Summary of the story Leela's Friend

Summary of the story Leela's Friend

            The appointment of ‘tidy’looking Sidda freed Mr Sivasanker of the servant problem’ in his family. Sidda served in a doctor’s family in Hungalow near town made him lose his job.  Leela, Mr Sivasanker’s five year old daughter welcomed Sidda warmly and told her father to keep him.

         Sidda’s duty included washing clothes, tending the garden, running errands, chopping wood and looking after Leela. Sidda did all these for two square meals a day and four rupees a month. Ever when loaded with household work, Sidda never turned down Leela’s call to play with her. He became Leels’s happy playmate and ignited her innocent mind with his apparently absurd stories. Leela told her mother that Sidda knows the moon. At duck, Leela would hold a class for Sidda. She made him copy her writing and drawing. Leela got immense pleasure to play the teacher to him. When he proved to be a failure her efforts multiplied. She would not let him go till it was time for dinner. At bedtime, Sidda told her outstanding stories.gradually she became closer to him and sought his company almost all the time.

           One evening, Leela accompanied Sidda to buy sugar. On their return Leela’s mother found her gold chin missing. She slapped and scolded Leela for her carelessness and asked Siddea about the chain. Despite being threatened with police action Sidda clearly told Leela’s mother that he had no knowledge about it. Sidda, fled form the house as soon as Leela’s mother went into the kitchen, right after the questioning.

           Immediately after coming home, Mr Sivasanker furiously approached the police to register a complaint. But Lela was more concerned about the absence of Sidda that his being a thief. There was no one to play with her or tell her stories. Her mother was all absorbed in the fear  of Sidda’s likely attempts to loot their house. Leels, on the other hand, held her mother responsible for Sidda’s sudden disappearance as she though Sidda was ill –treated in their house.

           Mr Sivasanker came to know form the police station that Sidda was an old criminal who had been in jail several times and they obviously made a mistake by employing him as a servant.

           After four days, Sidda was brought to their house by a police inspector and a constable,. Leela was overjoyed and urged the police to free Sidda saying that he had not stolen the chain. But the police or Leela’s parents were in no mood to pay any heed to her requests or arguments. Instead they asked Sidda to produce the stolen chain, the condition in which they would let him go. Ultimately, the police took Sidda back to the police station for further interrogation  Leela’s all efforts to keep his friend in their house went in vain.

           The chain, however, was recovered a few days later form inside the pot of tamarind in their kitchen. It was evident that Leela had put it there sometime and forgot about the incident. Sidda was thus provide innocent. But Leela’s ;parents decided that they could not possibly re-employ a criminal in their house. As for their conscience, Mr Sivasanker would inform the inspector about the incident the very next day.