10

1
12
The Blue Umbrella

The Blue Umbrella is an Indian novel written by Ruskin Bond. It is a

short af?dhumorousnovel set in the hills of Garhwal. Written in sin•R!

g'zg'*+‹**z language, it COR*ures life in a riffoye — where ordinary

characters becomeheroic, and others find ORRO^tunities to redeem

themselves.
In a small village of Himachal Pradesh, lived a little girl, Binya. She was
about ten and was fair, with pink cheeks and dark eyes. Her black hair was
always tied in a pigtail. She wore pretty glass bangles on her wrists, and a
necklace of glass beads, and a leopard's claw. It was her lucky charm, and
she always wore it. Her brother Bijju, who was two years older than her,
had one too, only it was hanging from a string.
Binya's full name was Binyadevi, and Bijju's real name was Vijay. Binya's
father had passed away two years after Binya was born. Her mother
worked on their three tiny fields on the mountainside. It was Binya's and
Bijju'sjob to make sure that their cows - Neelu and Gori - came home before
dark.
One day, Bijju had to prepare for his exams, so Binya took the cows for
grazing. Singing to herself, she walked towards an open space in the
forest. Suddenly, she stopped. She could hear voices, laughter and the
clatter of plates and glasses. As she moved closer towards the
sound, she saw a group of picnickers. Binya, stood in the shadows
between the trees for some time and watched them, admiring their
 Word Meanings

17
21 Fantasia-III