Unit 6: The Fight

When Ranji reached home, he found it difficult to explain the cuts and bruises that showed on his face, leg and arms. It was difficult to conceal the fact that he had been in an unusually violent fight with Suraj. Therefore, his mother insisted on him staying at home for the rest of the day.

1. When Ranji saw his adversary in the bazaar, he tried to avoid him by turning away and looking elsewhere. He was so angry at that boy that he felt like throwing the lemonade bottle at his enemy.
2. Ranji did not do anything. He just stood his ground and scowled at the passing adversary. He did not want to pick unnecessary fights with the other boy in the market. Even that boy said nothing either but scowled back with equal ferocity.

Although Ranji was not at all eager for a second fight with the other boy, he left his home unwillingly. He remembered that he had accepted the challenge and he had to defy his enemy in order to gain respect. If he gave up, this meant that he had acknowledged his defeat to the other boy.

Ranji was definitely a better swimmer. Suraj, the other boy, made fun of Ranji and asked if he would be able to swim across the pool. Hearing this, Ranji dived straight into the water and surfaced towards the other end of the pool quickly. Suraj was amazed at Ranji’s feat and asked him how he did it so smoothly. He then asked Ranji to teach him how to dive and swim underwater and said that in return, he would help Ranji to become a wrestler.

When Ranji dived into the water perfectly, Suraj was amazed to see this. Ranji was able to swim underwater as he circled Suraj and came up from behind him. This surprised Suraj, and he admired Ranji’s swimming skills.

Although both the boys were at the pool together, they were not fighting with each other. Suraj, the warrior was taken by surprise when he saw Ranji’s skills like diving and swimming underwater. He wanted to learn these skills from Ranji.

Good diving, sense of humour, swimming underwater, willingness to help.

The two adversaries turned into good friends in a matter of minutes when they started admiring each other’s skills and decided to learn those skills from each other. When the other boy, Suraj, saw how well Ranji dived and swam underwater, he almost forgot about the fight and asked Ranji to teach him these swimming skills. Suraj had a well-built physique, and when he noticed that Ranji had a lean body structure, he said that he would help him to become a good wrestler if Ranji taught him swimming skills, to which Ranji readily agreed. Finally, the two claimants gave up their fight and became good friends.