Welcome Guys, the lost spring class 12 summary and textual question answers along with previous years paper ncert solution is written here.  Also, get AHSEC Important notes of lost spring by Aness Jung. It is more helpful for SEBA. class 12 english Question papers ahsec notes.


Lost Spring Summary Class 12

Summary of  Lost Spring

This story is the writer's description of the pitiable condition of some poor children who live in slum areas and work very hard to eat their piece of bread. They hardly get an education and other basic needs of life. The writer here presents us two stories, one set in the neighborhood slum area of Delhi and the other is about the poor bangle makers of the Firozabad town. She describes how each of the dreams of such children is crushed by their reality of life.

The writer sees a young boy named Saheb in her neighbourhood everyday morning. He looks for some coins or some other things amidst the heaps of garbage. He has left his home in Dhaka many years ago, he does not even remember. His home was surrounded by storms that took place which swept away all the homes and fields of these poor people. They became homeless and were starving. So in search of food, they came out of their homeland to this big city the capital Delhi. One day when the writer observes Saheb scratching the garbage heap she asks why he did that. Saheb looks away by saying that he does that since he has nothing else to do. When asked whether he goes to school he replies that there is no school in his place and when a school will be built, he will go. The writer, to please the boy says that she will start school and she asks Saheb if he will come. Saheb happily consented to the offer. A few days after he came to the writer and asks her "Is your school ready?". She says "It takes longer to build a school" and feels small at making a false promise to the boy.

The writer starts knowing the boy and after some months, got to know his name "Saheb-e-Alam" which signifies the lord of the universe. But contrary to the meaning of his name, the boy wanders in the streets with the same classes of children. He does not even get to eat properly or wear clothes or shoes.

The place named Seemapuri lies on the periphery of Delhi, these people are those who migrated from Bangladesh in 1971, Saheb also lives here with his family. The writer goes on to visit the area so as to learn about these ragpickers. At one point of time Seemapuri was so wild and lonely it now thousands or such people dwell here in mud-built houses with tin roofs without any drainage or proper sanitation without even an identity they have lived here for over thirty years, for them food is far more necessary than the identity. And they get grains from their ration cards. Some women in worm out saris says to the writer that they left their green fields which gave them nothing to eat and they would rather live here in slums where they can sleep without an empty stomach. They build their tents wherever they find some food, children also start helping the families to survive. lt is garbage which gives them food and the roof also, so the garbage heaps are like gold for them.

Saheb says enthusiastically that often he finds a rupee in the garbage, sometimes even a ten-rupee note. Children like him try to find more in the garbages. For their parents' garbage means survival but for the young ones, it means a wonderland. One morning the writer observes Saheb standing outside the gate of a club watching two people playing tennis in white drees. He says that he likes the game and he is allowed by the gatekeeper to enter and use the Suing when there is none. Saheb wears tennis shoes to the discarded shoes of some rich boy with hole in one of them. But the hole is no trouble for a boy like Saheb who has always walked barefoot.

Another morning the writer finds Saheb going to a milk booth with a steel canister in his hand. He now works in a tea stall with all the meals and 800 rupees. The relaxed face of Saheb is missing while carrying the canister heavier than his earlier plastic bag. The plastic bag was his own but canister now is the owner of the tea-stall. The writer understands that Saheb is no longer of his own master.

"I want to drive a car"

Mukesh strongly declares that he will become a motor mechanic. The writer asks him what he knows about cars, he answers that he will learn to drive a car. The writer looks at the young eyes and feels that the dream seems to be a mirage amidst the dusty streets of Firozabad. The town of Firozabad is well known for the production of bangles, Mukesh is a boy who lives here with his family engaged in bangle making. He meets the writers and says that he wants to belong to himself and he desires to become a mechanic. But he too is only a bangle-maker. Their families spend their lives working inside closed furnaces in glass-welding activities.

More than twenty thousand children work in the glass furnaces a very unsafe and improper place for young people. But the children's parents hardly know that children are not allowed by law to work in such high temperatures in closed places without light and air. Such children often lose their eyesight. Mukesh feels glad to take the writer to his house which he says is rebuilt. They pass through narrow lanes full of garbage they pass houses with broken walls, horrible doors, and without any windows, these houses are fully packed and crowded with men as well as animals. Mukesh arrives at his house a poor one in which a part has a firewood stove and a weak young woman is cooking the evening meal. She is the sister-in-law of Mukesh. Mukesh's father enters and at once the daughter-in-law brings her veil to her face. Mukesh's father is a man in whose expressions it is evident that he works very hard as a bangle maker. But despite years of toil he has not resin in his life, he is unable to send his two sons to study or to build his house properly. He has only taught them the skill of bangle making. He too has gone blind by working with glass dust.

