The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond
The story is about a mountain girl, Binya and her blue umbrella. The very first time she set her eyes on the blue umbrella, she was in awe. A group of picknickers owned the sky blue umbrella (silky). She bought it in exchange of her lucky pendant with the leopard’s claw.
The blue umbrella was with her, always open protecting her from sunlight, rains and snakes too. It was her company, she would never go outside without it and even when at home, it would always remain open.
Everyone in the village eyed her blue umbrella especially the tea shop owner, Ram Bharosa. Ram Bharosa was ready to buy it for as high as Rs.12. But Binya loved her umbrella so much that she couldn’t sell it. Forget selling it, when her umbrella toppled down the cliff, she fearlessly crawled down the cliff to protect her umbrella.
One day, Rajaram, a boy who works at Ram Bharosa’s tea shop offers to steal the umbrella for Rs.3. To which, Ram Bharosa greedily agrees. Though he does not go outside often, he still eyes the umbrella because he is relatively well off and the umbrella should be his possession and not that of a poor mountain girl.
While Rajaram manages to steal the umbrella, Binya notices him on time and rushes behind the thief. Binya’s brother Bijju arrives at the right time and catches hold of Rajaram. Binya finally gets back her umbrella. But Rajaram confesses that it was Ram Bharosa who had forced him to do so or else he might lose his job.
The whole village turns against Ram Bharosa. They stop coming to his shop, his earnings dip and he no longer has company of people. Binya always finds him sad and feels it is because of her, Ram Bharosa is suffering. She begins questioning what actually matters in life — people or the umbrella.
One day, Binya goes to buy a toffee from Ram Bharosa’s shop — he thinks she is fooling around with him and double checks the coin. Binya forgets her umbrella at the shop. Ram Bharosa finally happy to have laid his hands on the umbrella begins wondering what is even the use of it to a person who rarely goes outside. He runs behind Binya to give it back to her. But Binya says it does not really matter to her anymore, Ram Bharosa could keep it.
The village slowly comes at terms with him and things go back to normal. One day, Ram Bharosa finds a bear claw on his roof and gifts this pendant to Binya and the smile she gives to Ram Bharosa is something he will never forget. The mountains are glad!!
Analysis
“Soothing” is the word that always pops up in my head when I think of Ruskin Bond’s stories. They calm me down and send me into a state of flow. I have recently started reading Ruskin Bond again. I used to love his stories when they were part of my school curriculum.
This story is a beautiful representation of how children understand that nothing matters more than people. We always strive for things or are greedy for things which we might not actually “need” but just want as a status symbol. While Binya was in love with her blue umbrella, Ram Bharosa wanted it as a matter of possession. And in this greed, we often forget what we lose or whom we end up hurting.
The last exchange where Ram Bharosa gives the pendant to Binya will be etched in my memory — the smile she gives, that happiness in someone else life because of us is what our soul really needs. True happiness is achieved only by way of giving, never by way of taking or stealing or possessing.
