This post covers the NCERT Class 12 Flamingo Lost Spring chapter. This post will be really helpful for the students who want to cover the CBSE class 12 English syllabus. Flamingo Lost Spring is the second chapter from NCERT class 12 English book, and we will try to cover Flamingo lost spring MCQ, Flamingo Lost Spring summary in English and Flamingo Lost Spring summary in Hindi. This post will be a great help for the students who want to cover their syllabus fast and in an easy manner.
Class 12 Flamingo, The Last Lesson. If your first chapter is still incomplete, you can follow this link.
Class 12 Flamingo My mother at Sixty six.
Students who want Flamingo Lost Spring summary in Hindi can follow the blue colour.
This is a story written by Anees Jung. She was born in Rourkela, the northern part of Orissa. But this author spent her childhood and adult age in Hyderabad. She studied in Hyderabad and later in the USA. She belongs to the writer family, as both of his parents were writers. She started her career as a writer in India. She was a renowned writer in major newspapers in India as well as she also used to write for foreign papers. She also wrote several books. This story which is covered in this chapter is taken from her book Lost Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood. This chapter is just a part of it. In this chapter, she talks about poverty and the bad conditions under which many children live their lives.
Why do you do ————————————————————-he now lives.
Author Anees Jung is telling a story about a kid named Saheb. She used to see Saheb every day who is rag picker and search for things in a pile of garbage. She asked Saheb “Why do you do this?”. She meant why Saheb is always looking for something in the garbage every morning. She used the words “scrounging for gold” which means “trying to find gold” in her neighbourhood every morning. Saheb was from Dhaka, and he left his home long ago. He does not have the slightest memory of his home. The author says his home must lay between some green fields in Dhaka. According to Saheb’s mother, there were several storms in Dhaka that destroyed their home and their crops, and that was the reason they left that place. Dhaka is the Capital of Bangladesh, which is next to West Bengal, India and the Bay of Bengal. Due to the Bay of Bengal, storms are very common in Kolkata and Dhaka. Most of the coastal areas experience these storms. They are trying to live in this big city and earn their bread.
I have nothing to ————————————————————–Bleak world.
When author Anees Jung asked Saheb “Why do you do this?” He replied that he has nothing else to do which means that he does not have any skills and cannot do anything else. He replied without looking at the author’s face. The author said, “Go to school”. She suggested Saheb go to school, but suddenly she realized that her words are hollow and a boy whose livelihood depends on picking up garbage, how can he afford school.
Saheb replied, “There is no school in my neighbourhood”. The place at which Saheb used to live has no schools nearby, and he added that when they will build a school nearby he will join it.
The author joked to Saheb that if she starts school, will he come.
To which Saheb replied that yes he will come and join her school.
A few days later, Saheb come to the author running and asked her “Is her school ready”. Clearly, Saheb was a kid, and he did not understand that the author was joking with him, but he was willing to go to school.
After months of Knowing ————————————————————each of them.
The author was meeting him almost daily and now it has been a few months since they first met. One day she asked him “What is his name?”. He replied “Saheb-e-Alam”, which means “lord of the universe”, the author was sure that he does not know what is the meaning of his name because if he knew he won’t have believed it. He was clearly unaware of the meaning of his name and used to roam the streets with his friends, she called them an army of barefoot boys and they always appear in the morning just like the morning birds and go back to their places in the noon. In a few months author is capable of recognising each of them.
“Why aren’t you wearing —————————————————————–state of poverty.
One day the author asked one of the boys in the gang of Saheb that “Why aren’t you wearing Chappals?”
To which he simply replied that his mother didn’t buy chappals for him.
Another boy from the gang spoke that if she will buy for him he will throw them off and the author explains that this guy was wearing shoes that does not match. The author asked about his mismatched shoes, he says nothing and just shuffled his feet. Another guy listening to them talking about shoes say that he wants shoes as he never owned a pair of shoe in his entire life. The author says that she noticed many children walking barefoot without any shoes or chappals in cities and on village roads while she was travelling across the country. She says that people walk barefoot not because of the lack of money but because of tradition but it is just one explanation of situation she was aware of the poor condition of such families who cannot afford a pair of shoes and she says that this traditional explanation is just an excuse of the poverty of the poor condition of people.
