Summary of The Treasure Within
The Treasure within is written by Nissim Ezekiel. The lesson is about Mr. Hafeez Contractor who is an eminent architect. He is was not good at studies. His inclination was more towards sports. Also, he got punishments from the teachers. He was the leader of a gang and indulged in gang fights. On the advice of his principal, he started to study and scored 50 percent marks in SSC.
He took admission in Jai Hind College and then came in touch with an architect who was his cousin’s husband. The architect realized that he was talented and asked him to join the college of architecture. He passed the exams in first class and is today one of the most successful architect in the country.
The Treasure within Summary in English
This chapter is an excerpt from an interview between Mr. Hafeez Contractor and Ms. Bela Raja. Hafeez Contractor has had unhappy schooling. He was good in studies in the first and second year. But he seemed to lose interest in studies from the third standard onwards. He was scared of mathematics and had nightmares about the mathematics examination. He often saw a dream of appearing in the maths examination not knowing anything.
As a student, he was more inclined towards games and playing pranks on others. He was a very good sportsman and was the senior champion for many years. Also, he was the captain of the cricket team at school.
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He says that he cleared his examinations only by copying and cheating. However, in-class 11 his principal called him to give him a piece of advice. The principal told him that he is a good student though he never studies. He also told Contractor that until now he took good care of him but now, he will have to take care of himself. He urged him to study.
The contractor followed the principal’s advice and would only go for prayers, eat, and study. As a result, he scored 50 percent marks in his SSC exams. On being asked by Ms. Bela that was he punished in school, he replied that he received canning almost every week. However, it did not affect him as he was more interested in playing. Not only this, but he would also indulge in group fights and was the gang leader. He remembers that one day when he was not in the mood to study, they played ‘chor police’ for one whole hour.
After school, he wished to join the army. But his aunt and mother did not let him join even the police. With some influence, he got admission in the Jai Hind College. There he was supposed to study French but being weak in French, he took the help of his cousin. Her husband was an architect and eventually, he started going to his office in order to learn French.
One day he saw an employee drawing a window detail which is a very advanced drawing. Looking at it, he told him that this drawing was wrong as the window drawn will not open. He won the bet and his cousin’s husband asked him to draw a few specific things. He did that immediately. The architect got highly impressed by this and asked him to study architecture.
In the college for architecture, only students with 80 – 90 percent were admitted. The principal allowed him to appear for the entrance exam with a condition that if he does not do well he will not be allowed to join. He got an ‘A+’ grade and after that, he always got first class throughout.
After he became an architect, he went to see Mrs. Gupta, his teacher, who had once told him to become an architect. He says that school life made him street-smart. He closely observes a client to understand his taste and then makes a sketch spontaneously. According to him, his sketches are his mathematics.
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