A Woman On Platform No. 8 By Ruskin Bond: Summary and Exercises

Summary

A woman a woman on platform number 8 by  Ruskin Bond starts with a 12 year old boy Arun waiting for the train which will be arriving at 12:00 a.m. at midnight. Suddenly he hears a soft voice coming from behind. It was a woman in white saree. She looked pale and had dark kind eyes. She asks her about him and after some introduction, she invites him for something to eat. Arun couldn't refuse her because he felt safe with her. He thought it would be too impolite to refuse her proposal. He went with her.

 She takes her to a hotel where she buys him something to eat. While eating, they talked to each other. But mostly Arun was speaking and the women was listening to him. She seemed to be enjoying whatever Arun was speaking. Arun shared about him, his family, his likes and dislikes and many more things. The women was just listening to him and was watching him with lovable eyes. 

After some time Arun's friend Satish along with his mother appears. She talks to Arun and ask if the women was his mother. Before Arun could utter anything the women spoke that she was Arun's mother. Satish mother talks about strangers and says that it is not good to talk to strangers and advises Arun to stay away from strangers. Arun irritates Satish's mother by saying that 'I like strangers'. 

Also Read

The Cactus by O'Henry: Summary and Exercises | Major English Class 11

After some time, the train appears and both Arun and Satish went to book their seats. They both sat on their seats and looked from the window. Satish's mother was bidding goodbye. The woman was also saying goodbye. As the train moved, Satish's mother began to talk to that woman but the woman was indifferent to her as her whole attention was on Arun. She was just looking at Arun with her loving and kind eyes. She kept on watching Arun until the train disappeared from her site.