पत्तियाँ खदरबदर करते उबल रही हैं। जमीन पर एल्यूमिनियम की प्लेटों में कटी हुई सब्जियों हैं। एक कमजोर युवती पूरे परिवार के लिए शाम का भोजन बना रही है। धुओं-भरी आँखों से वह मुस्कुराती है। वह मुकेश के बड़े भाई की पत्नी है। उम्र में उससे ज्यादा बड़ी नहीं है (परन्तु) वह बहू के रूप में उसे आदर मिलने लगा है, घर की बहू के रूप में पहले ही उस पर तीन व्यक्तियों – उसका पति, मुकेश और उनके पिता की जिम्मेदारी है।
जब बूढ़ा आदमी प्रवेश करता है वह धीरे से टूटी दीवार के पीछे सरक जाती है और अपना घूँघट अपने चेहरे पर सरका लेती है जैसी कि प्रथा है, पुत्र-वधुओं को पुरुष बुजुर्गों के सामने अपने चेहरे पर घूंघट जरूर डाल लेना चाहिए। यहाँ, बुजुर्ग एक अत्यन्त निर्धन चूड़ी बनाने वाला है। पहले एक दर्जी के रूप में और फिर एक चूड़ी बनाने वाले के रूप में वर्षों के कठोर परिश्रम के बावजूद भी वह अपने घर का नवीनीकरण करवाने में (और) अपने दो पुत्रों को स्कूल भेजने में असफल रहा है। वह उन्हें वहीं सिखा पाया है जो वह जानता है – चूड़ी बनाने की कला।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-8
“It is his karam, his destiny,” says Mukesh’s grandmother, who has watched her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. “Can a god-given lineage ever be broken?” she implies. Born in the caste of bangle makers, they have seen nothing but bangles — in the house, in the yard, in every other house, every other yard, every street in Firozabad. Spirals of bangles — sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink, purple, every colour born out of the seven colours of the rainbow — lie in mounds in unkempt yards, are piled on fourwheeled handcarts, pushed by young men along the narrow lanes of the shanty town. And in dark hutments, next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps, sit boys and girls with their fathers and mothers, welding pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.
“यह इसका कर्म, उसका भाग्य है,” मुकेश की दादी कहती है जिसने चूड़ियों के काँच की पॉलिश की गर्द से अपने पति को अन्धे होते देखा है। “क्या कभी ईश्वर द्वारा प्रदत्त देने वंश परंपरा तोड़ी जा सकती है?” उसका मतलब है चूड़ी बनाने बाले की जाति में पैदा होकर, उन्होंने चूड़ियों के अलावा और कुछ नहीं देखा है – घर में, आँगन में, हर दूसरे घर में, हर दूसरे आँगन में, फिरोजाबाद की हर गली में। मालाओं के रूप में चूड़ियों के गुच्छे या बन्डल धूप-सी सुनहरी, धान जैसी हरी, गहरी चमकीली नीली, बैंगनी, गुलाबी, इन्द्रधनुष के सात रंगों से बनने वाले हर रंग की अस्त-व्यस्त आँगनों में ढेरों में पड़ी रहती है – तथा इनको चार पहियों वाली हथगाड़ियों पर लादकर जवान आदमी झोपड़ियों के कस्बे की तंग गलियों में होकर धकेलते हैं और अंधेरी झोपड़पट्टियों में, टिमटिमाते तेल के दीपको की लौ की पंक्तियों के आगे लड़के और लड़किर्यां अपने माता-पिता के साथ रंगीन काँच के टुकड़ों को चूड़ियों के वृत्ताकार घेरे पर जोड़ते हुए बैठे रहते हैं। उनकी आँखें बाहर के प्रकाश की अपेक्षी अँधेरे से ज्यादा समायोजित हैं। यही कारण है कि प्रौढ़ होने से पहले ही वे अपनी दृष्टि खो बैठते हैं।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-9
Savita, a young girl in a drab pink dress, sits alongside an elderly woman, soldering pieces of glass. As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make. It symbolises an Indian woman’s suhaag, auspiciousness in marriage. It will dawn on her suddenly one day when her head is draped with a red veil, her hands dyed red with henna, and red bangles rolled onto her wrists. She will then become a bride. Like the old woman beside her who became one many years ago. She still has bangles on her wrist, but no light in her eyes. “Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin khaya,” she says, in a voice drained of joy. She has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime — that’s what she has reaped! Her husband, an old man with a flowing beard, says, “I know nothing except bangles. All I have done is make a house for the family to live in.”
