THE

BLUE
BEAD
NORAH BURKE
 THEME

• The story shows the life of

the tribal people and how
they find happiness in small
things
• It also conveys the heroism,
courage and determination
in the rural people which
they accept as part of their
daily life and is casual for
them
Story opens with the Crocodile
• Emerged out deep, black waters
where whirlpools could sometimes
be seen
• It came to the shallow water where
the riverbed looked like gold sand.
The stepping-stones were close to
him
• Logs of wood were sent by the
lumberjacks down the river and
sometimes a log would get stuck
behind the stepping-stones
• He balanced himself on his toes with
only his eyes visible above the water
Description of the jungle
• Sparkling water flowed between
the rocks. Surrounding hills and
grass cold be seen all around
• A jungle track was visible between
the bushes leading to the stepping-
stones
• The river-bank had white sand and
occasionally fish-eating “gharials”
could be spotted
Description of the Crocodile
• It was a mugger-crocodile,
blackish brown above and
yellow white towards its belly
• It was a “antediluvian saurian”
(ancient reptile); a prehistoric
Juggernaut (powerful force)
• Had a very powerful tail which
propelled (pushed, guided) it
• His mouth ran the whole
length of his head giving the
impression of an evil smile
 Continued….
• From the time he had emerged from the shell he
was ready to take care of himself because of his
instinct and aggressiveness
• He had managed to escape the birds of prey and
piranha fishes and had survived by living in warm
water and rotten food which he stored in the
holes near the banks
• His skin was an inch-thick and bullets would
bounce off it – only the eyes and underarms were
vulnerable
• He hunted for fish, deer, ducks, pi-dogs and even
half burned bodies near the burning ghats
 The Blue Bead
• Glimmered in the shallow water
• Had been rolling in the water a long time –
was perhaps the neck of a bottle
• Perforated right through: just waiting to be
found and used.

