Illiteracy in families below the poverty line

The chapter Lost spring is an excerpt from the book Stories of Stolen Childhood.

In the chapter Lost Spring, Anees Jung tries to make us aware of the reality of many underprivileged backward societies in India. She analyses the grinding poverty and traditions which condemn these children to a life of exploitation. The story of the two young children illustrates their hardships at a very tender age. 

Saheb-e-Alam was a rag-picker who lived in Seemapuri. His family had migrated from Dhaka, Bangla Desh to India in 1971 with the hope of finding better living conditions. He roamed about streets collecting garbage. His family lived in miserable conditions. He could not afford to go to school. He did not have even slippers to wear. He wished to play lawn tennis which was unachievable. He worked at a tea stall though other children of his age were studying at school.

Mukesh is a young boy who belongs to a bangle-makers family from Firozabad, the city which is famous for its colourful bangles. Almost 20 thousand children illegally work with adults in the dingy cell at a high temperature around the furnace without air and light. He has a dream to be a motor mechanic, and though it seems unachievable he keeps his little hope alive.

If Saheb and Mukesh had the opportunity to get educated their lives would have been overturned. They could have achieved their dreams and desires if they were provided with the right education at the right time.