Lost Spring

Chapter Summary

The “Lost Spring” is a story of the pathetic condition of the poor children. This story discusses the children who cannot enjoy their childhood due to their family pressure as well as the financial crisis. All over the world, this problem can be seen and the children do not get the schooling opportunity. In their early life, the children were forced to enter the labour industry. Any kind of education, as well as enjoyment, is not at all entered their life.

In this story, writer Anees Jung raised a voice for the elimination of child labour. Jung proposed to omit this by increasing awareness among the society people as well as regulating some strict laws about child labour. The exploitation of children is also a principal topic of this story and according to the author; the children can enjoy their childhood and enjoy the spring to make fun.

Some of the Reasons for Migration of People from Villages to Cities

The principal reason to migrate people from the rural area to cities is the hope of improving their livelihood as well as economic status. Agriculture, which is their primary means of livelihood and it does not provide sufficient meals for their survival. In the other case, coming to the city they get a job and other ways to acquire their food and other necessities. The principal problem for the poor is feeding the whole family and sometimes all the family members have to search for means of income for the betterment of their lifestyle.

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?

Most of the time, the promises were made by the poor are not at all kept. In the story, the author questioned this fact and told Saheb for getting admission to school if he agrees to study. After some days, when the author met the boy, the author feels very embarrassed as a kind of promise was not fulfilled to him at all. Then she thought, she was not the only man who could fulfil the promise but like her most people failed to keep the promise that they have made to the poor. Here, the poor children failed to get the basic facilities and promises were also broken to them as well.

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

There is certain force that guides to conspire for keeping all the workers in the bangle industry of Firozabad in terms of poverty. The forces mainly come from the upper classes of society like the moneylender, the middlemen as well as the policemen. Besides this, the keepers of law along with bureaucrats as well as the politicians are also involved in this fact. They imposed a great burden on the poor child together and they were deprived of the beginning of the period and it continues till now.

How, in your opinion, can Mukesh realise his dream?

Mukesh is totally different from their community and he is very adamant about his dream. He tried all the means to fulfil it and for that case, he also took the first step that makes a big change not only in his personal life but in society also. His dream was to be a motor mechanic and drive a car. He was determined about his dream and work hard to fulfil his dream. There are several obstacles that come in the way to fulfilling his dream but he never stopped. He went to the garage for the first time and requested the garage owner to guide him to be a good mechanic. Another determination of his can be seen in terms of driving a car as well.

In this story, through the life journey of Mukesh, the author displayed the actual situation of the poor children in society as well as in this story the author also displayed how a poor boy has to struggle against all the obstacles to fulfil his journey. The family members and society people did not help him at all but created some challenging situations in the way of fulfilling his journey. He had to work hard and manage all the situations to overcome the obstacles.

Hazards of Working in the Glass Bangles Industry

The glass bangles industry includes several health hazards especially for the small children. First of all, it is not legal to recruit very young children in such hazardous industries as there is a great chance for them for seriously injured. In this story, middlemen, moneylenders, police and politicians make a trap for the poor and small children in terms of working in this industry. It refers to as a cottage industry where they have to work with glass furnaces with high temperatures. The small coupe of the industry is without air and light. In this industry, the workers had to work in flames of flickering oil lamps. So there is a great chance for them losing their eyesight. Other types of health hazards that are faced by this industry labour are glass blowing, welding and soldering pieces of glass.

Why should child labour be eliminated? How can it be eliminated?

The child labour must be omitted from the industry with the process of the prospect of elementary education. As the child labour has worked more than their physical ability so there is a great chance of mental and physical illness. In order to eliminate the child labour from the different industries by increasing awareness among the society people as well as regulation of some strict laws is very important.

FAQs

Q1. What is child labour?

Ans. If the age of labour in any industry is under 18 years then those labours are called child labour and it is mostly seen in underdeveloped and developing countries. The main reason for this problem is poverty.

Q2. How child labour can be omitted?

Ans. The child labour can be omitted by increasing awareness among the society people as well as regulation of some strict laws. In the current situation, most of the country has regulated some laws for eliminating the child labour issues in multiple industries.

Q3. What is the actual cause of child labour?

Ans. The actual cause of child labour is poverty as in underdeveloped count a major part of the population was on the poverty line then the child of the family has to work in different industries for maintaining their livelihood. The constant pressure of the upper class forced them to this aspect.