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Editorial
November 2006, volume 30, No 11

The word “childhood’ brings many delight- ful memories to our minds. We were carefree and happy…We were not overburdened in any way….Yes, those were the days of innocence. Yet Anees Jung shatters the myth in Lost Spring Stories of Stolen Childhood. Child labour stares in the face as Jung ruthlessly describes the experiences of the young ones. She touches on the familiar issues of children begging, working in tea stalls or by the roadside. Yet these are issues, which she adds, are ignored by us. We turn the other way when we see it happening before our eyes. Her descriptions of the appalling conditions in which they live affect the reader deeply. She forces us to think and squirm uncomfortably while relating the real life stories of these children. She also attempts to understand why it happens, the fate of these children and what measures can be taken to improve it. Her concern for their future affects us as well, and Chotu, Raju, Munni are immortalized through this book.

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