Binya lives with her mother and brother in a small village in the Garhwal hills, where she grazes the family's two cows. One day a group of picnickers from the plains admire her lucky leopard-claw pendant, and she exchanges it for a frilly blue umbrella that becomes the most admired object in the valley.
Ram Bharosa, the elderly owner of the village tea shop, cannot stop thinking about the umbrella. When Binya refuses to sell it, his envy pushes him into scheming, and the consequences ripple through the small community, testing ideas of fairness, pride and forgiveness. Children in the village take sides as the rivalry grows.
This novella is one of Ruskin Bond's best-known stories for children, told with simple, clear prose and a sharp sense of mountain life: weather, wildflowers and village gossip. Vishal Bhardwaj adapted it into a National Award-winning Hindi film in 2005, with Pankaj Kapur as the shopkeeper.
Book details
| Author | Ruskin Bond |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Children's |
| Type | Fiction |
| Setting | A village in the Garhwal hills, Uttarakhand |
Themes
- Envy and greed
- Forgiveness
- Village community
- Childhood
Who should read it
Children aged eight and up, and parents looking for a short read-aloud with a gentle moral.