The Cabuliwallah (summary)

-Rabindranath Tagore

A Cabuliwallah named Rahaman reached near the house of the writer. He was a peddler and sold seasonal goods. Mini, the five years old daughter of the writer, saw him. The writer was busy on writing his story. When Mini called him, he came towards her. When Cabuliwallah came towards her house, Mini got afraid and went to her mother. But, the writer called her and introduced with Rahaman to remove her fear from her mind. The Cabuliwallah gave nuts and raisins to her. Then Cabuliwallah became a regular visitor to Mini’s home. They became good friends.

Rahaman sold seasonal goods. Once he had sold a Rampuri sawl to a costumer on credit. But when he went to collect his money, the costumer didn’t give the money. It made Rahaman so angry that he stabbed the costumer with knife. Rahaman was charged for attempting murder and was sent to jail for long time. When he was released from the jail, he directly went to the writer’s house. There was a ceremony in the writer house. Mini was going to get married. At first, the writer didn’t allow him to see her. But Rahaman gave nuts and raisins for her and gave it to the writer. He then took out the hand print of his daughter from his pocket, and declared that he also had a daughter like Mini in his house. Seeing the condition of the Cabuliwallah, the eyes of the writer filled with tears. He called Mini who was in wedding dress, and introduced with Rahaman. Rahaman was surprised to see mini grown up. He remembered his own daughter and expressed the concerns about her. The writer got sentiment, and so, he offered hundred rupees to Rahaman by reducing some of the festivities like bands and electric lights. But the writer got happy to realize, that he was helping father who is going to meet his daughter.