• The story is entitled “The Blue Bead” though

the reader barely sees the object – this is
because the blue bead is like a prize waiting
in the wings, waiting to be discovered by
Sibia and fill her with joy. Especially since
Sibia loves the good things of life.
 Sibia and her tribe….
• A small village just above the banks of the river
lived Sibia with her family in a mud house
• She was a thin starving girl dressed in brown-
coloured skirt and sari (torn from rags)
• She was eating a ‘chupatti’ with some green chili
and stale butter - broken it in two pieces to make
it appear more
• Ebony hair, straight white teeth, big eyes and
brown gleaming skin: about twelve years old – a
child woman
• Bare foot and ‘goosey cold’ and born to work hard
• Since the time she could walk, she had been
taught to husk corn, gather sticks, put dung to dry,
cooked, weeded, fetched water and cut grass for
fodder
 Sibia’s fascination for the
fine things of life….
• Sibia had never owned anything except the clothes
she wore
• She did not have money to buy even a handful of
glass beads or a bangle from the stall
• She had been to the bazaar with her father and
siblings at the main station and had seen the
“wonders” there:
# She had experienced the thronging of people who
were gossiping, bargaining and spitting betel juice
# she had heard the bell around the bull’s neck as it
wandered in the bazar
# Sibia had been amazed the sweetmeat stall – the
brilliant variety of sweets with the dust and flies. The
aroma was more powerful than the smell of the
gutter, perspiration and cheap cigarettes
 Sibia’s fascination for the fine
things of life…. (continued)
• Sibia had seen the rolls of fresh cotton cloth bearing
the stamp of the manufacturer, but it smelt fresh as if
it was just out of the mills
• Satin cloth sewn with silver thread
• Tin trays from Birmingham
• A sari with mirror work on the border
• Orange gold silk materials
• A locked chest with semi precious stones decorating it
• Best of all was a box from which, when pressed, a
little bird hopped out
HOW IS THIS INFORMATION RELEVANT TO THE STORY?
(it makes the reader understand her joy when she finds
the blue bead, since Sibia loved the fine things of life but
could never afford it)
The life of the tribal
women…
• The tribal woman worked from morning to dusk. They
would cross the river by jumping over the stepping-
stones to then climb the cliffs and cut paper grass.
• It would then be taken by bullock cart to the main
railway station to sell it to the agent who in turn
would sell it to the paper mills
• The women, who carried huge weights of the paper
grass, were paid a meagre amount, though the agent
made most of the profits, but this did not bother
them
• They wore necklace made of red seeds which swished
around their necks (Sibia did not have even this since
the needle at home was broken)
• They were aware of the dangers of the jungles and
took precautions accordingly. They carried
homemade hayforks and a sickle to cut the grass
 The Gujar tribe
• The Gujars were nomads, “junglis”, travelling from place to
place, grazing their cattle
• Once the lands were grazed or they could not sell any more
of the milk, butter or their animals etc. they moved on
• They wore trousers- tight and wrinkled at the ankles. In their
ears large silver rings
• They possessed big ‘gurrahs’ or metal pots in which they
stored water. The men were the ones who went out to sell
their produce while the women fetched water and did the
household work.
• Their source of income was from selling animals and animal
produce. They were not cultivators – belonged to a pastoral
(countryside, rural) age.
Sibia and the women
crossed the river…
• The women made for the stepping-stones –
deliberately laughed loudly and argued. They
clanked their sickles and forks to scare the
crocodile
• They crossed safely – then set about climbing
the cliffs.
• Some were steep but where there is a will
there is a way
• They kept slicing the grass.
• Sibia indulged in a little day-dreaming:
imagining herself to be a bird swooping over
the river
• In the tiny caves above she had stored little
mud bowls made by her. Once they were dry,
she would paint them
 Sibia alone….
• The women toiled on till it the sun set
and it was time for them to return to
look after their animals and the evening
meal
• Sibia deliberately stayed back to have a
look at the clay cups
• The women still talked loudly while
crossing though they were very tired and
finally disappeared
• Sibia came to the stepping-stones with
the bundle of grass weighing heavily on
her shoulders and the hayfork digging
into her collarbone
• Halfway through the river she put the
load of grass on a big boulder to take a
break
 The attack
• A Gujar woman came to the stepping-stones to fill
water carrying two brass ‘gurrahs’
• Crossed a couple of stones to get clean water
• The crocodile lunged out at her, rising out of the dark
water. His jaws wide open and water slushing off him
• The woman screamed, dropping the brass ‘gurrahs’
(Sibia subconsciously noticed the waste of two good
vessels)
• The crocodile’s jaws closed in on her ankle and she fell
on the stones, hurting herself. At the same time, she
managed to hold on to one of the logs floating in the
river behind the stepping-stones
• The crocodile kept pulling at her to take her
underwater, but she held on tight, screaming
helplessly.
• Blood spread everywhere
 The Rescue
• Sibia sprang into action
• She jumped from boulder to boulder like a rock goat – over
the difficult gaps where the river flowed heavily between
two stones
• She was uncaring for her own life and came as if on a pair of
wings – choosing her landing while her feet were in mid-air
• The crocodile raised its tail again and again till even the
rocks seem to tremble with the impact. One slap of the
crocodile’s tail could have killed her.
• Heroically, she aimed straight for the reptile’s eyes and with
all the force in her little body drove one prong deep into the
eye and the other prong scratched the cheek
• The ‘lizard’ rose in convulsion (tremor/spasm) till its tail and
nose nearly met – then he crashed exploding the water
around him and disappeared into the river
Sibia tending to the Gujar
woman…
• The crocodile would die eventually,
and he would be found upturned
where the logs of wood collected
downstream
• Sibia dragged the fainting woman
out of the water
• Applied sand to stop the bleeding
and tied a rag around it
• Helped her home to her camp
wher the men took charge to give
her medical help
 The reward….
• Sibia went back to get her grass
and sickle and hayfork
• The hayfork was lying in the river,
luckily not carried away
• As she bent to pick it up, she saw
the blue bead, wobbling in the
water
• It looked perfect, round and
pierced with the sunlight shining
inside it like gold-dust
• Her heart burst with a sudden
flash of joy
 • Sibia went home joyously unaware of the lurking dangers (snakes,
malaria mosquitoes, tuskless elephant)
The • Sibia’s mother came in search of her, worried that she had not
concluding followed her home
statement • The mother told Sibia that she thought “something must have
…. happened” to her
• Sibia ‘bursting with her story’ admitted that something had – she
found a blue bead for her necklace
 Life of the tribal
people
• Full of hardships and toil
• No amenities : medical or travel
• Life amidst dangers – which they
adapted themselves to
• Heroism was second nature to them
– so they took it for granted
• Deprived of basic needs (Sibia eating
a chupatti broken in two)
• Luxuries and fine things are simply
unthinkable for them
• Exploited by the rich
 Character sketch of Sibia
• A thin starving child-woman, dressed in rags. Goosey cold on winter morning
• Born to work hard – cut grass, thresh corn, make cow dung cakes etc
• She does not possess the smallest amount but loves the fine things of life –
wishes that she was adorned with rows of necklaces, anklets etc.
• Overwhelmingly courageous – to the point of risking her own life (elaborate)
• Caring: takes the woman and tends to her wounds
• Takes her bravery as casual – did not tell her mother about the rescue
• Appreciates the smallest things in life: the blue bead fills her heart with immense
joy
• Very creative and imaginative