The story 'Lost Spring' revolves around the pathetic lives of the poor children who live in the slums and work in unhygienic conditions.
Seemapuri is a slum area on the periphery of Delhi with a settlement of more than 10,000 rag pickers. Those who live here are squatters who came from Bangladesh back in 1971. They live in the structures of mud with roofs of tin or tarpaulin, devoid of sewage systems, drainage or running water. One may think that the life of people living on the periphery of the national capital must be very easy-going, rich and good but it is all opposite. They have no identity or permits except ration cards as food is more important to them than any identity. Children grow up only to become the supporters of their parents in survival. To them, garbage means 'gold'. It is their daily bread, a roof over their heads. It is a gift for them because whenever they find some silver coin in a heap of garbage, they hope to survive on it for some days.