Skip to main content

Night train at Deoli by Ruskin Bond summary

 Introduction:  “The Night Train at Deoli” is a short story by Ruskin Bond.  It narrates the story of a short meeting that takes place between an eighteen year old college student travelling by train and a young girl selling baskets on a railway platform.  He meets the girl only twice during his travels.  He understands that the girl had stolen his heart.

The first meeting : An eighteen year old college student travels from the plains to his hometown of  Dehradun every summer. He prefers to travel by the overnight train. Early in the morning the train stops in the  small village of Deoli. The student does not understand why the train had to stop there as no one either got on or off the train at that station.On one such trip, the student notices a pale girl selling cane baskets on the platform. She appears to be poor, but moves with grace and dignity. Her shiny black hair and dark, troubled eyes attracts the author. The girl offers to sell baskets to him. He initially refuses to buy and later when she insists, happens to buy one with a little hesitation, daring not to touch her fingers. Both of them just look at each other for quite some time without speaking a word. It seems to form a bond between them. As the train moves away he asks  her whether she would be there on his return journey. Though she says something, he is unable to hear it because of the train's noise.

The second meeting: On his return journey he looks for her and finds her. They are happy to see each other like long lost friends. Though they do not speak a word, their silence speaks more than words. He feels like taking her with him but does not do so. He tells her that he needs to go to Delhi and she replies saying she need not go anywhere, perhaps expressing her helplessness. Both of them separate unwillingly as the train leaves the station, with the hope of meeting again. The meeting helps to break the monotony of his journey. It gives a sense of attachment and  responsibility towards the girl.  Both during his journey and for a long time later on, he keeps thinking of the girl he met at the station at Deoli.

The narrator's disappointment: The next summer, soon after his college term finishes, he hurriedly leaves for Dehra. His visit to see his grandmother is just an excuse . He is eager to meet the girl once again. This time she is not to be seen at the Deoli station though he waits for a long time. This deeply disappoints him and a sense of foreboding overcomes him. On his way back to Delhi, he again waits anxiously to see her, but it ends in vain. On enquiry, he comes to know that the girl has stopped coming to the station to sell her cane baskets  and nobody knows about her .  Once again, he has to run to catch his train. He makes up his mind that he would definitely break journey there, spend a day in the town, make enquiries and find the girl who had stolen his heart.

The narrator's subsequent visit: The following year in summer, he again walks up and down the platform hoping to see the girl, but somehow, he cannot bring himself to break the journey to look for her. He seems to be afraid of discovering the truth about her. He is afraid that he might find out something unpleasant about her which is not acceptable to him. He just wants to retain his sweet memories of her. But he suggests to his readers that he did not want to project himself like a hero of a movie where the hero would meet his beloved after undergoing all hardships and finally win  her over. He prefers to keep hoping and dreaming, waiting for the girl.


Conclusion: We know very little of the young man's family or circumstances, we can see ourselves in him. We all remember moments of fantasy-like love; feelings of strong attraction toward a person we barely know. We know what it is like to build someone up in our imagination. The narrator never moves beyond that place. He never acts, and he is filled with remorse because of it. Because Bond's narrator is a kind of "every man," it is easy for readers to empathize with him.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

You May Also Like

SCHOOLS OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Introduction : Ø   Comparative Literature was established in France during the 19 th century as an academic discipline : France   1816 Ø   It reached America only during the 20 th century through the German scholars who migrated to America from Hitler’s Germany The French School : Ø   In the French sense of Comparative Literature, it is the moral responsibility of every French Comparatist to trace and relate the world literary experience to the French literary response because , according to him, the French literature is the backbone of the universal literary system Ø   Therefore, they were interested in analysing the external sources and influence of works. In the French School, Comparative Literature becomes an ancillary discipline in the field of French literary history Ø   The French school   was too narrow and relied too heavily on factual evidence Ø   It argued that Comparative literature ought to involve the study of two el...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEMATOLOGY IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Introduction v   Thematology or study of themes is a new area in the field of comparative literature. It was introduced by the famous American comparatist, Harry Levin. It was he who coined the term ‘Thematics’ or ‘Thematology’ v   Thematology is a comparative study of literary works as they relate to other literary works as far as the themes are concerned Themes and Motifs Thematology involves the study of ‘themes’ and ‘motifs’ . Both are basically different but modern literary critics use them as interchangeable terms. A motif is a recurring element in a work of art. It may be an incident or a device or a formula. For example, folklores have a common motif of a ugly woman becoming a charming princess. Another common motif is bemoaning of the bygone past in lyrics. The ‘theme’ is a recurrent element but it is related to the subject-matter to both form and content Motif vs Theme The theme is the central idea or message where as the motif constitutes the unit from...
1 comment
Read more

NATIONAL, COMPARATIVE AND WORLD LITERATURE

  “Literature in English” is a common one that encompasses all literature written in English, regardless of the citizenship of the author Classification is essential to distinguish Comparative Literature from National Literature, General Literature, and World Literature   National Literature Two contradictory explanations…. 1. National literature  is produced by the people of a state, in the language of that people. For example, the Tamil literature, written in Tamil and by a Tamilian is accepted as National Literature. This is a narrow sense which excludes Tamil literature produced in countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other countries National literature is the literature produced by citizens of a particular nation. It's one way of grouping literature (e.g., American literature, British literature, French literature, and Indian English literature) 2. Many comparitists accept all writings produced by those people who share the same culture and language t...
Post a Comment
Read more