English Textual Question[2M][Flamingo-Prose]

Mukesh is a young boy from a poor family of Firozabad. His family is under heavy debt and is working in a bangle making factory for generations. But Mukesh is different and dreams of becoming a motor mechanic and driving a car.

The bangle makers could not organise themselves into a cooperative as they an exploited by the middlemen. They are not able to break the vicious circle which is created by the middlemen, sahukars, politicians, bureaucrats and policemen.

Though Mukesh belongs to a bangle maker family, he has his ambition to be a motor mechanic. He doesn’t want to be subjected to the exploitation of the middlemen. He wants to break the generations-old family tradition of bangle making.

The ragpickers are migrants from Bangladesh. They have been living in Seemapuri since 1971. They have no identity and no permit. They only have ration cards that get their names on the voters’ list and enable them to buy grain. These are refugees from Bangladesh who came and settled in Seemapuri 45 years ago.

Saheb’s parents originally belonged to Bangladesh. They left their village in Dhaka in 1971 due to extreme poverty and migrated to Delhi and started living in Seemapuri.

Garbage is gold to the ragpickers because in the garbage, they hope to get something useful for them, or some money, or some articles which can be sold at the junk shop to fetch them money. For the ragpickers, garbage is a means of their livelihood. For children of the ragpickers, garbage is wrapped in wonder. They find new things in the garbage every day.

Anees Jung says the bangle makers of Firozabad are caught in the vicious circle of sahukars, middlemen, police, bureaucrats and politicians who keep on exploiting them. Due to this, bangle makers are not able to organize themselves into a cooperative.

Mukesh, a young boy of a bangle makers’ family in Firozabad, is diferent from others because he is ambitious and wants to break the generations-old traditions. He, unlike others, doesn’t want to make bangles. He wants to be a motor mechanic and drive a car.

Saheb lost his freedom as a child at the tea stall. Though earning 800 per month and two meals a day he was not happy. Now he was no more his own master. He had to obey his employer and had lost the carefree life that he had earlier.

This tells us that the children walked barefoot everywhere due to lack of money and not because it was a tradition. Sadly, it was their poverty that forced them to remain barefoot.

‘Spring symbolizes ‘childhood’. In the chapter ‘Lost Spring’, Anees Jung has described the lost childhood of thousands of poor children who live in slums like Seemapuri or work in the bangle industry of Firozabad.

Saheb’s full name was ‘Saheb-e-Alam’ which means the master of the universe. But, on the contrary, Saheb was a victim of poverty. He lived in a slum and was not able to get a proper meal. So the name of Saheb is highly ironical.

Seemapuri is on the periphery of Delhi which is a metropolitan city and the Capital of India. The living conditions in Seemapuri are highly pathetic. This place is devoid of even basic facilities such as sewage drainage and running water. The houses are made of mud with roof of tin and tarpaulin. It is beyond imagination that such a place is part of a progressive and developed capital of the country.

‘They’ refers to the sahukars, middlemen, bureaucrats, politicians and policemen. Together all these forces have created a vicious circle for the bangle makers. The ‘baggage’ refers to the burden or the compulsion to work in the bangle factories. The child cannot refuse to work in these factories in hazardous conditions due to the heavy debt on his parents.

This refers to the fact that Mukesh had the courage to think differently and dream of a better life. Unlike others, Mukesh had dared to dream. This is something which makes the author happy. She is pleased to see the spark of optimism and determination in Mukesh’ eyes.