A Devoted Son Summary and Exercises || Compulsory English Grade 12 || Literature-Shor Stories
A Devoted Son
Anita Desai
About the Writer
·
Anita Desai originally Anita Mazumdar was born on 24 June 1937, is
an Indian novelist, short story writer and children's books writer,
·
She is a biracial child from a German mother and a Bengali father,
·
She knows Hindi, English and German languages,
·
She received her B.A. from the University of Delhi in 1957,
·
She
is a mother to a famous writer Kiran Desai
Her famous works are:
·
Cry, the Peacock (1963)
·
Where Shall We Go this summer (1975)
·
Fire on the Mountain (1977)
·
Clear Light of the Day (1980)
·
In Custody (1984)
·
Baumgartner's Bombay (1988)
·
Journey to Ithaca (1995)
·
Feasting, Feasting (1999)
·
Zigzag Way (2004)
Short Stories:
·
Games at Twilight and Other Stories (1978)
·
Diamond Dust and Other Stories (2000)
·
The Village and the Sea (1982)
·
The Artist of Disappearance (2011)
Awards:
·
Shaitya Academy Award (1978) for Fire on the Mountain
·
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize (1983)
·
Padma Bhushan (2014)
A Devoted Son
·
Extracted
from The Complete Short Stories, A Devoted Son, is a realistic story of a
middle-class Indian family in a remote village
·
This is a story about a devoted son who has a strong sense of
respect and devotion to his parents, culture, norms and values of the typical
middle class Indian family however he is the great doctor,
·
Beside the devotion the son shows to his parents, there is also a
generation gap, which is an age-old debate
·
Anita Desai is talking about an ordinary Indian life and character
and her story links the society and literature,
·
It takes a lot of work and many sacrifices to raise a child and
all the efforts finally pay off when a child becomes an adult who is well
prepared to live an independent life. This story portrays a son's life long
efforts to fulfill his obligations to his parents.
Themes:
·
Changes of the perceptions of the parents to their children when
they are younger and grownup, Old people act like children and they have
different opinion to their children but devoted sons never change their
attitude to their parents' no matter how old and suborn and troublesome their
parents are. They remain obedient and caring all the time until they
die.
·
The cultural and generation gap
·
Reversal
of roles with the time when children grow and parents get old,
Summary:
The whole story of "A Devoted Son" revolved round the
central character Rakesh who is presented as a typical Indian devoted son to
his parents. He shows his devotion to his father since his childhood till he
becomes a great doctor. Rakesh is from a poor Indian village belonging to a
middle-class family. He grandfather was a vegetable seller and his father has
worked at a kerosene dealer's for more than 40 years. This short story covers a
large portion of Rakesh's life time, from his medical study in the USA until
his father dies. Rakesh is the first person in his family to receive
education.
Rakesh goes to his father and bows down to touch his feet after
getting his result in the morning paper. His position comes in the first in the
country. His family makes a celebration at home with singing and dancing.
Neighbors visit his house to congratulate the family and Rakesh for his success
with different gifts. So much has been sacrificed in order to send him to
school and then medical college. The golden fruit of sacrifice has arrived
gloriously in the family. Varmaji, the father of Rakesh, becomes so much happy
to see him bowing down and touching his feet. Some of neighbors also comment
that Varmaji is making his son Rakesh so much proudly.
After some times, he writes a thesis for is M.D., and touches the
height of fame and fortune. He wins a scholarship to study in the USA, where he
starts his medical career at the most prestigious hospitals. He wins strong
praises from his colleagues and loves the USA; however, he returns back to his
home after earning enough money and medical experiences. He intends to work in
his own home town. Mother also becomes happy with Rakesh because he has not
brought a foreign wife as all her neighbors have warned her about that. He
becomes ready to marry a girl who is chooses by his mother through she is a
plump and uneducated. She is a good girl who takes care of Rakesh and his
parents very well. She gives birth to their first baby-a son.
Some years Rakesh works in the city hospital and quickly rises to
the position of the director. After that success he leaves the hospital and
starts his own clinic. He owns a car Ambassador, the first car manufactured in
India. He takes his parents in his car to visit his clinic. The large
sign-board with his name printed over the door also grows his fortune. He
becomes the best and the richest doctor in town.
