In a broader sense, “The Gold Frame” can also be used metaphorically to describe a context or perspective that adds value or prestige to a particular subject or concept. For instance, presenting an idea within a “gold frame” means presenting it in a positive and attractive light, highlighting its strengths and benefits. Read More Class 12th English Summaries.
The Gold Frame Summary
The Gold Frame Introduction:
This story has been written by R.K.Laxman who was India’s greatest cartoonist. He was well-known for his creation The Common Man’. The story is about a picture frame maker Datta. He was a silent and hard-working man. One day a customer came to his shop.
He wanted a frame for a photograph he had brought with him. It was a photograph of his late grandfather. The customer wanted the best frame for the photograph. Datta promised to keep it ready in two weeks. But by mistake the picture got damaged.
He found some other picture of a similar looking man. The customer failed to know that it was not the picture of his grandfather. His only complaint was that the picture was not framed according to his order.
The Gold Frame Summary in English
The Modern Frame Works was the name of a shop. It was not a shop made of bricks and cement and wood. It was a very large wooden packing case. It was placed on shaky legs. It was fixed in an empty space between a medical store and a radio repair shop.
Datta was its owner. He did not have a strong body. He wore silver-rimmed glasses. He had the complexion of seasoned timber. Datta was a silent, hard-working man. He gave very brief answers to his customers. He did not encourage casual friends to come to his shop. He was always seen sitting hunched
up. He was surrounded by cardboard pieces, bits of wood, glass sheets, boxes of nails, glue bottles, paint-tins and other things needed for putting a picture in a frame. In this mixture of things a glass cutter or a pencil, a tub was often lost. Then he looked for his missing things impatiently.
Many times he had to stand up and shake his dhoti to get the lost thing. This operation shook his whole shop. The pictures on the walls gently went on swinging.
Every inch of space in the shop was covered by a picture. Several odd things were lying in his shop. One day a customer standing outside the shop told Datta that he wanted a picture framed. Datta just ignored him and went on driving screws into the sides of a frame.
Summary of The Gold Frame
He wanted a good job to be done without bothering about its cost. The customer placed before Datta a photograph of an old man. It was a good bright photograph.
Datta remained bent over his work. He asked the customer what kind of frame he would want for the photograph. The customer wanted the best kind of frame. Datta then saw the photograph. He was an elderly person of those days. It was the standard portrait of a grandfather.
At least half a dozen people came to him every month bringing similar portraits. They wanted to show their respect to the person in the picture in the shape of a glittering frame.
The customer began to describe the qualities of the man in the picture. He said that he was kind, noble, charitable. If there had been a few more persons like him, it would have been a different place. Of course, there are some wicked people who are out to disagree with him. The customer says that his grandfather is God in his home. Datta then asked the customer what kind of frame he wanted. The customer said that he wanted the best.
He said that he did not have inferior stuff in his shop. He was shown a number of samples. The customer was puzzled by seeing so many varieties of frames. He did not want a cheap frame for his grandfather’s portrait. Datta recommended a frame with a number of gold leaves and winding creepers. He also told the customer that this frame was imported from Germany.
The customer felt impressed. Datta asked the customer if he wanted a plain mount or a cut mount. The customer felt puzzled. He had no answer. Datta told him that a cut mount would look better. He said that the total expense would be seventeen rupees.
The customer tried to bargain. Datta did not reply to the customer and returned to his corner. The customer then asked Datta when it would be ready. He said that it would be ready within two weeks from the day.
The Gold Frame short Summary
Datta knew from his experience that his customers did not come punctually. They came days in advance and went away disappointed or they came months later and some never turned up at all. So he made frames for those who came to him and visited him at least twice before he actually executed their orders.
Ten days later the customer came and enquired if the picture had been framed. Datta merely nodded his head. He wanted to know if the frame would be ready by Tuesday. Datta decided to get the frame ready. Next morning he made that his first job. Then he looked for the pencil to mark the measurements. As usual the picture was missing. He felt angry. Then he stood up to shake up the folds of his dhoti. But still he could not get the picture.
He upset the tin containing enamel paint and it landed right on the sacred photograph of the old man emptying its contents on it. Datta felt very much upset. Then the glasses of his spectacles clouded with perspiration and screened his vision.
He wanted to save the picture but he made a worse mess of it. He rubbed the picture so hard with a cloth. The old man’s face was nearly gone. He was feeling absolutely hopeless. He could not make out what answer he would give to his customer when he came to ask for the frame.
He had no way to tackle the problem: The gods in pictures on the walls seemed to tell him that he should pray. He stared at the gods. Datta looked at a photograph on the wall of his shop. He looked at so many photographs lying in the wooden box. He worked very hard at finding the old man’s substitute. After a couple of hours work, he proudly surveyed the old man’s double.
The Gold Frame Summary essay
He thought of taking a similar photograph. He feared that his customer might challenge him to say that it was a fake photograph of his grandfather. In that case, he thought of telling the customer that he had brought that picture for framing. He could take it or leave it. The days that followed were filled with anxiety and suspense.
The customer turned up after a few days later and asked Datta if his picture frame was ready. Datta gave the framed photograph to the customer. The customer was very much impressed by the beauty of the frame. The frame-maker was afraid and nervous.
He feared that the customer would come to know that somebody else’s photo had been framed. The customer told the frame-maker that he had asked for a cut mount with an oval shape. But he had given him the frame with a square look. Obviously it had not been according to his order.
The Mission-Agni Summary