I remember a story ———————————————————–neighbourhood remain shoeless.
The author says that she remembers a story that a person from Udipi once told her. It is a story of that man when he was a young boy. As a young boy, he used to go to his school, which was next to the temple. At this temple his father was a priest. This man as a boy used to stop at the temple for a moment and used to pray for a pair of shoes. Now after thirty years from the time when the man told her story, She went to his town where he used to live as a boy, she also visited the temple which looks barren now. As explained by this man, the priest used to live in the backyard, but now there were red and white plastic chairs. A young boy dressed in a grey coloured school uniform wearing socks and shoes came running and threw his bag on the folding bed. This scene reminded the author about the young boy who once prayed to the goddess once he got the shoes, “let me never lose them”. This means a boy who got the shoes after a long period of time came to the goddess and prayed that let me never lose this pair of shoes. And the Goddess had granted his prayer. The author explains that the young boys like the son of the priest are also wearing the shoes now. This simply means the living standard of people is improving these days for some people. But some other boys like the rag pickers in the neighbourhood of the author are still shoeless, and they still wish for the shoes.
My acquaintance with the ———————————————-it is even more.
The author tells a well-known person of her took her to the Seemapuri along with the ragpickers. Seemapuri is a place on the outskirts of Delhi. The author explains that yet Seemapuri may be close to Delhi but comparing the conditions of Delhi and Seemapuri both these places are very different from one another. The people who live in this place Seemapuri are mostly the people who came from Bangladesh in the year 1971. Saheb and his family are also one of these people. In 1971 Seemapuri was not inhabited but a wild place but now it is not empty as many families live here. These people live in houses made of made with eh roof of tin or tarpaulin, with the big potholes of sewage and drainage. There are about 10,000 ragpickers living here. Most of the people living here are without any identity, without any permits but they have their ration cards with the help of which they can vote and get ration from the government. They are living here for the last 30 years getting food grains from the government ration shops at this point the author realized that the food is more important than the identity itself. When the author asked a group of women that why did they left their beautiful land of green fields and rivers and leaving here in such poor conditions. Those women in the old and tattered sarees replied that there is no point in living at a place near the fields that gives them no grain to feed. They are here because this place gives them food to eat and at the end of the day if they have food to eat for themselves and their families they will prefer to live at such a place compared to a storm struck fields. They pitch their tents at the places wherever they find food to eat and that place becomes their transit home. Late their children also grow in these tents and help them in gathering food for the families. The only way to gather food or earn something is to rag-picking in Seemapuri. For these people, garbage is like gold for them it is the only way to earn their bread, a roof over their heads. They do not care if the roof is leaking and for children, garbage means a lot.
I sometimes find a rupee ———————————————————–means of survival.
The author explains that she was talking to Saheb, and he replied that Sometimes he finds a rupee and sometimes a ten-rupee note while looking into the garbage while he was explaining this his eyes were lit means he was happy. The author explains that when you find something precious in the garbage something like a coin you can’t stop looking for more. The author explains that the garbage has a completely different meaning, what it is meant for their parents. For the elderly parents, it is a means of their livelihood, but for the kids, it is a pile of wonder.
One winter morning I————————————————————–out of his reach.
The author says that on one winter morning he saw Saheb was standing outside a tennis club in the neighbourhood that has a fenced gate. He was watching two young men who were playing tennis at that time, and they were dressed in white, which is the usual tennis dress. Seeing the author, he said in a low voice that he likes the game and was still watching it from outside the fenced door. He also told that the gatekeeper let him go inside when no one is around or watching, and he let him use the swing in the club.
The author saw that Saheb was also wearing tennis white shoes with an extra hole in them. His shoes were looking weird on his dirty shirt and shorts. He noticed the author watching the shoes and said that someone gave those shoes to him, explaining the situation to the author about how did he get the shoes. The author was sure that the shoes belong to a rich kid who refused to wear these shoes because there is a hole in these shoes, but the hole does not mean anything to Saheb as he never had the shoes. The author explains that the person who does not have shoes of any kind will be grateful to have shoes of any kind, torn shoes, shoes with a hole, mismatched shoes, nothing matters for this boy. But the sport he was watching is surely not his area, and the author explains it to be out of his reach. In those times and even today, tennis is a rich men sport. People from wealthy families play tennis to reduce fat from their bodies.
