Essay 1
Question
Narrate the story “The Barber’s Trade Union” and explain how Chandu succeeds in challenging the village elders.
Answer
“The Barber’s Trade Union” by Mulk Raj Anand is a humorous yet powerful story about caste discrimination, dignity of labour and collective resistance. Its central character, Chandu, is a young village barber who challenges the authority of the upper-caste elders.
Chandu and the narrator have been friends since childhood. Though Chandu belongs to the barber caste, the narrator greatly admires his intelligence, skill and adventurous nature. The narrator’s mother repeatedly discourages their friendship because she considers Chandu a low-caste boy. However, the narrator never feels superior to his friend.
After his father’s death, Chandu leaves school and takes up the hereditary profession of barbering. He visits the houses of the village elders to shave them and cut their hair. During his trips to town, he observes Kalan Khan, a dentist dressed in impressive modern clothes. Inspired by him, Chandu buys a white turban, rubber coat, shining shoes and a leather bag. He believes that such clothes will make him look dignified and professional.
However, the landlord Bijay Chand becomes angry on seeing Chandu’s new appearance. He considers the leather bag and shoes impure and orders Chandu to wear clothes appropriate to his low social position. The Sahukar and Pandit Parmanand also insult him. Their real objection is not to the clothes but to Chandu’s attempt to rise above the traditionally submissive role assigned to his caste.
Deeply humiliated, Chandu decides to teach the elders a lesson. He refuses to visit their houses and starts working by the roadside in town. He earns money and buys a Japanese bicycle, which gives him greater freedom and mobility.
As the strike continues, the elders’ beards grow long and untidy. They become objects of ridicule throughout the village. Their families also laugh at their appearance. The elders threaten Chandu with imprisonment and try to employ the barber from Verka.
Chandu defeats their plan by organising the barbers in the surrounding villages. He convinces them that the elders should visit the barbers instead of expecting personal service at home. Together, they establish the “Rajkot District Barber Brothers’ Hairdressing and Shaving Saloon.”
Thus, Chandu transforms his personal protest into an organised workers’ movement. His courage, intelligence and leadership help him secure dignity and independence for his community.
Essay 2
Question
Prepare a character sketch of Chandu in “The Barber’s Trade Union.”
Answer
Chandu, the central character of Mulk Raj Anand’s “The Barber’s Trade Union,” is an intelligent, courageous and enterprising young man. Although he belongs to an oppressed barber caste, he refuses to accept the inferior position imposed upon him by the upper-caste villagers.
As a child, Chandu is active, inventive and adventurous. He takes the lead in the games he plays with the narrator. He is skilled at catching wasps and making beautifully balanced paper kites. Though he is not good at mathematics, he possesses an excellent memory and can recite poetry and long passages of prose. The narrator considers him an embodiment of perfection.
Chandu is also affectionate and generous. After his father’s death, he leaves school and begins working as a barber. During his visits to town, he brings the narrator gifts such as paintbrushes, gold ink, white chalk and penknives. These acts reveal his sincere friendship.
Chandu has a strong desire for dignity and social advancement. Inspired by the well-dressed dentist Kalan Khan, he adopts modern clothes and carries his tools in a leather bag. He believes that his professional knowledge gives him the right to dress like a doctor. His modern appearance challenges the traditional image of a submissive village barber.
When the landlord, Sahukar and priest insult him, Chandu does not surrender. He converts his humiliation into resistance. He decides to go on strike and stops visiting the elders’ houses. Instead, he travels to town, works independently and earns better wages.
Chandu is resourceful and open to modernisation. He buys a Japanese bicycle and learns to ride it despite falling and being mocked by the elders. The bicycle increases his mobility and frees him from depending on other people’s carriages.
He also possesses leadership and persuasive power. When the elders attempt to bring another barber into the village, Chandu organises the barbers of the surrounding area. He convinces them to unite and demand that customers come to them. They establish the “Rajkot District Barber Brothers’ Hairdressing and Shaving Saloon.”
Chandu is therefore more than a clever village boy. He becomes a social reformer and trade-union leader. Through courage, humour, intelligence, self-respect and collective action, he challenges caste oppression and restores dignity to his profession.
Essay 3
Question
“The Barber’s Trade Union” explores caste oppression, modernisation, dignity of labour and collective resistance. Discuss.