एक छोटी लड़की सविता भद्दी गुलाबी पोशाक पहने एक बूढ़ी औरत के पास बैठकर काँच के टुकड़ों को जोड़ रही है। जब उसके हाथ किसी मशीन के चिमटे की भाँति यन्त्रवत् चलते हैं तो मैं सोचती हूँ कि क्या वह उन चूड़ियों की पवित्रता को जानती है जिन्हें बनाने में वह मदद कर रही है। ये भारतीय स्त्री के सुहाग का प्रतीक है। यह बात उस दिन अचानक उसकी समझ में आ जायेगी जब उसका सिर लाल घूँघट से ढक दिया जायेगा, उसके हाथों में मेहदी लगा दी जायेगी और लाल चूड़ियों को उसकी कलाईयों में पहना दी जायेंगी। तब वह एक दुल्हन बन जायेगी।
उसकी बगल वाली बूढ़ी औरत की तरह जो बहुत वर्ष पहले एक दुल्हन बन गई थी। आज भी उसकी कलाई में चूड़ियाँ हैं किंतु उसकी आँखों में कोई चमक नहीं है। “एक वक्त सेरभर खाना भी नहीं खाया।” वह ऐसी आवाज में कहती है जिसका आनंद समाप्त हो गया है। उसने अपने पूरे जीवन काल में एक बार भी भरपेट भोजन का आनंद नहीं उठाया है – यही मिला है उसे! लहराती दाढ़ी वाला बूढ़ा, उसका पति कहता है, “मैं चूड़ियों के अलावा कुछ भी नहीं जानता। मैं परिवार के रहने के लिए सिर्फ एक मकान बना पाया हूँ।”
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-10
Hearing him, one wonders if he has achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. He has a roof over his head!The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home.The young men echo the lament of their elders. Little has moved with time, it seems, in Firozabad. Yearsof mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.
“Why not organisey o u r s e l v e s i n t o a cooperative?” I ask a group of young men who have fallen into the vicious circle of middlemen who trapped theirfathers and f o r e f a t h e r s . “Even if we get organised, we are the ones who will be hauled up by the police, beaten and dragged to jail for doing something illegal,” they say. There is no leader among them, no one who could help them see things differently. Their fathers are as tired as they are. They talk endlessly in a spiral that moves from poverty to apathy to greed and to injustice.
उसकी बात सुनकर कोई भी सोचता है कि क्या उसने वह हासिल कर लिया है जो बहुत लोगों ने पूरे जीवन में हासिल नहीं किया है। उसके सिर पर एक छत तो है। चूड़ियाँ बनाने के काम को जारी रखने के अलावा कुछ भी करने के लिए पैसा न होने और खाने के लिए भी पर्याप्त न होने के दुःख की कराहट हर घर में गूंजती है। युवा लोग अपने बुजुर्गों के दर्द को ही प्रतिध्वनित करते हैं। ऐसा लगता है फिरोजाबाद में समय के साथ कुछ नहीं बदला है। चेतना को शून्य कर देने वाले वर्षों के परिश्रम ने पहल करने और सपने देखने की क्षमता को मार दिया गया है।
“(आप) स्वयं की एक सहकारी समिति क्यों नहीं बनाते हो?” मैं युवकों के एक समूह से पूछती हूँ जो ऐसे मध्यस्थों के कुचक्र में पड़ गये हैं जिन्होंने उनके पिताओं और पूर्वजों को जाल में फंसाया था। “हम संगठित हो भी जायें तो भी किसी गैर-कानूनी काम के आरोप में पुलिस द्वारा हम ही न्यायालय में घसीटे जायेंगे, पीटे जायेंगे और जेल में डाल दिये जाएँगे,” वे कहते हैं। उनमें कोई नेता नहीं है, कोई ऐसा (व्यक्ति) नहीं है जो उन्हें अलग ढंग से देखने में मदद कर सके। उनके पिता उतने ही थके हुए हैं जितने वे (स्वयं) हैं। वे अनवरत कुण्डलीनुमा (चक्र के समान बात) बोलते हैं जो गरीबी से उदासीनता, उदासीनता से लालच और लालच से अन्याय तक पहुँच जाती है।
Lost Spring Hindi Explanation – Para-11
Listening to them, I see two distinct worlds— one of the family, caught in a web of poverty, burdened by the stigma of caste in which they are born; the other a vicious circle of the sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Together they have imposed the baggage on the child that he cannot put down. Before he is aware, 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. When I sense a flash of it in Mukesh I am cheered.
“I want to be a motor mechanic,’ he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn. But the garage is a long way from his home. “I will walk,” he insists. “Doyou also dream of flying a plane?” He is suddenly silent. “No,” he says, staring at the ground. In his small murmur there is an embarrassment that has not yet turned into regret. He is content to dream of cars that he sees hurtling down the streets of his town. Few airplanes fly over Firozabad.
