Hariya wins a soap bar at an Independence Day celebration in his village. This is the first soap anyone in the village has seen. Hariya's family and neighbors become obsessed with seeing and smelling the soap. Their obsession strains Hariya's relationships and makes him an outcast in the village. Eventually, the soap wears thin and its scent fades. One morning, Hariya finds that the soap has melted away in the snow overnight. He cries but also feels relief that the source of turmoil is now gone. The story depicts how a small taste of modern consumer goods deeply impacted the simple lives and relationships of people in the rural hills.

1. Gokhale Education Society’s
S.M.R.K. B.K. A.K. Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Nasik-5.
Ms. Geetanjali Gitay
Assistant Professor
CC English (LL)
F.Y.B.Sc. Sem I
Unit 3
Yuvakatha 7: Story 1
Pinti Ka Sabun
-Sanjay Khati

2. About the Writer : Sanjay Khati
Yuvakatha 7
• Sanjay Khati (b.1962) is a journalist and writes in
Hindi.
• Two of his collections of stories have been published.
Pinti ka Sabun and Bahar Kuchh Nahi Tha.
• “Pinti ka Sabun” was first published in Hindi in 1990
in the magazine “Hans”.
• Sanjay Khati says, the background of this story is the Kumaon Hills of
western Uttar Pradesh which is his birth place. Some of his own childhood
memories form the fabric of this story.
• The story depicts the simple life of the people living in the hills.
• The story is translated into English by Ashutosh Roy, an engineer in
Computer Science.
• “Yuvakatha 7” is a collection of translated stories written by Indian writers.

3. • Hariya - a young boy about 10-12 years old.
• Kaka - Hariya’s uncle
• Ija - Hariya’s mother
• Bapu – Hariya’s father
• Kunti - Hariya’s sister
• Pinti - Collector Sahib’s daughter, the first one in town to have a soap,the sabun
Characters

4. • The story is narrated in the first person, i.e. I. That ‘I’ is Hariya, the central character of the story. This is his
experience.
• The story begins with Hariya describing the sabun, the soap. That was the first in their village. Some of them
had heard of sabun but you wouldn’t find more than a handful who had actually seen it. In fact, they knew
about it only because of the Faujis, the people from armies. And some of the women had once seen it with
Deputy Sahab’s (Deputy Collector) daughter, Pinti. People said that the floral fragrance of her soap spread
around her for almost a mile. Fifteen years later, Pinti was still remembered for her sabun. It was talked about
in the same breath as attar, phulel and other perfumes. Pinti, to them was a being from another world. No one
from Hariya’s village had seen a sabun. In fact, he was the first one to get one. It happened rather suddenly.
• It was the fifteenth of August, perhaps. It must have been the special day because the school was closed. Kaka
and Hariya walked miles to kasba to sell potatoes. Kaka was 5-7 years older than Hariya and they were almost
like friends. He did try to assert his seniority once a while, but never succeeded.
• They were captivated by the hustle and bustle of the kasba, wandering about and sucking lemonchoos when
they found themselves in a noisy, crowded field. It seemed to be a mela of some kind. There were whistles
blowing all around them and a man was shouting over a loudspeaker.
• They had drifted in the thick of the crowd , when suddenly, Hariya felt himself being pulled. Someone had
caught him by his hand and dragged him in a line up of some kind. A man was getting several boys of his age to
stand along a white line. On either side of him, the boys were shouting and screaming, crouching forward on
one foot as if they were all set to sprint, as if a race was on.
Plot Summary

5. Plot Summary
• Hariya’s first reaction was that of panic.Kaka was nowhere to be seen. He had probably been pushed away, along
with the rest of the crowd. And then there was a race. Hariya ran along with the other boys. At first, he could
not understand what was happening but then he ran with all his might. Before he knew it, he was lying on the ground,
tangled in the finish tape. He had won the race.He was handed a sparkling box to the sound of applause then.
• Kaka then surfaced from the crowd, laughing. And then they both laughed and ran , towards the village. Kaka
ran after him. Finally he caught up with Hariya. Then they check what is it in the box. It was a shiny red box. It is
Kaka who first understands that it is a sabun. He is excited and he smells it for several times. He would not give it
back. Hariya remarks that he did not find Kaka’s intentions honourable. So he reacts, it was his after all. Soon
Kaka removes the wrapper and uncovers the precious, rose-colored bar. As a last resort, Hariya flings himself in
on the river and threatened that he will tell Ija. It worked. Kaka glared and threw the sabun at Hariya. He also got
the wrapper. He covers the bar with great care and walks home, smelling it all the way.
• Hariya says, that it was the beginning of the first real hostility between Kaka and him. Of course, Hariya did not
realise it then. He was so enchanted by the delicate fragrance of the sabun. The enmity, however was to become
permanent over time.
• Anyway, for the rest of the road, Kaka follows him kicking the stones at his feet. On
reaching home he announces that “ Hariya thinks he is too good for us. Just because
he has got a sabun.
• Ija, his mother had been gathering cowdung. She asked him where did he get it. She takes
it in her hands carefully, smells it twice or thrice and declares that she was going to bath
with it. Hariya takes the sabun from her hands and stands at a safe distance running away.
“ May your sabun burn.” Ija says and walks away. So his mother becomes his second enemy.

