Write the introduction and summary of the story "Under the Banyan

Write the introduction and summary of the story “Under the Banyan Tree”.

Ans.

Introduction

Under the Banyan Tree is a very interesting story that deals with life in a small Indian village. The writer brings out sharply before us the poverty and drabness of rural life but also puts before us the human qualities of simplicity, trust and affection which this life fosters. The central character in the story is Nambi, an unusual story teller who fascinated the village folks with his fabulous and interesting stories. He was illiterate but had an active imagination that helped to invent fascinating stories that could keep the villagers spellbound when they assembled to hear them. They would listen to the enchanter patiently and attentively deeply observed in the imaginary world created before them by the magical voice of Nambi. The villagers, as if by a mutual understanding, would cater to his needs for food and clothes in return for the entertaining stories he told them. All was going well when, one day, Nambi, because of his old age failed to narrate a story and felt dumbstruck. Unfortunately, he could not narrate the story next day as well. He would try to recall the story but in vain. His mind was no longer under his control and his imagination flagged. He felt that the Goddess whom he worshipped had stopped favouring him. In the meanwhile the villagers felt disappointed when Nambi failed in his attempts to narrate a story and would slide away silently for their homes. Nambi, after realizing that he had lost his art of storytelling, felt desolate and hopeless and decided to remain silent forever. The rest of Nambi’s life was a complete silent. Nevertheless, the villagers kept on providing him food and clothes as a gesture of their great reverence for the extra-ordinary storyteller.

Summary of the Story

Somal, the village with a population of less than three hundred, was very filthy. It was so much caught up in dirt and was so ill-planned that even social reformer could feel depressed on looking at its hopeless condition. Its tank, no doubt, would provide water for drinking, bathing and washing the cattle but at the same time it was the mother of numerous serious diseases like malaria and typhoid. The village had crooked and winding lanes and the backyard of every house had puddles of stagnating water. People were insensitive to their surroundings, perhaps because of Nambi the perpetual enchanter who made them forget about their sordid reality by transporting them to a colourful world of adventures and wealth through the stories he told them. He was an extraordinary storyteller whose age was very difficult to estimate. If anyone asked him about his age, he would refer to some old famine or an attack from outsider or the building of a bridge. Although he was illiterate, he had the gift of creating fabulous and entertaining stories that could fascinate anybody.

The front part of a little temple was the humble abode of this story-teller. Nobody knew how he came to make that temple his home and his place of worship. He did not have many belongings. He had a couple of dhotis and upper clothes and a broom to sweep the temple. There was a banyan tree in front of the temple where Nambi used to spent most of his time. People would come in large numbers to this banyan tree in the evenings and got entertained by Nambi’s observations and anecdotes. Sometimes he would say that he had to meditate and contemplate so that the goddess could bless him with a new story to tell. He assured the people that his stories were a gift from the goddess and did not float in air.

The villagers used to worship at the temple on Friday evenings. Nambi would lit several mud lamps and arrange them around the inner part of the temple where the idol of the goddess was placed. He would decorate the idol of the goddess Shakti. On these occasions he would act as the priest and offer fruits and flowers to the goddess. When Nambi had a story to tell, he would lit a lamp and place it in a hollow space in the trunk of the banyan tree. The villagers would notice the lamp and know that their enchanter had another story to entertain them with. They would hurry up with their meals and gather under the banyan tree. The storyteller would come after his contemplation, forehead smeared with ash and vermilion and sit on a stone platform in front of the temple.

Numbi used to start his story in an interesting way by painting towards a vague and distant spot. He would begin his story by asking a question. He would talk about the great kings and their palaces, capitals, etc. He would describe in detail the pictures and trophies hung on the walls of the palace and sing the songs sung by the musicians of the kings. He used to build the story on an extended scale which required many days to tell it fully. The first day was usually taken up in describing the setting of the story. In the next sessions Nambi’s voice would rise and fall while narrating the rest of the story where common and aristocratic people, heroes, villains and supernatural powers jostled with one another in the fantastic world created under the banyan tree. The simple villagers would get swayed emotionally with the incidents of the story. After the story session, the whole audience used to go inside the temple and prostrate themselves before the goddess.

Usually, with every new moon Nambi was ready with a new story. He never repeated the same type of story. This process went on smoothly for years. But one day an unusual thing happened. He lit the lamp and his fans gathered to listen to him. He started telling the story of king Vikramaditya and one of his ministers when all of a sudden he paused, repeated the same sentence but found his words turning into unclear sounds. He thought for a while and prayed to the goddess that he should not fumble and waver in his art. He could not understand why all of a sudden he forgot the story. It was an experience which was humiliating and painful for Nambi. The villagers who were eagerly waiting for his next words were also greatly puzzled. As the time passed they started chattering and after some time silently slipped away. Nambi was dumbstruck. He realized that he had grown old. He found that Mari, his old friend, was still sitting there while others had left. Nambi told him in a disappointed strain that his head had refused to be his servant and had become disobedient and disloyal.

Next day he lit the lamp again and the villagers assembled faithfully. Nambi had prayed the whole day to the goddess not to leave him in lurch again. He started the story and went on for an hour. He thanked the goddess for not deserting him and continued his story. But after a few minutes, he paused, and groped for words but failed to start again. The audience got up silently and went home. Nambi did neither curse nor blame the villagers as they could not wait for hours for the story. After two days he started another story which lasted only for a few minutes and the gathering again withdrew. People started ignoring the lamp and Nambi wished that he would have died earlier. However, he shut himself into the inner part of the temple, ate little food and meditated in a motionless manner.

When the next moon appeared, Nambi lit the lamp again. Only a handful of the villagers turned up. They waited for others and finally the storyller refused to narrate the story till the whole village gathered. On the next day Nambi personally went around the village to tell the people that he had a wonderful story to tell and everyone should hear it. The villagers felt happy to know that the enchanter had regained his powers and a large crowd assembled under the banyan tree. But instead of telling a story, Nambi announced that he had become a dull and foolish old man who had lost his gift of storytelling. He added that the goddess was the giver and taker of this gift. He told them that the jasmine was useless without its smell and there was no use of the lamp when all of its oil was gone. He told that these were his last words and that was his greatest story. After that the Storyteller got up and went inside the sanctum.

The surprised villagers could not understand it and when some of them entered the temple and asked him entered the temple and asked him if he had nothing more to say, Nambi remained silent and indicated through gestures that he had spoken his last words. After this, he would walk into any cottage he liked and sit silently for food and walk away as soon as he had finished his food. He did not demand anything more from them. There was an utter silent in the rest of the life of the storyteller. The writer, thus, shows how the artist loses his powers one day and his art becomes stale and lifeless. A wise artist should stop when such a point is reached his career.