उनकी बात सुनकर मुझे दो अलग-अलग संसार दिखाई देते हैं – एक तो ऐसे परिवार का जो गरीबी के जाल में फैसा है और अपनी जन्म की जाति के कलंक से दबा हुआ है और दूसरा साहूकारों, विचौलियों, पुलिस वालों, कानून को लागू करने वालों, नौकरशाहों और राजनेताओं का कुचक्र है। दोनों ने मिलकर बच्चे के ऊपर ऐसा बोझ लाद दिया है जिसे वह उतार नहीं सकता है। अहसास होने से पहले ही वह इसे उतने ही स्वाभाविक रूप से स्वीकार कर लेता है जितने स्वाभाविक रूप से उसके पिता ने किया था। कुछ हटकर करने का अर्थ होगा- चुनौती देना और चुनौती देना उसकी परवरिश का अंग नहीं है। जब मुझे मुकेश में इसकी झलक दिखाई देती तो मुझे खुशी होती है।
“में मोटर सुधारने वाला मिस्त्री बनना चाहता हूँ”, वह दुहराता है। वह किसी गैरिज में जायेगा और सीखेगा। परन्तु गैरिज उसके घर से बहुत दूर है। “मैं पैदल जाऊँगा।” वह जोर देकर कहता है। “क्या तुम हवाई जहाज उड़ाने का सपना भी देखते हो?” वह यकायक चुप हो जाता है। “नहीं” वह जमीन की ओर घूरते हुए कहता है, उसकी छोटी सी बुदबुदाहट में एक शर्मिन्दगी का भाव है जो अभी तक पश्चाताप में नहीं बदली है। वह उन कारों के सपने देखने से संतुष्ट है जिन्हें वह अपने कस्बे की गलियों में तेजी से दौड़ते हुए देखता है। मुश्किल से ही कभी वायुयान फिरोजाबाद के ऊपर से उड़ते हैं।
NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Flamingo English Lost Spring
QUESTIONS FROM TEXTBOOK SOLVED
THINK AS YOU READ
Q1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?
Ans. Saheb is looking for gold in the garbage dumps. He is in the neighbourhood of the author. Saheb has come from Bangladesh. He Came with his mother in 1971. His house was set amidst the green fields of Dhaka. Storms swept away their fields and homes. So they left the country.
Q2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?
Ans. One explanation offered by the author is that it is a tradition to stay barefoot. It is not lack of money. He wonders if this is only an excuse to explain away a perpetual state of poverty. He also remembers the story of a poor body who prayed to the goddess for a pair of shoes.
Q3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.
Ans. No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea-stall. He is no longer his own master. His face has lost the carefree look. The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag he would carry so lightly over his shoulder. The bag was his. The canister belongs to the man who owns the tea-shop.
THINK AS YOU READ
Q1. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?
Ans. The city of Firozabad is famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry. Families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for the women in the land.
Q2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry?
Ans. Boys and girls with their fathers and mothers sit in dark hutments, next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps. They weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. They often end up losing eyesight before they become adults. Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles is injurious to eyes. Many workers have become blind. The furnaces have very high temperature and therefore very dangerous.
Q3. How is Mukesh’s attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Ans. Mukesh’s grandmother thinks that the god-given lineage can never be broken. Her son and grandsons are bom in the caste of bangle makers. They have seen nothing but bangles.
Mukesh’s father has taught them what he knows—the art of making bangles. But Mukesh wants to be a motor mechanic. He will go to a garage and learn, though the garage is far away from his home.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Q1. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Ans. People migrate from villages to cities in search of livelihood. Their fields fail to provide them means of survival. Cities provide employment, jobs or other means of getting food. The problem in case of the poor is to feed the hungry members. Survival is of primary concern.
Q2. Would you agree that promises made to the poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Ans. The promises made to the poor are rarely kept. The author asks Saheb half-joking, whether he will come to her school if she starts one. Saheb agrees to do so. A few days later he asks if the school is ready. The writer feels embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant. Promises like hers abound in every comer of their bleak world.
Q3. What forces conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Ans. Certain forces conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty. These include the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Together they impose a heavy burden on the child.
TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT
Q1. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?
Ans. Mukesh is the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad. Most of the young men of Firozabad have no initiative or ability to dream, but Mukesh is an exception. He has the capacity to take courage and break from the traditional family occupation. He has strong will power also. He does not want to be a pawn in the hands of the middlemen or moneylenders. He insists on being his own master by becoming a motor mechanic.
He can realise his dream by joining a garage and learn the job of repairing cars and driving them. He will have to overcome many hurdles before he succeeds. Then comes transport problem. Money is the first one. He will have to earn some money himself. The garage is a long way from his home. He will have to cover it twice everyday anyhow—by walking on foot.
Patience, hardwork, firm will and the determination to learn will help him realise his dream.
Q2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. The glass bangles industry has many health hazards. It usually employs small children. It is illegal to employ very young children in hazardous industries, but certain forces like ! middlemen, moneylenders, police and politicians combine to entrap the poor workers.
Let us first consider the places where bangle makers work. It is a cottage industry. They work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures. The dingy cells are without air and light. Boys and girls work hard during day next to lines of flames of flickering oil lamps.
They weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why, they often end up losing their eyesight before they become adults.
Glass blowing, welding and soldering pieces of glass are all health hazards. Even the dust from polishing the glass of bangles adversely affects the eyes and even adults go blind. Thus, the surroundings, prevailing conditions and the type of job involved-all prove risky to the health of the workers.
Q3. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Ans. Child labour should be eliminated because the children employed at tender age as i domestic servants, dish-washers at road-side dhabas and in hazardous industries making glass bangles, biris, crackers etc. lose the charm of the spring of their life. Their childhood is stolen. Burdened by the responsibility of work, they become adults too soon. Most of them are undernourished, ill-fed, uneducated, and poor. They have a stunted growth.
Child labour can be eliminated only through concerted efforts on the part of government agencies, NGOs (Non-Government Organisations), co-operative societies and political leaders. Mere passing of law will not help. Laws should be enacted faithfully. The children thrown out of work should be rehabilitated and given proper food, clothes, education and pocket money. Their feelings, thoughts and emotions should be respected. Let them enjoy sunshine and fresh air.
THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE
Although this text speaks of factual events and situations of misery, it transforms these situations with an almost poetical prose into a literary experience. How does it do so? Here are some literary devices:
- Hyperbole is a way of speaking or writing that makes something sound better or more exciting than it really is. For example: Garbage to them is gold.
- A Metaphor, as you may know, compares two things or ideas that are not very similar. A metaphor describes a thing in terms of a single quality or feature of some other thing; we can say that a metaphor “transfers” a quality of one thing to another. For example: The road was a ribbon of light.
- Simile is a word or phrase that compares one thing with another using the words “like” or “as”. For example: As white as snow.
Carefully read the following phrases and sentences taken from the text. Can you identify the literary device in each example?
1.Saheb-e-Alam which means the lord of the universe is directly in contrast to what Saheb is in reality.
2.Drowned in an air of desolation
3.Seemapuri, a place on the periphery of Delhi yet miles away from it, metaphorically.
4.For the children it is wrapped in wonder; for the elders it is a means of survival.
5.As her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine, I wonder if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she helps make.
shoulders.
Answers
1.Hyperbole 2.Metaphor 3.Contrast 4.Contrast
5.Simile 6.Contrast 7.Hyperbole 8.Metaphor
9.Metaphor 10.Hyperbole 11.Contrast
THINGS TO DO
The beauty of the glass bangles of Firozabad contrasts with the misery of people who produce them. This paradox is also found in some other situations, for example, those who work in gold and diamond mines, or carpet weaving factories, and the products of their labour, the lives of construction workers and the buildings they build.
•Look around and find examples of such paradoxes.
•Write a paragraph of about 200 to 250 words on any one of them. You can start by making notes.
Here is an example of how one such paragraph may begin:
You never see the poor in this town. By day they toil, working cranes and earth movers, squirreling deep into the hot sand to lay the foundations of chrome. By night they are banished
to bleak labour camps at the outskirts of the city
Ans. For self-attempt.
MORE QUESTIONS SOLVED
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1. Who was Saheb? What was he doing and why?
Ans. Saheb was a young boy of school-going age. He was looking for gold in the garbage dumps of the big city. He had left his home in Dhaka, Bangladesh and came to the big city in search of living. He has nothing else to do but pick rags.
Q2. “But promises like mine abound in every corner of his bleak world.” What promise does the author recall? In what context was it made? Was it fulfilled?
Ans. The author asked Saheb about going to school. Saheb explained that there was no school in his neighbourhood. He promised to go to school when they built one. Half joking, the author asked whether he would come in case she started one. Saheb smiled broadly and agreed to come. After a few days, he ran upto the author and asked if the school was ready. The author felt embarrassed. She had made a promise that was not meant.
Q3. What is the meaning of Saheb’s full name? Does he know it? How does he conduct himself?
Ans. His full name is “Saheb-e-Alam”. It means the lord of the universe. He does not know it. If he knew it, he would hardly believe it. He roams the streets barefoot with other rag-pickers. This army of arefoot boys appears in the morning and disappears at noon.
Q4. How does the author focus on the ‘perpetual state of poverty’ of the children not wearing footwear?
Ans. The author notices that most of the young children engaged in rag picking are not wearing footwear. Some of them do not have chappals. Others want to wear shoes. Some say it is tradition to stay barefoot. To the author it seems lack of money. Poverty forces them to walk without footwear.
Q5. Explain: “For children, garbage has a meaning different from what it means to their parents. ”
Ans. Small children scrounge heaps of garbage. They expect to get some coin, note or valuable thing in it. Sometimes they find a rupee or even a ten rupee note. This gives the hope of finding more. They search it excitedly. For children, garbage is wrapped in wonder.
For the elders it is a means of survival. Thus, garbage has two different meanings.
Q6. Where does the author find Saheb one winter morning? What explanation does Saheb offer?
