The Blue Umbrella
by Ruskin Bond
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Quick answers
1. Setting is the location and time a story is set in. It serves as the background against which the action of the story takes place. Complete the chart below to describe the setting of 'The Blue Umbrella'.
=
|
Cue question |
Setting |
Evidence from the story |
|---|---|---|
|
Where is the story set? |
Tehri, a village in the Garhwal Himalayas. |
Binya lived in the Garhwal Himalayas on the Tehri road. |
|
Describe the landscape. |
Hillside. |
Loose stones rattled down the cliff. Once on their way, the stones
did not stop until they reached the bottom of the hill; and they took other
stones with them, so that there was soon a cascade of stones. |
|
In which season does the story happen? |
Summer. |
It was the kind of day sleeping warm and summery. |
|
Describe the weather. |
Windy. |
The wind grew stronger; picking up dead leaves and sending them
spinning and swirling through the air. |
Reference to context
2. "Binya ran to the edge of the cliff. Going down on her hands and knees, she peered down the cliff-face."
a. Why was Binya at the edge of the cliff?
= Binya was at the edge of the cliff to rescue her blue umbrella.
b. Which word means 'looked with difficulty or concentration at someone or something'? Why has the narrator used this word?
= The word 'peered down' means 'looked with difficulty or concentration at someone or something'.
The narrator has used this word to show us the geographical feature of the place. Binya was on the cliff-face and her umbrella was stuck in the crooked cherry three many feet down below.
c. What did Binya see?
= Binya saw a small stream rushed between great boulders about hundred feet below. Hardly anything grew on the cliff-face - just a few stunted bushes, and, halfway down, a wild cherry three growing crookedly out of the rocks and hanging across the chasm. The umbrella had stuck in the cherry tree.
3. "As agile as a mountain-goat, she did not take more than five minutes to reach the crooked cherry tree. But the most difficult task remained."
a. Identify and explain the comparison in the given lines.
= Here Binya has been compared to a mountain-goat as she reached to cherry tree on which her blue umbrella was stuck. Mountain-goats are very skilful to ride up and down the hill slopes as they have got the adaptation for it. They have broad hooves to move on the mountain easily. Binya has also the same agility to move in the hilly region as she is a mountain girl.
b. Where was the cherry tree?
= The cherry tree was fifty feet below and it grew crookedly out of the rocks and hanging across the chasm.
c. What was the difficult task that remained?
= The difficult task that remained was to crawl along the trunk of the cherry tree, which stood out at right angles from the cliff. Only by doing this could she reach the trapped umbrella.
4. "She could not crawl back with it in her hands."
a. Who is the narrator speaking about in this line?
= The narrator is speaking about Binya in this line.
b. What is the person holding?
= The person is holding her blue umbrella.
c. Why could the person not crawl back with the thing in her hands?
= Binya was gripping the rough cherry bark with her toes, and using her knees as leverage, she crawled along the trunk of the projecting tree until she was almost within reach of the umbrella. Now she has the umbrella in her hand, so she can not crawl back with the thing in her hands.
Read, reflect and write
5. Describe Binya's life in the village.
= Binya belonged to the part of the Himalayas know as Garhwal. She was at home on a hillside. She was agile enough to climb up and down the mountain cliffs like her brother Bijju. She used to graze the cows, fetch water from the spring, and carry milk to the little tea shop on the Tehri road. She belonged to a financially challenged family. One day she chanced upon a group of picnickers, one of whom gave her a pretty blue umbrella. Binya grew very fond of it.
6. How do we know that the blue umbrella was something that Binya treasured?
= Binya belonged to the part of the Himalayas known as Garhwal. One day she chanced upon a group of picnickers, one of whom gave her a pretty blue umbrella. Binya grew very fond of it.
Whenever Binya went out - whether it was to graze the cows, or fetch water from the spring, or carry milk to the little tea shop on the Tehri road - she took the umbrella with her. That patch of sky-blue silk could always be seen on the hillside.
7. Give a brief description of how the umbrella came to be stuck in the branches of the cherry three.
= Binya was on her way on the Tehri road. On the way she sat down in the shade of a pine tree. She laid the umbrella beside her. She cradled her arms and presently she dozed off. And while she slept, a wind sprang up. The umbrella stirred on the grass. The wind grew stronger.
Suddenly it lifted the umbrella and carried it about six feet from the sleeping girl. The sound woke Binya. She reached the umbrella and was about to hold it. But the wind took it away from her downhill. The wind did the same playfully for quite a few times. Ultimately it fell on the precipice and stuck in the cherry tree which grew crookedly on the rock almost fifty feet below the cliff-face.
8. Binya is the hero of this story. List three character traits that you see in Binya and give a piece of evidence from the story for each one of them.
= Binya belonged to the part of the Himalayas known as Garhwal. One day she chanced upon a group of picnickers, one of whom gave her a pretty blue umbrella. Binya grew very fond of it. She is the hero of the story. We find it as the story line proceeds.
Binya is a fighter. She did not give up the hope of rescuing the umbrella which was blown away by the strong wind. She tried consistently till the last time to hold the umbrella till it went down the cliff-face.
Binya is physically and as well as mentally strong. She went down the cliff-face like an agile mountain goat. She did not scare to go down there yet there was a high chance to fall from so height of hundred feet and get hurt of die.
She is intelligent. She knew that it would be hard to crawl back along the cherry tree. She let the umbrella fall into the ravine below and rescued it late going into it.
9. The Climax of a story is the most exciting or gripping event in the plot. Which event, according to you, is the climax of this story?
= The Climax of a story is the most exciting or gripping event in the plot. According to me, the moment Binya merged from the nettle clump with her precious blue umbrella twenty minutes later, is the climax of the story. She had nettle stings all over her legs, but she was hardly aware of the smarting.
About the Author:
Ruskin Bond (b.1934) was born in Kasauli, India. He wrote his first novel The Room on the Roof when he was 17 years old and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. He has written over a hundred short stories, poems and essays and about thirty books for children. A few of his known works are The Room on the Roof, Panther's Moon and Time Stops at Shamli. He has received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English writing in India. He has also been honoured with the Padma Shri.