Rohan Bhasin

The following blog post analyses the methods, motifs and messages within the excerpt from the book Lost Spring, Stories of Stolen Childhood by Indian-American author Anees Jung. The Lost Spring employs personal narratives and interactions from Jung's experiences in rural Indian communities to reflect light upon the grinding poverty and practices which sentence innocent children to a life of persistent exploitation. Through the course of the excerpt, I was inundated by the unassuming but profound, intimate and reflective anecdotes which etched my present perspective on economic unevenness. The excerpt commences with Jung's brush with Saheb, who is described as chafing through a garbage dump without any apparent rationale. She creates this unnerving backdrop to further the implication of her ensuing conversation with Saheb. Jung's modest inquiry "If I start a school, will you come?" is matched by Saheb's vigorous affirmation. However, these are contrasted by the...