Iswaran the Storyteller Summary
Mahendra narrates a story to Ganesha. Mahendra is a junior supervisor in a firm that provides supervisors to construction sites. His job requires that he move from one place to another. Mahendra is a graduate and has no problem adjusting to different life situations. He considers his cook, Ishwaran an asset. He supports Mahendra everywhere. Ishwaran is a talented storyteller. He also has an amazing ability to find and collect fresh vegetables, no matter how deserted he may be.
In the morning, after Mahendra goes to work, Ishwaran spends his days cleaning the shed, washing clothes, bathing, reading and taking an afternoon nap. He enjoys reading Tamil thrillers. Ishwaran's own style of narration is strongly influenced by these adventures. While describing the events, Iswaran tries to create suspense and surprise ending. For example, he would describe an uprooted tree as a giant bushy animal, before it was actually what it was. Ishwaran has an unfamiliar audience in Mahendra.
One day, Isvaran relates an incident in which a wild elephant escapes from the forest to a wood yard and reaches his town. To illustrate his story, Iswaran speaks of imitation of the wild elephant. Ishwaran says that after reaching the outskirts of the city, the elephant destroyed the stalls selling pottery, clothes and fruits. After this, Ishwaran entered the school, and the children ran to hide in the classrooms. The teachers looked at the roof unaided as the elephant destroyed the school property.
Ishwaran also watched the play from the rooftops. Suddenly, he grabbed a cane from a teacher and ran to the ground. The elephant angrily stamped his feet and pressed a tree branch into his trunk; But Ishwaran approached him slowly with a cane in his hand. As the elephant raised its trunk and leapt it, Ishwaran ran towards it and hit his third toe. The elephant was stunned for a moment; Then he shivered and collapsed.
At this point, instead of concluding his story, Ishwaran goes to heat the dinner, leaving Mahendra suspended. Upon his return, Mahendra has to remind Iswaran to end his story. Ishwaran carelessly states that a vet was called to revive the animal, and two days later, the animal was taken into the forest by a mahout. When Mahendra asks him how he managed to subdue the animal, Ishwaran says that he had read about a technique in karate or the Japanese art of jujitsu (he doesn't remember which one) cripples the nervous system. makes.
Ishwaran's storytelling style is so enjoyable that Mahendra happily listens to his stories every day, whether they seem credible or not. Around him, Mahendra has no point in being televised for entertainment.
One morning, Ishwaran pleaded for Mahendra's permission for the auspicious occasion: it is the day when various dishes are made to feed the spirits of his ancestors. That night, Mahendra complemented Ishwaran on his cooking skills. Ishwaran is pleased, but then begins to tell a story about the supernatural. Ishwaran tells Mahendra that the factory area in which he is staying used to be a burial ground. He says that on the first day of his arrival, he saw a human skull lying on the ground; And he often comes across skulls and bones here. He also says that he can see ghosts at night: On the full moon night, he can see the ghost of a woman. He describes the ghost as a skeleton carrying a fetus in his arms.
Mahendra is frightened, but dismisses Ishwaran's claims as rubbish. Mahendra hopes that Ishwaran will drown after being scolded. The next day, however, he finds Ishwaran in a cheerful and talkative mood. Even though Mahendra claimed that he does not believe in ghosts and spirits, every night he goes to bed with panic. He always peeks outside his bedroom window to make sure nothing suspicious happens outside. He enjoyed watching the moonlight fall to the ground on the full moon night. However, after hearing Ishwaran's story, he stopped looking out of his window on the full moon night.
One full moon night, Mahendra hears a moan outside his window. At first, he assumes that it is a cat, but then discovers that it does not sound like a cat. He refrains from looking out for fear of seeing something sinister. The sound of moaning grows louder. Finally he peeks out of the window and appears in a dark, cloudy form, looking at a bundle. He falls back into bed, sweating and panting. After a while, he tries to reason with himself and decides that his mind is playing tricks on him.
During the next morning, the memory of the incident begins to vanish from his mind. As he starts leaving, Ishwaran greets him with his lunch packet and office bag. He reminds Mahendra of the scolding he gave her when Ishwaran tells her about the female ghost carrying the fetus in his arms. Ishwaran says that he is aware that Mahendra had seen the ghost the previous night as he had also heard the moaning sounds coming from outside Mahendra's window and rushed to the spot. Mahendra does not answer but is very scared. He goes to his office to put his papers in hand and decides to leave the haunted place the very next day.
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