Class 12 Nepali Unit 5 Ek Chihan: Exercise Questions Answers

Ek Chihaan Class 12 Summary

Ashtanaran is a generous and kind farmer with his wife Latmaya and four children Shivnaran, Punnaran, Harshanaran, and daughter Nanithaku. Shivnaran farms, Punnaran is a carpenter, Harshanaran a jammy. Latmaya and Nanithaku remain at home, sewing and cooking. The family may be deprived but Ashtanaran represents to be one rich of values — honest, selfless and not bound by rigid social norms.

One day, Ashtanaran falls ill. Even as his health deteriorates, he declines medical treatment and tells his family to spend the 25 rupees he saved up in the ground on his funeral. But as his health deteriorates, the family chooses to save his life instead of honoring his wishes.

First they turn to local healers like Gubhaju and Jharphuke, but none of them manage. When his son Shivnaran gets him to consult the physician Dr. Godatta Prasad and starts treating him for five rupees. Ashtanaran's related conditions that seemingly improve under his treatment.

However, Ashtanaran dies shortly after. His family is heartbroken and financially ruined, having used up all of their money to pay for his treatment. Still, somehow they pull off the funeral on credit. Dr. Godatta Prasad is the one who consolates the family, but he also makes frequent visits – not only to know their well being, but because he falls in love with Nanithaku.

Dr. Prasad and Nanithaku eventually fall in love with each other, society starts gossiping. Shivnaran is absolutely loathing when he comes to know. Even Dr. Prasad’s wife, Ranjana Devi, tells Nanithaku that the relationship is improper and that Dr. Prasad is much too old for her.

Meanwhile, servant of landlord Subba Surman, Ram Bahadur, advises to marry Nanithaku to Subba. Latmaya initially acquiesces, but Shivnaran vehemently opposes this and even comes to blows with Ram Bahadur. The family rejects the sewing machine received from Subba.

Later, Harshanaran ends up marrying a Tamang girl named Putali, showcasing the inter-caste love and harmony that Ashtanaran always advocated for while Nanithaku, after her failed affair with Dr Prasad, falls in love with their neighbour Ram Khelawan Raut, who is a Madhesi man. They marry, representing a tying of the hills, mountains, and plains—fulfillment of Ashtanaran’s vision of social cohesion.

However, tragedy strikes. A flood, brought on by heavy rains, rushes across the area, razing homes, livestock and farmland. The extended family of Afstanaran is killed and their bodies lost in the water. The house falls in on them, interring their legacy.

Ultimately the whole family of harpies, the Narans, disappear without a trace. Their debts are wiped away, their suffering abated, but not by the hand of justice, but by the cruelty of nature. Their name falls into oblivion, and their house will be their sepulchre.

Main Themes:

• Poverty vs. inner wealth and values
• Criticism of rigid social norms and unequal systems
• Caste, community, and inter-regional harmony
• Illusion of control vs. the power of fate
• Tragedy of forgotten lives