The Boy Who Broke the Bank డిగ్రీ ఇంగ్లీష్ మొదటి సంవత్సరం Q&A

The Boy Who Broke The Bank

Brief summary:

"The Boy Who Broke the Bank" is a short story by Ruskin Bond. It is about a boy who was working at a bank by sweeping up. The bank manager was way overdue in paying him for the job. Soon that bank collapsed and rumor had it that it was because of the unpaid boy. Because word got around that the boy didn't get paid, people assumed that the bank had no money. The people who dealt with the bank were worried about their money. This story is basically about how rumors and lack of communication can cause many problems and be destructive.

Question and Answers:

Q1. How did the story traveled from Mrs. Bhushan to the elderly gentleman who was getting a haircut? How did the facts of the news change as it traveled?

Mrs. Bhushan told the news to her husband, Mr. Bhushan who was talking to Kamal Kishore. Kamal Kishore, who owned a photographic shop, passed on the news to his neighbor, a barber. At the time the barber was giving a haircut to an elderly gentleman. The fact was that the bank did not pay the sweeper till 20^th of the current month. But as it travelled, the news coloured the facts in such a way that people thought that the bank was about to collapse.

Q2. What did the elderly gentleman do to ascertain the veracity of the news? What did he find out? What conclusion did he reach?

Hearing the news, the elderly gentleman ran across the road to a general merchant’s store and made a phone call to Seth Govindaram, the owner of the bank. He learned that the Seth was away to Kashmir on a pleasure trip. He concluded that the owner of the bank ran away from the town to escape as the bank was about to collapse. He informed the same to Dev Chand, the barber. Then he hurried to his home to get his cheque book to withdraw money from the bank.

Q3. How did the people react to the rumor of the imminent collapse of the bank? What did they tell each other? What new rumors started to spread?

The news of the bank’s imminent collapse spread in the town like a wildfire. At the general merchant’s shop, it circulated in customers. Soon everybody started talking about the news . A new rumor started to spread that the Seth had left the state. Some others said that he left the country.  Some people said that he was hiding somewhere in the town. Some even said that he had hanged himself to a tamarind tree.

Q4. Enumerate the steps taken by the bank manager to resolve the crisis.

As every customer of the bank started withdrawing money, the small bank had gone through all its ready cash reserves by noon. The bank manager was in a dilemma. He could not get any emergency funds immediately from another bank, which was some thirty miles away. Nor could he contact the owner of the bank, who was beyond his reach, on a house-boat in Kashmir. He tried in vain to convince the people that the bank had plenty of money. He urged them to come on the next day.

Q5. Describe the scene in front of the bank and the incidents that follow.

As people the rumor that the bank was about to collapse, they gathered in front of the bank in large numbers demanding the repayment of their deposits. By noon, the small bank had gone through all its ready cash reserves. The manager could neither get emergency funds nor contact the owner. He tried in vain to convince the people that the bank had plenty of money. He urged them to come on the next day. But customers demanded their cash on the spot. Several mischief makers joined the crowd. Somebody hurled a brick on the glass window and broke it. That was the end of the Pipalnagar Bank.