INTRODUCTION
A few of the stories describe how people realize their errors only when it is too late and how in the early stages of life, they waste their time and squander their chances to accomplish their goals. They thus aim to make the younger generation see the error of their ways. It has been observed that a large number of people have an unreasonable dislike for someone, something or some situation, which though unpleasant, have sweet results. A few of them point out such areas and examine the facts related to them thus, making readers have patience with them. There are certain stories in the collection that explore the deepest reaches of the human mind and tell of those ideals with which a better human relationship is possible and of different sources that provide man with numerous ideas about life and death and with material that can cater for the varied tastes of man. Since they examine the culture and society of India, the second largest populated country, and also of its neighbouring countries, they represent the voice of a huge part of humanity.
Walls of Hesitation is an exquisitely written love story. When something bad is bound to happen to someone, he listens to none, nor does he use his own discretion. This is something that happens to the narrator of this story. The narrator goes to his office one morning. There he comes to know that he was promoted to high-ranking officer. He becomes very happy and comes back home late in the evening. But as he receives a phone call of his ex- girlfriend (now married), he turns to be very sad. He lies on the sofa in the drawing room, picturing how he courted her and her parents for four years and how he finally could not propose to her out of hesitation. Then after a pause he starts thinking of how he missed the chance of marrying her, particularly when they too were amenable to it.
The Justice of the Supreme Being shows how politicians, the police, the court and musclemen treat the common people and how heavenly justice comes into play when worldly justice turns a blind eye. The story aims to cover three aspects of social life: first, it describes how people clash sometimes on account of their wrong judgments and suffer a terrible loss for nothing; second, it portrays the corruption among those who are responsible to maintain law and order; third, it represents favouritism giving rise to public reaction.
There are those who are so parsimonious that they do not give a tinker’s cuss about a corrupt practice in their efforts to save money and that it is often hard to imagine how a gentleman could ever do something like that. The Bus Ticket shows how a public accountant bribes a bus conductor with an amount of money equal to half the fare, travels ticketless and finally manages to save the rest of the fare.
The story, You dilly-dally?, represents procrastination as the cause of a lot of trouble. The narrator has to purchase an electric fan and a takht with which to relax in the summer evenings. Every day he goes to his office with a determination that he will come back home with them, but as he reaches there he becomes too busy with his work to think of buying them. Finally, when he leaves his office, he forgets all about what he had decided to do and on arriving home he not only suffers the sultry weather but also listens to his wife’s bitter reproaches. One day the situation gets one bad. He delays to cash a cheque until a later time and consequently he has to escape a series of humiliating incidents which ultimately taught him a lesson that he will ever be careful about anything that has to be done, no matter whether it is important or not.
Keep cancelling an employee’s holidays and he is sure to be a burden on the organization, but at the same time relax your hold on him and he is a reckless leader. The story ‘Leave’ gives an acrimonious picture of a corporate office, where the in charge is already a bad-tempered man and with his authorities being too hard on him, he becomes more bilious and cunning. He makes people feel grateful to him for what he does for them, and then takes advantage of them. He is a failure head of the office because he, on the one hand, governs his subordinate officers in an unfair and cruel way, and on the other disciplines the members of his staff in fits and starts and, as a result, both the groups hate him and rebel against his plans.
Money matters are very sensitive, for they often do to raise doubts about one’s character, thereby not only staining one’s reputation but also damaging a relationship however close; so one should always be very careful about giving and taking money, and if possible avoid becoming too close to a rich person because a rich man does not truly trust a man from a working-classes background. A Wad of Notes is the story of an upright and trustworthy college lecturer who meets one such situation and consequently his idealistic way of thinking gets shaken off and what is more, he is mortified every time when he happens to remember those incidents.
The Girl is a horror story, but also a romantic fantasy. It is past midnight when the engine of a train fails in the middle of a forest. The narrator and a crowd of passengers alight from the train to see what has happened to it. It is a pleasant moonlit night. A beautiful girl appears and lures the narrator into the forest. In the mean time the train comes into motion and goes away leaving the narrator with the girl who later turns out to be a witch. The story then gives a sensational description of what it is like to be left alone in a deciduous forest where there are a witch, a monster and wild animals and it also portrays his courage and heroism and the romantic relationship he has with the frightening girl.
The Hermit & His Disciples is from old collection of fables in Sanskrit literature. The author has retold it in English. The moral of the fable is that an idea is of no value unless it is put into practice. A hermit made disciples of a company of parrots and taught them how to stay away from a trapper. They parroted his saying: ‘a trapper may come here, spread a net, strew it with grain, but we won’t fall into the trap’ without really understanding it and, as a result, they could not help falling into the trap of a trapper one day.