Ans. The author finds Saheb standing by the fenced gate of a neighbourhood club. He is watching two young men, dressed in white, playing tennis. Saheb says that he likes the game, but he is content to watch it standing behind the fence. He goes inside when no one is around. He uses the swing there.
Q7. What job did Saheb take up? Was he happy ? [All India 2014]
Ans. Saheb took up the job at a tea-stall. But he was not happy with it. He was no longer his own master. His face had lost the carefree look. Although he earned ? 800, even then he was not satisfied.
Q8. How has “a dream come true” for Saheb but what is “out of his reach?”
Ans. Saheb is wearing discarded tennis shoes. One of them has a hole. Saheb does not bother about the hole. For one who has walked barefoot, even shoes with a hole is a dream come true. But tennis, the game he is watching so intently, is out of his reach.
Q9. How does Saheb’s life change when he starts working at the tea-stall?
Ans. Saheb now has a regular income. He is paid 800 rupees and all his meals. Thus, food is no problem. But his face has lost the carefree look. The steel canister in his hand now seems a burden. He is no longer his own master. He may have to work for longer hours. The helplessness of doing things at his own will makes him sad.
Q10. Who is Mukesh? What is his dream? Why does it look like “a mirage amidst the dust?”
Ans. Mukesh is the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad, where every other family is engaged in making bangles. His poor father has failed to renovate his house or send his two sons to school. Mukesh insists on being his own master. His dream is to be a motor mechanic. He wants to drive a car. Given the conditions of existence, his dream looks like a mirage amidst the dust.
Q11.What do you learn about Firozabad from this chapter ?
Ans. Firozabad is famous for its glass bangles. It is the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry.
Families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all the women in the land. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles.
Q12. “Born in the caste of bangle-makers they have seen nothing but bangles.” Where do they ‘see’ bangles?
Ans. Children like Mukesh are bpm in the caste of bangle-makers. They know no other work.
They see bangles in the house, in the yard, in every other house, every other yard, every street in Firozabad. The spirals of bangles lie in mounds in unkempt yards. They are piled on four wheeled hand carts.
Q13. What contrast do you notice between the colours of the bangles and the atmosphere of the place where these bangles are made?
Ans. The bangles are of every colour bom out of the seven colours of the rainbow. These are sunny gold, paddy green, royal blue, pink and purple. Boys and girls work in dark hutments, next to the flickering flames of oil lamps around furnaces, blowing glass, welding and soldering it to make bangles.
Q14. What are most of the bangle-makers ignorant of? What would happen if law were enforced strictly?
Ans. Most of the bangle-makers are ignorant of the fact that employing children in bangle making is illegal. This is a hazardous industry. Many children become blind before reaching tHeir adulthood. If the law were enforced strictly, 20,000 children would be released from
working hard throughout the day at hot furnaces with high temperatures. *
Q15. Where is Mukesh’s house located? What is he proud of?
Ans. Mukesh’s house is built in a slum-area. The lanes stink with garbage. The homes there are hovels with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. These are crowded with families of humans and animals. Most of these houses are shacks or huts. Mukesh is proud that his house is being rebuilt. His eyes shine as he volunteers to take the author to his home,
Q16. What impression do you form about Mukesh ‘s family on having a glimpse of their ‘house?’
Ans. Mukesh’s house is a half built shack with a wobbly door. One part of it is thatched with dead grass. There is a firewood stove. Spinach leaves are sizzling in a large vessel. More chopped vegetables lie on aluminium platters. The eyes of the frail young woman are filled with smoke, but she smiles. The scene depicts their grinding poverty but contentment with their lot.
Q17. Give a thumb-nail sketch of the “frail young woman” in the chapter ‘Lost Spring’.
Ans. The young woman is the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. Her eyes are filled with the smoke of firewood. Though not much older in years, she commands respect as the daughter- in-law of the house. She adheres to customs and traditions. She veils her face before male elders. She gently withdraws behind the broken wall to do so.
Q18. How would you regard Mukesh’s father’s life and achievement?
Ans. Mukesh’s father was bom in the caste of bangle-makers. His father went blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. He is an old and poor bangle-maker. He has worked hard for long years, first as a tailor and then as a bangle-maker. He has failed to renovate a house or send his two sons to school.
Q19. “Savita is a symbol of innocence and efficiency.” Comment.
Ans. Savita is a young girl. She has put on drab pink dress. She is soldering pieces of glass. Her hands move mechanically like the tongs of a machine. She is innocent as she is ignorant about the sanctity of the bangles she helps to make.
Q20. What do bangles symbolise? When, according to the author, will Savita know “the sanctity of the bangles she helps make?” How is the Indian bride dressed?
Ans. Bangles symbolise auspiciousness in marriage for an Indian woman. Savita will come to know “the sanctity” of the bangles when she becomes a bride. The head of a bride is draped with a red veil. Her hands are dyed with red henna. Red bangles are rolled on to her wrists.
