Class 12, Lost Spring

Flamingo

Chapter 2

Lost Spring

FULL NOTES

Sometimes I Find A Rupee In The Garbage

1) Author's encounter with Saheb

• Meets ragpicker Saheb, belonging to a refugee family from Bangladesh
• Questions him about his vocation of picking rags and advises him to go to school
• Saheb complains of lack of opportunity and absence of any school in his neighbourhood
• Author raises Saheb's hope of receiving education by promising to open a school in his neighbourhood
• feels embarrassed at making a promise that she cannot keep

2) Irony in name and existence

• ragpicker's full name: Saheb-e-Alam 'meaning lord of the universe’
• but he spends time roaming and scrounging streets with other ragpicker boys
• all boys barefoot, reflecting extreme state of poverty
• author observes that being barefoot has been an old tradition in poverty-stricken India

3) Author's reflection on passage of time and degree of prosperity achieved

• reminded of a priest's barefoot son in town of Udipi thirty years ago
• boy's fervent wish to own a pair of shoes
• thirty years later only a degree of prosperity visible
• present day priest's son now wears shoes but ragpickers still shoeless

4) Ragpickers Abode - Seemapuri

• most refugees Bangladeshis; fled their country in 1971
• their dwellings: structures of mud, tin and tarpaulin with no sewage, drainage or running water
• only boon: valid ration cards enabling them to buy grain
• happy to live in an alien land which provides foodgrain than in their motherland without grain
• picking garbage and rags earns them their daily bread, roof, livelihood and a means of survival
• a chance rupee note or coin in garbage sustains hope and life in children

5) Ragpicker Saheb's eternal yearning

• to be comfortably off, enjoy pleasures of childhood
• play tennis, wear shoes

6) Saheb's conflicting step forward

• picks a job in a tea-stall; earns Rs 800/-pm
• encounters author while fetching milk in a steel canister for tea-stall owner
• appears burdened and forlorn
• no more a free bird and a master of his own self
• now a bonded labourer with surrendered freedom

I Want To Drive A Car

7) Mukesh -a child labourer in a glass factory in Firozabad

• wishes to be a motor mechanic
• wants to learn to drive a car
• his family unaware that child labour is illegal and banned by law

8) Working conditions in glass furnaces

• high temperatures
• dingy ill-lit cells
• poorly ventilated
• children lose eyesight at an early age

9) Living conditions in Firozabad

• stinking lanes choked with garbage
• houses with crumbling walls, wobbly doors and no windows
• humans and animals both live together in these hovels

10) Author visits Mukesh's house

• Mukesh's house, a half-built shack with thatched dead grass roof and a wobbly iron door
• firewood stove, aluminium utensils
• houses three generations: grandmother, father, elder brother and his wife
• elder brother's wife:
• responsible for family members' welfare and cooking
• observes custom of covering face with veil in front of male elders
• Mukesh's father
• head of the family
• poverty-stricken
• unable to renovate house or provide education to two sons
• only legacy he can hand over is the art of bangle making

11) Mukesh's Grandmother view of life

• present state of affairs is a result of karma or destiny
• has quietly accepted her husband's blindness caused by dust of glass bangles
• believes in 'art of bangle making to be god-given lineage

12) Birth in caste of bangle makers-unescapable destiny

• poverty and lack of education lead to a vicious circle
• children follow elder's footsteps & join bangle making profession eyes more adjusted to darkness than light
• eventually become sightless even before attaining adulthood

13) Irony in perception

• bangles: a symbol of suhaag (husband's long life)
• eventually all girl child labourers will become brides
• will wear same bangles but lose eyesight
• become old with bangles on wrists, sightless eyes and empty stomachs

14) Time stands still in Firozabad

• no progress, no development despite years of mind-numbing toil
• poverty, illiteracy, dissatisfaction prevails
• all labourers victims of middlemen and touts

15) Getting organised into a cooperative society - a way out

• fear of police, lack of leadership, trap of middlemen: obstacles in the way of running cooperative society
• caught in a vicious circle of poverty: indifference, greed, injustice meted out to them

16) Children: victim of two worlds

• First: born in poverty ridden family, with the stigma of caste
• Second: ruled by sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats & politicians

17) Courage dissolved, backbone broken

• desire to dream and dare snubbed in childhood

18) Mukesh: an exception

• aspires to be a motor mechanic
• also realizes that dreaming of aeroplanes would be over reaching himself
• ironically few planes fly over Firozabad.

QUESTION/ANSWERS

Q1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from?

Belonging to a Bangladeshi refugee family which migrated to Delhi from Dhaka in the wake of 1971 Indo-Pak War, Saheb is a ragpicker who lives in Seemapuri, a sprawling slum on the outskirts of Delhi. The author says that Saheb scrounges for gold in the garbage. 'Gold' here can mean the yellow metal or anything useful like clothes, shoes, bits of metal, plastic scrap etc that sustains him and his family.

Q2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear?

