Iswaran The Storyteller

The story ‘Iswaran, the Storyteller’, is about a master storyteller, Iswaran who narrates stories so effectively that people start believing them to be true. This story tells us about his relation with his master Mahendra, and how Iswaran’s stories impact him.

The story drives home the fact that believing in stories without verifying facts can sometimes go against one’s expectations. Like, in the case of Mahendra, he simply believed Iswaran’s story about a female ghost and without confirming the truth, he resigned from his job. Also, we have the message that supernatural events are indeed a figment of one’s imagination. It is sheer foolishness to believe in ghosts and spirits unless we have solid proof of its existence.

Meanings of words and phrases

• to keep an eye: to watch someone or something carefully
• now and then: something that happens sometimes but not very often or regularly
• ill-equipped: not having the necessary resources or qualities for a particular role or task
• makeshift: something temporary and of low quality, but used because of a sudden need
• asset: a useful or valuable thing or person
• miraculously: very effective or surprising, or difficult to believe
• conjure: to make something appear by magic
• leisurely: in a relaxed way, without hurrying
• dozing off: to fall into a light sleep unintentionally
• thrall: the state of being in someone’s control
• influenced: the power to have an effect on people or things
• dramatic: full of action and excitement
• gesture: a movement of the hands, arms, or head, etc. to express an idea or feeling
• deserted: empty or abandoned
• sprawled: spread across
• inclined: likely or wanting to do something
• uncritically: accepting something too easily
• hauled: pull or drag with effort or force
• emulation: to copy something achieved by someone else and try to do it as well as they have
• helter-skelter: run quickly and in all directions
• panic: a sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thought and action
• depredations: damage or destruction
• menacingly: in a way that suggests the presence of danger
• hypnotised: the state of being captured in attention of someone
• mustering: to bring together
• whacked: hit someone or something noisily
• collapsed: fall down and become unconscious as a result of illness or injury
• rapt: to be completely fascinated or absorbed by what one is seeing or hearing
• summoned: called
• revive: bring something back to life, health, existence, or use.
• shrug: raise one’s shoulders slightly to express doubt, ignorance, or indifference
• paralyses: cause someone to become partly or wholly incapable of movement
• credible: to be believed or trusted
• inimitable: very unusual or of very high quality and therefore impossible to copy
• delicacies: a delightful or pleasing choice of food
• garish: unpleasantly bright
• reverie: pleasant dream-like thoughts
• drifted: carried away by thoughts
• matted: hair twisted into a firm, messy mass
• shrivelled: something wrinkled and shrunken
• foetus: the young one of a human or an animal in the womb or egg
• figment: something that seems real but is not
• vicinity: surroundings
• moan: a low sound, usually made when one is unhappy or in pain
• prowling: move around quietly in a place trying not to be seen or heard, such as an animal does when hunting
• guttural: a deep sound produced at the back of the throat
• wailing: make a long, high cry, usually because of pain or sadness
• feline: belonging or relating to the cat family
• grinned: a wide, broad smile