12. THE SERANG OF RANAGANJI.

 12. THE SERANG OF RANAGANJI.

The story “The Serang of Ranaganji” by Dr.A.J Cronin is about a sea voyage from  Liverpool to Calcutta. It takes place during the British rule in India.

It tells how the author and the hero of the story manage a potential calamity silently and bravely. The  story begins with a fashionable lady‟s remark about a native seaman. He was an ugly man with short legs and a large head. He was the boatswain of the ship, „Ranaganji‟. 

They spoke of him as a comic creature. A.J Cronin, the physician of the ship overheard this remark. The ship was crowded with tourists and most of them were accompanied by their wives and families. When the ship landed at Port Said, the tourists went out for shopping. On the following morning, Serang appeared with two lascars. They were obviously sick. Cronin diagnosed that they were suffering from small pox. Cronin reported the matter to the Captain. He advised the doctor to keep it a secret. He requested the doctor to arrange an isolated area for the patients.

The serang helped to make a shelter on the deck. Within an hour he built a large canvas shelter. Another man showed signs of small pox. At that time the serang Hasan helped the doctor without showing any fear. The next day six or seven men came with signs of small pox. Again Hasan took much care to treat them. Serang sat watchful when one of the victims was in a coma state. Serang was really from Punjab. His parents had wandered to South India. It was at that time he took a seafaring life. He had no place onshore and remained unmarried. 

He had no saving. Cronin expressed his wish that he should be paid extra for this extra service. But he was not interested. He was happy with what he had. When two of their patients died, Hasan himself sewed their shrouds, read aloud a short passage from the Ramayana and threw their bodies overboard. In the end when most of them showed signs of health, there appeared three sores in the arms of Hasan. The voyage came to an end. As Hasan was trying to unload the baggage, that lady‟s voice was heard again. 

She was surprised to see that dirty creature. She asked Cronin where he had kept that dirty creature during the whole voyage. She also asked him whether he had kept him in a cage. At this question Cronin agreed that it was in a cage that he had kept him, but all the animals were outside the cage. 

Character of Serang 

Hasan is the serang of the ship Ranaganji. He looks like a squat, ugly,native seaman with short legs and disproportionate head. He is from the Punjab. He has been working in the ship for forty years and he has been in Ranaganji for fifteen years. He has no place of his own on the shore. He has no family, friends or relatives. He has never married. He is a Muslim. He has no money or property. He is not at all interested in such things and so he never cares to accumulate such savings. He is very sincere in his duty. He never expects any reward for his work. Courage, self control and faith are his assets. He helps the doctor by assisting him in watching the patients and caring them. He is ready to serve them even though it is a contagious disease. He prays for the patients. His heart feels deeply for them. He cries for them also. He is very truthful and dutiful. When the patients die, their bodies are thrown into the sea only after his prayer. He has no frenzy like feeling for his own religion but he advocates communal harmony through his character. The incidents in the story reveals the sympathetic .aswellas empathetic feelings of Hasan.The ending of the story – „the animals were all outside‟ hints at the character of serang who is presented here as an illustration for a man with a good heart thought and deed.