The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond Summary

The Blue Umbrella is a 1980 Indian novel written by Ruskin Bond. This story has multiple emotions including materialistic love, jealousy, and kindness.

About Binya

The Blue Umbrella is the story of Binya, a young village girl who is very fond of her beautiful blue Umbrella. She belongs to a poor family and they live a simple life.

How did Binya get the Umbrella?

Binya is the protagonist of the story who is charmed by a blue umbrella that was originally owned by a rich girl. She manages to get the umbrella in exchange for an old tiger claw necklace she owned. Binya is thrilled as soon as she gets the blue umbrella.

She gets attached to the thing very dearly. The Umbrella soon becomes famous in her village because of its material beauty and the look of uniqueness.

The plot

A shopkeeper named Ram Bharosa was also envious of the beautiful blue umbrella. He wanted it desperately and offered Binya free toffees in exchange for the umbrella. But her love for the thing was too strong to be taken away from her.

The Stealing

It also features her elder brother named Bijju. One day a servant named Rajaram of Ram, the shopkeeper wants to impress his master by bringing the umbrella for the master because he knew the obsession he has for that particular thing.

Rajaram goes to her place to steal the umbrella but Bijju catches him. After being caught Rajaram fears and takes the name of his master that the plan was his. Everybody in the village knew about the obsession of Ram Bharosa towards the umbrella so they believed in it and belittles the shopkeeper. They stop going to his shop and buying kinds of stuff and he falls into great misery and loss.

Twist

Seeing the plight of Rajaram, Binya sympathizes with the shopkeeper and decides to gift the umbrella to him. After buying toffees she left the umbrella in his shop.

The act of kindness

He could have just kept the umbrella with him without telling her anything but still, he went after Binya to return it as his soul called him a man who takes an umbrella from a little girl. His soul told him that there is no use for an umbrella in his daily life. He asks him the reason for giving the dearest thing to him. She replies, “Umbrella is not everything to her”.

After this, the villagers started trusting Ram Bharosa and he slowly gained profit and also love from everyone. One act of kindness can beat anything. At a tender age, Binya realized materials are not everything. Seeing others happy, sacrificing, and kindness is the key ideas in humanity.

Not that if one shows kindness the work is over. It is always seen and said that if we give one, we get two.

Give and You shall receive

To this Ram surprisingly returns a gift of a bear claw pendant. She felt happier and it shows one bit of love and kindness can give back love and spread it throughout.

Moral of the story

How Binya teaches the readers the ultimate lessons of humanity and compassion. It gives valuable lessons about human goodness and kindness. Binya is an example of innocence and compassion. She stands out as a great role model for all age groups.

This story tells tales of extraordinary heroism. It highlights a simple story told in an earnest style that can create a grand emotional effect on the readers.

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