The Lost Spring -Stories of stolen Childhood
- By Anees Jung
Lost Spring theme |
इस कहानी को दो भागों में बांटा गया है पहला भाग कूड़ा बीनने वाले गरीब लोगों के जीवन के सम्बन्ध में लेखिका के अनुभवों का वर्णन करता है जो बांग्लादेश से पलायन करके आए हैं और अब दिल्ली के सीमापुरी क्षेत्र में हैं। दूसरे भाग में फिरोजाबाद के नगर में चूड़ियां बनाने वाले लोगों के दयनीय जीवन का वर्णन किया गया है।
1. Sometime I find a rupee coin in the garbage dumps
( A story of The Ragpickers)
The writer sees a boy named Saheb every morning in her neighbourhood. The boy looks for some coins or other useful things in the garbage dumps.
One day, the writer talks to the boy. She comes to know that these people have migrated from Bangladesh. Their fields and homes were swept away by storms. They had nothing to eat. So they came to the big city and started living at Seemapuri.
The writer asked Saheb why he doesn't go to school. Saheb said that there was no school in their neighbourhood. At this, the writer said half-jokingly, "If I start a school, will you come ?" Saheb said that he would. But the writer had to feel small when a few days later, Saheb asked her, "Is your school ready?" In fact, the writer had never meant it.
There were a number of ragpickers like Saheb. In a few months, the writer came to recognise each one of them. They were all barefoot boys. With some people, it is a tradition to go barefoot. Perhaps, they use it as an excuse to conceal their poverty.
The writer finds that all these barefoot boys live in Seemapuri which is on the out skirts of Delhi. These people have come from Bangladesh in 1971 and started living here in search of food. There are about 10,000 of them. They live in structures of mud with roofs of tin and tarpaulin. They live here without any facility of sewage, drainage or running water.
Saheb tells the writer that sometimes he finds a rupee or even a ten-rupee note in the garbage. Thus for children, garbage becomes something wrapped in wonder. For the elders, it is a means of survival.
One winter morning, the writer sees Saheb watching a game of tennis. He likes this game. He is wearing tennis shoes discarded by some rich boy and given to him. But the game he is watching is out of his reach.
Saheb starts working at a tea stall. He is paid 800 rupees and given all the meals. But now he is not free. He is no longer his own master. He has lost his carefree look.
Lost Spring Summary in Hindi
साहिब नाम के एक लड़के को लेखिका हर प्रातः अपने पड़ोस में देखती है लड़का कूड़े के ढेरों में कुछ सिक्के या दूसरी चीजें ढूंढ रहा होता है।
एक दिन लेखिका लड़के के साथ बात करती है। उसे पता चलता है कि ये लोग बांगलादेश से आए हैं। उनके खेत और घर तूफ़ानों में बह गए थे। उनके पास खाने को कुछ नहीं था। इसलिए वे उस बड़े नगर में आ गए और वहीं रहने लगे।
लेखिका ने साहिब से कहा कि उसे स्कूल जाना चाहिए । साहिब ने कह दिया कि उनके पड़ोस में कोई स्कूल नहीं था। इस पर लेखिका ने आधे मजाक भाव से कह दिया, "यदि मैं स्कूल शुरू कर दूं, तो क्या तुम आओगे ?" साहिब ने कहा कि वह आया करेगा। किन्तु लेखिका को लल्जित होना पड़ा जब कुछ दिनों के पश्चात् साहिब ने उससे पूछा, "क्या आपका स्कूल तैयार है ?" वास्तव में लेखिका को ऐसा कहने का कोई भाव नहीं था।
साहिब की भांति वहां अनेकों कूड़ा बीनने वाले थे कुछ ही महीनों में लेखिका उनमें से प्रत्येक को पहचानने लगी। वे सब नंगे पांव वाले लड़के थे कुछ लोगों में नंगे-पांव घूमने की परम्परा होती है। शायद वे इसे अपनी ग़रीबी को छिपाने के लिए एक कहानी के रूप में इस्तेमाल करते हैं।
