BINIYA'S EMPATHY. Review on Blue Umbrella, The - Ruskin Bond

The story revolves around the blue umbrella possessed by a little girl Binya who is the main character of the story. Binya loves her umbrella so much that she can never imagine of parting with it but she gives it to Rambharosa when she comes to know about  his attempt to get the umbrella stolen. This shows that though the blue umbrella was Binya'a prized possession, she gives it to Rambharosa because she was empathic towards Rambharosa . Another important character of the story is Rambharosa who desired to get the blue umbrella agrees to give three rupees to Rajaram for stealing Binya's umbrella  for him. But Rajaram is caught by Binya's brother Bijju and the villagers came to know about it. After that incident, the villagers lost trust on Rambharosa and they stopped buying things from his shop. Rambharosa was put in a miserable condition as nobody came to his shop.  Binya felt sorry for such a miserable plight of Rambharosa and one day she goes to buy the toffee at his shop and leaves her favourite umbrella in his shop.  When Rambharosa sees the umbrella instead of hiding it he runs out of his shop  to hand it over to Binya. But Binya refuses to take it and gives it to Rambharosa. According to me, the story conveys the message that like Binaya, we should be empathic to others and like Binaya we can also spread happiness by small acts of kindness. The story also focuses on the fact that like Rambharosa we should not use unfair means to get something which does not belong to us. We should not get swayed away by our emotions as it may lead to severe consequences. One should think rationally before taking any decision.