The author has seen several other children besides ragpickers like Saheb walking barefoot during her travels across India. She explains that staying barefoot is an ancient tradition. However, she knows in her heart of hearts that in India staying barefoot is perhaps a forced necessity due to utter poverty than a faithful adherence to an old tradition.

Q3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain.

No, Saheb is not happy working at a tea-stall. Although the job at a tea-stall has provided him with a fixed monthly income of Rs. 800, it has taken away from him the privilege of being his own master. From being a spirited carefree bird answerable to none, he has become an overworked unhappy child with no trace of childhood left in him.

Q4. What makes the city of Firozabad famous?

The city of Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh is famous for its bangles -the symbol of 'Suhaag' and auspiciousness in marriage in India. It is the centre of India's glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles to adorn the wrists of women.

Q5. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.

Lacking proper infrastructure and basic amenities, Firozabad bangle industry is very disorganised. These ill-lit, ill-ventilated glass-blowing furnaces have dingy hovels with high temperatures where children and women work in unhygienic conditions. Lack of protective eye gear, long working hours and back-breaking postures cost them their eyesight and ages them prematurely.

Q6. How is Mukesh's attitude to his situation different from that of his family?

Since generations everyone in Mukesh's family was a bangle maker. Years of subservience to their destiny, Sahukars and middlemen killed all initiative and drive to improve their lot. They accepted it all as their fate. However, Mukesh being enterprising wants to carve a new destiny for himself by dreaming to become a motor mechanic.

Q7. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?

Lack of education and awareness, stigma of being born in bangle makers' community and craftiness of the sahukars, middlemen, politicians and police suppression perpetuates poverty. Broken spirit, lack of initiative, fear of being beaten and dragged to jail and lack of proper leadership also do not let them wriggle out of the grip of poverty.

Additional Questions

Q8. What reason does Saheb's mother cite to her son for leaving their homeland? What name do we give to such people?

Saheb's mother, a Bangladeshi tells her son that they left their homeland Bangladesh in search of a better life and livelihood as their home and fields in Dhaka were destroyed in numerous storms, driving them to want and hunger. People who leave their homeland country for social, economic or political reasons and seek refuge/shelter in other countries are called 'refugees’.

Q9. How is Saheb's name full of irony?

Saheb's full name is Saheb-e-Alam meaning 'lord of the universe’. But Saheb is a poverty stricken, barefooted, homeless ragpicker who scrounges the garbage dumps of Delhi to earn his livelihood. His name is in total contrast to his adversity. Thus it is deeply ironical.

Q10. Explain the use of literary device(s) in the sentence "an army of barefoot boys who appear like the morning birds and disappear at noon.

The above sentence contains examples of two literary devices -metaphor and simile. 'Army of barefoot boys' is a metaphor describing the largeness of the group and 'like birds' is a simile where the boys have been compared to the scavenger birds hunting around these dumps. Just like the birds, the ragpicker boys are free spirited and enjoy and revel in their freedom.

Q11. Why do slums like Seemapuri mushroom around big cities?

Driven by poverty, the migratory population from Indian villages as well as poor neighbouring countries settles on the periphery of big cities and starts doing menial and odd jobs to earn a livelihood. These illegal settlements or slums abound around all big cities. Dharavi in Mumbai and Seemapuri bordering Delhi are some glaring examples.

Q12 Despite being refugees, how do people in Seemapuri have ration cards?

The refugee population of Seemapuri represents a large vote bank for various political parties and at some stage these illegal occupants of government land around cities are provided ration cards to benefit political sharks in the election process. Using these cards they can get grains from government agencies.

Q13. Why does the author describe children of slums as partners in survival?

The children of slums like Seemapuri are offsprings of homeless ragpickers. Due to extreme poverty, their parents are unable to provide for them and they end up picking rags at an early age for their survival and as support to their parents. Thus, they contribute to the struggle for survival right from the beginning.

Q14. Describe the condition of children in slums considering the author's perception of them as partners in survival.

Children living in slums are an unfortunate lot. Born to destitute refugee parents, these children grow up in makeshift shacks with tin and tarpaulin roofs, sans sewage, drainage or running water. Struggling for survival in the midst of want and hunger, they take to picking rags at an early age.

Q15. Why does garbage have a different meaning for ragpicker children?

Or

How do elders and children look at garbage differently?

Being mature, the elders view garbage as a means of survival as it is instrumental in getting them their daily bread. On the other hand, for the innocent children garbage has many surprises. A chance finding of a coin, a currency note or a curio encourages them to look for more that would thrill them So the author aptly says that for children garbage is wrapped in wonder and for elders it is a means of survival.

Q16. What change occurs in Saheb's life? Is it a change for the better or the worse? Give reason in support of your answer.

Giving up rag-picking, Saheb takes up a job with a tea-stall owner. This change replaces his light polythene bag with a heavy steel milk canister and puts an end to the carefree phase of his life. The job is more respectable and it gives him an assured income but Saheb doesn't relish it much as it has cost him his freedom.