लेखिका को पता चलता है कि ये सभी नंगे-पांव कूड़ा बटोरते लड़के सीमापुरी में रहते हैं जोकि दिल्ली के बाहरी हिस्से में स्थित है। जब वह वहां जाती है तो उसे पता चलता है कि ये लोग 1971 में बांगलादेश से आए थे तथा भोजन की तलाश में यहीं रहने लग गए। वहां वे लगभग दस हजार लोग हैं। वे मिट्टी के बने ढांचों में रहते हैं जिनके ऊपर टीन और तिरपाल की छतें होती हैं वे यहां मलजल, नालियों और जलनल की सुविधा बिना रहते हैं।
साहिब लेखिका को बताता है कि कई बार उसे कूड़े में एक रुपया या दस रुपए का नोट भी मिल जाता है। इस प्रकार बच्चों के लिए कूड़ा आश्चर्य में लिपटी हुई कोई चीज बन जाती है। आयु में बड़े लोगों के लिए इसका अर्थ जीवित रहने का एक साधन होता है।
सर्दी की एक प्रातः लेखिका साहिब को टेनिस का एक खेल देखते हुए पाती है। साहिब कहता है कि वह इस खेल को पसन्द करता है। उसने टेनिस के जूते पहने हुए हैं जो किसी अमीर लड़के ने उतार फेंके हैं और उसे दे दिए हैं। किन्तु वह खेल जो वह देख रहा है उसकी पहुंच से बाहर है।
साहिब चाय की एक दुकान पर काम करने लगता है। उसे आठ सौ रुपए और हर बार का भोजन दिया जाता है। किन्तु अब वह स्वतन्त्र नहीं है। वह अब स्वयं अपना मालिक नहीं रहा है।
2. I want to drive a Car
( Story of The Bangle Makers)
A boy named Mukesh lives in Firozabad and belongs to a family of bangle makers. Mukesh says that he does not want to go into the family profession. He has decided to become a motor mechanic.
Every other family in Firozabad is engaged in making bangles. It is the centre of India's glass-blowing industry. Families here have spent generations in making bangles.
About 20,000 children work in the glass furnaces of Firozabad. They have to work in very unhealthy conditions. Their parents don't know that it is illegal to make children work in such places.
Mukesh offers to take the writer to his home. He proudly says that their house is being rebuilt.
When the writer goes there, she finds that it is a half-built shack. Inside, it is wrapped in poverty. A frail young woman is cooking the evening meal. She is the wife of Mukesh's elder brother. Mukesh's father is also there. He has been doing hard labour for years. First he was a tailor and then a bangle maker. Yet he has failed to renovate his house. He could not send his two sons to school. He could only teach them the art of making bangles.
Mukesh's grandmother says that it was all in their destiny. Her husband has gone blind with the dust from polishing the glass bangles. She says that they were born in the caste of bangle makers and have seen nothing but bangles in their life.
Boys and girls in all such families have to work with their fathers and mothers. They have to work in dark hutments. Their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. Thus they lose their eyesight even before they become adults.
The writer sees a girl named Savita in another hutment. She is sitting with an elderly woman and soldering pieces of glass. She doesn't know that the bangles she is making are symbols of an Indian woman's suhaag.
The old woman sitting beside her still has bangles on her wrist, but there is no light in her eyes. She says that she has not enjoyed even one full meal all her life. Her old husband says that he knows nothing except bangles. However, he feels some consolation to say that he has made a house for his family to live in.
The writer says that the cry of poverty rings in every home in Firozabad. These poor people are exploited by sahukars, policemen, middlemen, bureaucrats and politicians. They have come to accept their poverty and exploitation as something natural.
The writer feels happy that Mukesh has decided to break away from this vicious circle, He has decided to go to a garage and learn the job of a motor mechanic. Thus he will one day be his own master.
