The Story of the Novel:
Munoo was a boy of fourteen, living in the village of Kangra district. His parents had died when he was only a small boy and he was living with his uncle and aunt. He was studying in fifth class in the village school. Now his uncle and aunt decided that the time had come when Munoo should start earning his own livelihood. Daya Ram worked as a peon in the Imperial Bank in Sham Nagar at a distance of many miles from the village. They were always unkind in their behaviour with the boy and often scolded him.
 |
| Mulk Raj Anand’s Novel, Coolie—A Brief Story of the Novel |
In Sham Nagar, he was employed as a domestic servant in the house of Babu Nathoo Ram. The mistress, known as Bibiji was very abusive and ill - treated him. She always gave one or the other work to Munoo and he could not rest. He had to work all the time from morning till late at night. Munoo had no experience of the household work, and so he made mistakes. This infuriated Bibiji and she abused him badly. Munoo's life in the home as a servant became unbearable and miserable.
Munoo's only consolation, in the home of Nathoo Ram was the encouragement of the Babu's younger brother Prem Chand who often spoke to him kindly. Another consolation for Munoo in this home was Nathoo Ram's daughter Sheila, who liked to play with him but her mother often forbade her to play with a servant of the family. One day Munoo started dancing like a monkey. Another day, Nathoo Ram invited his officer Mr. England to tea at his home. Munoo was an ignorant village boy so he unknowingly dropped the tray of tea and broke the whole crockery. After the departure of Mr. England, Bibiji severely rebuked Munoo. On another occasion, Munoo danced like a monkey to amuse Sheila, bit her on the check playfully. He was mercilessly beaten and abused by Nathoo Ram . He complained to his uncle and he was beaten there also. So, he found it impossible to continue service in the family anymore. One day, he slipped away from the house and took shelter in a railway carriage at the railway station.
Munoo entered a compartment and the train soon started. Munoo hid himself and the compartment was so crowded that nobody noticed him. In that crowd was Prabha, a businessman with his partner Ganpat. They were going to Daulatpur. Prabha had no child of his own and when he noticed Munoo hiding under the seat, he at once became interested in him. He brought Munoo out and decided to take him to Daulatpur with him as a worker in his factory. His partner Ganpat did not like it but he remained silent. In Daulatpur, Munoo started working in the pickle factory of Prabha Dayal where there were many other servants including Tulsi. The picture of the factory was very depressing. Prabha and his wife were very kind to the boy and so Munoo felt very happy and satisfied with them. But Ganpat was a harsh and sullen man who ill - treated all the workers. He was particularly prejudiced against Munoo because Prabha liked him much. Ganpat's relations with the neighbours were also strained. One day, there was a quarrel of Ganpat with Sir Todar Mal, his wife and son and he was badly beaten. Prabha intervened to save him and begged pardon of Sir Todar Mal. Once Munoo ate so many unripe mangoes and suffered sore eyes. Ganpat at once guessed that Munoo had stolen raw mangoes from the heap and gave him severe beating. He was kindly looked after. Prabha did not like the ways Ganpat treated with Munoo and other servants. Later on Ganpat went to collect money from the parties. He wasted all that money on a dancing girl and was left only with fifty rupees. Prabha was in great need of money and so he borrowed from Todar Mal and many other people. When Prabha asked him for the money, he lost temper, abused Prabha very badly. Prabha tried to appease him but he was extremely misbehaving with him. Now he left the factory and threatened him that he would teach him a lesson. With fifty rupees still left with him, he started his own factory and spread the rumour that Prabha had become a bankrupt. It became impossible for Prabha to pay the creditors and as a consequence they crowded at his door. Now Prabha was completely ruined. Todar Mal's son Ram Nath had become Sub - inspector now and took Prabha to the police station. He was not only abused and humiliated at the police station but was also severely beaten. Consequently, he fell ill and had to leave Daulatpur on the advice of the doctor that he should go to hills to regain health and thus Munoo was now left alone in Daulatpur.
