A Wrong Man in Workers' Paradise

About the Author

"A Wrong Man in Workers' Paradise" is written by a well-known person Rabindranath Tagore. He was a Bengali polymath born on May 7, 1861, but he worked as a writer, poet, composer, social reformer, playwright, and painter. He was the first person awarded the Nobel Prize in the year 1941 in literature. He belonged to the Royal Asiatic Society as a fellow. Tagore was dubbed "the Bard of Bengal" and known by the names of Gurudeb, Kobiguru, and Biswokobi. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he used contextual modernism to reshape Indian art, Bengali literature, and music.

Summary

The protagonist is first introduced by the author as a man who has never been happy with regular functions. He was an unemployed guy who spent his time creating sculptures, little clay things strewn with seashells, and paintings out of his illogical moods and wishes. He gets criticized by everyone else for his foolish behaviour. He was the kind of child who never studied yet however did well on examinations. He wishes he had the authority to halt all of this crazy urge, but his demeanour makes him helpless.

Everyone thought that he would never be able to change these habits. There he dies. However, when the airborne messenger makes mistakes, the story takes a surprising turn. This lazy guy is taken by the messenger to a paradise bustling with activity. It had been a "Workers' Paradise," where everyone was focused solely on their jobs. The people of paradise thank God for giving them such enormous daily labour since they are so satisfied with the amount of work they perform each day.

Everyone rushes to work in the workers' paradise while yelling things like, "Hurry! "Time is precious" and "Time is flying." Despite taking deep breaths, they are as happy as a clam. He is fought by guys in a hurry as he walks aimlessly through the streets. Farmers working in the fields would call to him while he lay there.

The man sees a young girl running daily towards the soundless torrent to fill her jugs with water. Her movements on the road resembled the swift strokes of a lifeless hand on a guitar's strings. A few strands of her hair are on her brow, and her hair is arranged carelessly. She finds herself staring at the jobless man. Like a princess who feels sorry for beggars, she feels bad for him since he has nothing to do.

She expresses her sympathy and asks if there is any way she could help him. She makes him a job offer. The guy replies that while he does not have time to work, he might be able to help the girl. He requests permission to use her pitcher (jug). The girl then asks him to fill the container with water. He replies, calling her "the girl of the silent torrent," and promises to sketch some pictures on the pitcher. The reply made her angry. She found painting and drawing to be pointless. She leaves in anger without obeying.

The next day and the days after, the unemployed man approaches the girl once more. She gives him one of her pitchers grudgingly. He draws some ridiculous lines on the pitcher and then paints it. The pitcher is beautiful, but the girl doesn't know what the numbers on the pitcher represent. Helpless, she asks him what it means. The guy replies humorously, "A picture may have no significance and could have no function.

The girl is unable to sleep all night after leaving with the pitcher. She rises from her bed and makes an effort to interpret the image. She wakes up the next morning feeling sleepy and confused. She walks up to the man and asks what he actually wants from her. The man replies that he wants to ease her workload and consider part of her tasks in order to do so. He creates a lovely ribbon with brilliant colours for her. The girl is currently spending a lot of time getting ready in front of the mirror. As a result, her job is affected.

This illness gradually spreads throughout the entire paradise. People are arriving late for work. They practised painting and other pointless tasks. The problem makes the elderly worried. The aerial messenger then shows up and apologizes for putting the wrong man in Workers' Paradise.

The man is summoned by the elder, who instructs him to leave paradise right now. He breathes out happily and gets ready to go. The girl suddenly shows up and says she wants to go with him. No one has ever experienced something like this before, so everyone in paradise is shocked.

A Wrong Man in Workers' Paradise Theme

According to the title, this little story is about a man who is unintentionally present in a workers' paradise. The author uses sarcasm to criticize society's view of art.

The author believes that "art for art's sake" would serve art's intended purpose. The author hilariously mocks individuals who don't appreciate art by making fun of the incorrect guy's behaviour. Additionally, the proverb states that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

It highlights various essential themes, including leisure, employment, emotions, and utility, among others, and is funny owing to its contradictory observations. The phrase "the Moving Finger" comes from Omar Khayyam's "Rubaiyat," in which "time" or "fate" is referred to as the "moving finger," and man is unable to change anything that time has decided for him. The Paradise elders correct the moving finger error in this story, though. An artist spending his time painting clearly winds up in Workers' Paradise due to the Moving Finger's miscalculation.

Because everyone else is continuously moving about and doing something, he has no idea how to spend time there. Once, a female gives him a quick glance and offers to give him a portion of her job after noticing his unemployment. The artist offers to draw on her pitcher, but she rejects and suggests doing so. The girl gets confused by his desire to draw, but after a little convincing, she lends him her pitcher. Once he's finished, she asks what the drawings indicate, to which he replies that a painting could not symbolize anything or have any function.

The girl is confused by his reaction and becomes gradually more impressed by his work to the point that, instead of doing her assignment quickly, she takes her time and becomes reflective. She anxiously demands when he asks for ribbons colour them the following time, and she spends extra time experimenting with the colourful ribbons. The artist and his work have an influence on many other people in a similar way. In the Workers' Paradise, the work starts to suffer. The wise ones scowled and banned the artist from going inside paradise. All the Paradise elders are confused as the girl leaves with the artist. Before that, they had no interest in art, friendship, or love; only their profession mattered to them.

Two worlds are present throughout the story: the world of the idler, who is an artist, and the world of the hustlers, who are residents of paradise. Both areas are equally significant because it cheers up our brains and souls. It is the world where we can put our sorrows behind us and enjoy the little pleasures of everyday living. The world of arts provides colour to our lives even if it first seems to have none, considering the fact that it appears to have neither worth nor purpose.

Frequently Asked Questions-

Q1. What is the reason behind the silent nature of torrents in the worker paradise?

Solu- Torrent doesn't want to waste its energy in producing sound.

Q2. Why did the torrent girl feel sorry for the man?

Solu- Torrent girl sees realize that the man doesn't have any work to do except sit quietly.

Q3. Why did every elder in the worker's paradise become worried?

Solu- The elders of the Workers' Paradise worried that many people were carelessly wasting their time by creating meaningless paintings and sculptures.

Q4. What does this statement show? "The man never believed in mere utility?

Solu- Being an artist, the man appreciated the beauty in everything. He viewed everything as a work of art. Even if the object was useless, he placed the highest value on the art.