Answer
Mulk Raj Anand’s “The Barber’s Trade Union” is a sharp criticism of the caste-based social and economic system of the Indian village. Through Chandu’s experiences, the story demonstrates how oppressed workers can gain dignity and freedom through modernisation, unity and organised resistance.
Caste discrimination appears first in the narrator’s home. His mother discourages him from playing with Chandu because Chandu is a barber’s son. She believes that her son must maintain the status of his caste and class. However, the narrator rejects this sense of superiority and admires Chandu’s intelligence and skills.
The village elders depend on Chandu’s labour but refuse to treat him with respect. The landlord, Sahukar and priest expect him to visit their homes, shave them and remain obedient. When Chandu wears modern clothes and carries a leather bag, they become angry. His appearance challenges their belief that a low-caste barber must dress and behave according to his inferior social position.
The story also exposes economic exploitation. Chandu receives only two pice for his service, while the elders are willing to offer another barber an anna when Chandu goes on strike. This proves that they deliberately underpaid him because of his caste and dependence.
Modernisation becomes a means of liberation for Chandu. His professional clothes give him a new identity and self-respect. His Japanese bicycle enables him to travel to town, find new customers and earn independently. The new hairdressing saloon transforms barbering from hereditary domestic service into a respectable profession.
The barber’s equipment also acquires symbolic importance. At first, it represents Chandu’s traditional caste occupation. When placed in a modern leather bag and used in a professional saloon, the same equipment becomes a symbol of dignity, skill and economic independence.
Chandu’s strike reveals the power of labour. Without his service, the elders grow long, untidy beards and become objects of public laughter. Their appearance exposes their dependence on the worker they despise. When they try to bring the barber from Verka, Chandu responds through collective action.
He brings together the barbers within seven miles and forms the “Rajkot District Barber Brothers’ Hairdressing and Shaving Saloon.” The union ensures that customers must come to the workers and treat them with respect.
The story concludes that individual courage becomes more effective when supported by unity. Chandu’s victory affirms equality, self-respect and the dignity of labour while challenging caste hierarchy and economic exploitation.
Narrate the story “The Barber’s Trade Union” and explain how Chandu succeeds in challenging the village elders.
Answer
“The Barber’s Trade Union” by Mulk Raj Anand is a humorous yet powerful story about caste discrimination, dignity of labour and collective resistance. Its central character, Chandu, is a young village barber who challenges the authority of the upper-caste elders.
Chandu and the narrator have been friends since childhood. Though Chandu belongs to the barber caste, the narrator greatly admires his intelligence, skill and adventurous nature. The narrator’s mother repeatedly discourages their friendship because she considers Chandu a low-caste boy. However, the narrator never feels superior to his friend.
After his father’s death, Chandu leaves school and takes up the hereditary profession of barbering. He visits the houses of the village elders to shave them and cut their hair. During his trips to town, he observes Kalan Khan, a dentist dressed in impressive modern clothes. Inspired by him, Chandu buys a white turban, rubber coat, shining shoes and a leather bag. He believes that such clothes will make him look dignified and professional.
However, the landlord Bijay Chand becomes angry on seeing Chandu’s new appearance. He considers the leather bag and shoes impure and orders Chandu to wear clothes appropriate to his low social position. The Sahukar and Pandit Parmanand also insult him. Their real objection is not to the clothes but to Chandu’s attempt to rise above the traditionally submissive role assigned to his caste.
Deeply humiliated, Chandu decides to teach the elders a lesson. He refuses to visit their houses and starts working by the roadside in town. He earns money and buys a Japanese bicycle, which gives him greater freedom and mobility.
As the strike continues, the elders’ beards grow long and untidy. They become objects of ridicule throughout the village. Their families also laugh at their appearance. The elders threaten Chandu with imprisonment and try to employ the barber from Verka.
Chandu defeats their plan by organising the barbers in the surrounding villages. He convinces them that the elders should visit the barbers instead of expecting personal service at home. Together, they establish the “Rajkot District Barber Brothers’ Hairdressing and Shaving Saloon.”
Thus, Chandu transforms his personal protest into an organised workers’ movement. His courage, intelligence and leadership help him secure dignity and independence for his community.
