NCERT Class 7th: A Gift of Chappals by Vasantha Surya [from Mridu in Madras: Goruchaka Turns Up]

"A Gift of Chappals" is an excerpt from a novella (a short novel) by Vasantha Surya, a writer, translator, poet, and journalist. This short story is about the playful activities of a group of cousins:- Mridu, Lalli, Ravi and Meena.

Mridu, a young girl resided in Madras (present-day Chennai) with her Tapi (grandmother) and Thatha (grandfather). She visited her aunt, Rukku Manni's house and was welcomed there by her cousins, Lalli, Ravi and Meena.

In the beginning, when they entered their house, Mridu took off her slippers unknowingly near old and dusty grey slippers. These slippers are important as we will see later.

The cousins were excited as they found a kitten which was the centre of attraction for them. They laid the cat inside a torn football and fed it milk stolen from the kitchen in a coconut shell. Interestingly, they named it "Mahendraverma Pallava Poonai", in short, "M.P Poonai", after the emblematic cat belonging to the Pallava empire.

Suddenly, faulty violin notes grabbed the children's attention from the cat. Lalli used to learn violin from a home tutor. She had been clumsy in her practice, her notes were out of sync whereas her master played perfectly.

All of a sudden, they heard a beggar. Instantly Ravi's mother ordered him to shoo away the beggar. The beggar had been coming to their house for the past week as he was sure to get alms there.

Ravi followed by Mridu and Meenu, went to send the beggar away, the beggar made himself comfortable in their garden. Ravi cautioned him to find another house to beg. The beggar tried again to get heard by the women of the house as he believed they would give him something. But they refused. So, he agreed and requested the children to let him rest for a bit under the tree as it was scorching hot and the tar of the road would make it unbearable to walk on it. He showed his blistered feet to them.

Mridu felt pity for him and asked Ravi if he had any old pair of shoes at home. They pondered over the problem and searched the house for any pair of slippers which could fit the beggar's feet. Mridu found old slippers beside her own slippers. They weren't aware of its owner. Ravi took a look at it and reckoned that it could be the right size for the beggar.

Ravi and the others handed it over to the beggar and cautioned him to never come back there again. He vanished in seconds.

After Lalli's musical classes, the master began to leave the house but he couldn't find his slippers. The children kept silent while watching Lalli and the music master searching for his slippers in every nook and cranny of the house. While searching, he pretended that it was a brand new slippers, costing him a month's salary. 

Soon, Rukku Manni and Paati came to know about the issue. She was angry and asked the oddly-silent children about the slippers. 

Seeing her furious, Mridu admitted that they donated the slippers to the beggar because he had blisters on his feet. Rukku Manni retorted that it was unjust to give the master's slippers without his permission to anybody.

She went inside and brought out Gopu Mama's hardly worn, new slippers. She gave it to the master. He was happy to get it but feigns his emotions. He complained about the naughty kids and likened them to monkeys. Rukku Manni didn't like the analogy, she gave him a look to leave immediately. Later, she bantered with the children that as soon as Gopu Mama would return from office, he would look for his precious slippers.