He did not know what to do and where to go. He tried to earn his living by working as a coolie in the Grain Market and then in the Vegetable market. He also worked as a coolie at the railway station. But he found that there were already so many coolies and because he had no license, the policeman made him run away from there. In the grain market the work was very difficult for him and his earning in the vegetable market was very small.
Munoo now decided to go to Bombay. He had heard much about the glorious life of Bombay. With the help of an elephant driver of circus, who was making shows in Daulatpur at that time, Munoo travelled to Bombay, hidden in a goods train. The circus company was also going to Bombay by that train. Munoo reached Bombay and was all alone in that big city which he had never seen before. He was bewildered and very much confused. He came into contact with Hari Har and his family by chance. He was a worker in the textile factory. Munoo had saved his son from being killed in the heavy traffic on the road. Hari was returning from his village where he had gone to bring his family. He returned to Bombay with his wife Lakshmi and his two children. Munoo had risked his life in saving the child. Hari hoped that he would soon join the factory again and that his wife, children will also be employed. Hari told Munoo that he would try to get a job for him also in the factory. That night Hari Har, his family and Munoo slept on the pavement like thousands of other coolies and labourers in the city.
Next morning Hari took his family and Munoo to Sir George White Cotton Mills, where he requested the Englishman, Jimmie Thomas, known as Chimta Sahib, for their employment in the factory. Hari told him that his wife, his son and the boy Munoo too needed a job. After long flattery, Chimta Sahib agreed to employ all the four of them on certain conditions. He expected certain commission for offering them the job, loaned some money on high interest and compelled them to take his hut on rent. The poor man had to accept all his terms. Now Munoo started working in the mill. Although he did not have any previous experience of this kind of work, he did not feel any difficulty in learning it. Most of the work was done by the machines and Munoo had only to move the handle. On the first day, Munoo was luckily saved by a fellow worker named Ratan, from being caught in a machine. Ratan was a strong wrestler like man. By the time, Munoo became very close to Ratan who helped him and Hari in every possible way. He saved them from being exploited and beaten by the English foreman of the factory. He saved them from the Pathan also who stood at the gate of the factory that no unauthorised persons might enter there. Hari's son got injured on the very first day while working on a machine because he also had no knowledge and experience of such a work. Hari had to rush his son to the hospital and thus lost his half day's wages.
Hari and his family had been provided with some accommodation. All these huts were owned by the foreman Chimta Sahib who earned extra money by forcibly renting them out to the workmen. However, when this hut was damaged badly by heavy rains, Hari, his family and Munoo were taken by Ratan to the chawl. He himself had a room there. He got some accommodation for them there though it was not adequate and comfortable. Life for all of them was very tough there. Their income was very low and they had to work and live in difficult conditions. One day Ratan took Munoo to the place of a prostitute. Munoo felt very excited and returned home from there very restless. That night Hari was not at home and Lakshmi was waiting for him alone. Seeing him in a state of agitation, she told him that they all belonged to the suffering class. She took him in her arms, pressed him close to her with a peculiar passion which created a desire in his heart. That night Munoo forgot everything in the pleasure of making love to Lakshmi who had taken the initiative in all this activity.
As Ratan was an independent minded man and very proud of his physical strength, he always adopted a defiant attitude towards the foreman. Chimta Sahib had developed a deep resentment against him for he interfered him whenever he tortured, insulted and exploited the labourers. So, one day he was dismissed from his service in the factory. Ratan took the matter to the Trade Union, of which he was the member but they did not care much and his case was taken up by Communist Union. In the meantime, the management of the mill had decided to curtail the working days of the labourers in order to reduce the wage expenditure as they said that the mill was running in great loss. The profit of the mill was declining as a consequence of the keen competition in the market. Ratan was also a member of All India Trade Union Congress. The communist leaders offered to Ratan to seek their protection and not to bother about his union to which he really belonged. They told that the union was not really interested in the welfare of the workers. When the management of the mill declared its decision to curtail the working days of the mill, the workers were very much agitated. Their income was already low and now it was further reduced. The Communist Union was known as Red Flag Union. They undertook to fight against the management not only on this issue but on behalf of the workers and their other problems also. One of the leaders of this union, Sauda, told a large gathering of the workers that his union had drafted a charter of demands on behalf of the workers and that this charter would be submitted to the management for necessary action. A Congress leader, Omkar Nath, wanted the workers to exercise restraint but Sauda urged the workers to start a strike in the mill on the next day. It was their protest against the decision of the management, curtailing the working days and thus reducing their wages. They also protested against the dismissal of Ratan and certain other coolies of the mill.
