Chapter 2: Lost Spring

Ans: Saheb is looking for "gold" (items of value like coins, notes, or useful scraps) in the garbage dumps. He is currently living in Seemapuri, on the outskirts of Delhi. He has come from Dhaka, Bangladesh, after his home and fields were swept away by storms.

Ans: No, Saheb is not happy working at the tea stall. Although he earns 800 rupees and gets all his meals, he has lost his freedom. He is no longer his "own master." The steel canister he carries feels heavier than the plastic bag he used to carry so lightly over his shoulder.

Ans: Firozabad is famous for its glass-blowing industry. It is the center of India’s glass-blowing industry where families have spent generations working around furnaces, welding glass, and making bangles for women all over India.

Ans: The hazards include:

• Working in high temperatures near glass furnaces.
• Working in dingy cells without proper air or light.
• Exposure to polishing dust which causes blindness at a young age.
• High risk of burns and heatstroke.

Ans: Mukesh's family has accepted their fate (karma) of being bangle makers and believes they cannot break the "god-given lineage." Mukesh, however, dares to dream. He insists on being his own master and wants to become a motor mechanic, showing a spark of rebellion and hope.

Ans: People migrate from villages to cities primarily due to poverty and natural disasters. In the story, Saheb's family left Dhaka because storms destroyed their homes and fields. Cities offer the hope of survival, employment, and food, even if living conditions are poor (like in Seemapuri).

Ans: A vicious circle of forces keeps them poor:

1. Sahukars (Moneylenders): They trap workers in debt.
2. Middlemen: They exploit the labor and take the profits.
3. Policemen & Law Keepers: They harass the workers instead of protecting them.
4. Bureaucrats & Politicians: They are indifferent to the plight of the poor and support the existing exploitative system.
5. Social Stigma: The caste stigma of being born a "bangle maker."

Ans: "Saheb-e-Alam" means "Lord of the Universe." The irony lies in the fact that the boy who bears this name is a poverty-stricken ragpicker who scrounges through garbage for survival and walks barefoot. His name represents everything he is not.

Ans: For the elders, garbage is a means of survival (items to sell for food). For children like Saheb, it is wrapped in wonder. They might find a ten-rupee note or a coin inside, so it becomes a place of mystery and hope rather than just waste.

Ans: This reveals Mukesh's determination. Unlike the others in Firozabad who have lost the ability to dream due to years of mind-numbing labor, Mukesh is focused. He is willing to walk the long distance to the garage to learn, showing his resilience.

Ans: If they try to organize, they are hauled up by the police, beaten, and dragged to jail for doing something illegal. There is no leader among them, and they are trapped in a vicious circle of middlemen who have exploited their fathers and forefathers.

Ans: Anees Jung portrays two distinct worlds. In Seemapuri, refugees from Bangladesh live in mud structures without sewage or identity, yet they have ration cards to buy grain. For them, food is more important than identity. In Firozabad, the burden is traditional. Families believe they are destined ("karam") to make bangles. They work in sub-human conditions, blinding themselves young. In both cases, poverty and the lack of education/opportunity force children into labor, stealing their childhood (their "spring").

Ans: As a ragpicker, Saheb was poor and hungry, but he was free. He was his own master and roamed the streets with his friends. At the tea stall, he has financial security (800 rupees and meals), but he has lost his carefree look. He is now a servant to the tea stall owner, carrying the heavy steel canister instead of his own plastic bag.

Ans: Savita is a young girl in a drab pink dress, sitting alongside an elderly woman, soldering pieces of glass. She works mechanically. She does not realize the sanctity of the bangles she helps make, which symbolize an Indian woman's 'suhaag' (marital status).