Q21. “She still has bangles on her wrist but no light in her eyes.” What exactly does the author want to convey through this?
Ans. ‘She’ is an elderly woman who became a bride long ago. Since her husband, an old man with a flowing beard is still alive, she still has bangles on her wrist. She has, however, not enjoyed even one full nteal in her entire lifetime. So, there is no light in her eyes. This is just a comment on the abject poverty and helplessness of the bangle-makers.
Q22. “The young men echo the lament of their elders. ” What do you think is the common complain t ? How has it affected their lives?
Ans. The bangle-makers of Firozabad are quite poor. They do not have enough money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles. Some even do not have enough to pacify their hunger. Building a house for the family is an achievement for them. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and the ability to dream.
Q23. Why do the bangle-makers not organise themselves into a cooperative?
Ans. Most of the young bangle-makers have fallen into the traps of the middlemen. They are also afraid of the police. They know that the police will haul them up, beat them and drag to jail for doing something illegal. There is no leader among them to help them see things differently. Their fathers are equally tired. They can do nothing except carrying on their i inherited business.
Q24. Which two distinct worlds does the author notice among the bangle-making industry ?
Ans. The families of the bangle-makers belong to one of these worlds. These workers are caught in the web of poverty. They are also burdened by the stigma of the caste in which they are bom. They know no other work. The other world is the vicious circle of the moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of the law, the bureaucrats and the politicians.
Q25. How is Mukesh different from the other bangle makers of Firozabad? [Delhi 2014]
Ans. Mukesh is quite different from other bangle makers of Firozabad because he has the courage to take initiative and break from the traditional family occupation. He has strong will power also. He insists on being his own master by becoming a motor mechanic.
Q26. What do you think is the plight of the children born in the families of bangle-makers?
Ans. The vicious circle of the middlemen and their allies have entrapped the poor bangle- makers in their nets. The stronghold is suffocating. They have imposed a heavy burden on little children. They can’t put it down. Before they are able to think, they accept the baggages as naturally as their fathers.
Q27. What do you think is the theme of ‘Lost Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood’?
Ans. The theme of the chapter is the grinding poverty and the traditions which condemn poor children to a life of exploitation. The two stories taken together depict the plight of street children forced into labour early in life and denied the opportunity of schooling. The callousness of the society and the political class only adds to the sufferings of these poor people.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
Q1.What are the dreams of the poor like ‘Saheb-e-Alam’ and Mukesh? Could these be realised? What is the reality of the situation?
Ans. Poor rag-pickers like Saheb spend the early years of their lives looking for gold in garbage dumps. The parents of these street children have no fixed income. They wage war against poverty and hunger. They have no dreams except finding the means of survival. Garbage to them is gold. It is the source of their daily bread and provides a roof over their heads. He ends up as a servant at a tea-stall and loses his freedom.
Mukesh, the son of a poor bangle-maker of Firozabad, has a dream of becoming a motor mechanic. He wants to learn to drive a car. He thinks of joining a garage to fulfil his dream. He knows that the garage is far away, yet he has decided to walk. He realises the reality and is willing to overcome the obstacles. His daring to rise and decision to get free from the trap laid by vicious moneylenders and middle men arouse a sense of hope.Deprived of education, proper food and upbringing, these children are forced into labour early in life.
Q2. Firozabad presents a strange paradox. Contrast the beauty of the glass bangles of Firozabad with the misery of the people who produce them.
Ans. Firozabad, the centre of India’s glass-blowing industry, is famous for its bangles. Spirals of bangles of various colours can be seen lying in mounds in yards or piled on four wheeled push carts. These bangles have shining bright colours: sunny gold, paddy
green, royal blue, pink, purple-in fact, every colour bom out of the seven colours of the rainbow.
The banglemakers lead a miserable life. They know no other work than bangle making. They have neither courage nor money to start another trade or job. they have spent generations in the clutches of middle men and moneylenders. Extreme poverty forces them to remain hungry and yet work all day. The elderly woman,who works with Savita, has not enjoyed even one full meal in her entire lifetime. Her husband has made a house for the family to live in. He has achieved what many have failed in their lifetime. Mukesh’s father has failed to renovate a house or send his two sons to school. Young boys are as tired as their fathers. Their work at hot furnaces makes them blind prematurely.
Q3.(i) “Survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.”
(ii) “Garbage to them is gold.”
(iii) “For the children it (garbage) is wrapped in wonder, for the elders it is a means of survival.”
In the light of the above remarks write an account of the life and activities of the ragpickers settled in Seemapuri (Delhi).
Or
Give a brief account of the life and activities of the Bangladeshi squatters like Saheb-e-Alam settled in Seemapuri.
