The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories

'''THE NIGHT TRAIN AT DEOLI AND OTHER STORIES '''

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Overview: The book is a collection of short stories, mostly based in the hills and told in the first person. The narrative is simple and touches a chord with the reader.

Number of classes: 3 storytelling activities (one story per class) + Any 3 activities (corresponding to the stories)

Resource material: “The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories” by Ruskin Bond, Penguin Books

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Story summary: In “The Woman on Platform 8”, the young narrator runs into a woman while waiting for his train. She treats him to jalebis and samosas and when the narrator’s friend and his nosy mother make an appearance, they take her to be the narrator’s mother and the narrator goes along with the pretence. “The Man Who Was Kipling” is the story of how the narrator encounters a man who claims to be Rudyard Kipling. Later, the narrator realises that he was either hallucinating or had seen a ghost.

“The Eyes Have It” is the story of a blind man trying to impress a lady in his coupe by pretending not to be blind. In the end, he realises that she too is blind. “The Boy Who Broke The Bank” is the story of how a simple complaint about non-payment of salary by the bank’s sweeper Nathu sets off a chain of events resulting in the closure of the bank. “The Prospect of Flowers” talks about the beautiful relationship between a young boy and an old woman. The boy meets the woman while he is plucking flowers from her garden. They bond over their love for flowers. However, the woman passes away towards the end but not before bequeathing her book on flowers to the boy.

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Preparation for the class: Read “The Night Train at Deoli and Other Stories”. Go through the stories that have been summarised above as most of the activities are based on them. Also, read up on Ruskin Bond.

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Class description: Start the class by asking the students if they have ever holidayed in a hill-station. Ask them to talk about the differences in the life of people from the hills and from the plains. Then, start by narrating “The Prospect of Flowers” and take up either activity 1 or 2.

In the next 2-3 sessions, read out the other stories summarised above and conduct the related activities.

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'''Related activities '''

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1.      '''Flower power (Nature, During reading, Whole class) '''

Take the class on a flower walk. Visit the nearest botanical garden or even a large nursery. Alternatively, you can also take the students to the school garden (if it is big enough). Ask the students to do a research on flowers before-hand. At the garden/nursery, conduct a small quiz by asking them to identify each flower. If this activity isn’t possible, you could take colour print-outs of each flower, make flash cards of them, and then conduct the quiz.

2.      '''Floral craft (Craft, During reading, Individual) '''

Talk to the students about nature. When was the last time they paid attention to the flowers, plants and trees around them? Take the class out on a walk in a park or garden near the school. Alternatively, they can visit a park or garden near their homes. Ask them to smell the flowers, touch and feel the bark of the trees and collect fallen leaves. You can plant saplings with your class if you have the time for it. Refer to Activity Sheet.

3.      '''Do you believe in ghosts?* (Discussion/Writing, After reading, Whole class) '''

In “The Man Who Was Kipling”, the narrator comes across the ghost of Rudyard Kipling. Start off with a discussion on ghosts. Do the students believe in ghosts? If ‘yes’, why, if ‘no’, why not? Ask them to narrate their favourite ghost story, and superstitions surrounding ghosts. Then, ask the class to write a similar story of an encounter with the ghost of a famous person. The story should have dialogue between the narrator and the ghost.

4.      '''Chinese Whispers* (Game, After reading, Whole class) '''

This activity can be performed after reading “The Boy Who Broke The Bank”. Play a game of Chinese Whispers with the class. Whisper something absurd to the person sitting on the extreme left in the first row. Then, ask him/her to whisper that sentence to the next person. This goes on until the sentence has been whispered across the whole class. In the end, the last person to hear the sentence says it out loud. In all probability, the sentence won’t be anything like the original! Get each student to retrace the course of the whisper. The idea of the game is to show how one’s words can be twisted out of proportion if too many people get to know about it and start talking about it.

5.      '''Train tales* (Writing/Art, After reading, Individual) '''

Many of Ruskin Bond’s stories are based in railways stations or trains. Ask the students to write either a fictional or a non-fictional piece about train journeys. They could talk about the scene at the railways station, the co-passengers, the array of food that is brought to their window, the sights and sounds along the way and any adventures they might have had on the journey. Alternatively, they could outline the entire scene and colour it in.

6.      '''Goosebumps (Writing, After Reading, Individual) '''

Tell the students to imagine they each have a friend. Their friend is a ghost. They are discussing how their respective days panned out. Ask students to write out a dialogue describing their conversation with their friend. Refer to Activity Sheet.

7.      '''Train tales (Writing/Art, After Reading, Individual) '''

Many of Ruskin Bond’s stories are set in trains. Ask students draw a picture of a train with around 5-6 compartments and write a “train tale”. Their first sentence will be written on the engine, the second sentence on the first compartment and so on. Refer to the Activity Sheet.

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8.      '''Design a postcard (Writing/Art, After Reading, Individual) '''

Ask the students to each design a postcard for Ruskin Bond. The card should be based on the book. They can use the space in the activity sheet and design both sides of the postcard. They could draw a scene from the book, write out interesting quotes, lines or dialogues, or review their favourite part of the book in 20 words. Refer to Activity Sheet.

'''Recommended reading '''

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“Malgudi Days” by RK Narayanan, Indian Thought Publications

“The Adventures of Rusty” by Ruskin Bond, Puffin Books

“The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling, Random House

Spooked? Check the Activities out for more Shivers