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About the Author - Dhan Gopal Mukerji
Dhan Gopal Mukerji wrote short storybooks for children. He has written numerous books
and stories, most of which described the life of animals in India. He was an Indian writerand
interpretedHindu folklore and philosophy.
Theme
The story of ‘Bringingup Kar’ is a narrative description of a small elephant whose name was
Kari. The narrator raised the elephant and trained him the basic instincts of elephants like
how to respond to certain gestures and calls. The narrator also tells the readers about the
growthand habits of the elephant
Summary of Class 7 English Bringing up Kari
The narrator was a nine-year-old child who was given a duty to look after a five-month-old
elephant named Kari. During the first two years, the boy could reach the back of the elephant
with ease. Kari lived in a pavilion with a thatched roof. Kari fed on forty pounds of twigs to
chew and play with. Kari was taken to a river for a bath by the narrator. He rubbed sand on
Kari's back for an hour, then he was put into the water. Karl enjoyed bathing and after a long
bath, he would come out with pleasure and shining skin.
While coming back, the narrator led him by the ear to the border of the jungle. The narrator
then went inside the jungle leaving Kari at the border to collect luscious twigs for his dinner.
The narrator says that he had to be very careful while breaking the twigs because elephants
dont like to eat distortedtwigs.Vedaniti,
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One spring day in March, when the narrator was gathering food from a banyan tree, he heard
Karis call. He ran to the border where he had left him but he did not find Kari there. The
narrator sensed that Kari was in danger. He rushed to the riverbank. First, he thought that
some black creature was struggling to get out of the water. When the creature rose a little
above from the water, the narrator realized that it was Kari’s trunk. He thought that Kari was
drowning and so he jumped into the river. Then, he realized that Kari was tryingto save a boy
who got drowned in the river. They both struggled to get the boy to the shore. Kari saw the
narrator was gettingswept away by the current. He rushed into the water and spread out his
trunk around his neck. He then pulled them both out to the riverbank
Next, the narrator tells the readers about the mischievous act of Kari. Kari was like a baby.
He was mischievous and naughty. He had to be trained to be disciplined. One day somebody
fed Kari some ripe bananas and ever since thenhe developed a great love for bananas. For a
few days, ripe bananas were disappearing from the fruit bowl, which was placed on the
dining table near the window. First, the family thought that the servants were eating but
when the fruits continued to disappear, the family thought that the narrator was eating. He
couldn't convince his parents that he was innocent. The elders were ignorant of Kari's act.
Then one day, when Kari was stealing the bananas slyly with his trunk through the window,
the narrator saw it. Unaware of such intrusion,he felt scared. He followed Kari to his pavilion
and on the investigation, he found mashed bananas in his pavilion. He pulled Karis ear and
revealed the truth to his parents. He scolded Kari for his act and after that incident, Kari
never stole any banana. Kari understood his mistake and why he was scolded.
The narrator wanted to teach Kari all signals and sounds during his childhood. Kari was a
fast learner, and very soon he learnt the words ‘Dhat’ and ‘Mali’. ‘Dhat’ was a signal to sit
down and ‘Mali’ meant to walk. Kari learnt the word ‘Mali’ very fast but he took almost three
weeks to learn the word ‘Dhat’. The narrator says that the most difficult thing to teach an
elephant is the master call. Kari took five years to learn it properly.Vedaniti,
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The master call is a signal to save oneself if one gets lost in the jungle. It is a kind of a
strange hissing and howling sound as if a snake and the tiger are fighting with each other.
Once the elephants hear this sound, they will pull down all trees in front of them and scare
all the animals like monkeys and stags. Even the tigers feel scared of elephants. They make
an easy way for home even in the wild. Kari learnt this very well.