Summary of Chapter: 2
The Second Night
Balram confesses that it was he who murdered Mr.Ashok and also contributed to the probable death of all his family members. He says that he could always go on and on about himself . So he decides to talk about the other important man in his story, Mr.Ashok. And if the premier wants to know more about Balram he could log on to his website
He says that Mr.Ashok was such a handsome man sometimes even he couldn't take his eyes off him . Ashok’s wife Pinky was also as good looking as her husband, just as the image of the goddess in the Birla temple in New Delhi.Balram used to take them where ever they wanted to, as faithfully as Hanuman who carried about his Master and his wife Sita. He gets sentimental while talking about his master, who is a kind of second father to him.
He came to Dhanbad after his father's death. His father had been suffering from tuberculosis soon his condition became pathetic since there was no hospital in Laxsmangarh.Balram and his brother Kishan took him by boat across the river.With the help of a rickshaw puller they reaches the hospital. But there they have to wait for a long time for the doctor's arrival. But unfortunately his father dies even before the doctor's arrival.
Kishan gets married a month after his father's death.He says that it was one of the good marriages.Since the family was marrying off a male , they were able to get dowry and gifts from the bride's family. They got five hundred rupees cash, a hero bicycle and a thick gold necklace .After two weeks Kishan , Balram and their cousin Dilip move to Dhanbad and work in a tea shop. He addresses the plight of those men working in the teashops along the Ganga river. He calls them as human spider, who crawl, throughout the shops doing menial and cleaning work.
Most of them did their work sincerely unlike Balram.He was fired from the tea shop in Laxsmangarh. This is the reason he moves to Dhanbad with his brother.While working in a tea shop in Dhanbad he overhears a customer and comes to know about the high paying job which is driving. So he decides to learn driving when he tells this to Kishan, he says that kusum would never allow him to do so.So he goea to every taxi stand begging them to teach him car driving for free but no one agreed.
It would cost around three hundred rupees to learn driving. He begged kusum for the money and finally she agrees with a condition that he has to send his salary to his family.Somehow he finds a taxi driver who is interested in teaching him, but the man is quite unsure about Balram since he comes from a caste expected to be sweet makers. He thinks that Balram would lack the aggressive attitude necessary for a driver in India . How ever, Balram outweighs the man's expectation and as a reward he takes him to a brothel.
The very next day, Balram goes door to door asking if anyone needs a driver. Everybody said no. This went on for some days. At the end of each day he would return home exhausted and close to tears. Kishan kept encouraging him. After two weeks he finally gets a job in Stork’s house, one of the landlords in Laxsmangarh and has now settled in Dhanbad.
The Stork and his son Mukesh looked into Balram’s family background and appoints gim as a driver for Mr.Ashok the stork’s other son. Balram was fortunate that Mr.Ashok has just arrived from U.S. Since thr family already had a driver Ram Persad. Balram has to drive the Maruti Suzuki while Ram Persad drove the Honda City.
Balram then reflects on the caste system in India. Then he comes back to his story and explains how he was expected to be more than a driver.It turns out that he has to cook,clean and in short has to do whatever his master desired. But he was very happy. He was proud to have a uniform (like the one he used to admire on vijay) and was pleased to have enough food and a covered room for shelter. Even though he had to share the room with Ram Persad, who took the bed for himself and forced Balram to sleep on the floor. Once a month Kishan visited and took Balram’s salary.
Once a week, Balram accompanied Ram Persad to the liquor shop to buy expensive English whiskey for the Stork and his sons . Despite all the difficulties, Balram truly enjoyed his life partly because Mr.Ashok treated him with some respect. One day Mr.Ashok tells his desire to visit Laxsmangarh. Balram takes his master and mistress there in the Honda city. Balram was so excited to make grand return to his village. During the travel Pinky complains about India and expresses her wish to go back to U.S. But Ashok was not interested in going back and insists on staying in India.
When they arrived at the stork’s mansion in Laxsmangarh. The wild Boar also came there to have lunch with Mr.Ashok and pinky. Meanwhile Balram goes to meet his family members. Kusum scolds him for not sending money for the past few months. At the same time she was happy and proud of his achievements. When Kusum tells Balram that she has decided to get him married he angrily refuses and pushes the plate. He yells at Kusum and gets up to leave. When Kishan tries to stop him he pushed him as well and leaves.
He expalins to the premier that he was angry about how his family had used Kishan. Then he crossed the pond and reaches the Black fort. In order to describe his experience at the fort , Balram quotes a poem by Iqbal in which the devil rejects it's role as a servant of God. After half an hour he returns to stork’s mansion, without apologising to his family members.
He drove Ashok and Pinky back to Dhanbad. During the journey Mr.Ashok makes it clear to Pinky that he never wants to go back to New York. Since he enjoyed his life style in India. Moreover he has high hopes on the future of India. On the way back to Dhanbad they see a political demonstration , where men in red headbands were proclaiming their support for the great socialist.
Balram ends the chapter promising to continue his story in the following chapter.