Rakesh has spent his whole life to achieve this success. After
setting up his own clinic, his father grows old and gets his retirement from
the Kerosene dealer where he spent his forty years. His mother dies after
suffering from an illness. She dies happily as her son himself took care of
her. His miraculously good nature makes him a devoted son, caring husband to
his wife and a very good doctor to his patients. He is an excellent doctor and
a really find surgeon. Having left by his wife and growing old, his father
Varmaji makes so much complaints and fall ill. Varmaji develops an exasperating
habit of stretching out suddenly and lying absolutely still and then suddenly
sits up, stiff and gaunt and spitting out a big gob of betel-juice. He
frequently does so. Same situation happens when there is a birthday party of
for the youngest son. No one can take care of him except Rakesh is such a
situation.
Every morning Rakesh brings him his morning tea in his father's
favorite brass glass. He sits close to his father reading him morning news and,
in the evening, returning home from his clinic, he takes his father for a brisk
walk in the garden. He sets the pillows and bolsters on the divan in the corner
of the open verandah for his comfort. In the summer he manages a bed for his
father settling him down for a night under the stars. All these things are
gratifying for the old man, but his father doesn't like his son Rakesh
supervision on his diet. He doesn't allow his wife to give him Halwa instead he
recommends her to give him rice-pudding with little rice and milk. He prevents
him having fried, sugary and oily foods. Varmaji gets angry and
hates his son for not giving him to eat what he wants at this age.
The old man is served his food such as dry bread, boiled lentils,
boiled vegetables and boiled eggs and chicken on the shining stainless-steel
tray twice a day. If the old man demands something more to his daughter in law,
When Rakesh hears he denies them. The old man bribes his grand children to buy
Jelebis worth 30 paisas from the bazaar giving them 50 paisas instead. When
Rakesh knows this, he scolds his father for he is making his son a liar to his
parents. He prevents the sweets from the bazaar as they can cause cholera,
typhoid and stomach problem. The old man lies down in the corpse position when
Rakesh prevents him having food of his own interest.
Only things that pleases the old man is his son reading morning
news to him and some neighbors visiting him. Old Bhatia frequently visits the
old man. Mr. Bhatia looks happy. He frequently visits Varmaji and talks about
family affairs. If Rakesh is at home, he helps his father to come down the
steps into the garden and arranges the two old men talk together. Mr. Bhatia is
happy to see Rakesh, a doctor at home, to take care of Varmaji. But Varmaji
complains about his son for not giving him to eat what he likes. Mr. Bhatia is
shocked when he hears that Rakesh is not providing sufficient food stuffs to
his father. Varmaji expresses his unhappiness for not getting to have fried
fish. His daughter is law denies giving him fried fish because Rakesh orders
him not to give anything fried to his father. It is difficult to him to survive
without butter, oil or fried foods.
Varmaji is not satisfied with his son becoming heartless and cruel
to his father. He has made his son a great doctor but now in his old age, he
provides such a miserable diet causing him weak and sick. He has to have lots
of pills and powders for blood pressure, digestion, and regular heart beats.
Rakesh is fulfilling his duty and taking care of him. But his father becomes
angry with Rakesh. He wants to remain alone and wishes to die instead of
bearing misbehavior of Rakesh. The relationship between Rakesh and his father
gets worse however Rakesh keeps himself devoted to his father's care.
He is taken to the verandah for fresh air. He remains stiff like
corpse, terrified and gazing out on the lawn where his grandsons are playing
cricket. The sign-board at the gate shines his son's name but Varmaji finds his
name vanishing there. His son arrives in his ambassador at his home. He is
aided by his servants. But he goes to the place where his father is lying. His
father doesn't turn his head towards him. Rakesh calls his father to inform
that he is backing home. His father doesn't reply. He brings a new tonic to his
father. The old man is having a gob of betel though the supply of it was cut
off years ago. His father denies having the tonic and sweeps the bottle out of
his son's had. After some times, he dies.
Questions
Before Reading
Answer the following questions.
a. Will you be ready to
sacrifice your career, status, and economic opportunities for the good of your
parents? Why or why not?