According to Mukesh's grandmother, their lot is their destiny to have born in the caste of bangle makers and that they have seen only glass bangles in their entire life. Inside and outside the house, young and old every family member makes bangles in the yards of Firozabad. In the process of wilding colored glass pieces into round bangles, these people sometimes lose their eyesight; especially the children's lives are more dangerous. When the writer goes to visit these people she meets a young named Savita in another hut along with an elderly woman. They are making bangles together. Savita is such a small girl, but she is so habituated to the work that her hands act spontaneously like a machine. She hardly understands that the bangles she makes become an Indian woman's suhaag. The old lady nearby is a 'suhagin' with bangles on her hands, but she has no brightness in her eyes and face. Years of untold workload and misery have told upon her entire life, she has never had a satisfied stomach. Her husband is quite o1d who says that he knows nothing except bangles. Although he is not so happy he feels a little satisfied to say that he has at least built a house for his family.

The writer expresses with the troublesome feeling that every hut of Firozabad suffers from poverty and they have no improvement ever. Their dreams, aspirations, even their hearts have been destroyed by the darkness of the closed furnaces of the bangle factory. The writer suggests the community to get united and form a cooperative, but she is shocked to learn that the attempts of these poor people are broken by the police, and the innocents are badly beaten and imprisoned also. Their Iives are entangled in the cruel mysterious game played by the police, bureaucrats, sahukars, and corrupt politicians. This group of bangle makers continues to suffer and have now begun to live with their poor destiny as their obvious condition to survive. If they think of doing something different or daring to upgrade their lives, it would mean torture on their part.

The writer finds Mukesh as one of these people who have at least decided to come out of this enveloped life and became a motor mechanic something other than a bangle maker. He is determined to learn the work from a garage that is far away from his dwelling. But he tells the writer that he would walk all the long way to the garage and pursue his dream. On being asked whether his dreams to fly an aeroplane, he replies in the negative, but without any regret. He, it seems, is happy to dream only of cars which he sees on the roads of Firozabad, he hardly gets to see planes flying over him.

Lost spring Summary in hindi video

Lost Spring questions and answers

Think as you read
Page no. 17

1. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from? (2014, 16)
Ans: Saheb is a ragpicker. He is looking for 'gold' in the garbage dumps. Sometimes he finds a rupee, even a ten-rupee note. If luck favors, he can find a silver coin too. There is always hope of finding more. Saheb has come from Dhaka in Bangladesh. Now he is living in Seemapuri. It is a settlement of ragpickers at the outskirts of Delhi.

2. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear? (2015)
Ans: Travelling across the country the author has seen poor children walking barefoot, without shoes. One explanation is that it has become a tradition for them to stay barefoot. But the author doubts it. The lack of money is the most valid explanation. Children like Saheb can't afford shoes. When Saheb gets a pair of shoes he does wear them.

3. Is Saheb happy working at the tea-stall? Explain. (2012, 14, 20)
Ans: Saheb doesn't seem to be happy working at the tea-stall. Now he feels bound and burdened. The steel canister he holds now is very heavy. The plastic bag he used to carry on his shoulder earlier was very light. The bag was his own. The canister belongs to the master. Saheb is no longer his own master.

Think as you read
Page no. 20

1. What makes the city of Firozabad famous? (2015)
Ans: Firozabad is famous for its bangles. Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in makiñg bangles. It is the centre of India's glass-blowing Industry. Families have spent generations making bangles for all the women in India.

2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans: Workers in the glass bangles industry have to work in sub-human conditions. They have to face many health hazards. They go blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. They work in dark hutments. Moreover, the temperature around the furnaces remains unbearably high.

3. How is Mukesh's attitude to his situation different from that of his family?
Ans: Mukesh belongs to a family of bangle makers. But he has no fascination for bangle making. He insists on being his own master. He wants to become a motor mechanic. He wants to go to a garage and get the required training for the job.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT 

1. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Ans: More and more people are migrating to cities. It has become a general trend. People migrate from villages to cities. The reasons for migration are many. First of all,. pressure on land is increasing. Land can't provide job opportunities for all. Overpopulation and lack of job opportunities have made the people turn to cities. The second reason for migration is the mechanization of farming. Hence, the landless labourers don't get work at the farms. They are compelled to move to cities for working in industries. The third reason is the destruction of traditional arts and crafts in the villages. Artisans don't have any market for their goods and crafts in the villages. They need bigger markets for their products.

2. Would you agree that promises made to poor children are rarely kept? Why do you think this happens in the incidents narrated in the text?
Ans: Yes, the promises made to the poor children are rarely kept. We live in a hypocritical world. We organize seminars to eliminate child labour in the country. India has the dubious distinction of having a maximum number of child-workers in the world. The more hazardous the industry, the more child workers it will employ. 

