The Talented Naren

A fictional narrative based on incidents from the childhood of Swami Vivekananda.

- Gitanjali Murari

The bell pealed loudly through the school and as soon as the Mathematics teacher left the classroom, Naren turned to his friends, “I read a wonderful story yesterday…”

“What is it about?” Hari and Shibu leaned forward on their desks, eager to listen.

“It is about a very brave policeman,” he answered, “who caught a fearsome dacoit… listen well…”

The bell rang again and even before its sound faded away, another teacher entered the room.

“I’ll tell you the rest later,” Naren whispered to his friends.

“Today, we will study parts of a plant,” Mukherjee sir announced. “Open your textbooks to chapter 2…”

“Finish the story,” Shibu urged from the seat behind Naren.

“Yes please,” begged Hari from the adjacent desk, “it has reached such an interesting point…”

Naren turned to face them, speaking rapidly, “Everyone in the village was scared… they did as the dacoit told them and tied up all their money and jewels in bundles…”