Oru Manushyan Summary

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer wrote the short tale "Oru Manushyan" (A Man). When the anthology Pavapettavarude Veshya (The Prostitute of the Poor) was published in 1952, it was originally published in Mathrubhumi Illustrated Weekly. A guy who had stashed his little earnings in his wallet had it taken at a restaurant in a town renowned for its unscrupulous people. After being threatened with being stripped naked and abandoned without assistance, the man is eventually saved by a stranger who returns his wallet. One of Basheer's most well-known tales is this one. T V Chandran turned it into a telefilm with the same name. In schools and universities, the tale is taught as a topic.

About the Author

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer wrote literature in Malayalam. His birthday was January 21, and his death was July 5, 1994. He is known as Beypore Sulthan in popular culture.

He was a novelist, short story writer, liberation warrior, and creator of literature. He is well known for his innovative, accessible writing style, which made both literary critics and regular readers like him. Balyakalasakhi, Shabdangal, Pathummayude Aadu, Ntuppuppakkoranendarnnu, Mathilukal, Janmadinam, and Anargha Nimisham are some of his best-known compositions. He has gained fame on a worldwide scale thanks to the translation of his works into a number of different languages.

He received the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian honour, from the Indian government in 1982. The Kerala Sahitya Academy Fellowship, the Sahitya Academy Fellowship, the Kerala State Film Award for Best Story, and the Sahitya Academy Fellowship were all given to him. The Vallathol Award was given to him in 1993.

Theme of the Story

The short tale "Oru Manushyan" emphasizes the worth of human values in comprehending and helping other people in unusual situations. The author offers a tale about hard-working people that reside in a big metropolis. He resided in the city and worked as an English teacher for migrant laborers.

First-person narrative is used to describe the setting and characters at the beginning of "Oru Manushyan". The storyteller resided in a big city in a mountain valley, a thousand five hundred km from home. There, the locals were really vicious. Murder, robberies, and pickpocketing happened often. The population was traditionally made up of soldiers. Some of them travelled to far-off locations and made interest-bearing loans. Others worked as watchmen at banks, mills, and other major commercial buildings in large cities. They valued money highly and would do everything to get it.

The narrator continued living there while instructing some migrant workers in English. He showed them how to write English addresses. As usual, his regimen would start at 4 p.m. He would then complete his daily tasks and go outside for his tea and dinner. He would instruct the migrant workers from 9:30 p.m. until 1:00 a.m.

As usual, the narrator rose at four o'clock in the afternoon, completed his tasks, and then went outside to get his tea and dinner. He had a suit on. The amount in his wallet was fourteen rupees. He walked into a packed restaurant and ordered a big lunch of chapatis and beef curries. He also drank tea. Eleven annas were added to the total. The wallet was missing as he reached into his pocket to make a payment. His wallet was stolen. He made an effort to explain it to the restaurant's proprietor. But he didn't think it was true. He expressed threats to gouge out his eyes. He then instructed the storyteller to remove his shoes, coat, shirt, and pants. Really embarrassing. The narrator said he was empty-handed. Everyone burst into laughter. He then began to undo his buttons. Just then, he heard a voice saying, "Stop." I'll make the payment. A six-foot tall, fair-skinned guy wearing a red turban, white clothes, and fair skin stood there. He had blue eyes and a handlebar moustache. He gave me the money. He was thanked and asked for his name by the narrator. He said that he didn't have a name. The man then removed five wallets from his different pockets and brought them to a lonely bridge. The storyteller owned one of them. The cash was complete.

Summary of the Story

The title, "Oru Manushyan," which translates as "A Man" in English, alludes to a guy who saves the speaker when he is at a place that is 1,530 kilometers from his home. Both the speaker and the local language have yet to be discovered to them. Although he is fluent in both English and Hindustani, only some of the locals can communicate in either language. In the valley of a mountain, there is a rather large city. Due to people's ruthlessness and willingness to do everything to get money, crime rates are high. In banks, mills, and other businesses, they act as guards, soldiers, and moneylenders.

As people want to learn English to write addresses at the post office in English, the speaker, who lives in a tiny room, teaches it to migrant workers from nine-thirty to eleven at night. They must pay between one and four annas to hire someone else to do the task for them. In order to save money on morning tea and midday meal, the speaker, who makes very little money, sleeps all day and gets up at four in the evening.

He visits a crowded restaurant one evening to eat, but when it comes time to pay the bill of eleven annas, he discovers that his purse containing his life's savings of fourteen rupees needs to be included. As a result, the restaurant owner threatens to tear out the speaker's eyes if he doesn't stop since he thinks he's attempting to swindle him. At the restaurant, none of the other patrons exhibit any courtesy. To retain his coat as an assurance, the speaker begs the owner. But the speaker is forced out by the owner, who laughs. His shirt, his shoes, and his coat, then he demands that even the speaker take down her pants. Asserting that he has nothing within, the speaker begs for compassion. The restaurant owner and the other fifty people there urge the speaker to strip off further, as this prompts additional jeers. The speaker then mockingly comments. It must contain something.

Now that he has accepted his destiny, the speaker begins to undo his pants while seeing himself exposed in public with his eyes gouged out. At this point, a six-foot, blue-eyed guy with light complexion, red turban and white trousers enters and offers to pay the owner the remaining debt. When the thankful speaker asks him for his name, he replies that he has none and invites him to accompany him. He doesn't respond when the speaker replies, "Mercy must be his name," and continues walking until they reach a lonely bridge. After making sure nobody else is there, the man takes out five wallets and asks the speaker which one is his. He advises the speaker to go right away without turning around and adds that the speaker shouldn't let anybody know that he saw the man. The speaker has identified the wallet as being his, so he passes it over along with the cash. He then walks away and wishes the speaker God's protection. The speaker prays for God to intervene on behalf of the stranger.

It is obvious that the person helping the speaker is really the pickpocket who has taken his pocketbook along with four other wallets. Despite his sincere gratitude for the guy, the speaker has several ethical concerns about the scenario. Do we consider the pickpocket to be a kind-hearted man? We may conclude from one line of reasoning that he is, without a doubt, He wouldn't have aided the speaker otherwise. He probably would have enjoyed seeing the speaker gets humiliated a lot if he had been completely cold-hearted, knowing full well that the speaker was stating the truth. The fact that the money he spends at the restaurant is from somewhere other than the speaker's fourteen rupees is another factor in his favor. In reality, he requests that the speaker count his cash and ensure that the sum has not been altered.

However, this does not excuse him from responsibility. If the man who picked his pocket wasn't there, what would have happened to the speaker? How are the other four folks who also lost their wallets faring? Is it impossible that they, too, would likely find themselves in comparable or even worse circumstances? Additionally, there is the issue of the thief's past. Has he engaged in criminal activity out of a desire to make fast money or because of some inescapable circumstances? The numerous ethical issues all converge to the same conclusion: we cannot sit in judgement of other people's deeds. A single point of view cannot be used to evaluate any scenario. There are many options. The speaker will always remember Oru Manushyan as his compassionate rescuer despite the fact that he was a criminal since he was clearly a guy with some kindness in his heart.

Conclusion of the Story

The many ethical issues all lead to the same resolution, which is that we cannot sit in judgement of other people's deeds. No situation may be evaluated only in light of one point of view. There are several choices. Despite the fact that the guy, "Oru Manushyan," is a criminal, the speaker will always remember him as his caring rescuer because of how sympathetic he is.

The author shows how even a thief may develop compassion given the right conditions. The narrative places emphasis on how human aspirations are really expressed. Even the most impenetrable souls may be softened by kindness.