Ans. Seemapuri is a place on the periphery of Delhi, yet miles away from it metaphorically. Squatters who came from Bangladesh way back in 1971 live here. Saheb’s family is one of them. Seemapuri was then a wilderness. It still is, but it is no longer empty. Nearly 10,000 ragpickers live there in structures of mud, with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. These shanties are devoid of sewage, drainage or running water. These people have lived there for more than thirty years without an identity or permit. They have got ration cards that enable them to buy grains and get their names on voters’ lists. For them food is more important for survival than an identity. The women put on tattered saris. They left their fields as they gave them no grain. They pitch their tents wherever they find food. Ragpicking is the sole means of their survival.
It has acquired the proportions of a fine art for them. Garbage to them is gold. It provides them their daily bread and a roof over the heads. Most of the barefoot ragpickers roam the streets early in the morning and finish their activities by noon. They seem to carry the plastic bag lightly over their shoulders. They are clothed in discoloured shirts and shorts and denied the opportunity of schooling.
Q4. “The cry of not having money to do anything except carry on the business of making bangles, not even enough to eat, rings in every home. The young men echo the lament of their elders. Little has moved with time, it seems, in Firozabad.” Comment on the hardships of the banglemakers of Firozabad with special emphasis on the forces that conspire against them and obstruct their progress.
Ans. The bangle-makers of Firozabad are bom in poverty, live in poverty and die in poverty. For generations these people have been engaged in this trade—working around hot furnaces with high temperature, welding and soldering glass to make bangles. In spite of hard labour throughout the day, the return is meagre. Some of them have to sleep with empty, aching stomachs. Others do not have enough to eat. Whatever they do get is not delicious or nourishing.
The stinking lanes of their shanty town are choked with garbage. Their hovels have crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows. These are overcrowded with humans and animals.
Poverty and hunger, social customs and traditions, stigma of caste and the intrigues of powerful lobby that thrives on their labour combine to keep them poor, uneducated and hungry. The moneylenders, the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians—all are ranged against them. Children are engaged in illegal and hazardous work. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all initiative and ability to dream. They are unable to organise themselves into cooperative due to lack of a leader and fear of ill-treatment at the hands of the police. They seem to carry the burden that they can’t put down. They can talk but not act to improve their lot.
Q5. Compare and contrast the two families of bangle-sellers portrayed in ‘Lost Spring.’ Comment on the roles of individuals in highlighting the issues raised by the author.
Ans. One of the families is that ofMukesh’s. It comprises three males and two females: Mukesh, his brother, their father, their grandmother and the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. The grandmother had watched her own husband go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. Mukesh’s father is a poor old bangle maker, who has failed to renovate a house and send his two sons to school. Mukesh and his brother make bangles. The wife of Mukesh’s brother is a traditional daughter-in-law who follows the customs and cooks food for the family. The grandmother believes in destiny and caste. Only Mukesh shows some sparks of fighting the system and declares that he wants to be a motor mechanic.
Savita, the elderly woman and her old, bearded husband form the other family. Young and innocent Savita works mechanically. The elderly woman highlights the plight of bangle makers who fail to enjoy even one full meal during the entire lifetime. The old man has an achievement to his credit. He has made a house for the family to live in. He has a roof over his head.
The lifestyle, problems and economic conditions of the two families are similar. There is only a difference of degree but not of kind in their existence and response to life’s problems.
VALUE-BASED QUESTIONS
Q1.Hunger knows no friend but its feeder. The downtrodden lead a miserable life. Elucidate the dictum keeping in mind the following lines:
“survival in Seemapuri means ragpicking. Through the years, it has acquired the proportions of a fine art. Garbage to them is gold. It is their daily bread a roof over their heads, “
Ans. Poverty: A Vicious Circle
It is a well known saying that poverty is the root cause of all evils. Corruption, loot, begging and incidents of theft are the offspring of abject poverty. The destitute lead a pitiable and miserable life. They do not get sufficient food. Lack of funds constrain them to take recourse to illegal activities. Slum dwellers always feel themselves dejected. They recognise only those beings who help them and feed them. Political leaders take undue advantages of their poverty. They are misused to win elections. Humanity, mankind, honesty, trust and love become significant when an individual succeeds in satisfying his hunger. Hungry people need only food. There is a dearth of people who are capable of converting obstacles into opportunities. These poor people are exploited ruthlessly by industrialists, politicians and other middlemen. They scrounge for gold in the garbage dumps to earn their livelihood. The hiatus between the rich and the poor seems difficult to be bridged. It is increasing day by day. The poor are becoming poorer and the rich richer. There is no human being who would like to work for their welfare. Their plight is pitiable and horrible. The residential areas of these people are packed with filth. They become habitual of foul smell. Poverty is a vicious circle. It never comes to an end. The unemployed youth are heading towards destruction. They do not remember anything except the help they receive from the opportunistic people who feed them to materialise their vested interests.