This morning Saheb ———————————————————————his own master!
The author saw Saheb this morning as he was on his way to the milk booth to purchase milk, and a steel canister was in his hand. After seeing the author Anees Jung, he explained to her that now he works in a tea shop down the road and points towards a direction far from there. He told the author that he is paid by the shop owner about 800 rupees and food for the whole day. The author asked him if he likes that job he is doing currently, and the author can easily notice that the carefree look on his face is now gone. The author explains that the steel canister seems heavier to him than the plastic bag he used to carry so lightly and carefree along with his boys. The bag belonged to him but the canister belongs to the owner, which means that he does not own his decision and works on the command of the tea shop owner. Saheb is no longer his own master. This scenario is very common to the job in recent times as well. Most of the people who are doing the job are doing it because it pays them, but they hardly have any interest in these jobs.
This is the second story of this chapter and it is about a young boy who works in a mechanic shop. He initially belongs to Ferozabad. He wants to be a motor mechanic.
Mukesh insists on ————————————————————land it seems.
The author is telling about a boy, Mukesh. She tells that Mukesh wants to be his own master, and he wants to be a motor mechanic one day.
The author asked him that if he knows anything about cars.
To which he replied that he will learn to drive a car looking into the eyes of the author. The author says that his dream looks big, just like a mirage between the dusty streets of Firozabad, which is famous for its bangles. A mirage is a false image that appears in the desert and sometimes confuses people who are in search of water or a destination. For the author, Mukesh’s dream is a Mirage. The author explains that every other family in Firozabad is in bangles making business. Firozabad is famous for its bangles. It is the centre of the glassmaking industry in India. Most of the families had spent their generations in this business near a furnace, welding glass and turning them into bangles. These bangles are sold across the country.
Mukesh’s family is ———————————————————–art of making bangles.
Mukesh’s Family is one of these families and in the business of making bangles for a long time. But now of the family member know that it is illegal in India for children to work near glass furnaces at such high temperatures, these small cells do not have proper air and light. They do not know if the law is followed strictly then about 20000 children including Mukesh will not have to work at these hot furnaces, where they have to spend a long time during the day and some of them sometimes lose their eyesight and cannot see properly. Mukesh eyes sparkled with joy as he wants to take the author to his home and he proudly said that his house is being rebuilt. The author and Mukesh passed through the stinking streets which were full of garbage, passing through the homes according to the author were inhabitable, these houses had weak and almost falling walls, broken doors, no windows in the whole house, and they were crowded with families of human as well as their pets living together from a long time. They stopped in front of a similar house banged the door with his foot and later pushes it to open. Now the author is inside a half built structure but for Mukesh, this was a house. In one corner of the house, there was a pile of dead grass, they had a firewood stove (also called as angithi in India) over which a large vessel was placed and in that vessel, spinach leaves were being made. On the ground, on a big aluminium plate, there were more chopped vegetables that might be cooked later. A weak young woman was cooking these things for the evening meal for the whole family. Her eyes were filled with the smoke of the firewood stove but still, she was smiling. She is the wife of Mukesh’s elder brother. Yet she was not very old, but for this family, she was a bahu, daughter-in-law of this house, and she was responsible for the food of three men of this house Mukesh, Mukesh’s brother and Mukesh’s father. When the elder man (Mukesh’s father) came, she went behind a broker wall and bring her veil close to her face(parda). These are the Indian traditions that the daughter-in-law must do a parda before the elder men in the house. Mukesh’ father is a bangle maker for a long time. First, he worked as a tailor and later as a bangle maker, but despite all this hard work, he never had enough money to rebuild his house because he was spending all of his earnings on sending his two kids to school. Now he taught them what he learnt throughout his life-the art of bangle making.
“It is his karam——————————————————————-they become adults.
