Bringing Up Kari

Dhan Gopal Mukherji

The story Bringing Up Kari revolves around Kari, a five-month-old elephant and the narrator as a nine-year-old boy. The two developed a strong bond after the elephant once saved the boy. Like a baby, Kari as always loaded with energy and full mischief. Once, he got the chance to taste some bananas. He loved them so much that would do just about anything to get them, even if it meant stealing. As a result, the narrator used to scold him often. The narrator took great effort to teach Kari how to sit down and walk. It was a tough task for him to make Kari learn the concept of Master Call. This was a strange rising sound that the elephant had to make to guide the master reach home if he was lost in the jungle. It took a period of five years for Kari to master this skill.

Summary

Karl was an elephant. He was five months old when he came to the author. Karl lived in a pavilion. It was under a thatched roof which rested on thick tree stumps. Karl bumped against the poles as he moved about the enclosure. Yet the poles didn’t give way. It was so because these poles were made of thick tree stumps. Kari enjoyed his morning bath in the river much. He would lie in the water for a long time. On coming out he would squeal with pleasure. After the bath, the author would leave him on the edge of the jungle. He would himself go into the forest to get some twigs for the elephant’s dinner. It took a long time. First, the author would sharpen his hatchet which took half an hour. Then the author had to climb trees to get the most delicate and tender twigs. Doing all this naturally took a long time. Karl and the author were good friends. But Kari once pushed him into the stream. It was to save the life of a boy. He saw a boy lying on the bottom of the river. He dived and pulled the body of the drowning boy to the surface. However, the author was not a swimmer. So he could not come ashore. The current began to drag him down. Karl saw it. He came fast into the water. The author caught his trunk. He pulled both the author and the boy ashore. Karl was like a baby. Like a baby he had to be told when he was naughty. He developed a taste for bananas. He began to steal them. Large plates of fruit were kept on a table in the dining room, Kari would put his trunk through the window to the bananas. In one attempt he would take them all. He would, then, quietly go to his pavilion. There he ate the bananas at peace without being seen. At last, the author caught him stealing. When he was scolded, he understood like a baby and did not steal again. Again, like babies he was a quick learner. Kari learnt “Mali’ after three lessons but it took him three weeks to learn ‘Dhat’. ‘Dhat was the command to sit while ‘Mali’ was the command to walk. These commands were taught to him just as one teaches a child. The teaching of master call to an elephant is a difficult thing. An elephant generally takes five years to learn it. Yet it is the most important signal for an elephant to learn. It is so because it helps an elephant to save his master’s life. Sometimes they are lost in the jungle and there is no way out. Then the master makes a strange. hissing, howling sound in the elephant’s ear. A trained elephant understands it and at once pulls out the tree in front of him. This frightens all the animals away. Even the tiger is frightened. The elephant goes on pulling down the trees one after the other. Thus a path is made out of the forest.

 

Answer the following questions.

1. The enclosure in which Kari lived had a thatched roof that lay on thick tree stumps. Examine the illustration of Kari’s pavilion on page 8 and say why it was built that way.

Ans: Kari’s pavilion was built of hatched roof that lay on thick tree stumps because it(the elephant) was very tall and the thatch would not fall when Kari bumped against the poles.

 

2.  Did Kari enjoy his morning bath in the river? Give a reason for your answer.

Ans: Yes, Kari enjoyed his morning bath in the river as he lay down on the sand bank and let his friend rub his back and also lay in the river water for a long time. He squealed with pleasure when water was rubbed down his back.

 

3. Finding good twigs for Kari took a long time. Why?

Ans: Finding good twigs for Kari took a long time because his friend had to climb all kinds of trees to get the most delicate and tender twigs. Also, if a twig was mutilated an elephant would not touch it. So, one had to be very sharp hatchet to cut down these twigs which took half an hour to sharpen it. It was not an easy job.

 

4. Why did Kari push his friend into the stream?

Ans: Kari pushed his friend into the stream because a boy was lying flat on the bottom of the river. Kari wanted his friend to save the life of that boy, so he pushed his friend into the stream.

 

5. Kari was like a baby. What are the main points of comparison?

Ans: Kari was like a baby because he had to be trained to be good just like a baby. He had to be taught when to sit down, when to walk, when to go fast, and when to go slow. When he was naughty, he need to be scolded and if not, he would do more mischief.

 

6. Kari helped himself to all the bananas in the house without anyone noticing it. How did he do it?

Ans: Kari stole the bananas from the table near the window in the dining room. He put his trunk through the window very much like a snake and disappeared with all the bananas without anyone noticing it.

 

7. Kari learnt the commands to sit and to walk. What were the instructions for each command?

Ans: When his friend pulled his ear and said 'Dhat', Kari sat down and when he pulled his trunk forward and said 'Mali', Kari walked.

 

8. What is “the master call”? Why is it the most important signal for an elephant to learn?

Ans: The master call is a strange hissing, howling sound, as if a snake and a tiger were fighting each other. It is the most important signal for an elephant because whenever the master was in trouble, one master call would bring the elephant near him and help him out of danger.

 

Moral

The moral of the story, "Bringing up kari", is that we should underestimate nature in a way that animals can exceed the doings of a human being. In simple words, the story depicts the moral that animals too have the ability of sometimes being more caring and loving than human beings.

 

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