Lost Spring Summary in hindi
लेखिका एक बार मुकेश नाम के एक लड़के से मिलती है यह लड़का फिरोजाबाद में रहता है और चूड़ियां बनाने वाले एक परिवार से सम्बन्ध रखता है। मुकेश कहता है कि वह अपने परिवार वाला धन्धा नहीं करना चाहता है। उसने एक मोटर मैकेनिक बनने का मन बना रखा है।
फिरोजाबाद में हर दूसरा परिवार चूड़ियां बनाने के काम में लगा हुआ है। यह भारत में शीशा ढालने के उद्योग का केन्द्र है। यहां के परिवारों ने चूड़ियां बनाने में पीढ़ियां व्यतीत कर दी हैं ।
फिरोज़ाबाद की शीशा भट्ठियों में लगभग बीस हज़ार बच्चे काम करते हैं उन्हें बहुत अस्वस्थ हालात में काम करना होता है। उनके माता-पिता यह नहीं जानते कि ऐसी जगहों पर बच्चों से काम करवाना गैर-कानूनी है।
मुकेश लेखिका को अपने घर ले जाने की पेशकश करता है। वह गर्व सहित कहता है कि उनका मकान दोबारा बनाया जा रहा है।
जब लेखिका वहां जाती है तो वह देखती है कि यह आधी बनी एक झोंपड़ी है। अन्दर की तरफ़ वहां हर जगह गरीबी के चिन्ह हैं। एक पतली सी युवा औरत सायंकाल का भोजन पका रही है। वह मुकेश के बड़े भाई की पत्नी है। मुकेश का पिता भी वहां पर है। वह वर्षों से कठिन परिश्रम करता आ रहा है। पहले वह एक दर्ज़ी का काम करता था और फिर चूड़ियां बनाने का। तो भी वह अपने घर को ठीक-ठाक करवाने में असफल रहा है। वह अपने दो बेटों को स्कूल न भेज सका। वह उन्हें केवल चूड़ियां बनाने का काम ही सिखा सका।
मुकेश की दादी कहती है कि यह सब उनके भाग्य में था उसका पति चूड़ियों को पालिश करने से उड़ने वाली धूल से अन्धा हो गया है।
वह कहती है कि उनका जन्म चूड़ियां बनाने वालों की जाति में हुआ था और उन्होंने अपने जीवन में चूड़ियों के अतिरिक्त और कुछ नहीं देखा है। इस तरह के सभी परिवारों में लड़कों तथा लड़कियों को अपने पिताओं और माताओं के साथ मिलकर काम करना पड़ता है। उन्हें अन्धेरी झोंपड़ियों में काम करना पड़ता है।
उनकी आंखें बाहर की रोशनी की अपेक्षा अन्धेरे की ज्यादा आदी हो जाती हैं। इस तरह वे युवा होने से पहले ही अपनी आंखों की रोशनी खो बैठते हैं।
लेखिका एक अन्य झोंपड़ी में सविता नाम की एक लड़की को देखती है। वह एक बुजुर्ग औरत के साथ बैठी हुई है और शीशे के टुकड़ों को टांका लगाकर जोड़ रही है। वह नहीं जानती कि जो चूड़ियां वह बना रही है एक भारतीय औरत के सुहाग का चिन्ह हैं। उसके बगल में बैठी बूढ़ी औरत की कलाई पर अब भी चूड़ियां हैं किन्तु उसकी आंखों में कोई चमक नहीं है। वह कहती है कि उसने अपने पूरे जीवन में एक बार भी भर-पेट खाना नहीं खाया है। उसका बूढ़ा पति कहता है कि वह चूड़ियों के अलावा किसी अन्य चीज़ के बारे में नहीं जानता। फिर भी उसे यह कहने से कुछ तसल्ली मिलती है कि उसने अपने परिवार के रहने के लिए एक घर बनवा लिया है।
लेखिका कहती है कि गरीबी की चीख फिरोजाबाद के प्रत्येक घर में गूंजती है। इन गरीब लोगों का शोषण साहूकारों, पुलिस वालों, बिचोलियों, अफसरशाहों और राजनीतिज्ञों के द्वारा किया जाता है। वे अपनी गरीबी और अपने शोषण को स्वभाविक समझने लगे हैं।
लेखिका यह देखकर प्रसन्न होती है कि मुकेश ने इस कुचक्र से बाहर निकलने का निश्चय कर लिया है। उसने निर्णय कर लिया है कि वह एक गैराज में जाएगा और वहां एक मोटर मैकेनिक का काम सीखेगा। इस तरह एक दिन वह अपना स्वामी बन पायेगा।
Lost Spring important questions and answers
Q. 1. What makes the city of Firozabad famous ?
Ans. Firozabad is famous for glass-blowing industry.
