Most Beautiful
by Ruskin Bond is a short story covered in the Rusty series book: Rusty Comes
Home. The basic theme of the story highlights the bitter truth about this world
that it is cruel and unforgiving to weak and mentally-challenged people.
One day the
narrator sees some young urchins pelting stones and making fun of a deformed
and mentally-challenged boy not older than thirteen. Unable to withstand the
suffering of that boy, the narrator intervenes angrily and saves him, since the
boy is unable to speak up properly thus on the basis of gestures he takes him
to his home. A beautiful woman in her mid-thirties opens the door and
understands the situation beforehand. She thanks him and says that Suresh, the
boy, is the only child of their and his father is rather disappointed with him.
When father comes, he cares nothing much about the boy but appreciates the
narrator’s efforts.
After some
days the narrator becomes a frequent visitor of their home and often takes the
boy out for long walks in the fields or around the streams. The boy enjoys the
attention and nature sightseeing and also learns swimming with the help of the narrator. One
day a strayed out kid (goat’s baby) follows them. The boy takes the kid home
and cares for him and plays with him. When people begin complementing that the
kid is cute and sweet, the boy feels insignificant, and one day he kills the
kid with a brick. This shows he is mentally retarded and for attention killing
others is normal to him.
When the
narrator asks him whether he resented the killing of the kid? The boy accepts
this by smiling. Next, he points out a pen-knife and gestures the narrator to
stab him on his belly, the narrator laughs out aloud and then throws away the
knife in the stream.
One day the
narrator comes to the boy’s home to tell them that he is going to Delhi, may be
for longer time. The boy’s mother saddens upon knowing this, since she knew
that the boy was improving and gaining confidence in an otherwise dull life, but
the boy doesn’t have any idea that how this will affect him. Hence, he remains
uncommunicative and cold. Seeing this, the narrator feels sad about their
friendship and bonding.
On the day of
his departure, the narrator takes a window seat in a third-class compartment on
a train. Just before the train could chug out of the station, the narrator’s
eyes fall on Suresh, when he called out aloud his name, Suresh saying nothing
but runs for him but in the way collides with someone’s bedding and tumbles
down on the station, lying surrounded with people and in the world of darkness.
After that the narrator never sees him again.
Nice summarisation
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