Anees Jung presents a genuine analysis of poor children employed in ragpicking and bangle-making industry. The children of 10,000 ragpickers of Seemapuri expose the hollow claims of the authorities. The worst part is that it happens just on the outskirts of New Delhi. Ragpickers of Seemapuri and the child workers in the glass industries of Firozabad have never been to schools. They don't have even shoes. They have no dreams, no initiative. They are the softest targets for exploitation.

3. What forces conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty?
Ans: There are certain vested interests and forces that conspire to keep the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty. Anees Jung rightly analyses that there are two distinct worlds operating in Firozabad. The first world consists of families engaged in the business of making bangles. They are exploited and are caught in a web of poverty. The other world consists of 'sahukars or moneylenders, the middlemen, and the policemen. Together under their eyes, 20,000 children work illegally in glass furnaces with high temperatures. Even the young fall into the vicious circle of middlemen. These agents trapped their fathers and forefathers as well. If the young get themselves organized they are 'hauled up' by the police. They can't think of organizing themselves into a cooperative. Powerful people keep the workers in the bangle industry helpless and poor.

TALKING ABOUT THE TEXT

1. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realize his dream?
Ans: Mukesh belongs to a family of bangle-makers. The bangle-makers of Firozabad are condemned to lead a life of poverty, misery, and exploitation. But Mukesh seems to be an exception. He has not let poverty kill his dreams. He doesn't want to follow the traditional job of making bangles. He thinks and acts differently than the other members of his family. He dreams to be a motor mechanic. He wants to drive a car one day. Mukesh seems to be determined. It is said that fortune favours the brave. Mukesh's dream can be converted into reality. Only he will have to find out a garage where can be admitted as an apprentice. Within no time he will graduate himself to be a good mechanic. If he wants to become a taxi-driver, first of all, he will have, to learn how to drive a car. He will get a license only when he clears the driving test. After that, he can join any travel agency as a driver.

2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry. (2020)
Ans: Working in the glass bangles industry is quite hazardous. It employs about 20,000 children or tender ages. None of them knows that it is illegal for children to work in such industries. But nobody cares for the law in Firozabad. The bangle makers work in the glass furnaces with high temperature. They work in dingy cells without air and light. 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. Mukesh's grandfather became blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. Years of mind-numbing toil have killed all their initiative and the ability to dream. Thousands of boys and girls sit with their fathers and mothers in dark hutments. They shape pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles.

3. Why should child labour be eliminated and how?
Ans: It is a crying shame that India has the maximum number of child workers in the world. It is a stigma that puts our heads in shame. Childhood is the most tender age. A child needs love and care. It is quite unfortunate that all the major industries employ a large number of child-workers. About 20,000 children work in the furnaces with high temperatures in the bangles industry in Firozabad. The employment of children in such hazardous industries is illegal. It is banned by the law.

But the laws against child-labour don't have teeth in them. Those who employ children must be punished. And those who employ them in hazardous industries must be sent behind the bars. Only exemplary punishment can put an end to this shameful practice.

Previous Years Questions Answers for AHSEC

1. What does Mukesh want to be? (2012, 15, 20)
Ans: Mukesh wanted to be a motor mechanic.

2. Is Saheb happy working at the tea stall? Why? (2012, 14, 20)
Ans: See (Think as you read Page no. 17 Q. no. 3 Click here)

3. What is the significance of bangles in an Indian Society? (2012, 17)
Ans: In Indian Society, bangles symbolize a married woman's 'Suhag', auspiciousness in marriage. It is customary for an Indian bride to wear red bangles.

4. Describe the miserable plight of the people of Firozabad. (2012, 14, 15, 17)
Ans: Firozabad is the centre of glass blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, making bangles for all women of the country. Born in the caste of bangle makers, they have seen nothing but bangles. Despite hard labour they had never enough to eat or to send their sons and daughters to school. As a result, what they do is to teach the children what they do know- the art of bangle making. In every dark hut of the town children with their parents sit before flickering oil lamps welding coloured glasses into bangles. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why many children lose their eyesight even before they are adults. Ages of exploitation have killed their initiatives and the ability to protest. They are so caught in the vicious circle of middlemen that they cannot even think of originating co-operatives. As a result, they have begun to believe that born in the caste bangle makers they are doomed to suffer.

5. What is 'Lost Spring' about? (2013)
Ans: 'Lost Spring' is about the deprived childhood of some poor children.

6. Where was the original home of Saheb's family? (2013, 20)
Ans: The original home of Saheb's family was in Dhaka in Bangladesh.

7. 'Garbage to them is gold'. Why does the author say so about the ragpickers? (2013)
Ans: The author said it because it is the garbage that gives them food and the roof, so the garbage is like gold for them.

8. What is the irony inherent of Sabeb's full name? (2013, 16)
Ans: Saheb's full name Saheb-e-Alam means 'Lord of the Universe'. It is ironical to name for a poor ragpicker like Saheb who is not even a master of his own fate to call lord of the universe.