Submitted by
AKSHA.J
The Second Night
Balram confesses that it was he who murdered Mr.Ashok and also contributed to the probable death of all his family members. He says that he could always go on and on about himself . So he decides to talk about the other important man in his story, Mr.Ashok. And if the premier wants to know more about Balram he could log on to his website
He says that Mr.Ashok was such a handsome man sometimes even he couldn't take his eyes off him . Ashok’s wife Pinky was also as good looking as her husband, just as the image of the goddess in the Birla temple in New Delhi.Balram used to take them where ever they wanted to, as faithfully as Hanuman who carried about his Master and his wife Sita. He gets sentimental while talking about his master, who is a kind of second father to him.
He came to Dhanbad after his father's death. His father had been suffering from tuberculosis soon his condition became pathetic since there was no hospital in Laxsmangarh.Balram and his brother Kishan took him by boat across the river.With the help of a rickshaw puller they reaches the hospital. But there they have to wait for a long time for the doctor's arrival. But unfortunately his father dies even before the doctor's arrival.
Kishan gets married a month after his father's death.He says that it was one of the good marriages.Since the family was marrying off a male , they were able to get dowry and gifts from the bride's family. They got five hundred rupees cash, a hero bicycle and a thick gold necklace .After two weeks Kishan , Balram and their cousin Dilip move to Dhanbad and work in a tea shop. He addresses the plight of those men working in the teashops along the Ganga river. He calls them as human spider, who crawl, throughout the shops doing menial and cleaning work.
Most of them did their work sincerely unlike Balram.He was fired from the tea shop in Laxsmangarh. This is the reason he moves to Dhanbad with his brother.While working in a tea shop in Dhanbad he overhears a customer and comes to know about the high paying job which is driving. So he decides to learn driving when he tells this to Kishan, he says that kusum would never allow him to do so.So he goea to every taxi stand begging them to teach him car driving for free but no one agreed.
It would cost around three hundred rupees to learn driving. He begged kusum for the money and finally she agrees with a condition that he has to send his salary to his family.Somehow he finds a taxi driver who is interested in teaching him, but the man is quite unsure about Balram since he comes from a caste expected to be sweet makers. He thinks that Balram would lack the aggressive attitude necessary for a driver in India . How ever, Balram outweighs the man's expectation and as a reward he takes him to a brothel.
The very next day, Balram goes door to door asking if anyone needs a driver. Everybody said no. This went on for some days. At the end of each day he would return home exhausted and close to tears. Kishan kept encouraging him. After two weeks he finally gets a job in Stork’s house, one of the landlords in Laxsmangarh and has now settled in Dhanbad.
The Stork and his son Mukesh looked into Balram’s family background and appoints gim as a driver for Mr.Ashok the stork’s other son. Balram was fortunate that Mr.Ashok has just arrived from U.S. Since thr family already had a driver Ram Persad. Balram has to drive the Maruti Suzuki while Ram Persad drove the Honda City.
Balram then reflects on the caste system in India. Then he comes back to his story and explains how he was expected to be more than a driver.It turns out that he has to cook,clean and in short has to do whatever his master desired. But he was very happy. He was proud to have a uniform (like the one he used to admire on vijay) and was pleased to have enough food and a covered room for shelter. Even though he had to share the room with Ram Persad, who took the bed for himself and forced Balram to sleep on the floor. Once a month Kishan visited and took Balram’s salary.
Once a week, Balram accompanied Ram Persad to the liquor shop to buy expensive English whiskey for the Stork and his sons . Despite all the difficulties, Balram truly enjoyed his life partly because Mr.Ashok treated him with some respect. One day Mr.Ashok tells his desire to visit Laxsmangarh. Balram takes his master and mistress there in the Honda city. Balram was so excited to make grand return to his village. During the travel Pinky complains about India and expresses her wish to go back to U.S. But Ashok was not interested in going back and insists on staying in India.
When they arrived at the stork’s mansion in Laxsmangarh. The wild Boar also came there to have lunch with Mr.Ashok and pinky. Meanwhile Balram goes to meet his family members. Kusum scolds him for not sending money for the past few months. At the same time she was happy and proud of his achievements. When Kusum tells Balram that she has decided to get him married he angrily refuses and pushes the plate. He yells at Kusum and gets up to leave. When Kishan tries to stop him he pushed him as well and leaves.
He expalins to the premier that he was angry about how his family had used Kishan. Then he crossed the pond and reaches the Black fort. In order to describe his experience at the fort , Balram quotes a poem by Iqbal in which the devil rejects it's role as a servant of God. After half an hour he returns to stork’s mansion, without apologising to his family members.
He drove Ashok and Pinky back to Dhanbad. During the journey Mr.Ashok makes it clear to Pinky that he never wants to go back to New York. Since he enjoyed his life style in India. Moreover he has high hopes on the future of India. On the way back to Dhanbad they see a political demonstration , where men in red headbands were proclaiming their support for the great socialist.
Balram ends the chapter promising to continue his story in the following chapter.
Submitted by
AKSHA.J
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