Job of Mahendra
Mahendra was a junior construction supervisor in a firm. His job was to supervise the work at a construction site. Once the job would be overs, he used to be shifted to another construction site. Thus, the nature of his job was to move from one place to another place.
Iswaran: Amazing Servant and Entertainer
Mahendra's needs were simple as he was a bachelor. He had kept a servant named Iswaran for domestic work. Iswaran followed Mahendra without any complaint. He cooked for Mahendra, washed his clothes and cleaned his shelter. In leisure time, Iswaran read Tamil thriller stories and this affected him so much that even a small incident like a fallen tree appeared to him a bushy beast. Iswaran described everything in detail and weaved a new story full of thrill and horror to Mahendra every day. He played the role of a TV in providing entertainment to Mahendra.
Iswaran Narrates Story of a Tusker
Once, Iswaran told Mahendra a story about his schooldays describing a tusker (wild elephant) and how he behaved when he got mad. The tusker escaped out of a timber yard, destroying everything that came in his way. It entered Iswaran's school. Everyone there was terrified but not Iswaran. He grabbed a cane from a teacher's hand and faced the mad tusker boldly. He hit sharply with the cane onto the third toe of one foot of the elephant and it shivered and collapsed. At this point, Iswaran would leave the story and Mahendra remained in a dangling situation.
Iswaran Narrates Story of a Ghost and Mahendra's Reaction
On another occasion, one auspicious day, he weaved a story about a ghost woman holding a foetus in her hands on a full moon night. Mahendra asked him to stop telling him such nonsense stories as Mahendra did not believe in ghosts and there are no such type of figures.
Mahendra's Encounter with Ghost
After a few days, Mahendra was woken up by some noise near his window sill during the night. First he thought that it was some sort of small animal like a cat, but the noise became louder and louder.
When he peeped through the window, he thought that he saw a cloudy figure clutching a bundle near his window sill. Mahendra could not sleep any more that night. In the morning, Iswaran smilingly asked about the sound and the woman ghost. He also complained about how Mahendra had chided him the other day. Mahendra was so upset that he resigned his site job immediately.
Conclusion of Iswaran the Storyteller
The chapter - Iswaran the Storyteller illustrates a lesson that we should not get carried away by stories shared by other people or assume it as reality. We should apply our own wit and intelligence before we see it with our own eyes. Don't be quick to believe what you hear because lies or rumours spread faster than the truth.