9. Who is the author of  'Lost Spring'? (2014, 12)
Ans:  The author of  'Lost Spring' is Anees Jung.

10. What does the author of 'Lost Spring' find Saheb is doing every morning? (2014, 15)
Ans: The author of 'Lost Spring' find Saheb scrounging garbage dumps in the streets of Delhi every morning.

11. What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps? Where is he and where has he come from? (2014, 16)
Ans: See (Think as you read Page no. 17 Q. no. 1 )

12. What explanations does the author offer for the children not wearing footwear? (2015)
Ans: See (Think as you read Page no. 17 Q. no. 2 )

13. What is Firozabad famous for and how? (2015)
Ans: See (Think as you read Page no. 20 Q. no. 1 )

14. Why do the young inhabitants of Firozabad end up losing their eye-sight? (2016)
Ans: In Firozabad most families are engaged in the glass-making industry. In every dark hutment, young boys and girls sit with their father and mothers welding pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles in front of flickering oil lamps. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. That is why they often lose their eyesight even before they become adults.

15. What does 'garbage' mean for the elders of Seemapuri?  (2017)
Ans: For the elder of Seemapuri garbage mean the means of survival. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads.

16. Where Mukesh live?  (2017)
Ans: Mukesh live with his family in a half-built shack in a dirty overcrowded bangle makers colony in Firozabad.

17. Why have Saheb and his family migrated to Seemapuri? (2018)
Ans: Saheb and his family have migrated to Seemapuri because their homes and fields were swept away by many storms.

18. What are the two different worlds in Firozabad? (2018)
Ans: Anees Jung rightly analyses that there are two distinct worlds operating in Firozabad. The first world consists of families engaged in the business of making bangles. They are exploited and are caught in a web of poverty. The other world consists of 'sahukars or moneylenders, the middlemen, and the policemen. Together under their eyes, 20,000 children work illegally in glass furnaces with high temperatures. Even the young fall into the vicious circle of middlemen. These agents trapped their fathers and forefathers as well. If the young get themselves organized they are 'hauled up' by the police.

19. Describe the bangle makers of Firozabad. How does the vicious circles of Sahukars, the middlemen never allow them to come out of poverty? (2018)
Ans: Most people in Firozabad are engaged in making glass bangles. But these people who have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, and making bangles for all the women of the country have always led a miserable life. They have never earned enough money even to feed their families. Few of them can afford to send their sons and daughters to school. As a result, they teach their children what they know - the art of bangle making. Therefore in Firozabad today there are more than 20,000 children working in glass furnaces with high temperatures in dingy cells without air and light. Ages of continuous suffering have made them believe that born in the caste of bangle makers they are doomed to suffer for god-given lineage cannot be broken. In fact, they are victims of the worst kind of exploitation by the vicious circle of Sahukars, the middlemen, the policemen, and bureaucrats. This vicious circle of middlemen has never allowed the bangle makers to be organized in co-operatives. If the young get themselves organized they are 'hauled up' by the police. It is in the interest of the vicious circle to keep these bangle makers in a perpetual state of poverty. There is no leader among them to help them to get out of this situation. These helpless bangle makers are trapped in a spiral that moves from poverty to apathy, to greed, and to injustice.

20. What was the promise made by Anees Jung to Saheb? (2018)
Ans: Anees Jung promised Saheb that she would start a school and asked him to come.

21. Where does Saheb originally hail from? (2019)
Ans: Saheb originally hails from Dhaka in Bangladesh.

22. What is the actual name of Saheb? What does it signify? (2019)
Ans: The actual name of Saheb is 'Saheb-e-Alam'. It signifies 'Lord of the Universe'.

23. Give a brief description of Seemapuri? (2020)
Ans: Seemapuri is a place on the outskirts of Delhi that was a wilderness till 1971 when migrants from Bangladesh illegally occupied it. There now live more than 10,000 of them in huts of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin, devoid of sewage, drainage, running water, and other amenities of civilized life. They are all ragpickers and they have lived here 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 them for survival than identity. And survival in Seemapuri means rag-picking.

24. Write briefly on the hazard of working in the glass bangle industry? (2020)
Ans: See (Talking about the text Q. no. 2 Click here)

Important QnA

1. What promise was made by the author? Why did she feel embarrassed?
Ans: Anees Jung promised Saheb that she would start a school and asked him to come. She was embarrassed because she had made a false promise of starting her own school which she really had not meant.

2. What is 'Lost Spring' about?
Ans: 'Lost Spring' is about the plight of poverty-stricken children of India.

3. How much is Saheb paid in his job?
Ans: Saheb is paid eight hundred rupees per month besides giving him all his meals.

4. Who is Mukesh in the chapter lost spring?
Ans: Mukesh is a young worker in the bangle making industry of Firozadad.

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