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The Narayanpur Incident

By Shashi Deshpande
Characters
Babu: Son of Appa
Mohan: Elder brother of Babu and Manju who goes underground
Manju: Daughter of Appa
Suman: A young girl, who is active in the freedom struggle, along with Mohan.
Appa: A school teacher who gets arrested for being a follower of Gandhiji
Mr. Patil: The Sub-Inspector of Police happened to be the friend of the teacher

Introduction
The Narayanpur Incident is set in 1942, during the Quit India movement. The incident presents an intriguing
account of a turbulent situation that shook the peaceful town of Narayanpur. In the story, Gandhiji warns the
British to quit India on the 8th of August, 1942. The very next day, Gandhiji and some of the prominent leaders
are put in jail. The people of the country rose in protest officially starting the Quit India movement of 1942.
Babu and Manju are two school-going kids, who find themselves in a sticky situation. With their schools
closed down and their father in jail, they don't know how to deal with the situation. Their courageous brother,
Mohan, goes underground and soon the rest of the family moves to Narayanpur, a sleepy little hamlet that has
been completely unaffected by the turbulence in the country. But Narayanpur is seething within and it all
erupts at once when a group of children dares to confront the police.

Summary
Appa gets arrested by the British police
The background of the story is set in 1942 at the time of the Quit India Movement. At the beginning of the
chapter, we come to know about a teacher who gets arrested because he had been a follower of Gandhiji. The
teacher had two sons and a daughter, the names of his sons were Mohan and Babu and Manju was the name
of his daughter. We also find another character called Suman who was the friend of Mohan.
Babu and Manju encounter the rally by college students against the British government
When Babu and Manju were waiting for the procession of freedom fighters. They noticed that there was
another procession of college students who led and marched silently. Manju and Babu were disappointed
because the march they had come to ended peacefully. There was no slogan on that march, and there was no
violence or hooliganism, while Manju and Babu came on that march to have a thrilling experience. They
reached the barred gates holding the photograph of Gandhiji. Mohan was stopped by the DSP who had a
conversation with him later. Babu and Manju were sad because they didn't hear any slogans and the march
continued peacefully. The police expected a sort of serious revolt but that didn't happen. The protestors served
a notice informing the British to Quit India or face further consequences.
Mohan and Suman led the revolt secretly
During their conversation, Suman and another boy had come in with a newspaper-covered parcel. The mother
suggested they take to the puja room and Mohan assigned different duties to others to safeguard them. There
was, a cyclostyling machine in the parcel. The boys who gathered there would take away the copies of the
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speech of Mahatma Gandhi and distribute them to the people so that everyone would stand against the British
and send them out.
Mr. Patil joined the revolution
Mr. Patil, the Sub-Inspector of Police happened to be the friend of the teacher who was arrested but he was a
good man. So, he came to their house to help them. He explained the situation and the police people searching
for the machine. He told them to give the machine to him so that they wouldn't be arrested. The mother
believed him and she wanted Mohan to hand over the machine. As instructed, Mohan handed over the machine.
Later they heard a knocking sound and when they opened it, they saw some police people who wanted to
search their house for the machine. Through this incident, we come to know how the boys and girls led
different forms of resistance to the British.

Conclusion
The writer of the Narayanpur incident tries to impress upon the readers how different people fought against
the British in different ways. Leaders like the Mahatma fought selflessly and inspired thousands of Indians
like the teacher, his family, and other young college students like Suman. More significantly, there were people
like Patil, who belonged to the system but had their hearts in the freedom struggle. Their situation was pitiable.
For the sake of their livelihood, they would have taken up the job of the police. But secretly they were with
the freedom fighters and tried to do their bit risking their safety.

Narayanpur Incident Summary in Brief

Narayanpur Incident lesson written by Shashi Deshpande. In 1942 Mahatma Gandhiji started the Quit India
Movement. In this movement, a teacher from Narayanpur participated. So the British arrested him. To release
this teacher college students started a movement.
The teacher had two sons and one daughter. Mohan is the elder son. He is 18 years old. Babu is a younger son.
He is 13 years old. Manju is a daughter aged 11.
Suman is a leader of this movement and he is a friend of Mohan. These all students started a movement against
the British. Their movement was very peaceful. There were no slogans, no shouts. They are holding Mahatma
Gandhi's photo.
On the way of movement, DSP visited and received a letter from the student's leader. But Babu and Manju
were a bit disappointed with their movement. Later Babu came to know about movement.
Mohan and his friend brought a cyclostyling machine and kept it in the puja room. They are using this machine
to record Mahatma Gandhi's speech. British came to know about this matter. So, they decided to raid Mohan's
house. Patil, the sub-inspector was a friend of the teacher. He wanted to help them. So, Patil visited Mohan's
house and took back the machine. Thus, Patil also supported their movement.