Adventures in a Banyan tree

 “Adventures in a Banyan tree” is abeautifulShort story written by Ruskin Bond. The story is about the experience of a young boy who enjoys the beauty and wonders of nature from a banyan tree.

The boy befriended with a young grey squirrel, which mustered the courage to take food even from his pockets!  The boy  built a small platform on the banyan tree where he spent his afternoons by reading different types of story books.

Once, he saw a deadly fight between a mongoose and a cobra under the banyan tree. As the fight continues, a jungle crow and a myna reached there and sat on the cactus. Unfortunately the crow got a strike from the cobra and it died soon. But the clever myna kept a distance from the snake. It was really a battle of champions.  Though the cobra fought well, it couldn't win over the swift movements of the mongoose. At last the mongoose killed and dragged the snake to the bushes. The myna gave him a cry of congratulation and flew away.

The boy frequently took a white rat which his grandfather had bought from bazaar, to the banyan tree. Soon the rat made a relation with one of the squirrels. After a few days the boy found three baby squirrels in a hole of the banyan tree. All of them are white! His grandfather told him that the white rat might be their father.

The Snake And The Mirror

“The snake and the mirror” is a satirical short story written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. The story is about a young homeopath who happens to meet an encounter with a snake. 

It was a hot summer night about ten o’clock. The doctor reached his rented room after having meals from a restaurant. He had just set up his medical practice and his earnings were meagre. He had about sixty rupees in his suitcase along with some other shirts, dhotis and one black coat.

The house was not electrified. It was too hot inside to sleep. So he lit a beedi and sat on a chair near the table looking at a large mirror there. He was a great admirer of beauty. Looking at the mirror, he found himself that he was so handsome. He then decided to keep his attractive smile always on his face and to shave daily. He frequently heard some noises on the roof. But he didn't mind it thinking that it might be the regular traffics of rats!

He then dreamt of marrying a woman doctor with plenty of medical practice. He wished that she would be fat because if he mde any mistakes, she couldn't be able to catch him! Soon he heard a loud thud on the floor. Before he could do anything, a fat snake coiled on his shoulder. He stood motionless. If he moved a little, the snake woul bite him. And if it happened , he would surely die because there were no medicines in the room! He realized himself that he was a foolish doctor.

His mind was very active. He uttered the name of god in mind. Fortunately the snake turned its hood away from him and it moved towards the mirror to enjoy its own beauty! Soon the doctor escaped from there and reached one of his friends house.The next day  they returned to the room to remove all his possessions. But they have nothing left to take. Some thieves had taken all his belongings except his dirty vest as a final insult!

Project Tiger

“Project Tiger” is a memoir written by popular Indianfilm maker Satyajith Ray. The memoir is an account of his experience while shooting a movie with a tiger in his film “Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne”. To shoot a scene showing the encounter of a tiger with the heroes ,Goopy and Bagha, Satyajith got a trained tiger with its trainer, Mr.Thorat from the Bharat Circus Company.

  Mr. Thorat and his team reached at Notun Gram, with two tigers. Thorat said that he brought two tigers because if one failed, the other could be used. They put a tiger-skin collar around the tiger’s neck and tied one end of a thin- but-strong wire to this collar and the other end to an iron rod fixed to the ground. When Mr. Thorat opened the cage, thetiger jumped out of the cage with great enthusiasm. The trainer Mr. Thorat couldn't bring it under his control, but it calmed down after a while. They took the required shots, but later found that the camera had failed to work, and the shots were too dark.

 They decided to reshoot the scenes again in a village called Boral.  The lorry once again came with Thorat, the tiger, the steel wire, the special collar and the iron rod. But this time, the whole village came to see the shooting. Though the villagers were warned to keep away from the scene of shooting, the didn't move.

 But as Thorat opened the door of the cage, the tiger came out with a loud roar, and charged straight at the villagers. The crowd was melted away as if by magic. After that the tiger calmed down like an obedient child and walked over to the spot. Ray and his men took all the required shots. This time the camera also workes well, and all the shots are perfect.

