Khushwant Singh is an Indian short-story writer, novelist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and diplomat. He won the Padma Vibhushan Award in 2007.
About the story
● The story ‘The Mark of Vishnu’ was published in The Mark of Vishnu and other stories in 1950.
● This is a fictional story that is told from the third-person point of view. It depicts the consequences of blindfolded beliefs and superstition.
● There is a clash between old and new generations, science and superstition, traditional outlook and modern outlook, rational thoughts and irrational thoughts, and knowledge and blind faith.
● The story revolves around Gunga Ram, a group of four boys and a science teacher at school.
● The main theme of the story is superstition, blind faith, illiteracy, and ignorance.
Word Meaning:
♦contempt-hatred, ♦patronage-support, ♦blob-a drop of a thick liquid, ♦dissolve-melt, ♦pious-holy, ♦smeared-covered, ♦udders-milk gland, ♦battered-injured, ♦basking-enjoying the heat, ♦lawn -an area of grass in the garden, ♦yelled -a loud cry of excitement, ♦slithered-slipped
Summary
Gunga Ram was an illiterate Hindu Brahmin. He worked as a servant in the narrator’s house. He believed in the power of Trinity-Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. He was very much devoted to Vishnu, so he smeared his forehead with a V mark in sandalwood paste and worshipped Kala Nag as a mark of Vishnu. He believed in the sanctity of life. He gave milk to the Kala Nag every night. The narrator along with his brothers laughed at his beliefs and guessed that the cat drank the milk. They explained to Gunga Ram how the Kala Nag couldn’t drink the milk. They also shared how many snakes had been put in the school lab, and some reactions of snakes. They also threatened Gunga Ram with the fun that they would kill his Kala Nag.
One day the boys hit the Kala Nag and caught him. They put it in the biscuit tin and decided to take him to their school. It was night when the narrator asked Gunga Ram if he was going to give milk to the Kala Nag. He mocked him that the frogs would taste better than his milk, as he did not add sugar to the milk. The next day the boys put the tin in their school bus and showed the tin to Gunga Ram indicating his Kala Nag when their bus departed. Gunga Ram was shocked and looked at the departing bus.
After the boys reached school, they gave the tin to their science teacher. When the teacher loosened the cord of the tin, the lid of the tin flew into the air, and the Kala Nag came out. Then Kala Nag examined his surroundings and tried hard to get out of the room. In the meantime, Gunga Ram stood on the threshold with a saucer of milk, and the Kala Nag bit him on his forehead where he had a ‘V’ mark. The science teacher wiped Gunga Ram’s face with his handkerchief and saw a ‘V’ mark which was created by the fang of the Kala Nag.
Analysis
The story ‘The Mark of Vishnu’ depicts various shades of superstition and blind faith by projecting the character of Gunga Ram and the unsympathetic behaviour and arrogant approach of the new generation by projecting the character of four boys. In the story, Gunga Ram is an illiterate and conservative person. He has blind faith that Kala Nag will not bite anyone in his house as he used to give him milk. On the other hand, the narrator and his brothers are full of rational thoughts and modern scientific ideas. They share their knowledge of snakes with Gunga Ram mockingly, but they have a lack of respect for Gunga Ram. So, there is a conflict between Gunga Ram and a group of four boys. Gunga Ram cannot learn what the boys explain to him because of his blind faith and illogical thoughts. Again, the boys did not have sympathy to understand Gunga Ram because of their modern outlook and insensitiveness.
In the middle of the story, the boys catch Kala Nag and take him to school only to make fun of Gunga Ram, and
to be appreciated by the teacher. On the other hand, Gunga Ram goes to their school to give milk to the snake as he has so much respect for the snake as the mark of Vishnu. It is the time when the Kala Nag tries hard to save his life and observes Gunga Ram with a saucer of milk on the threshold of the room as a barrier on his way. The Kala Nag bites him on his forehead where he has a ‘V’ mark with sandalwood paste. At the end of the story, the science teacher wipes the blood from Gunga Ram’s forehead and sees a ‘V’ mark which the Kala Nag has made with his fang. There is situational irony at the end of the story when Gunga Ram has to pay for his blind faith and superstition.
