The Fictional Novel “The Lost Child” is written by Indian Novelist “Mulk Raj Anand”, published in 1934. The story of novel revolves around a boy who lost his mother and father in a fair of spring.
THE LOST CHILD BY MULK RAJ ANAND
Summary of The Lost Child By Mulk Raj Anand
The story begins with Spring festival in village and a fair which is a main attraction of the village. Every single person from village is coming to celebrate a festival of fair, few people are coming in village by their vehicles, few are coming by bullock cart while few are coming by buses. The story now introduces a little boy, a protagonist who is also coming in a fair of spring with his father and mother. He is very happy about fair. As the shop of toys come, little boy stops there to see toys, but his father urges him to move forward, boy listen to his father and started moving forward while his eyes are still staring on toys in shop.
The boy knows that his father and mother will never get him toys but still he asks his father for toys and in reply, his father stare at him in eyes with his red eye and his mother distract him by telling him to look at a beautiful farm of mustard. The boy distract himself from toys by an amazing butterfly in mustard farm and he goes toward farm to catch it. As the boy goes toward any butterfly to catch her, a butterfly immediately runs away from him. Afterwards, a boy’s mother calls him to come back, and they moves toward a fair.
The boy stops again and this time he starts playing with insects on ground and his parents again calls him to move forward with them while boy’s mother and father are sitting next to a well to take some rest. A boy runs toward his mother and father and then flowers start falling on him from big trees around him. He again forgets about his parents who called him and starts collecting flowers which are falling on him from trees.
Furthermore, a boy starts moving forward with his parents and as they enter in fair, he saw a shop of sweets and in shop he saw his favourite sweet which is Barfi, boy ask his parents to get him Barfi despite knowing that his mother and father will never get him Barfi. Without wasting time, a boy moves ahead and there he saw a beautiful shop of flowers, he goes toward flower seller and thinks about buying flowers. He moves forward in fair where a saw a man who is selling beautiful and colourful balloons and again, he desires for balloons but never ask his parents for balloons because he already knows that they will never get him balloons.
A boy moves forward again, there he saw a snake charmer who is playing a harp, but this time boy does not go towards him because his parents told him not go near of such things. He moves ahead, this time boy saw a beautiful Hindola swing and starts watching people who are swinging in Hindola. This time again he asks his father and mother for swinging in louder voice, but he doesn’t gey any reply from his parents and when he look back to ask them again, he saw that is mother and father are not behind him, and he looks every side around him but still he doesn’t see his parents.
The boy started crying and starts running in fair to look his parents and a boy does not know what to do to find his parents. After getting tired, a boy stands in place and after taking some rest, boy starts running again and this time he goes toward a Temple where he saw a big line of people, boy goes inside of big line while calling mother and father as he reaches a gate of temple, he saw more people who are pushing each other to go inside of temple. Finally, one man from crowd heard a voice of him and this man takes boy in his arms and ask him like how he got inside of temple despite a huge line and who is your mother and father.
The boy again cries a lot while calling for his mother and father only and man takes boy toward Hindola swing so that he stops crying and ask boy for a ride of Hindola swing but still boy is just calling for his mother and father. The man takes him toward snake charmer and told him to listen a music of snake charmer harp but still boy cry does not stop and now man goes toward balloon seller and ask boy to get any colourful balloons but boy is just calling his mother and father and now man goes toward flower shop and ask boy for flowers but boy cry does not stop and in the end of story he takes him toward sweet shop for sweets but boy never stop crying.
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