The Castaway

"The Castaway" is an interesting story written by Rabindranath Tagore. The story depicts the love and care experienced by an orphan boy named Nilkanta from a young lady named Kiran.

One evening, in one of the riverside houses in the Chandernagore village,  Sharat and Kiran engaged in a verbal battle. There were heavy rainfall and thunderstorms occurring outside. Kiran was sick and all her villagers wished that she would return to her house for a change. Kiran herself also wanted to go back to her native village because she believed that she was alright then. Moreover she felt boredom by doing nothing there.  But Sharat and his mother wanted her to stay a little longer because the doctor had suggested so. This was the subject of their verbal battle.

Their quarrel was interrupted by the arrival Nilkanta, a survivor of an upturned boat in the river. He belonged to a drama group. Their boat perished in the river as they were going to a neighbouring village for a show. Nilkanta’s arrival gave Kiran a new birth. Sharat and his mother became very happy as Kiran would stay longer there in the company of Nilkanta. But Nilkanta soon made bad friendships with the naughty village boys and made a street dog as his pet. Soon, Sharat got many complaints from his neighborhood about Nilkanta and his friends. Though Sharat tried to send Nilkanta away , it became in vain by Kiran's strong protest.

Nilkanta performed various theatrical performances to entertain Kiran. Nilkanta was also very happy as he got motherly and sisterly love and care from Kiran. Meanwhile Sharat’s younger brother Satish came there to spend his vacation. Kiran and Satish were of the same age and they engaged all the time in merry-making. This made Nilkanta  jealous on Satish.  He wanted to take revenge upon Satish, so he took Satish’s favourite inkstand to throw  into the river. 

Finally the family decided to return to their native village. Kiran wanted to take Nilkanta with them, but all others opposed.  Kiran wanted to give him some surprise gifts and opened his box.  She was surprised to see Satish’s missing inkstand in it!  Meanwhile Nilkanta came there and saw Kiran sitting in his room holding the inkstand. He knew that he could not prove his innocence anymore and he left the place.

The  Best Investment I Ever Made 

“The  Best Investment I Ever Made “ is a heart touching short story written by A.J Cronin. The story narrates one of the incidents from the author’s early life as a doctor in London.

While returning from New York Dr. Cronin noticed that one of his fellow Voyagers watching him earnestly. At first Cronin ignored him since he wanted to avoid shipboard contacts.He saw the same person again on the next day. This time he was accompanied by his wife. Cronin came to know that they were Mr. and Mrs. John from a London suburb. 

The man approached Dr. Cronin on the final day of the journey. He handed Dr. Cronin his business card and asked whether he recognised him. The man told that he was a lawyer by profession. He added that he and his wife had been in the field of youth welfare for fifteen years. As Dr.Cronin was unable to remember him, the man himself reveal the flashback story which happened twenty-five years ago.

Then Cronin realised that Mr. John was the same young man whom he had saved from a suicidal death 25 years ago. John was an orphan. His uncle had found him a job in a solicitor's office in London. Unfortunately John lost all his small savings by gambling. In order to recoup his lost savings, he decided for final gambling and stole some money from his office. But he lost in that effort. Being afraid of the prosecution, he tried to commit suicide.

After listening to John’s story, Dr. Cronin decided to help him by giving him seven pounds and ten shilling to put back in the office safe and begin a fresh life. For John, it was like a second life. He determined to change his life and to make a new beginning. Thus he became a successful social worker. According to Dr. Cronin, the small amount of money he gave to John 25 years ago was the best investment in his life because it gave him immense pleasure.

The Scholarship Jacket is an inspirational short story written byartha Salinas. The story is about a 14-year-old girl named Marta. Her only goal is to win the scholarship jacket that the school awards to the class validitarian. Marta expects to be given the honor as she enters her 8th grade, just like her sister Rosie did in the past.

In all honesty, Marta has had a tough life. She lives with her grandparents as her father cannot afford to feed her with his meager income. His grandfather runs a farm and tries hard to educate her. She is also not very beautiful or athletic. So, academic honor was the only thing that she found alluring.