Ans: - This is such a difficult
question to answer because our career, status and economic opportunities help
us provide happiness in our family. But this doesn't mean that our parents are
not important. Instead to sacrifice our career, status and economic
opportunities, we can make balance between them and take care of our parents.
Instead of leaving our parents in a miserable condition in the name of such
things, we can take care of them allocating our time to them. If we can't earn
money and get success in our career, we can't provide happiness to our parents.
A good son is that one who earns money and prestige as well as keeps himself
devoted to his/her parents.
b. In your view, what are the
qualities of a devoted son/daughter?
Ans: - The word devoted means
"very loving or loyal". Here the adjective 'devoted' is given to
either son or daughter. It means that devoted son/daughter is the one who is
very much loyal, faithful, loving and caring to his/her parents. No doubt a
devoted son/daughter is faithful, loyal, committed dedicated to his/her
parents. S/he should care his/her parents, should have concerned for their
needs and feelings, and should not have any kind of biasness to his /her
parents. Fulfillment of the needs of the parents is the primary concern. He or
she should not show any kind of contempt towards their parents when they grow
old and starts giving troubles. The troubles they give to us is like the
troubles small children give to their parents. A devoted son/daughter always
sacrifices everything for the happiness of their parents.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. How did the morning paper
bring an ambience of celebration to the Verma family?
Ans: - The result of Medical
Examination, which Rakesh had attended, has just been published in the morning
news paper. Rakesh scored the first position in the country in that
examination. This news about his exam result published in the newspaper brought
an atmosphere of celebration to the Verma family. It was the golden fruit of
their sacrifice to make Rakesh attain education for the first line in the
family history.
b. How did the community
celebrate Rakesh's success?
Ans: - Throughout the day the whole
community visited a small yellow house at the end of the road to congratulate
the parents of their son's success and to slap him on his back. The house and
the garden were full of visitors with different gifts and joyous faces. It was
like a great festival.
c. Why was Rakesh's success a
special matter of discussion in the neighborhood?
Ans: - The success of Rakesh was a
special matter of discussion in the neighborhood because Rakesh was the first
son the family to receive and education. He labored hard and fully understood
the sacrifices his parents had made to send him to school. The result of his
parents' hard efforts is golden and glorious because he topped Medical Examination
in the country. Not only was this Rakesh also a good person who was very much
devoted to his parents.
d. How does the author make fun
of the words 'America' and 'the USA'?
Ans: - The writer sympathetically
makes fun of the words 'America' and 'the USA' from the point of view of
Varmaji. He has learnt to call 'the USA' instead of 'America'. He even taught
the whole family to say 'the USA' instead of 'America' because only ignorant people
call 'America'. He doesn't know that 'the USA' is abbreviated from of United
States of America. He believes that only educated people call 'the USA'.
e. How does the author
characterize Rakesh's wife?
Ans:- Veena is the wife to Rakesh.
She is from a nearby village, a daughter of childhood friend of Rakesh's
mother. She is a plump, old fashioned and uneducated girl. She is a submissive
and amiable house wife. Though she seems lazy, she is a good-natured girl. She
does all domestic works independently. She is fat but pretty girl like warm
wax. Overall, the author has characterized her to be a typical middle class
Indian house wife.
f. Describe how Rakesh rises in
his career?
Ans:- Being born to a middle class family, he gets chance to go to
school and he tops his Medical Examination. Then he leaves for the USA after
earning a scholarship. After returning back home earning lots of money and a
good deal of medical experiences from prestigious hospitals in the USA, he
works in a city hospital. His talent, skills and hard works make him rise to
the post of the director. After that, he opens his own clinic and buys an
ambassador, a luxurious Indian car. He becomes the richest doctor in town.
g. How does the author describe
Rakesh's family background?
Ans: - Rakesh was born in a middle-class family; in a remote
village is India. His parents are illiterate. His grandfather was a vegetable
vendor, and his father has worked in a Kerosene dealer for 40 years. His mother
has spent almost all of her life in kitchen.
h. What is the impact of
Rakesh's mother's death on his father?