Q. 2. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. Men have to work in dingy cells without air and light. They lose the brightness of their eyes. They go blind with the dust from polishing the glass bangles.
Q. 3. How is Mukesh's attitude to his situation different from that of his family ?
Ans. Mukesh wants to break away from the family tradition of making bangles. He wants to become a car mechanic.
Q. 4. What could be some of the reasons for the migration of people from villages to cities?
Ans. Their fields and homes were destroyed by frequent storms. They had nothing to eat. So they had to leave their homes and come to the cities.
Q. 5. 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. Promises made to the poor in respect of their children are rarely kept. It is because these people are immigrants from Bangladesh so the political parties use them as vote bank.
Q. 6. What forces conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty ?
Ans. They include sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians.
Q. 7. How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream ?
Ans. He can realise his dream by working as an apprentice at some garage. With strong will power and determination, he can become a motor mechanic.
Q. 8. Who was Saheb ? What was his full name? What was the irony about his name ?
Ans. Saheb was a poor ragpicker. His full name was Saheb-e-Alam. It means lord of the universe. But the poor boy had to probe the garbage for his survival. Thus there was a deep irony in his name.
Q. 9 . What is Saheb looking for in the garbage dumps ? Where is he and where has come from?
Ans.
Saheb is looking for some rupee coin or any other useful thing thrown after use. Every morning, he comes to probe the garbage heaps in the author's neighbourhood.
His family has migrated from Dhaka. Now they are living in the Seemapuri area of Delhi.
Q.10. What promise had the writer made with Saheb ? What was it that embarrassed her?
Ans. Saheb did not go to school. He said that there was no school in his neighbourhood. "IF I start a school, will you come?" asked the writer. "Yes," said Saheb. But the writer had to feel small when after a few days, Saheb asked her if her school was ready.
Q. 11. How did the writer come to recognise each of the ragpickers in her neighbourhood?
Ans. The writer found Saheb and his friends wandering barefoot in the street. They came every morning and disappeared at noon. The writer used to watch them with interest. Over the months, she came to recognise each of them.
Q. 12. What explanations does the author give for the children not wearing footwear ?
Ans. Being poor, the rag pickers always went about barefoot. They had become used to it. Even if they had shoes, they looked for excuses not to wear them. Some even said that going barefoot was a tradition among them.
Q. 13 . Describe the area of Seemapuri?
Ans. Seemapuri is a place on the periphery of Delhi. Those who live here are Bangladeshis. They came here in 1971. They live in structures of mud. They have roofs of tin and tarpaulin. They are all ragpickers. They have no sewage, drainage or running water.
Q.14. Where have the people living in Seemapuri come from ? Why don't they want to go back?
Ans. These people have come from Bangladesh. Their beautiful land has rivers and green fields. But the homes and fields are often swept away by floods. Here they can feed their families by rag-picking. That is why they don't want to go back.
Q.15. What does garbage mean to the elders and the children in Seemapuri ?
Ans. Garbage to the elders is survival , not less than gold. It is their daily bread and a roof over their heads. But for children, it is a thing wrapped in wonder. They find even a coin or a currency note .
Q. 16. Where did the writer see Saheb one winter morning? What was he doing there?
Ans. Saheb was standing by the gate of a club. He was watching two young men. The young men were dressed in white and were playing tennis. Saheb also liked the game.
Q. 17. What was Saheb wearing one winter morning ? Where did he get it?
Ans. Suheb was wearing tennis shoes. Some rich boy had given these to him.They were discarded shoes. There was a hole in one of them. Saheb who has never owned shoes, it was like a dream come true.
