The Trunk of Ganesha -Jayanata Mahapatra

 Introduction :-

The Trunk of Ganesha” is a story written by Jayanta Mahapatra. The story is of one skilled idol maker named Govinda. He makes idol of all gods and goddesses. He is a married man and his wife’s name is Sulochana. He has three sons but only the youngest one Ranju was interested in making idols and he was learning this art.

About the Writer :-

Jayanta Mahapatra (born 22 October 1928) is an Indian English poet. He is the first Indian poet to win a Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry. He is the author of poems such as "Indian Summer" and "Hunger", which are regarded as classics in modern Indian English literature. He was awarded a Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in India in 2009. He returned the award in 2015 to protest against rising intolerance in India. His Notable work is Relationship (1980).

Summary of the Story :-

The trunk of Ganesha is a short story by an Indian writer Jayant Mahapatra. It is a story of an idol maker who finds himself in trouble in completing idol of Ganesha. Because strangely trunk was breaking every time. In the end mystery is solved.

Govinda is a skilled idol maker. He had learned this skill from his father who has learned from his father. He was living with his wife Sulochana and three son. Two of his sons were not interested in idol making but his younger son Ranju was learning this skill from his father. Govinda was happy for that.

Govinda was best idol maker in his valley and so Sulochana was proud for her husband. But now one strange thing had started happening. Govinda was working on idol of lord Ganesha but could not complete it because for some reason its trunk was breaking every time. He finish it at day but when night passes, in the morning they find the trunk broken. They couldn't find out why? Govinda starts to think about possible reasons. He thinks about clay, it's weight but all was right. Then he thinks that God must have angry with him. He has been making idols eye catching. He had started making figures of goddesses slim. He thought because of this God maybe was angry on him. He also thinks about price. He may be taking more cost for his idols.

And one day he determines to find out truth behind this mystery. He and his son decided to hide themselves in corner of the room where idol of Ganesha is. After finishing idol, they hided themselves. They wait for so long but nothing has happened. Ranju falls asleep. Suddenly Govinda sees one dark shadow in the window. It moves and jumps on the trunk of Ganesha. It was cat who at the night used to slide over the Ganesha's trunk and break it. Govinda feels great relief.

So, the story ends in witty way.

Conclusion :-

The end of the story is very interesting and witty. We can not even think after all these tension through out the story that, this simple thing can also be reason.