Ans: - After the death of Rakesh's mother, his father is
fragmented. His starts making so many complaints and gets caught by mysterious
diseases. Even Rakesh can't find out what has happened to his father. His
father sits huddles on his string bed most of the day and develops an
exasperating habit of stretching out suddenly and lying absolutely still
scaring the whole family members. He suddenly sits up stiff and gaunt and spits
out a big gob of betel juice.
i. What did Rakesh do to make
his father's old age more comfortable?
Ans: - Rakesh does so much to make his
father's old age more comfortable. He himself brings morning tea to him in his
favorite brass glass. Every morning he read morning news to him sitting close
to him. In the evening, after returning home, he takes his father out in the
garden for a brisk walk and fresh air. Because of his father's ill health
condition, he supervises his father's diet every day. He brings pill and
powders and tonic for his father. He is conscious to his father's health all
the times. He even scolds his father if he becomes stubborn and wishes to eat
oily, sugary and fried foods.
j. Why did the old man try to
bribe his grandchildren?
Ans: - The old man wishes to eat
sweets but Rakesh prevents him to eat. He doesn't like to put his father's
health into risk by letting him eat anything. His daughter in law doesn't
provide any kind of food prevented by Rakesh. Once he desired to have Jalabi so
he tried to bribe his grandchildren to buy them from nearby bazaar. He gave his
grandchildren 20 paisas for buying him sweets worth of 30 paisas.
k. Are Mr. Varma's complaints
about his diets reasonable? How?
Ans: - To some extent, Mr. Varma's
complaints about his diet are reasonable. We are tempted to eat whatever we
wish without understanding the possible effects later. Old age is like a second
childhood, in which people loses senses and control specially in case of eating
behavior. Mr. Varma wants to eat his best foods because he doesn't know the
side effects of those foods on his health and he is already suffered of several
diseases. Rakesh is a doctor and knows well what sorts of foods are good for
his father's health. But this kind of diet control makes his father hate him.
Reference to the Context
a. How did the Varma couple
make sacrifice for their son's higher education?
Ans:- The
Varma couple belongs to a middle class family from a remote village is India. Varma's
father was a vegetable seller, and he has worked at a kerosene dealer for more
that 4o years. His wife is a housewife. The couple worked hard to send their
only son Rakesh to school. They spent their earnings for their son's education.
Rakesh is the first person the history of Varma heritage to go to school and
receive higher education.
b. Mr. Varma suffers from
disease one after another after his wife's death. Would he have enjoyed better
health if she had not died before him? Give reasons.
Ans:- It is
said that Mr. Varma is broken into pieces after his wife dies. After missing
the dearest wife he suffers a lot however Rakesh takes care of him a lot. Varma
feels lack of something in his life and develops many diseases because of pain
of losing his wife. He is also growing old and it is inevitable to become weak
and sick in old age. He might have been happy if his wife had not died before
him. The inner happiness could encourage his to fight against ill health
condition. Rakesh is properly taking
care of his father supervising his father's diet and bringing him several
medicines but the grief and pain of losing his was were eating him inside. He
doesn't like strict behavior of Rakesh for his better health. His
dissatisfaction over his son and his daughter in law has also caused to make
his health condition poor. How much dearest their children are, old age people
feel lonely after they miss their spouses. Inner happiness matters a lot to
become healthy in our life. Same case is applied in the case of Mr. Varmaji.
c. Dr. Rakesh is divided
between a doctor and a son. As a son, he loves his father and worries about his
weakening health but as a doctor, he is strict on his father's diet and
medicine. In your own view, what else could Rakesh have done to make his father's
final years more comfortable?
Ans:- The whole story of "A
Devoted Son" revolves round the central character Rakesh. He is doctor by
profession. Beside his profession, he is a devoted son of his father. As a son
he himself takes care of his father. He sits beside his father, reads him
morning news, brings tea for him, takes him to the garden for a brisk walk. He
is very much devoted to his father. As a doctor, Rakesh is worried about the
poor condition of his father's health. Except everything, Rakesh is very strict
to his father on his diet and medicine. But his father doesn't understand this
and supposes that Rakesh has become cruel to his father. His only complaint is
his son doesn't allow his to eat what his father wishes. What ever Rakish has
done to his father only for the comfort to him. He is already infected by
several diseases, has become old and weak, and in such a condition, if his
father doesn't control on his diet, he may suffer a lot. Unhealthy food makes
his father's health critical. Because of his son's proper care, the old man
doesn't feel any sort of pain in his body. He has provided every sort of
happiness to his father but his father himself becomes suborn. No one can do
much than Rakesh to his/her father in such old age. But it could be much better
if he has supervised his father on his diet more politely.
d. What does the story say
about the relationship between grandfather and grandchildren?