Finding that the workers were instigated by the communist leaders to go on strike, the management at once spread a rumour that certain Hindu children had been kidnapped by the Muhammadans in the city and that the Muslims, particularly the Pathans had decided to attack and kill the Hindus on a large scale. This rumour created a great disturbance in that meeting which Sauda was addressing. He at once realised that the management was trying to create mischief and to divide the workers on communal ground, so he requested the workers to go house and not to get excited. He promised that his union would certainly investigate the report about the kidnapping of the Hindu children and that in the meantime, the workers should observe a strike at the mill and press the management to accept their demands which they are going to submit to them. But the mischief had already started and there was killing and rioting all over the city.
Even before Sauda had finished his speech, groups of Hindu workers at the meeting started fighting against the groups of Muhammadan workers. Munoo feared that he might be attacked by some fanatical Muhammadans so he tried to slip away from the meeting. Ratan had also briefly addressed the meeting and asked the workers to go home. He told that he had joined the Red Flag Union. Munoo did not know where Hari was at this time. Both Hindu and Muslim workers were raising their own slogans. Suddenly Munoo was attacked by a Muhammadan and was knocked down with a stick. He narrowly escaped death.
Now violence had spread to certain other localities of the city. Groups of Pathans had begun to attack Hindu homes and killed them wherever they found any. Hindu leaders were calling upon the Hindus to get ready for the fight if they wanted to save the honour of their women. Many murders had already taken place. Munoo spent that night in an empty wagon which was in damaged condition and had been parked by the side of the road. Next morning, on waking up from the sleep, he came out of the wagon. As he stood surveying the scene around him, he was knocked down by a motor car passing with great speed.
An Anglo Indian lady, Mrs. Mainwaring was travelling in that car which had accidentally hit Munoo. He was hurt and fell unconscious. Mrs. Mainwaring ordered the driver of the car to lift Munoo from the road and put him in the car. She was going to Simla and she decided to take the injured boy with her because the driver told her that the boy was waif in whom probably nobody was interested in the least. When Munoo recovered his consciousness on the way, she asked him who he was. Munoo briefly told her the story of his misfortunes. She now took Munoo to Simla where he became his personal servant. In addition to his duties in the household, he was also one of the four coolies who pulled the rickshaw. Mrs. Mainwaring travelled to various localities in that rickshaw. She wanted to help Munoo in every possible way. She was always kind to him especially because she was a woman of loose character; she had many lovers and had married many times. Now she thought that Munoo could prove a powerful lover to her. But she did not realise that by making Munoo work as a rickshaw puller, she was exercising a great strain upon him. Munoo had become very friendly with some other rickshaw pullers, chiefly Mohan. Munoo felt very happy in the service of Mrs. Mainwaring but he did not realise that he was ruining himself with hard work in the service of that lady.
The result of this over exertion was that Munoo seriously suffered from consumption. He knew about this disease only when it was very much advanced and its cure was impossible. In fact, it was Mohan who first discovered this disease and disclosed it to him. One day, the condition of Munoo was very serious. Mrs. Mainwaring called Dr. Merchant, the health officer to examine him. At this time, this doctor was the lover of Mrs. Mainwaring. He told her that the boy was suffering from consumption and that she must not go near him so frequently as there was a great danger of infection. After a few days, Munoo died. He was hardly sixteen at this time.