Characters of The Blue Umbrella:
Binyadevi or Binya is the central character of the novel. She is a teen girl who lives with her widowed mother and brother Vijay or Bijju in the village of Garwhal, Himachal Pradesh in India. Binya belongs to a poor, low-income family. Bijju is her elder brother who is very fond of her and takes care of her. The family owns two cows named Neelu and Gauri and Binya often lets them graze on their own and searches for them in the evening if they don’t come back. The English woman is a tourist accompanying a group of Japanese tourists visiting Garwhal for their holidays. She owns a beautiful blue umbrella. Ram Bharosa is a small shopkeeper and tea stall owner in the village who earns a good living. Rajaram is a teenage boy from another village whom Ram Bharosa employs as a helper at his shop.
Summary of The Blue Umbrella:
The story is set in a small village in Garhwal district in Himachal Pradesh. Binya is a teen girl, around 10 years old. She belongs to a poor low-income family and lives with her widowed mother and an elder brother Vjay who is around 13 years old. Vijay deeply cares for his sister who calls him by his nickname Bijju. The village is set in the mountainous terrain of the Himalayas often visited by tourists from different parts of the world. It is a small village lacking modern facilities. The biggest shop in the village is a small shop owned by Ram Bharosa who also runs a tea stall along with his shop. Binya is a carefree girl who likes being on her own. She belonged to the mountains and thus dark forests and lonely hilltops held no terrors for her. The nearest town to her village is five miles away and that town is a popular tourist destination. Binya’s family owns two cows whom Binya lovingly calls Neelu and Gauri. While Binya’s mother has offered the responsibility of tending the cows to Binya, she often lets them graze on their own and searches for them in the evening if they don’t come back.
One evening, when Binya was searching for her cows, she noticed a group of foreigners who visited the area for a picnic. She was enamored by these strange-looking people. Most of them were Japanese tourists and an English woman too accompanied them. Binya got interested in the English lady who held a beautiful blue umbrella in her hand to avoid the occasional drizzling that was so common during that part of the year. Binya was enchanted by that blue umbrella. The umbrella was like a flower. The English woman observed the little girl gazing at her umbrella and understood that the little girl is in love with her umbrella. She noticed that Binya is wearing a strange-looking necklace with an intricate pendant on her neck. The English woman called Binya near her and asked her about the pendant in her necklace and Binya answered that it was a leopard-claw pendant which is assumed to carry positive energy and good fortune for the bearer.
The English woman liked that pendant and wished to have it. She asked if Binya is willing to sell it and offered her a good amount of money in return. Binya was not willing to sell the pendant and she had no interest in money. The English woman asked what she wanted and Binya pointed towards the Blue Umbrella. The English woman was not interested in giving up her beautiful umbrella and insisted that Binya should sell her leopard-claw pendant for money. But Binya continued to refuse the deal. At last, the English woman agreed and decided to trade the pendant for the expensive, beautiful umbrella.
Binya was too happy after acquiring the beautiful blue umbrella. When she reached home, her mother asked where did she get the umbrella and Binya told her all about the deal with the English lady. Binya was absolutely in love with the blue umbrella, so much so, that she never closed the umbrella and always carried it with her wherever she would go. Binya’s elder brother Bijju once asked Biya why she does not close the umbrella and keep it away? Binya answered that the umbrella is no more beautiful when it is closed.
Binya would keep the umbrella with her always. The people of the village were envious of Binya while they loved the umbrella. They would often wonder how this poor little girl got such an expensive umbrella. Binya was a kind girl who would hold the umbrella for everyone who would ask her to. Meanwhile, Ram Bharosa noticed that the customers of his shop too are very much interested in the blue umbrella. Ram Bharosa too was enchanted by that beautiful umbrella and wished to own it for himself. He thought that if he gets the umbrella and keeps it at his tea stall, it will help him in improving his business. He decided to lure Binya into selling the umbrella to him in exchange for some free toffees and cookies from his shop. Binya, however, was so devoted to her umbrella that she resisted eating the toffees. Ram Bharosa decided to lure Bijju, her elder brother. He offered chocolates for Bijju on credit and promised to offer many such chocolates for free if Bijju succeeds in bringing the umbrella for him. However, Bijju plainly said that Binya loves the umbrella too much and always carries it with her.
Ram Bharosa knew that Bijju’s family is poor so he decided to lure Bijju again during his holidays. Ram Bharosa offered Bijju to work in his shop and hoped that in return, Bijju will help in acquiring the blue umbrella. However, Bijju declined the job because he was required to help his mother in the fields. This angered Ram Bharosa. Anyhow, he appointed a teen boy from a nearby village to work on his shop. His new servant’s name was Rajaram. Rajaram was a very hardworking boy and he was too loyal to Ram Bharosa. The boy noticed that Ram Bharosa always used to remain frustrated about the blue umbrella. He realized how much Ram Bharosa wants to have that umbrella. When Rajaram asked about it, Ram Bharosa told him that Binya will never sell that umbrella to him. He asked Rajaram to steal the umbrella from Binya and bring it to him. Rajaram agreed and decided to snatch the umbrella from Binya as she never left the umbrella unattended. Rajaram failed to snatch the umbrella rather, he was caught by Bijju while trying to steal it. When Bijju asked him why he is stealing the umbrella from his sister, Rajaram answered that Ram Bharosa told him to do so.
Everyone in the village came to know about the cunningness of Ram Bharosa. They decided to punish him by ostracizing him and stopped going to his shop. With time, the umbrella lost its shine. Binya’s blue umbrella faded and the signs of stitches began appearing on the umbrella. Still, it was the most beautiful umbrella in the village. Binya noticed that Ram Bharosa is very sad nowadays because nobody visits his shop. She felt bad about it. One day, she decided to visit Ram Bharosa’s shop to buy candy. Ram Bharosa was shocked at seeing her. She was the first customer to visit his shop in the last two weeks. Binya asked for candy and offered a coin on the counter. Ram Bharosa thought that Binya came to mock him. He checked if the coin was real and then he gave the candy to Binya. Binya took the candy and left the shop and she left the blue umbrella in the shop too. Ram Bharosa noticed the umbrella. He picked it up and ran outside the shop to return it to Binya. Binya told him to keep that umbrella, saying, “An umbrella is not everything.” Ram Bharosa was happy at Binya’s gesture and praised her compassion. Binya encouraged other villagers to forgive Ram Bharosa and soon people started visiting his shop again. Everything returned to normalcy but the people found that Ram Bharosa has been changed. He is much cheerful, compassionate, and selfless.
One day, Ram Bharosa found a bear’s claw near his shop. He took it to the blacksmith and told him to carve the bear’s claw in a beautiful pendant. He gave Binya the pendant saying it is luckier than a leopard claw.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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