Ans:- The whole story centers the
relationship between Mr. Varma and his son Rakesh. Rakesh has two sons. The
relationship between Mr. Varma and his grandchildren is not focused much.
However, there is a scene of Mr. Varma bribing his grand children for buying
him sweets. The grand children know that their grand father should not have
sugary food, however they go to bazaar to buy him sweets lying their father and
mother. This shows that the grand children love their grand father. They
understand their grand father's wish to have sweet that's why they buy sweets
for their grand father cheating their own parents.
e. Do you call Rakesh a devoted
son? Give reasons.
Ans:- There is no doubt that Rakesh
is a devoted son. He has shown a great respect and devotion to his own father
and mother. Despite being a great doctor, he never forgets to show his tender
and loving nature to his father and mother. When he scored the top marks in
Medical Examination, he went to his father to tell the news. He shows a great
courtesy to his father by bowing down and touching his father's feet. Even
living many years and earning excellent experiences in prestigious hospitals in
the USA, he doesn't marry a foreign girl there. Most of young people who go to
abroad marry foreign girl, but Rakesh returns back home and marries a girl
chosen by his own mother. When his mother is sick, he takes care of her by
himself. He also takes care of his father after his mother passes away. He
brings morning tea, serves meal, reads news paper, supervises his diet,
provides every comfort to his father. Throughout his life he is dedicated to
his mother and father.
Reference beyond the text
a. Write an essay on The
Parents' Ambition for their children in Nepali society. You must give at least
five examples.
Ans:- There is no more differences
between the parents of Rakesh in the story of "A Devoted Son" and the
parents in Nepali society. Like the parents of Rakesh, many parents in our
society are ambitious about their children. They want their children to the
best children among all. They want them to be doctors, engineers, pilots in the
future. They labor hard and sacrifice every happiness for the sake of the
bright future of their children. We have seen lots of evidences of ambitious
parents in our society. Parents belonging to either poor rich rich family back
ground they have ambition for their children. According to the economic
conditions they send their children to either community and private schools.
Even some people doing hard works manage to admit their children in private
schools assuming that their children will achieve success in the future. All
the time they talk about their children, their behavior and they study to their
neighbors and relatives. They have much more concern about their study so they
frequently visit the schools where their children are admitted. They provide
enough educational materials by curtailing other expenses. They do all these
things because they have ambition for their children. All parents wish a better
and bright future of their children.
b. Medicine replace out diets
in old age. What can be done to make old age less dependent on medicine?
Ans:- Old age is such a span of our
life in which we become weak and feeble. We lack strength, vigor and power in
this age. Our body and our organs loss efficiency owing to faulty diets,
malnutrition, infections, filthy environment, temperature etc. Week teeth, weak
digestion system, lack of efficiently of several major organs such as heart,
kidney, liver etc. people can't not eat enough food. If they eat nutrient
foods, they can't digest them and intake of such kind of food make them sick.
They have to keep their organs working continuously by taking several
medicines. The diets the old people need for their body can't be supplied with
foods as they have to be digested in our body and our body can't do so. So,
medicines are supplied to fulfill the required elements for our body in old.
However, our behavior determines how much dependent we become on diet in old
age. Improving eating behavior and regular exercise are the most important
things in our young age to our old age less dependent on medicine. It is not
good to have food with lots of sugar, salt, oil, and spices. When we are young,
we don't care on such things and keep going on eating such unhealthy foods. We
don't give any time for our physical exercise. These are the main cause. The
other things we can do to make our life less dependent on medicine in old age
are drinking just enough water, avoid eating fried and spicy food, avoiding
alcohol and tobacco, eating fruits regularly, eating fresh food at home,
keeping our body active all the time, proper sleep and rest and so on. Another
most important thing is keeping own self happy and tension free all the time.
c. Write an essay on "Care
of Elderly Citizens" in about 300 words.
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