English portfolio

1. ENGLISH PF-5
-GROUP 3

2. Group Members

3. 1. Iswaran the Storyteller
-R K
Narayan
1,1] Summary of the chapter.
1.2] Conclusion
1.3] Questions related which could be
asked
1.4] Answers

4. 1.1] Iswaran the Storyteller
-R K
Narayan
Iswaran the storyteller is an interesting story written by R K Narayan about Mahendra a bachelor and junior
supervisor in a firm who stays with his cook Iswaran. Mahendra had a transferable job, so he used to keep moving
from one place to another very often, as per the orders of his head office. However, Iswaran would always
accompany him wherever he went. He took great care of his master and shared interesting stories with him.
Iswaran would buy fresh vegetables and cook delicious meals for Mahendra. While his master was away at work,
Iswaran would clean up the house, wash utensils and take a bath leisurely. He was very fond of reading popular
Tamil thrillers during his free time. As a result, he often invented his own thrillers and would tell those stories to
Mahendra when he returned from work. Mahendra enjoyed listening to his cook’s stories.
Once Iswaran told him a story of a wild elephant and how he controlled the menacing animal that had gone mad.
He told Mahendra that he was originally from a place that was famous for timber. He had seen logs of wood
carried by elephants. These animals were fed a huge amount of food, but when they went wild, they could not be
tamed even by the most experienced mahout. One fine day, an elephant entered the school premises where
children were playing and broke through the brick wall. All the children and teachers were terrified of the wild
tusker and rushed to a safe place to save themselves. When the wild tusker saw Iswaran, it lifted its trunk and
rushed towards him menacingly. Mustering up all his force and courage, Iswaran quickly whacked its third toenail,
and the elephant shivered head to foot and collapsed. Mahendra was astounded at his cook’s courage after
listening to his story.

5. 1.1] Iswaran the Storyteller
-R K
Narayan
On another occasion, Iswaran had prepared a special meal for dinner on an auspicious day. He told Mahendra that
he prepared several delicacies to feed the spirits of their ancestors. Mahendra enjoyed the meal and complimented
his cook on his culinary skills. As usual, Iswaran began with his story-telling. But this time, he talked about
supernatural elements. He said he was not afraid of ghosts as he was brave enough to deal with them.
Iswaran told his master that the place they stayed in was once a burial ground, and he had also seen ghosts
around. He particularly mentioned a gruesome ghost of a woman, which appeared on and off at midnight during a
full moon night. She moaned in a shrill tone and carried a foetus in her arms. Hearing this, Mahendra was scared
and shivered at the description and rebuked Iswaran stating that ghosts don’t exist. Soon, he retired to bed but
could not sleep as the discussion about the ghost woman was hovering in his mind.
From that day onwards, Mahendra would go to sleep feeling uneasy thinking about the female ghost. One night as
Mahendra was sleeping, he suddenly woke up from his sleep by a low moaning sound coming from his window.
Out of curiosity, he looked out of the window and saw the night sky was filled with moonlight outside and noticed
a dark cloud-shaped structure that was clutching a bundle. Seeing this, Mahendra started sweating profusely and
fell on his pillow, gasping. The next morning, Iswaran enquired his master about the female ghost and moaning
sound that was coming from his room. A chill ran down Mahendra’ s spine, and he decided to leave the haunted
place immediately and forever.

6. 1.2] Conclusion for Iswaran the
Storyteller
The chapter – Iswaran the Storyteller illustrates a lesson
that we should not get carried away by stories shared by
other people or assume them as reality. We should apply
our own wit and intelligence before we see it with our
own eyes. Don’t be quick to believe what you hear
because lies or rumors spread faster than the truth.

7. 1.3] Extra Questions related to the
lesson:-
Q.1) Iswaran was a master storyteller. Describe his amazing
capacities of narrating stories and anecdotes.
Q.2) Describe Iswaran’ s encounter with the elephant.
Q.3) What did Iswaran tell Mahendra about the ghost? Describe
Mahendra’ s horrible experience one night. Why did he resolve to
leave that place?
Q.4) Do you think the ghost seen by Iswaran was just a trick played
by him? Give reasons for your answer.
Q.5) Write the character sketch of Mahenrda.