Mukesh’s grandmother says, implying to Mukesh’s Father that it is his karma, his destiny. Mukesh’s grandmother has watched his own husband going blind with the dust from polishing the glass of bangles. She added that the god-given lineage can’t be broken. She believes God choose them to do this work, and they cannot ignore it now. She also added that they are born in the caste of bangle makers, they have not seen anything except the bangles. She meant in Firozabad there are bangles everywhere in the houses, in the yard, in every other house, in every other yard, every street of Firozabad has bangles. Spirals of bangles, sunny gold bangles, paddy green bangles, royal blue, pink bangles, purple, bangles of every colour from the seven colours of the rainbow, lie in mounds in unkempt yards, bangles piled on four-wheeled handcarts, these wheeled handcarts are pushed by the men in the narrow lanes of their old town. Bangles in the dark huts in these towns are made by the young boys and girls with their father and mother, who sit near the oil lamps and weld pieces of coloured glass into circles of bangles. She explains that their eyes are more adjusted to the dark than the light, and that is one reason why their eyesight starts getting weaker even before they could become an adult.
Savita, a young girl —————————————————————-family to live in.
The author explains that Savita, a young girl who was wearing a pink dress sitting next to an elder woman and was soldering pieces of glass. The author explains that she was so experienced in her work that now her hands are moving like a machine because is an expert now. The author imagines if that woman who was working with bangles, whether she is aware of the meaning and pureness of these bangles. Does she know that these bangles that she is making are a symbol of an Indian women marriage and these bangles are a symbol of her husband? The author says that she will know about all this one day. When she will be ready for marriage, when she will be wearing a red saree and her head will be draped in the red veil, her hands will be dyed red with henna, and she will be wearing red bangles that day into her wrists. That day she will become a bride, and she will know the meaning of these bangles. Just like the old woman who is sitting right next to her, who became a bride many years ago. She is wearing bangles, but she has lost her eyesight while making these bangles in the dark. She says in Hindi “Ek waqt Ser bhar khana bhi nahi khaya”. She says these words will lot of remorse, and she meant that whenever enjoyed a full meal in her entire lifetime. Her husband who is an old man now says that he does not know anything else except make bangles and the only thing that he accomplished is to make a house for his family to live in.
Hearing him, one ——————————————————————and to injustice.
The author thinks after these lines from the Old man that he has achieved things that many people still dream about. He has a house, he has a roof over his head, but there are lots of families in India who do not have a home of any kind.
They all have this thing in their minds, and it’s also a reality that they do not have money to do anything else than to run this business, They never had enough money to eat properly. The younger generation, who saw their parents saying about their life that they never had enough to eat, learn it and also start repeating it when they become old to their younger generation. Only small changes happen with time. The author explains that in Firozabad, these years of hard labour and being focused on just one thing has killed their ability to think outside the box and their ability to dream about a better future.
The author asked a group of people why do not organise themselves into a cooperative, as these people are into a vicious cycle of middlemen who take a large portion of the profits, and they get a very small part of it. Their fathers were part of this cycle, their forefathers, and now these young men. That man replied that even if they will organise and form a cooperative, they will be the ones who will be dragged by the police and have to face police cases for doing something illegal. It is their fear that is stopping them from doing all this. They are not united and there is no leader among them, There is no one between who is visionary and can settle and see things differently and these people do not have any experience except making bangles. These young people are also behaving the same as their fathers used to believe, and they all talk about the same things in a loop that moves from poverty to apathy to greed and then to injustice.
Listening to them —————————————————————-fly over Firozabad.
After listening to all these people, the author can think of two different worlds,
one of them is the family that is caught on the web of poverty, their beliefs of castism due to which they believe that they have to work in this one field of bangle making only, and another one is the deadly cycle of the middlemen, the sahukars, policemen, law-keepers, the bureaucrats and the politicians. These all have put the burden on the youth that they cannot carry, Even before they can realize the possibilities of the world, he starts accepting what their father used to believe, and they never gather the courage to do anything else than the bangle making. When the author saw that Mukesh, a young boy who wants to be a motor mechanic and his family is in the bangle making process, she felt happy about him that he is not following his family business which isn’t giving them anything but pain and wants to look for other opportunities in the world. He says that he will learn about the cars by going to the garage. The author asks that the garage be very far from his home, to which Mukesh replied that he will walk. The author asks that do he ever thinks about flying a plane, he replied “No”. He was a little embarrassed but the question. He might get an idea of being a motor mechanic by seeing the cars running in the streets of Firozabad, while very few aeroplanes fly over Firozabad.
Author Anees Jung was born in Orissa in the year 1964
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