No government can eliminate poverty absolutely, nor can it give every needy all the help he needs. Social or charity work, as it has a very important role to play in filling up such gaps, can by no means be overlooked. The essay (much of a story) On Being Distinguished deals with the importance of social work and how aspiration to become a distinguished person inspires people to do this tedious and thankless task.
Impossible Customer aims to dispel the notion that an employee often discriminates against some of his visitors and to focus on how to show tact and patience with difficult customers.
The world consists of different sorts of beings, each with a unique feature but inextricably linked, each with their own way of going on in an environment of threats and challenges, some too fragile to be anything more than a commodity and some so competent as to interfere with nature but not too much to violate the specific area of an action. Moreover, they cannot do, nor can anyone else make them do, anything devotedly unless they are inclined to do that, and this is why it can be said that the universe obeys God. Even lifeless things do as they are told by Him. Water, for example, goes up in the sky and then rains on land. The story Our Inspirations are the Will of God is the story of a father who tries his best to bring his children up as he wanted them to be but ultimately fails. Thus the story conveys how God manages and controls the world and how He is concerned about both good and bad, as either of them keep the world running.
Possessiveness Brings Life; the Excesses, an End narrates how birds live and how a pair of them, though very small creatures, play great roles with a message of life. This is mine and that is his is something that constantly fuels our desire to live, but when we become too greedy and selfish, we prepare the ground for the cause that ultimately leads us to an end. Generally, the natives of a country are intolerant of immigrants but not of foreign tourists, whereas the government of the country can put up with anyone except the opposition. And of course, the Almighty has no rival. We lay absolute claim to the house which we build, quite ignoring that many other creatures are there to lay similar claims to it or to a part of it. A lizard, for example, seems to be possessive about the wall on which it catches the insects, for it does not let the other one intrude into its area. In fact, the real owner is God, who enjoys watching all beings struggling up and also enjoying His bounties on the earth, just like we do watching and feeding birds, studying their calls or listening to their songs.
Hard work is fundamental to success but responsibility, self-restraint, determination and logical mind are four vital keys to it. Since wasters lack these qualities, poverty tags along with them. And if someone comes forward to alleviate their misery, they are certain to be disappointed because no one on the earth can do it unless they provide them lifelong support. The Poverty Trap tells of a man who dedicates the significant part of his life to improving the lot his family members but at last he fails because they squander money and opportunities out of habit.
Often we compare the dark sides of our life with the bright sides of other people’s life and find that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. God Is Even Handed shows how wealth is often in inverse proportion to our happiness and how a member of the elite is as satisfied or dissatisfied with life as an ordinary person. The dialogue between two friends of different social classes flavoured with sweet memories of their early rural life make the story engaging.
Haridwar, a district of Uttarakhand State, is one of the seven holy pilgrimage centres in India. In the holy city of Haridwar, there is a famous ghat of the Ganges named Hari-Ki-Pauri. A brief description of the popular myths and geographical features of the ghat is presented through a series of dialogues in Hari-Ki-Pauri.
Pseudo-ostentation is typical of a middle-class couple who always try to impress people by showing how rich or important they are. The wife in the story is such a show-off that she never misses a chance to flaunt her possessions. Sometimes her husband feels sick of her swanky talk, though he is a bit posey himself. They purchase a car to impress their neighbours, but not long after that they realize it is better to spend money on the things they need to live than on any ostentatious appliance.
A Quest for God contains a dialogue among the people who hold differing views on religion and God. There is a priest who makes strong arguments in favour of religion while an atheist sitting opposite him in a running train has a disagreement with him and puts forward cogent reasons why religion is not a solution but a major social problem. Their conversation slowly turns to God which causes two boys from different religion to bicker over it. An author, meanwhile, intervenes and tries to clear up the misconception they have by defining God and analysing the boon and the bane of religion.
Clean India is a one-act-play that gives a vivid picture of how the common people of India are given to unhygienic practices and also of how the Clean India Movement launched by the Prime Minister has increased public awareness of clean and healthy life.
Relations is a story of how we dislike sharing our belongings with anybody else: even with our own brothers or sisters. In our society, the poor love to entertain their guests but the middle and the upper classes do not because they are too possessive about their luxury items. The story unfolds against a background of rural life and then tells of how incompatibility problem prevents rural and urban life going together. It also includes a delicious love episode. And finally it ends with an emotionally charged situation.
Real Culprits Wallow in Luxury Chamber represents the present society in which corruption and lawlessness are allowed to go unchecked. It reveals how a man full of himself causes problem not only for others but also for himself. And the moral to the story is that prejudice floats on the surface of deep ignorance, so a normal life is possible to have by staying away from it or by expanding the area of generosity and love.
Ramesh Tiwari
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