Q2. There is no denying the fact that ‘Life is action and not contemplation.’ Those who shirk work and waste their time in thinking about bitter consequences never achieve greatness. They lack enthusiasm. Substantiate the aphorism keeping in mind the following lines:
“I will be a motor mechanic’’ “I will learn to drive a car”. His dream looms like a mirage amidst the dust of streets…”
Ans. Life is Action and not Contemplation
Initiation is the law of nature. Success depends on the actions taken by an individual. One has to take actions without wasting time. Dreams give us directions. But it should not be forgotten that a man cannot become influential by only dreaming . One who does not utilise time fails to do anything significant in life. Actions shape the destiny of the beings. Contemplation destroys happiness. Aimless thinking aggravates woes and worries. It leads to nowhere. Such thinkers never get pleasure in this world of mortals. Those who believe in taking actions attain their long cherished goals with an astonishing ease. They never feel confused or perplexed. They never become a victim of depression. All the human beings are to perform their duties on the earth. Contemplation leads to idleness. Life is a judicious blend of contemplation and action. Contemplation transformed into action is of utmost importance. Action without contemplation may be disastrous. Contemplation without action is a sin. One should not waste time in thinking only. We should always remember that life is short and time is swift. Procrastination is the thief of time. One should not forget that there’s a time for everything. One should grab this opportune time to get success in life.
Q3. Dedication, determination and devotion are the factors responsible for phenomenal suc¬cess. Substantiate the above quoted statement in the light of the following lines:
“I want to be a motor mechanic,’ he repeats. He will go to a garage and learn. But the garage is a long way from his home. 7 will walk’, he insists.”
Ans. Key to Success
Hard work is the key to success. Dogged determination and strong will power are the essential ingredients of success. Industrious people never feel disheartened. They bum the mid night oil and strive hard to achieve the desired goals. It is said that between two stools one falls on the ground. Thus, one has to dedicate one’s life to a specific field. The long term goals and aims of life must be set thoughtfully and not whimsically. The capricious nature of a fellow does not allow him to reach the heights. Devotion always brings good results and rewards. The essence of devotion is trust or faith. If one has trust in performing the actions, one is able in winning the battle of life. Trust gives strength and strength gives birth to determination which leads to dedication. Devoted and dedicated people never become a part of a problem. They remain a part of the solution. They do not do different things but they do things differently. Their devotion to the field encourages them to have indepth knowledge. Those who dare to climb the hill conquer Mount Everest. Dedication has no substitute. It is the only way to great accomplishments.
Q4. Health plays an important role in the life of a mortal. But the destitute fail to get nutritious food and do not remain healthy. It is said that health is wealth. People believe that a sound mind lives in a sound body. Elucidate it taking ideas from the following lines:
“Ek waqt ser bhar khana bhi nahin Khaya.”
Ans. Health and Food
One has to accept the fact that if wealth is lost, something is lost and if health is lost, everything is lost. The proverb A sound mind lives in a sound body’ is apt. A healthy man can enjoy the beauty of this world. An unhealthy man misses one of the greatest boons given by the Almighty. A healthy beggar is better than an unhealthy king. A person who accumulates enormous wealth and suffers from chronic or fatal diseases cannot relish life.
He wastes his time in clinics and hospitals. Health is essential to have positive thoughts.
One should wake up early in the morning and take exercise. Nutritious food is indispensable for good health. Junk food must be avoided. The destitute suffer because they do not get : sufficeient food. They do not have any source of income. Undoubtedly good health plays a pivotal role in the life of a mortal. Pecuniary gains are of utmost importance but a strong and sturdy body free from ailments is of paramount importance. It has no substitute. A mortal cannot endure the loss of health. Creativity, productivity and innovation get enhanced if a man is healthy. Thus, one should be in the best of health so that one can lead a happy and contented life.
Q5. Child abuse is a very serious problem in our country. Children are forced by circumstances to work in various factories. Write an article, on the topic ‘Child Abuse’. Take ideas from the following lines:
“None of them knows that it is illegal for children like him to work in the glass furnaces 1 with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light; that the law, if enforced, could get him and all those 20,000 children out of the hot furnaces where they slog their daylight /hours, often losing the brightness of their eyes.”
Ans. Child Abuse
Child abuse is a grave problem in India. Many children work for dhabas, factories and tea stall owners. These are those unfortunate children of this country who don’t get even . meals three times a day. It is a blemish on our nation. It is the duty of the governments to make arrangements of education for these children. Child labour is common in the fields of agriculture, domestic service, sex industry, carpet and textile industries, quarrying, bangle making and brick making. These children are forced to work in horrible conditions. There are no set working hours for these children. They are given low wages.
In some cases poverty of the household and low level of parental education are responsible , for child labour. Employing children in factories implies that the nation’s future is in dark. These children never feel happy. They become devoid of human emotions. They adoptillegal ways to earn their bread and butter when they become able-bodied. It gives rise to .violence and corruption. Child labour should be stopped and the governments should educate these children free of cost. At least elementary education should be given to all children.
Also Read,
