Lost Spring Summary
The poem ‘Lost Spring’
is written by Anees Jung and gives a peek into the lives of children who live
in abject poverty in India. The poem brings to light the circumstances that
force these children to give up their childhood and do heavy work for a very small amount of money.
The poem first
explores the life of a boy named Saheb, who belongs to a poor migrant family
from Dhaka & is a rag picker in Seemapuri. He is just like thousands of
children who live in the slum of Seemapuri – a place located on the outskirts
of Delhi – and spends his days going through the heaps of garbage barefoot in
order to earn a livelihood. Forget education, these children don’t even have
basic amenities; forced to live in a place where there is no basic sanitation
and water supply, these children learn to live the hard way.
Children like Saheb
have no choice but to roam about the garbage dumps in search of something that their
parents might be able to sell. While for adults garbage is a way to survive,
for these children it is all a game where they can wander at will and be happy.
To the minds of the children, it is more like a game where you have to find a
treasure. Amidst all this poverty and tragedy, at least Saheb was free, but
soon he lost freedom too. In order to earn better, he starts working at a
tea-stall. He gets Rs 800 per month, but over time loses his care-free nature.
In the poem, Anees
Jung also talks about another boy named Mukesh, who also wants to be the master
of his own life. This boy works in the glass industry in Firozabad and belongs to
a family that as per tradition has been in this type of work for
generations. Just like Saheb’s case where he roams the garbage dumps barefoot
and is always on the verge of getting an infection, here children work close to
the furnaces in really high temperatures, and on top of that they even get
exposed to multiple health hazards that include losing their eyesight.
Mukesh lives in a
family, like all other families of Firozabad, in abject poverty; families who assume
that their children will continue in the same field of work. These families are exploited
by the sahukars, politicians, policemen, and middlemen & have totally
lost the idea of human rights. He lives with his blind father in a ruin of a
house, but he is not like his elders. He is confident and wants to be a motor
mechanic.
The story conveyed by
the poem talks about how child labor takes away the spirit of the children. Such
children not only lose their precious childhood but all beautiful things that
come with the childhood that we all cherish over the years – the joy, pleasure, and
play – which we revisit to ignite our spirit are also lost.
The irony of life is that
millions of children like Saheb and Mukesh lose their spring, i.e. childhood when
they are forced to earn a living at a very early age – the age when they should
be spending while learning, playing, and smiling.
Lost Spring - Theme & Setting
The theme of the poem ‘Lost Spring’
revolves around the dire poverty of the rag pickers struggling with their lives
in Seemapuri and the bangle makers
in Firozabad.
Theme #1: Poverty
The poem explores the
themes of abject poverty, the vicious social setup, and traditions that force
children to work and lead a life of exploitation.
Theme #2: Spring & the stolen childhood
Springtime is the
time of the year when things grow and bloom. In a person’s life, childhood is the
‘springtime' where a child grows in different spheres of life and emerges as a
productive, independent, and resourceful adult. Innocent and still not set in a
mold, a child can achieve a lot in terms of knowledge & skills when
showered with care, good schooling & guidance.
Lost Spring gives a
deep insight into the life of poor children in India who are forced to give up the best time of their lives just to survive and spend it doing things
that will not help provide them a better future. The poem tells the story
of two such children Saheb-e-Alam and Mukesh who lose their childhood early on
& are forced to lead a life with no support, no education, and no guidance.
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