Essay 2
Question
Prepare a character sketch of Chandu in “The Barber’s Trade Union.”
Answer
Chandu, the central character of Mulk Raj Anand’s “The Barber’s Trade Union,” is an intelligent, courageous and enterprising young man. Although he belongs to an oppressed barber caste, he refuses to accept the inferior position imposed upon him by the upper-caste villagers.
As a child, Chandu is active, inventive and adventurous. He takes the lead in the games he plays with the narrator. He is skilled at catching wasps and making beautifully balanced paper kites. Though he is not good at mathematics, he possesses an excellent memory and can recite poetry and long passages of prose. The narrator considers him an embodiment of perfection.
Chandu is also affectionate and generous. After his father’s death, he leaves school and begins working as a barber. During his visits to town, he brings the narrator gifts such as paintbrushes, gold ink, white chalk and penknives. These acts reveal his sincere friendship.
Chandu has a strong desire for dignity and social advancement. Inspired by the well-dressed dentist Kalan Khan, he adopts modern clothes and carries his tools in a leather bag. He believes that his professional knowledge gives him the right to dress like a doctor. His modern appearance challenges the traditional image of a submissive village barber.
When the landlord, Sahukar and priest insult him, Chandu does not surrender. He converts his humiliation into resistance. He decides to go on strike and stops visiting the elders’ houses. Instead, he travels to town, works independently and earns better wages.
Chandu is resourceful and open to modernisation. He buys a Japanese bicycle and learns to ride it despite falling and being mocked by the elders. The bicycle increases his mobility and frees him from depending on other people’s carriages.
He also possesses leadership and persuasive power. When the elders attempt to bring another barber into the village, Chandu organises the barbers of the surrounding area. He convinces them to unite and demand that customers come to them. They establish the “Rajkot District Barber Brothers’ Hairdressing and Shaving Saloon.”
Chandu is therefore more than a clever village boy. He becomes a social reformer and trade-union leader. Through courage, humour, intelligence, self-respect and collective action, he challenges caste oppression and restores dignity to his profession.
Essay 3
Question
“The Barber’s Trade Union” explores caste oppression, modernisation, dignity of labour and collective resistance. Discuss.
Answer
Mulk Raj Anand’s “The Barber’s Trade Union” is a sharp criticism of the caste-based social and economic system of the Indian village. Through Chandu’s experiences, the story demonstrates how oppressed workers can gain dignity and freedom through modernisation, unity and organised resistance.
Caste discrimination appears first in the narrator’s home. His mother discourages him from playing with Chandu because Chandu is a barber’s son. She believes that her son must maintain the status of his caste and class. However, the narrator rejects this sense of superiority and admires Chandu’s intelligence and skills.
The village elders depend on Chandu’s labour but refuse to treat him with respect. The landlord, Sahukar and priest expect him to visit their homes, shave them and remain obedient. When Chandu wears modern clothes and carries a leather bag, they become angry. His appearance challenges their belief that a low-caste barber must dress and behave according to his inferior social position.
The story also exposes economic exploitation. Chandu receives only two pice for his service, while the elders are willing to offer another barber an anna when Chandu goes on strike. This proves that they deliberately underpaid him because of his caste and dependence.
Modernisation becomes a means of liberation for Chandu. His professional clothes give him a new identity and self-respect. His Japanese bicycle enables him to travel to town, find new customers and earn independently. The new hairdressing saloon transforms barbering from hereditary domestic service into a respectable profession.
The barber’s equipment also acquires symbolic importance. At first, it represents Chandu’s traditional caste occupation. When placed in a modern leather bag and used in a professional saloon, the same equipment becomes a symbol of dignity, skill and economic independence.
Chandu’s strike reveals the power of labour. Without his service, the elders grow long, untidy beards and become objects of public laughter. Their appearance exposes their dependence on the worker they despise. When they try to bring the barber from Verka, Chandu responds through collective action.
He brings together the barbers within seven miles and forms the “Rajkot District Barber Brothers’ Hairdressing and Shaving Saloon.” The union ensures that customers must come to the workers and treat them with respect.
The story concludes that individual courage becomes more effective when supported by unity. Chandu’s victory affirms equality, self-respect and the dignity of labour while challenging caste hierarchy and economic exploitation.