Unni Katha By M Mukundan Translated by K M Sherrif And Neerada Suresh
Introduction
• Technique used-Cinematographic, innovative
• Speciality- Story told by grand son to grand mother.
Main Characters
• Unni – a young boy
• Unni’s Mother
• Mutthashi - grand mother
• Melkkoran - a mason
• Kuruman - Panikkan = chief
of artisan community
Mutthashi’s Room
• Room- Bare walls, no framed
photographs, no showpieces,
aglow, faint light of
incandescent bulb.
• Mutthashi’s style- sits on the
cot, leaning against wall,
with legs stretched out.
• A short stubby man, thick
golden ear rings, Pudgy fingers-
many golden rings, fan in hand,
carries fan even when raining,
insensitive, lacks vision,
kuduma.
Kuruman Panikkan-
• A well dressed man, wore a
shirt, cropped hair, mason,
hailed from west, builds
mosques and temples.
Melkkoran
• Grand mother of Unni, frugal
meals, habit of chewing betel
and nut, a bad habit of listening
to a story before sleep.
Mutthashi
• Immense tree, graying tree,
lush foliage, gnarled bough,
Heavy with flowers, air with
heady fragrance, Nests of
karadan chathans- birds with
many colours rested.
Champaka tree
• Oily stone idol, at the base of
Champaka tree, ancient oil
lamp, Champaka-Kaavilamma.
Champaka-Kaavu
Glass tree
• Description- Green glass
leaves, white glass flowers.
• Contrast- Flowers without
fragrance, glittering nests
without birds, never grows
old, never sheds leaves.
• No karadan chathans came.
• Sequence of building tree-
• First sculpted roots, trunk of
tree, branches, carved green
leaves, white flowers.
• Material- logs of glass-wood.
• Look- Exquisite glass tree,
wondrous glass tree,
unmatched in beauty.
Glass tree
Plot of story
• Mutthashi requests Unni to tell a story. Appearance of Kuruman Panikkan,
• Appearance of Melkkoran,
• Melkkoran convincing Kuruman Panikkan
Plot of story continued
• Felling of champaka,
• Building glass tree,
• Panikkan showered Melkkoran with priceless gifts,
• People from far and near visited.
Expectations of Evaluators
• Spellings-correctness
• Key words
• Simple sentences
• Punctuation Marks
• Handwriting-Legible
• Completeness-
• Presentation- Overall
Types of Questions
• 1 Mark question-word / phrase /
sentence
• 4 marks question- 80 to 100 words.
• 6 marks question-about 200 words
Why
• Why was Unni’s mother object unni’s
telling a story to Muttashi?
• Unni was doing his home work.
(Reason)
What
• What kind of a story did Mutthashi plead Unni to tell her?
• Nice story/Story that would send her to sleep (Specific information)
• What had become a bad habit with Mutthashi?
• She could not sleep without a story.
Multiple choice questions
1) Mutthashi could not get sleep without
a. betel and nut
b. kanji
c. unni‟s story.
Answer - c.
2) Mutthashi wanted to listen
to a story which was
a. interesting
b. satisfying
c. that would send her to sleep.
Answer - c.
Value Points
•Use - glass – wood
•Sequence - roots, trunk, branches,
leaves, flowers, nests….
•Time taken - one and half a year
Symbolism
• “The eastern sky was paling”-
Onslaught of the Western idea
and culture on East.
• “The oil in the pole lamp was
running out”
Symbolism
• Felling of champaka tree and destruction of eggs of birds-
• “The oil in the pole lamp was running out”
6 Mark Question
1) “Let us pull it down and build
a new tree”
a) Why does Melkkoran use the word
„build‟? What is unusual about it?
b) Panikkan and Mutthashi react
differently to this suggestion. What
this tells you about their concern?
Value Points
• Build refers to inanimate thing
• Grow refers to living thing
• Glass tree – inanimate thing
• Unusual- tree building
Value Points
• Panikkan- accepts
enthusiastically, egoistic, self
centered, not worried about the
bad effect.
• Mutthashai- apprehensive,
sensitive, feels for birds and
urchins , emotional, sympathetic.
2) At the end of the story, Unni
makes Mutthashi sleep but
awakens the sensibilities of
the reader. Explain.
• Unni Katha - story, cinematographic technique,
• felling champaka, building glass tree.
Value points