MG –EN02CCT04
SAVOURING THE CLASSICS
MODULE- IV (SHORT FICTION)
CHAPTER -11
KABULIWALA – RABINDRANATH TAGORE
PREPARED BY
ASISH MARTIN TOM
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
DB COLLEGE THALAYOLAPARAMBU
UNDERSTANDING RABINDRANATH TAGORE
• Icon of Bengal renaissance
• First Asian to receive Nobel prize for
literature(1913)
• Writer, Painter, Musician, Educationist,
Freedom fighter
• Author of national anthems of both
India and Bangladesh
MILIEU OF THE STORY & IMPORTANT CHARACTERS
• Located in Bengal under British Raj
• Date of publication : 1892
• Narrator – Mini’s father
• Mini (5 year old girl)
• Rahamat (Kabuliwala ( a street peddler) )
• Mini’s mother
• Ramdayal ,Bhola, Nabi (all three are
servants of the household)
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
The opening scene of the story portrays
the close connection b/w the narrator and
his daughter
Mini’s constant chatter, her bubbly nature,
natural curiosity arrest the attention of the
reader
Tagore portrays the joyful companionship
of the father and her daughter with great
elan
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
• Mini is intelligent
• Mini loves to learn and know
• Her father is eager to talk to her and
groom her
• Her mother scolds her for her constant
chatter and curious questions
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
• Mini is afraid of Kabuliwala
• She is nervous, suspicious
• She believes that Kabuliwala kidnaps
children like her and his sack is full of
young kidnapped children like her
• Her father is aware of her false belief
and he wants do away her fear.
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
• Mini and Kabuliwala become thick friends
• They even have stock phrases and jokes
which they repeat in their conversation
• The conversations and companionship of
Mini and Kabuliwala fills the heart of the
narrator with delight
• Mini’s mother remain anxious and
suspicious about Rahamat
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
• Rahamat stabs one of his customers
during a quarrel
• He is arrested by the police
• Even while he is handcuffed, he smiles at
Mini and replies her question by saying
that he is going to father-in-laws’ house
• He is sentenced for several years in
prison
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
• Mini forgets Rahamat
• Rahmat returns to the household on the
eve of Mini’s wedding
• The narrator becomes angry .
• He doesn’t want the presence of a man
sentenced for homicide in his house
during an auspicious occasion
• He asks Rahamat to leave
SUMMARY OF THE STORY
• The narrator is deeply moved by Rehamat’s
story about his daughter in Kabul
• Rahamat realises that Mini as well as his
daughter had grown up
• He would have to get her known all over again
• He slouches on the floor with a long deep sigh
• Author cut shorts some parts of the wedding
event and gives that money to Rahamat.
• He asks him to go back and re-join his
daughter in Afghanistan
MAJOR THEMES
• Filial Love ( the deep love that fathers have for their children)
• In the story we encounter three examples of filial love
1. The love of narrator for his daughter
2. The love of Kabuliwala for his daughter
3. The love of Kabuliwala for Mini as he sees his daughter in Mini
4. Rahamat and the narrator understand each other well as both of them are loving parents
MAJOR THEMES
• Understanding the Other and universal brotherhood
1. Mini’s father allows his daughter’s companionship with Kabuliwala despite the
misgivings of her mother
2. As a writer the narrator believes in universal brotherhood and wants to connect with
people
3. The narrator transcends national, religious, class, caste boundaries and express genuine
love for Rahamat.
4. The narrator cancels the band party of her daughter’s wedding to help Rahamat
