Karma by Khushwant Singh - Summary and Analysis
Karma by Khushwant Singh – Summary and Analysis :
Khushwant Singh was an Indian
author, and journalist who made a massive contribution to English Literature.
For his works, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in
1974 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2007. His most
famous novel, Train to Pakistan, was published in
1956.
However, today we are going
to discuss Karma, one of his short stories taken
from The Collected Short Stories of Khushwant Singh (2005).
Now, we will discuss its
summary with the highlights of the characters.
Summary and Analysis:
The story begins with the
introduction of an Indian gentleman who is traveling by train. The first scene
of the story revolves around Sir Mohan Lal, (the
central character of the story) in his solitude. In the train compartment,
Mohan Lal is speaking to himself by looking into a mirror. And, we find him
addressing some facts about India with criticism and ego. We see he doesn’t
like India and its people but also belongs to the same origin. He has some
arrogant type of behavior toward Indians but at the same time very friendly and
polite with the Englishmen.
As a barrister, he is settled
in England. He always travels in the first-class compartment on a train. And
this day is not an exception. But, in the text, we find he doesn’t value Lachmi also
who is his wife as she is also an Indian. In the story, we often find that he
doesn’t respect any person except Englishmen.
However, he never forgets to
show off to his fellow passengers whether it is in the form of reading The
Times or putting a Balliol Tie at the
neck.
But on the other side, we
find Lady Mohan Lal, wife of Sir Mohan Lal who is
just the opposite. Mohan Lal was seated in the first-class compartment and
didn’t allow her in the same. So, she was in the second-class compartment. And,
as the story continues more and more we discover the simplicity of Lady Mohan
Lal through her polite conversation with a coolie. We find her nature as down
to earth through her eating of chapatis and mango pickles whereas Mohan Lal likes
just the opposite. He finds pleasure and a sense of gratification through
drinking expensive scotch and filling his pocket with premium quality
cigarettes.
In the whole story, we find
that Sir Mohan Lal does always imagine himself at the top. And in that
hierarchy, he believes Indians are at the bottom. But at the end of the story,
the author concluded it with irony. In the end, Mohan Lal gets dominated by two
English soldiers and does see his actual lace in that hierarchy.
Hence, we can also relate it
as the result of one’s deeds, the Karma.
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