Yashwant Handibag

With the Photographer by Stephen Leacock About the Author:       Stephen Leacock was born in Britain but brought up in Canada. He taught for some years at McGill University in Montreal. He is best known as a humorist. His many volumes of humourous essays and stories include Literary Lapses, Nonsense Novels and Friendship Fiction. Summary of the Essay:       With the Photographer is an interesting account of Leacock’s meeting with a photographer. He remembers his experience of getting a photograph taken with an observant eye for detail. He records his sharp reactions to having his face reshaped and retouched by the skilled photographer. Leacock shows a special kind of humour in this essay.       The writer wants to take his photograph. He goes to the photographer and tells him that he wants to take his photograph. The photographer is busy and asks him to wait. The photographer is a thin man with green eyes like a scientist. The ...

The Three Questions by Leo Tolstoy About the Author:       Leo Tolstoy was a great Russian thinker and writer. He wrote many novels, short stories and an autobiography called My Confession containing his religious experiences. War and Peace and Anna Karenina are his famous works. His literary works are union of great moral conviction and realistic details. He rejected all outward forms and dogmas of religion but returned his belief in God and love of men. Summary of the essay:       The central idea of the story is what is truly important at any given time is what we are doing at that moment, the reason why we are doing it, how it will help someone else at that moment, and the most important time is always now.       Once there was a king in a certain Kingdom. He wants to find out the answers for three questions. His questions are; what is the most important time to start anything. The second question is; who are the most impor...

The Homecoming by Rabindranath Tagore About the Author:       Rabindranath Tagore was a twentieth century Bengali freedom fighter, educationist, playwright and a poet. He went England for his education but came back to India. He started an experimental school at Santiniketan. He joined Indian National Movement and he was a great friend of Mahatma Gandhi. He was awarded Nobel Prize for literature for his famous work, ‘Gitanjali’. He was awarded the title, ‘Sir’ by the British Government which he later returned in protest against the British policies in India. He translated much of his poetry and received popularity for his work. His famous collections of poetry are Manasi, Sonar Tari and Gitanjali. He also wrote plays and short stories namely Gora and Ghare-Baire. Summary of the Essay:       The present story is about a teenager boy named Phatik who feels homesick after he leaves his home for education. It is about the psychology of the teenagers. ...

The Avenger by Anton Chekov About the Author:      Anton Chekov wrote many short stories. His stories are about ordinary Russian people who face extraordinary situations in their life. Chekov was   a doctor by profession but writing was his hobby. So he said “Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress”. His famous short stories are The Black Monk, Ward Number Six, The Murder, etc. Summary of the Essay: The present story deals with the extreme mental suffering experience by a husband whose wife has been unfaithful to him. The story presents the troubling thoughts of revenge mixed with moments of doubt in the mind of the central character in the story, Fedor Sigaev. There is suspense in the story which keeps the readers captivated till the end. Fedor Sigaev decides to take revenge when he finds out that his wife has been unfaithful to him. He wants to buy a revolver. He visits the shop of firearms. His face expresses anger, sorrow and irrevocable de...

On Not Answering the Telephone by William Plomer About the Author: William Plomer was a British novelist, poet and a literary editor. He was born in South Africa, completed his education in England and lived in Japan for a short while. So, he described himself as Anglo-African-Asian. He expressed his anger against racial discrimination in his collection of short stories titled ‘I Speak of Africa’. Plomer was known for his deep sense of humour which he showed both in his writings and in his talks on the radio. Summary of the Essay:           The present essay is a talk given by William Plomer on BBC. In the talk, he discusses the discovery of the telephone in a comic way. He thinks that sometimes gadgets like telephone are more of a burden than a boon. He makes some real observations about mechanical devices and their users. The writer shares his experience with mechanical devices like the telephone, the typewriter and the car. The writer does not use a tele...