"Kamchor" (The Lazy Ones) is a delightful and humorous story by the famous Urdu writer Ismat Chugtai. The story is written in the first person by a young girl who, along with her many brothers and sisters, is called "kamchor" (lazy) by the elders of the family. When the elders decide that the servants must be dismissed so that the children do their own work, a series of hilarious disasters follows.
The story presents a large, noisy Indian joint family where the children are pampered and unwilling to work. After much debate, the mother gives a royal command - anyone who does not work will not get dinner. The children take up household chores with great enthusiasm, but every attempt ends in chaos: dust storms, broken brooms, mud-covered children, frightened hens, greedy sheep and an angry buffalo.
For a Class 8 student, this story is both entertaining and meaningful. It makes us laugh at the funny situations while quietly teaching us that work needs proper guidance, and that the labour of servants and elders deserves respect. The story is also an excellent example of humorous writing and sharp family observation.
Ismat Chugtai (1915-1991) was born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh, and became one of the most important and fearless writers in Urdu and Hindi literature. She wrote short stories, novels, plays and essays, and was known for writing honestly about women, family life and social problems. Her famous story "Lihaaf" and her autobiography "Kaghazi hai Pairahan" are well-known works.
Chugtai's writing is famous for its humour, boldness and deep understanding of human nature. In "Kamchor", she uses her own experience of a large family to create a story that is full of laughter. Her simple, lively language and sharp observation make even ordinary events hilarious and memorable.
The story begins with a long debate in the family. The elders say that the children are becoming "kamchor" - they do no work, they are getting fat, and they do not even bother to fetch a glass of water for themselves. The decision is taken that the servants should be dismissed so that the children are forced to do their own work.
The children are at first surprised, then excited. They decide that they will indeed do all their work themselves. However, the mother announces a strict rule: anyone who does not work will not receive dinner. The father suggests some tasks - cleaning the dirty durry (rug), sweeping the courtyard, watering the plants - and promises that the children will even be paid a small salary (tanakhvah).
The children begin with great enthusiasm, but chaos follows. When they try to beat the dust out of the durry, the whole house fills with dust and everyone starts coughing. When they sweep, they fight over the single broom until it breaks into pieces. When they decide to water the trees, they snatch all the buckets and pots from the house, fight at the tap, and cover themselves in mud. Some children have to be bathed by borrowing servants from neighbouring houses, paying four anna per child.
Next, the children try to catch the hens. The frightened hens fly into bowls of kheer, land in the dal, splash mud on relatives, and leave dirty footprints on white bedsheets. Then they decide to feed the sheep; the hungry sheep rush in and trample everything like an army, ruining clothes, jewellery and vegetables. Finally, some children try to milk the buffaloes, but the startled buffalo kicks the bucket away.
At the end of all this, the children are completely defeated. They accept that cleaning, gardening and caring for animals are not easy jobs. The family realises that the children need proper guidance and that the work of the servants was far more valuable than they had realised. The story ends with laughter and a quiet lesson about work and respect.
The central theme of "Kamchor" is the value of work and the need for proper guidance. Through the hilarious failures of the children, the author shows that doing a job properly requires skill, patience and direction. When the children work without understanding how, everything turns into chaos.
The message of the story is twofold. First, children should learn to do their own work and must be taught the correct way, not left to their own imagination. Second, the story quietly teaches us to respect the labour of servants and workers, because the jobs they do - cleaning, gardening, caring for animals - are not easy at all. The story also celebrates the joy and humour of family life, where even disasters become funny memories.
| Task attempted | What went wrong |
|---|---|
| Cleaning the durry | The whole house filled with dust |
| Sweeping the courtyard | Fight over one broom - it broke |
| Watering the plants | Chaos at the tap, children covered in mud |
| Catching the hens | Hens flew into kheer and dal, mud everywhere |
| Feeding the sheep | Sheep trampled everything like an army |
| Milking the buffaloes | Buffalo kicked the bucket away |
| Character | Role |
|---|---|
| Amma | Made the rule - no work, no dinner |
| Abba Mian | Suggested tasks, promised salary |
| Narrator and siblings | The enthusiastic but careless "workers" |
| The animals | Unwilling partners in the chaos |
"Kamchor" is a hilarious story that makes us laugh at the adventures of a group of enthusiastic but careless children. Through their comic failures with the durry, the broom, the tap, the hens, the sheep and the buffalo, Ismat Chugtai shows that work is not as simple as it looks and that every task needs skill and guidance. The story quietly teaches respect for the servants and workers who do such jobs every day, and celebrates the warmth and humour of family life. It is a story that entertains today's readers as much as it did when it was written.