Q. 18. How did Saheb feel working at a tea stall ? What did he get there? Was Saheb happy working at the tea stall ? explain.
Ans. Saheb did not feel happy working at tea stall. He had lost his carefree look. He was paid 800 rupees and given all his meals. But he was no longer his own master. He was a worker of the man who owned the tea shop.
Q. 19. Who was Mukesh ? What was his aim in life?
Ans. Mukesh belonged to a family of bangle makers in firozabad. He did not like the life of a bangle maker. He wanted to be his own master. His dream was to become a motor mechanic.
Q. 20. What kind of a locality does Mukesh live in ?
Ans. It is a very dirty locality. The lanes are stinking. They are choked with garbage. The homes look like hovels. Their walls are crumbling. They have wobbly doors. There are no windows. Men and animals live in them together. Life seems creeping in these hutments.
Lost Spring Value Based Questions
Q. 21. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. Workers in the glass bangles industry have to work in very high temperatures. They work in dingy cells without air and light. They don't get any daylight. Thus they lose the brightness of their eyes. The powder from the polishing of bangles also blinds them. They also engage their children in this hazardous work which is illegal.
Q. 22. What does Mukesh's grandmother say about her husband and family?
Ans. Making bangles is a God given lineage to the families of Firozabad which cannot be broken at all. Mukesh's family is also one of them.They know nothing except making bangles, though many of them like Mukesh's grandfather has gone blind with the dust from the polishing of bangles. Mukesh's grandmother calls it his karma.
Q. 23. What does the writer say about the boys and girls working in dark hutments?
Ans. These boys and girls work with their fathers and mothers in the light of flickering oil lamps in front of them. They weld pieces of glass into bangles. Their eyes get more used to the dark than to the light outside. Many of them lose their eyesight before they become adults.
Q. 24. Who is Savita? What is she doing? What does the writer wonder about ?
Ans. Savita is a young girl. She is soldering pieces of glass. Her hands are moving mechanically. The writer wonders if she knows the sanctity of the bangles she is making. They symbolise an Indian woman's suhaag.
Q. 25. Why don't the poor bangle makers organise themselves into a cooperative?
Ans : There are cruel middlemen. They don't let the bangle makers form any cooperative. They put the police after them. They are caught and beaten by the police. They are put into jail on false charges of illegal acts. The poor bangle makers have no leader to guide them.
Bangle makers lead a miserable life. They are exploited by middlemen, policemen, sahukars, bureaucrats and politicians.
Q. 26. What forces conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty ?
Ans.
All forces in power conspire to keep the workers in bangle industry of Firozabad in poverty. They include the factory owners, the middlemen , the police men and the sahukars. If the workers make any attempt to organise themselves into a cooperative, the police crushes all such efforts. They are beaten and put in jail on the charge of doing illegal acts. They are caught in the vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen, policemen, bureaucrats and politicians. The poor bangle makers have come to accept their fate as something natural. They think that it is a God given lineage which can't be broken.We have democracy in name only. The actual living conditions for the poor are worse than those in feudalism. They are caught in the web of poverty. They know no way to come out of it. They are scared of the people in power and can't stand against the cruelty and injustice to them.
Q. 27. Mention the hazards of working in the glass bangles industry.
Ans. The poor bangle makers lead a miserable life. These people have always been poor. They have to work in glass bangles industry to earn their living. They have to weld glass while making the bangles. And for this, they have to work in high temperatures. They have to work in dingy cells without air and light. They don't get any daylight. Thus they lose the brightness of their eyes. Their eyes get more adjusted to the dark than to the light outside. About 20,000 children have to work in such dark places all day long. So, many of them lose their eyesight even before they become adults The bangle makers know nothing except making bangles. They have lost their courage and enthusiasm. Every other family in the city is engaged in making bangles. For generations, families in Firozabad have been working around glass furnaces in dingy cells. They consider it a God given lineage. Being born in the family of bangle makers, they have to carry on the same profession. Their life is worse than hell.
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