8. 1.4] Answers to the questions

9. Q.1) Iswaran was a master storyteller.
Describe his amazing capacities of narrating
stories and anecdotes.
Ans. : Iswaran was a master storyteller. He was fond of reading Tamil thrillers. The stories
that he narrated were greatly influenced by these novels. He narrated the smallest of
incidents by creating a lot of suspense. For instance, if he had to describe a fallen tree, he
would not simply say that he spotted an uprooted tree on the highway. He would say, "The
road was deserted and I was all alone. Suddenly I spotted something that looked like an
enormous bushy beast lying sprawled across the road. I was half inclined to turn and go
back. But as I came closer I saw that it was a fallen tree, with its dry branches spread out.’’ In
order to make stories interesting, Iswaran added dramatic gesture to it. He would give the
stories a surprise ending. Sometimes, he would not end the story in order to heighten his
master’s curiosity. Often he was excited story. Then he would jump and stamp his feet in
excitement.

10. Q.2) Describe Iswaran’ s encounter with the
elephant.
Ans. : One day, Iswaran told Mahendra the story of a mad elephant. The
elephant worked in a timber yard. Once, it reached the town. Everyone ran
here and there in terror. The elephant entered the school ground where
children were playing. All boys ran into rooms and shut the doors. The
elephant pulled out the football goalpost, tore the volleyball net and broke
the glass drum kept for water. Everyone watched helplessly. Iswaran was
studying in the junior class at that time. He grabbed the stick of a teacher and
went in front of the elephant. He struck the elephant on his toenail. It
shivered and fell down. A veterinary doctor was called. After two days, the
elephant’ s mahout came and took it away. Iswaran told Mahendra that he
made the elephant unconscious using the Japanese art karate of jujitsu.

11. Q.3) What did Iswaran tell Mahendra about the
ghost? Describe Mahendra’ s horrible experience
one night. Why did he resolve to leave that place?
Ans. : Iswaran told Mahendra that the entire factory area where he worked was once a burial
ground. Iswaran told Mahendra that he had often seen ghosts at night. Sometimes, there
appeared a terrifying ghost of a woman holding a foetus in her arms. Hearing this tale,
Mahendra shivered. He told Iswaran about his disbelief in ghosts or any supernatural
powers. But after listening to his tale Mahendra always felt uneasy at night. One night,
Mahendra was awakened up from sleep by a moaning sound. The moan grew louder
gradually. He looked out of the window and saw a dark cloudy form of a woman, not very far
from the window. She was carrying a bundle in her arms. Mahendra began to sweat with
fear. The next morning, Iswaran told Mahendra that he had also heard the moaning sound.
He had seen Mahendra look out of the window at the ghost of the woman. Mahendra became
cold with fear. As soon as he reached the office, he handed his papers for transfer from that
place.

12. Q.4)Do you think the ghost seen by Iswaran was
just a trick played by him? Give reasons for your
answer.
Ans. : First, Iswaran created a background by telling Mahendra that the place
used to be a burial ground. Then, he narrated him the story of a ghost. One
night, Mahendra saw the figure outside his window. The figure looked like the
ghost described by Iswaran. The next morning, Iswaran told Mahendra that
he had seen him looking out of the window at te ghost. This shows that it was
just a trick played by him.

13. Q.5) Write the character sketch of
Mahendra.
Ans. : Mahendra was a bachelor. His needs were simple and he was adaptable to any living conditions.
He was a junior supervisor in a firm and had to keep moving from place to place to keep an eye on the
activities at work sites. He had a habit to listen to Iswaran’ s stories on a daily basis. When Iswaran
would narrate all the dramatic stories, he would stretch himself back on his canvas chair and listen to
them uncritically. When Iswaran told him about the female ghost he had seen at the night, Mahendra
shivered at the description and called him crazy. From that day onwards he slept at night with
unease. He couldn’t look out of his window during the night time. One day, he heard a sound of
moaning outside his window, he tried to reason with himself but gave in to his fear. Iswaran scared
him so much that he took the decision of resigning from his job and leaving the circuit house.