Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory Summary & Notes - CBSE Class 8 English Honeydew

Summary of Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory

Chapter 4 of the Class 8 English Main Coursebook – Honeydew, consists of prose – Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory, which is a funny story of how a person tricked his friend who avoided and didn’t help him in a time of need. Read the prose summary of CBSE Class 8 English Prose Notes – Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory in CBSE English Notes Class 8 format here to discover what happens in the story. We hope this brief summary will help students to get a solid understanding of the chapter and prepare well for their English exam.

To prepare for the writing section of the Class 8 English exam, students must practice essays on various topics. By doing so, they can easily score marks in essay writing.

CBSE Class 8 English Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory Summary

Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory is an amusing story about an aged man named Bepin Choudhury. The story was written by Satyajit Ray and was divided into four parts. Bepin is the main character of the story who has a habit of visiting bookstores and buying books of his interest. On one such visit, a man approached him and told him that he was his old acquaintance, Parimal Ghose, from his Ranchi trip. Initially, Bepin was convinced that the man was confusing him with someone else. However, when Parimal divulged some personal details about Bepin, the latter was confused. He didn’t have a memory of any such past incidents that the stranger was referring to, as he had never gone to Ranchi earlier.

The man said that Mr Dinesh Mukerji was also there on the same trip with him. Further, he also told Bepin that he could confirm this trip from Mr Mukerji directly. However, Bepin ignored this and continued with his life as usual. Later, the incident kept bothering him, and he finally checked with Dinesh, who verified the authenticity of the story. This confused him even more since he didn’t have any memory of visiting Ranchi in the past. Meanwhile, his school friend, Chunilal, would often visit him looking out for a job, which Bepin would fairly ignore.

In due course of time, Bepin started getting deeply worried as he felt he must have lost his memory. Hence, he sought a doctor’s advice for his ailment. After checking Bepin, doctor Paresh Chanda was puzzled as he had never seen a similar case before. Upon seeing Bepin’s mental state, the doctor advised him to visit Ranchi and clarify his doubts himself. He thought that revisiting the same place might bring back Bepin’s memories which he assumed that he had forgotten. Listening to Dr Chanda’s advice, Bepin visited Ranchi with the hope of reviving his memory of the past incident, but to no avail. He returned to Calcutta as the visit to Ranchi left him in a state of utter confusion. He called the doctor again.

However, just before Dr Paresh Chanda arrived for a routine check-up, the servant brought Bepin a letter marked as ‘Urgent and Confidential’, which someone had left in the letter box. He opened the envelope and read the letter carefully. He discovered that his friend, Chunilal, had pranked him as a sweet revenge for not helping him when he was in dire need of a job. He mentioned that Bepin could have helped him, but he chose to avoid him. After reading the letter, Bepin was dejected and felt guilty for avoiding Chunilal when he asked for help. Finally, when Dr Chanda arrived, Bepin lied to him, stating that he had revived his memories of his trip to Ranchi, instead, he asked the physician to give him a painkiller for a pain in his hip.

Conclusion of Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory

The chapter – Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory teaches a moral lesson to students that we should help people in time of need. As the famous adage goes, “As you sow, so shall you reap”. Presenting the CBSE Class 8 English Honeydew Prose Summary of Bepin Choudhury’s Lapse of Memory that must have helped 8th Standard students to have a complete understanding of the chapter.

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