6. • It took Hariya a long while to understand the power of the sabun. However, he soon began to feel that he was
surrounded by the enemies. He knew that Kaka had been rummaging through his things. He looks into every box
and container in the house, and even under the hay stacked in the cowshed. But only Hariya knew where the
sabun was hidden. Kaka tries to behave well with him but Hariya had become wise to his tricks.
• As for Bapu, he was not even fated a glimpse of the sabun. The continuous discussion about the sabun irritated
him so much that he resorted to keep himself away from all of that. But then Hariya was certain that nobody
could be trusted once they had seen the sabun. Finally, Bapu gives Hariya two kicks and remarks that “ Attar and
phulel are his new interests. Send him to graze the cattle. That would cure him.” Hariya bore the insult.
• Kunti, Hariya’s sister, gets to see the sabun , even to touch and smell it, under Hariya’s watchful eyes. Once she
had touched it, she followed him all the time in hope to see the sabun. Only way to get rid of her was to slap her,
Hariya says.It was getting very difficult for Hariya even to look at the sabun admist of all that hostility. Finally, one
Sunday, Hariya takes a bath with the sabun. The rose colored sabun was embossed with English letters.
• As he was taking bath, Kaka looked at him several times through the window, Ija walks away in disdain after
looking at him but Kunti stands their transfixed without moving. Hariya knew Kunti’s cunning and then he slaps
her with his wet hands. That brings Kaka running out. Hariya does not pay attention to him. After a long time,
he washes the sabun away and finished bathing. Then he dries up the sabun and wrapped it up carefully.
There is a whiff of scent surrounding him. He feels so fresh and wears the clothes quickly for the fear of scent
getting evaporated. Hariya felt that everybody was beneath him.
Plot Summary

7. • Then, on the school day, he goes to school after scrubbing himself thoroughly with the sabun. He was
glowing. Pandemonium breaks out as soon as he entered the classroom. Within moments, everyone was
sniffing around desperately. Hariya enjoys the spectacle for some time and then holds his arm in front of the
boy sitting next to him. And then there was almost a stampede in his class. Everyone was
asking Hariya, what was he wearing. He tells them about the sabun.
• Then the half-time bell rang. But the Hariya does not move from his seat. Everyone wanted him in
their team. But Hariya refuses to play. So they allow him to be the referee, so he can sit and watch.
• The news spreads through the village like a wildfire. Everyone wanted to see the sabun. When Hariya
refused they became angry. However, they would always smell him. Hariya’s stubborn refusal to
show the sabun became a constant source of embarrassment for his family. As a result they began
abusing him all the time.Kaka would make menacing gestures whenever he saw Hariya.Kunti would
sulk. Bapu would beat him up and Ija would be always irritated with him.
• They all became like vultures waiting to snatch away Hariya’s little piece of happiness. Earlier people
would treat him with respect but then when Hariya did not show them sabun,they would turn
against him.Almost all of them became his enemies. People began to call him Pinti. Kids would
jeer at him. Hariya would often think about Pinky. He thought she was like some goddess.
• Hariya stopped going to play. A few kids stayed with him but soon even they were drawn by majority.
While the kids would play, Hariya would be sitting, perched on the wall. Several times, he felt like
joining them but then something would pull him back. In their minds, he had ceased to exist.
Plot Summary

8. • Kaka refuses to take him to kasba. Ija is also angry with him.Hariya decides to leave the house and
run away to kasba and would never return home. He keeps some clothes out in his bag and also
some dry fruits. The only thing that he needed was money and opportunity.
• One day, while Hariya is bathing, Kaka tries to take the sabun by force. Hariya throws and hits him
with a lota. And then he realises that the sabun has now thinned out and the fragrance also was not
as strong.
• One day, it snows. Hariya runs to find his sabun the next morning only to find that his sabun had
melted away. He finds that Ija has been standing behind him.She understood his feelings. Hariya
cries. And then he feels as if a mountain of snow had melted. His heart feels light as cotton.
• The story depicts how the simple life of the people living in hills come into turmoil after coming in
contact with modern consumerism. It shows the clash between two cultures. Hariya strains all his
relations for a sabun.
Plot Summary

9. Thank you!