Q17. Saheb wanted to be a master of his own destiny. Comment.

Sick of rummaging through the garbage, Saheb wanted to go to school and to play like affluent children. But abject poverty forced him to take up a job at a tea-stall in an attempt to be master of his destiny. Unfortunately, this change further enslaved him.

Q18. How are the tennis shoes 'a dream come true' for Saheb?

The discarded tennis shoes with holes in their soles are a dream come true for Saheb for two reasons. One, he did not have any shoes to wear. Two, he was very fond of playing tennis. Though it was unlikely for him to get a chance to play the game, at least the shoes came to fulfil his dream partially.

Q19. "I go inside when no one is around." Where does Saheb go? Why? Why does he go there only when no one is around?

Saheb goes to the tennis court of a neighbourhood club whenever the friendly gatekeeper allows him in the absence of the club members to use the swing. He goes inside when nobody is around as otherwise he knows he would be shooed away.

Q20. Describe the atmosphere in glass furnaces. How can working there affect the young children?

Glass furnaces of Firozabad are ill-lit, ill-ventilated, unhygienic and dingy hovels. Working for long hours in these hot furnaces with high temperatures bends the backs of young children, leads to loss of vision at an early age and makes them old prematurely.

Q21. What instances in the chapter reveal that infrastructurally, Firozabad is a neglected city?

The dingy, unhygienic garbage strewn streets and the poor working and living conditions of the people of Firozabad indicate that it is a neglected town. The town lacks all the basic amenities. Despite a nationwide ban on child labour, no one bothers to check the involvement of 20,000 children in the bangle industry.

Q22. Is Mukesh's sister-in-law's (Bhabhi's) life different from that of Mukesh?

Though as old as Mukesh, his sister-in-law has the responsibility of looking after the whole family. Unlike Mukesh, she doesn't work in glass furnaces but she has to shoulder the burden of doing all the household chores in a hovel-like home and withdraw behind a veil in the presence of male elders.

Q23. What has Mukesh's father achieved in life despite years of hard back-breaking labour?

A representative of the underpaid, overexploited bangle makers of Firozabad, Mukesh's father has had a hand to mouth existence all his life. Despite exploring two professions, that of a tailor and bangle-maker, he has not been able to build either a pucca house for his family or provide education to his two sons

Q24. How does Mukesh's grandmother view the family occupation of bangle making and its poverty?

A fatalist, Mukesh's grandmother views bangle making as the destiny of her family. Her husband's blindness, their misfortune and impoverished condition, she feels, are predestined. Years of deprivation and suffering make her silently accept everything in the name of karma or fate.

Q25. How has being born in the caste of bangle makers become both a destiny and a curse?

Being born in a caste of bangle makers in Firozabad is both a destiny and a curse. Their birth, extreme poverty, lack of education and opportunity makes them take up the profession of bangle making at an early age. This closes all doors and stops them from exploring any other avenues in life. They end up losing their spirit as well as eyesight.

Q26. Will wearing bangles on her wedding day that she helps makes, eventually change Savita's life?

When Savita grows up and gets married, her wrists would also be adorned by the bangles she helps makes. But ironically, these bangles and her married status would not bring any positive change in her life. On the contrary, when she gets married and wears these bangles, her eyesight might already have started failing her. Even as a married woman, she would be struggling hard to fight want and hunger.

Q27. What has put a stop to all initiative and ability to see dreams?

Or

Why do bangle makers lack initiative and an ability to dream?

Acute poverty, lack of education, absence of infrastructural development and exploitation have robbed people's energy will power and initiative. Back-breaking and mind-numbing hard work at glass furnaces has left them with no time or desire to dream for a better future. They have accepted poverty as their fate.

Q28. Why are the people of Firozabad averse to the co-operative movement?

Or

Why could the bangle makers not organise themselves into a cooperative?

Lack of education, awareness and acute poverty has broken the spirit of not only the old but also of the younger generation. They fear that by organising themselves into a cooperative movement they will invite the wrath of police. Unfortunately they have no proper leadership. Moreover, the fear of sahukars, middlemen and politicians doesn't let the cooperative movement take shape.

Q29. What, according to the author, is the child worker weighed down under?

Or

What two distinct worlds does Anees Jung speak of with respect to bangle makers?

A child worker in Firozabad, according to the author is weighed down under two distinct worlds. The first is the world of poverty-ridden family and caste stigma which forces him to compromise and second is the world of sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians which exploits and oppresses them.

Q30. How is Mukesh different from his peers?

Or

"Mukesh is a rebel." Do you agree? Give reasons in support of your answer.

Mukesh, like his peers, is born in a poverty-ridden family in a caste of bangle makers. Like all children of such families, deprived of education, he was forced into back-breaking, mind numbing work in glass furnaces. But unlike his peers his spark did not get extinguished. A rebel, he dared to dream of a different life and wished to become a motor mechanic.