The Serang of Ranaganji

 The story is about a ship voyage from Liverpool to Calcutta during the British rule in India. The story describes how Dr. A j Cronin, the narrator, and Hasan, the protagonist of the story, who is the serang of the ship known as Ranaganji, manage a grave calamity, silently and bravely.

Characters

The narrator– the physician of the Ranaganji

Hasan– the Indian serang of the Ranaganji

Captain Hamble– the captain of the Ranaganji

Miss Jope-Smith– a high class social woman, a passenger on the Ranaganji

The Ship Sets Sail

The journey began well. The ship crossed the Mediterranean and reached the Arabian Sea smoothly. The Ranaganji was a strong old vessel, with white officers and an entirely native Indian crew. The narrator was the physician of the ship. The ship was crowded with the usual tourists and had many Anglo-Indian army officers, accompanied by their wives and families.

Miss Jope-Smith, a wealthy -well dressed woman who was a first-class passenger of the ship. She was a very social person, although quite boring. She deliberately tried to mock at the appearance of Hasan, the serang. Pointing out the serang , she asked her companion if he had ever seen such an ugly creature.

It was the first moment when the narrator noticed Hasen. He is squat with short legs and a large disproportionate head.  That is why Jope Smith calls him “an absurdly comic creature.”  He is the supervisor of the ship and is in charge of the loading and unloading of the baggage.

Smallpox Spreads Among the Crew

One morning, the serang, Hasan, brought two sick deck hands to the narrator for a check-up. The narrator was inexperienced. So he was feared by realising that the patients had smallpox. He informed Captain Hamble of the situation.

Captain Hamble informed that he couldn’t offer any of his officers because the ship was already  overloaded and understaffed. But the captain assured him the service of Hasan. Captain also warned him to keep the disease from spreading and not to let the passengers know about this because they would panic .

Then doctor and the serang tried to isolate the men. There was no available cabin space on board to do this. So Hasan built a large canvas shelter on the afterdeck. The two patients were brought there.Hasan helped the narrator take care of the patients.

But the next morning, they found three new cases among the crew, and four more in the afternoon. So, they had ten cases in that temporary shelter. It was a difficult situation but the serang tirelessly served the sick men.

Colombo, the nearest port of call, was still eight days away. In the next two days, four more men fell sick. One of the earlier victims had gone into a coma, and seemed likely to die at any moment. The narrator was extremely stressed by these difficult circumstances, but looking at Hasan meditate calmly, brought him peace.

Hasan’s Life and the End of the Crisis

Hasan did not talk much, but the narrator learnt a bit about him soon. He was from the Punjab, but his parents had migrated to southern India. There, in the coastal area, he had become a seaman. He had been a seaman for nearly forty years, and fifteen of these had been spent in the Ranaganji. He had no family or friends in India. He had never married. By religion he was a Muslim.

All his life he had no property or money. His few possessions were contained in his ship’s chest and might be worth a few rupees. Hasan thought money was of no use to one who had all he needed. Money had no interest for him. Instead, he had courage, self-control, and faith.  As thinking about Hasan's simplicity, the narrator had felt ashamed himself about his own passionate desire for success and wealth.

 

The next day, two patients died. Hasan sewed their shrouds, read aloud a short passage from the Ramayana before their bodies which were cast overboard at midnight. No fresh cases developed. A week later, they arrived at Colombo. The sick men were taken to the hospital. Most of them had passed the crisis. But three of them seemed quite helpless. Hasan carried them with tears in his eyes.

The ship soon reached Calcutta. The narrator heard Miss Jope-Smith making fun of Hasan’s appearance again. She asked him whether they had kept an animal like Hasan in a cage throughout the voyage. The doctor, offended, told her that maybe they had, but it was strange that all the animals were outside, implying that it was cruel people like her who were the actual animals.

Conclusion

This story shows us how appearances can be deceiving. Although Hasan is ugly, he is a brave man with high ideals. He helps the narrator get through the smallpox crisis, and helps him learn things about life through his simplicity and bravery. Therefore, we should never judge a book by its cover.