Chapter 1
One day early morning Lila ,a thirteen girl went to the shrine on the beach to offer flowers to god. she stayed there for a short time enjoying the warmth of the rising sun, bowed again and turned back to home. sometimes ago Lila’s father owned a fishing boat and went to sea to fish. Then her mother used to brig flowers to this rock in the sea,and pray. On her way back along the path among the coconut grove she passed bungalow.it was locked and shuttered.it was belonged to the rich people who were living in Mumbai.her two sisters were brushing their teeths with twigs when lila came.they complained that she were late.lila get hurry and boil water for tea.hari came with the little pot of milk.lila added some milk to mothers cup because she were ill.lila could smelt the fermented toddy smell that was hated by a small child.bela and kamal walked with hari to the school.at the edge of the village was a pond where woman washed clothes.Ramu a former school mate of hari came on a bicycle.ramu said that they get jobs.hari heard that some factoris are coming upon village.but lila too had the same problem in mind she was thinking about that.they did not like fishing .hari could not walk any more.after the school bela and kamal came to beach carryin a small pot.lila has sent them to collect barnacles.Bijus daughter was walking on the road.they were wearing beautiful sarees.other women talk about them.hari’s nature is exposed a little.he does not like other people to see what is doing.he brought his net only after the other people have gone.he threw the tiny fish that came in to his net back to the sea.he is observant about how the birds behave.their dinner is ready it is a pleasant dinner because it is a result of co-operative effort.the story of pinto is amusing.hari asked “where is the father” because they hate their father going to the toddy shop.
Chapter 3
Mother condition has turned worse.lila and her sister were panicked.their neighbour is Hira-bhai.she drink in toddy shop.she insult them thinking that they came for toddy for father or to get some money on loan.they were explained theis suffer.the old woman promised to send the medicine man who she said has herbs.bela and kamal fled back to their home.little later pinto came limping.The medicine man came and made some sounds with his drum.he uttered some chants and got the girls to bring some ash from fire place.then he demanded payment.they had no money or valuable thing to give him.she show that their mothers silver ring.the man looked rough and left.after the mental agony the girls underwent because the medicine man.a band of the men had invaded the dense shrubbery surrounded the creek.they made a big commotion and caught a small mangoose .bela was highly grieved because they killed such a little mangoose.a drunken man came and ask for their father.he wanted them to pay money their father had borrowed for toddy.soon after the man had gone hari returned home.
Chapter 2
Lila is going to the market at thul today.after bela and kamal came she wore her new saree.while she going to market she met a friend mina.mina had nothing to do.her parents find a husband to her.lilas bag was full.lila and mina walk together.biju’s boat was being built.the villagers talked about him.they seem to be jealous of Biju ,probably because of his proud manners.bela and kamal have heard people talk about smugglers and want to know about them from hari.hari played on their ignorance until they fell asleep.hari and other boys in the village on finding a jobs.they don’t have any jobs in the village acceptable to them.ramu is very hopeful. They know nothing about the cities such as Bombay and the job opportunities there. Mr.silva the lady of the house.lila and her sister were also very good to the silva and won their good will.It was only their father messed up.Had he been not drunk Mr.silva would have given them jobs. Hari has no definite plan about the future.he goes to the site where the factory is to come up to find about it.hari being an uneducated man didn’t understand what he mention as fertilizer ,factory complex,manure and so on.haris biggest finding a job to earn money to look after his sisters.he knows that he cannot find a job in thul.
Chapter 4
After all thinking hari has came to a conclusion that he must do something to get out of this situation.he listen to the watch man who said about the factories and the change they would bring about and Biju protests.the villagers became very angry.because of the destruction that the factories would bring on them.just an irresponsible watcher ,but people believed what he said without checking on the truthfulness of what he said.The news of what the factory project would do to Thul and surrounding villages angered the villagers.a man from alibhag began to speak to the crowd.he spoke against the factory project and enticed people to protest.while waiting for some ice for mother hari heard about the massive demonstration to be held against the fertilizer factory.he could take the side of the factory and try to find work there.as hari reached home he found the something was wrong .the girls were crying when he asked was it somebody has poisoned pinto.hari understood their plight.every one looking down upon them.because they are helpless and poor.
Chapter 5
Hari did not know that biju boats was to be put to the sea that day.the place was decorated with banners made of old saris of bijus wife.the boatmakers had made all the arrangements to move the boat to the sea and gone home.the boat makers did not return in the morning and biju was so impatient to put the boat to the sea at the auspicious time.he got hold of some local people and set at the task.but the boat slips to a side wildly across the greased logs and titled dangerously .the men ran away for safety.all attemps to move it from there that day failed.as the night fell everybody except biju left the beach to the tide line where it was put to sea quietly when the tide came.by this time hari was far away from thul and he had forgotten all about biju’s boat.
Chapter 6
Hari managed to get a lift in bullock cart from alibagh to rewash.when he reached sun was rise.hari think that the fertilizer must be something important eventhough he did not know about it.it was fourteen kilometers from rewash to Bombay.he did not have a ticket but slipped into a boat and sat with the people.someone felt sorry for hari who was sitting huddled while other people were eating and drinking .he gave him a dry chapatti and the boy gulped it with difficulty.as the boat approach the city of the Bombay.hari was filled with wonder.Tall buildings, roads full of traffic tooting of horns people hurrying about like ants was something hari had not seen.As he was pushed from behind by the passengers trying to get out as quickly as possible,he saw cranes operating on ships lifting large bundles of goods.he saw another procession coming and their procession had to stop to give way to the other on the order of the police.it was a procession of women demanding lowering of cost of living.hari left the village but his sisters at home did not know about it.the happy event is the arrival of Mr.silva and his family.
