The story…….
The wordBirpurush means "Hero" or "Brave man". A child, the
protagonist of the poem, is imagining and describing a story to his
mother. He is imagining that he is travelling far with his mother. The
child is riding a red horse and the mother is travelling on a
palanquin.
In the evening when the sun is setting they reach a barren place.
Plodding silence reigns there. The mother is a bit afraid and wonders
where they have arrived! The child assures her and tells that there is
small river ahead. The mother sees a shimmering light and asks her
son about it. Suddenly they hear the cry "Ha re, re re, re re“ as a
band of dacoits attack their palanquin. The mother shivers inside the
palanquin; the palanquin-bearers hide in the bush. The son assures
the mother, and confronts the dacoits courageously. A fantastic fight
follows in which the son emerges victorious. The son returns to
mother who kisses his forehead and thanks.
The imagination now turns from this event as the poet wonders why
some exciting things like this does not actually happen in the
mundane way of real life! It would be like an adventure story that
would fascinate everybody.