Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

As the incidents with the drunken monkeys occur more and more often, Mr. Chawla surveys the nice, profitable orchard he’s put together, complete with advertisements, stalls, signs, and all. He feels that these monkeys represent a threat to what he’s built and the money he’s been discreetly storing in a bank account. He tells Sampath that perhaps it’s time for him to live in a proper concrete hermitage, where the environment could be more controlled and the monkeys would no longer be a problem. Irritated by Sampath’s incredulous look, Mr. Chawla goes on to tell his son that he can’t live in a tree forever, and that the monsoon is coming soon anyway. He tells Sampath that he can’t keep saying nonsense either, and advises him to learn real religion and philosophy.

Sampath utterly refuses to ever leave his tree, despite Mr. Chawla’s insistence that the monkeys will ruin the orchard’s reputation. Sampath sits in furious silence as he reflects on how he and his father are completely different. As Kulfi brings him dinner, he feels tenderness for her as he fondly remembers getting sick and missing school for a whole glorious week after eating something she cooked for him once. She understands why he never wishes to leave the tree, just as she always understands his ways. That night, Sampath warns the monkeys to behave themselves, or else they’ll all be in serious trouble.

Soon enough, the monkeys disregard Sampath’s advice and invade a liquor stall in the Shahkot bazaar. After drinking all the alcohol they can get their paws on, they return to the orchard, rowdier and more violent than ever. They ignore Sampath’s attempts to calm them down as they cause absolute havoc at the orchard. Sampath can’t help but remember a traumatic experience he’d once had with a frightening drunk man, but he privately thinks to himself that the monkeys are different. He still admires them, even as he watches them destroy property and terrorize the orchard’s guests, who’ve taken to fighting the monkeys back with makeshift slingshots.

After laying waste to the rest of the orchard, the monkeys violently rustle the branches of Sampath’s tree. They shake him about as he watches the world blur around him, unable to process how quickly all this chaos has come to the orchard. He nearly falls from the tree, clinging to the branches for dear life and still refusing to come down, even for his own safety. When at last the monkeys turn their attention elsewhere and depart, crashing wildly through the nearby university research forest, Mr. Chawla decides that he must take action immediately. The next day, he sets off for Shahkot, determined to let the town’s government officials know that it’s their responsibility to do something about these apes and restore peace and order to the area.