Chapter 7
Hari who had never gone out of the village was left alone in Bombay ,one of the big city in india.he had not eaten yesterday morning and had only a few cents in his pocket.throughout the day he had been going about with the people who came to protest against the new factory project in Thul.his attempt to meet Mr.de silva also failed.fortunately he meets a kind man who took him to a place where he was given a meal and a place to sleep.
Chapter 8
Hari began his work at sri Krishna eating house.the name is very grand but from the subsequent description we came to know that it is the meanest and dirtiest eating house in Bombay.the customers are beggars and coolies.the boy had to work without break.the owner of the eating house seems to be a peculiar person.he told hari that he can have his meals free and stay at the place free if he liked and that he would pay 1 rupee a day.hari goes to the road to empty a pail of garbage into one of the big concrete disposal units on the roadside.he speaks to an eldery man who repairs watches.he turned out to be a kind man.he speaks to hari and hari develops a friendship with him.Mr.silva and his family came when lila was about to go to alibagh to bring medicine for her mother.but she didn’t know any doctor or have the money pay for the medicine.lila offered to do the work that hari did.they worked so well that the cook was satisfied.lilas mother sick and take her to hospital.when lila came home she had to face another problem.father was drunkard.
Chapter 9
Hari had to work in the kitchen in intense heat.jagu paid his wages as promised and since he get his meal free.he had to sleep on a bench or on the dirty floor.traffic was never stand still and the noise that the road made was unnerving .one day for a change he went to sleep on the pavement because it was little cooler there.the old watch repairer saw him and told him if he can go to the park it would be a better place.hari had to suffer in Bombay lack of a place to sleep eventhough later he found a place to sleep by luck.the old gentleman who spoke to the policeman should be a very respectable man influential person in locality .otherwise the policeman would not have accept defeat.lilas immediate problems are over .she has a good income and her mother is getting better .father has given up drink amd looking after mother at the hospital .she visits mother at the hospital once a week and gives some money to fathers for his expenses.
Chapter 10
Mr.panwallah was thrilled because of coming of the monsoon.he asked Jagu to give hari and evening off and brought him in bus.he brought hari a green coconut and paper cone filled with puffed rice.the roaring sea stretched up to Africa made him feel lighter and happier.he didn’t forget to say “thank you” to Mr.panwallah.hari was sick and but he can’t leave the kitchen. Watch repair shop is in his charge but he has no time to go to a doctor in the morning.jagu is taking him home to go to doctor in morning.jagu is a good man.he should get a good income from business.he doesn’t know how to manage business well.even his eating house is the dirtiest.he is peculiar man.jagu understood that he had made a mistake by bringing hari to the house eventhough he did it out of kindness.Mr.silva come back and he could get a job if he goes to him brighten hari.but he is reluctant to leave the friends he had made and the environment even for a lucrative job with comforts.
Chapter 11
Mr.panwallah was a great amn .he not only gave sound advice to hari he also undertook to train him further in watching mending .he was asked to take what the customers pay for the watches he repairs.when he fell ill with bronchitis he had closed his shop and gone home.hari does not know where he lived.when jagu gave his address to a customer hari heard it and got the address from jagu and got one hour off and went to see Mr.panwallah.Mr.panwallah was very glad man to hari.when hari expressed his wish to go home he told him that the ferry does not operate and wait until it begins operating and in the meantime to learn a more about watch mending .he also pointed out that he will be able to save a little more to take home.when hari said that he will not be able to find a job in Thul,Mr.panwallah gave him very good advice on that too.
Chapter 12
Hari was in Bombay for seventeen months and has learnt a lot.the two friends jagu and Mr.panwallah liked him so much they bought him a bus ticket jointly out of their money.he worked in the eating house under very difficult conditions,made friends and learned to repair watches.Mr.Panwallah he can manage on his own in this world successfully like a city man.As he came by bus for the first time he saw the scene on the either side of the road from Bombay to Thul.Now he has come home.hari want to ask many question about many things but lila was so insistent he followed her to house.the sister gave them the sweets they have made for Diwali and all of them ate together.hari gave them presents he brought for them.
Chapter 13
Hari has come back with definite plants to earn his living and live in Thul with his siters.he has a little money saved and has acquired a skill in watching mending.with the money he is going to start a paltry farm in a small way at the beginning .he knows that there would be a demand for eggs and chicken when people from faraway places come to work in the factory.hari meet several people his return from Bombay.ramu has not changed.he is still waiting to get a job from the factory.but he does not think that he must have some experience or training to get a job in factory.father meets hari.he looks too old.his hair turned grey.hari mother is in good health.mother was asked to relate a story and lila related Rama Ravana story.at the end children understand the importance of lighting lamps on Divali day.hari took his sisters to see the races.after the bullock cart races they turned to go back home.hari saw his mother at the shrine.he shouted lila.look!there’s mother at the shrine
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