The Serang of Ranaganji by Dr A. J. Cronin (Detailed Summary) Plus One

The Serang of Ranaganji

                                                                              - Dr A. J. Cronin

Detailed Summary

            'The Serang of Ranaganji' is an excerpt which is taken from Dr A. J. Cronin's Adventures in Two Worlds. The Ranaganji is a liner which is going for a voyage from Liverpool to Calcutta. There are so many and different types of passengers such as tourists, “pleasure seekers” and Anglo-Indian army who come with their wives and families in the ship. The officers in the ship are Whites and crews are Indians. A.J. Cronin is the physician of the ship. The weather is fine and pleasant.   

            As the story begins, Madge Jope-Smith describes Hasan, the Indian Serang, as an “absurdly comic creature” to an English man. The English man describes Hasan as “hardly human”. Their comments show their colonial mentality of the Whites. The Whites consider themselves as superior to other race. They think that they are highly civilized. The writer describes Hasan as a stout and “ugly native seaman” who has short legs and “disproportionate” head. He is directing the crews of lascars who are arranging the baggage of the passengers.

            Since the weather is good, the passengers in the Ranaganji are enjoying the voyage. They passed the Bay of Biscay without facing any trouble. Then the liner is heading to the Strait of Gibraltar along the Mediterranean sea. In the night, the passengers are on the board and enjoying the voyage. Madge Jope-Smith is the chief of the social promoters.

            Madge Jope-Smith is a dominating woman. She is almost thirty but looks very young. She is a snobbish woman. Everyone gets boredom when they spend time with her.

            Finally, the Ranaganji has reached Port Said. The passengers have gone outside of the liner to do shopping and enjoying the place. When they come back, they buy silks, cigarettes, shawls, scent, and jewellery. Then the liner heads to the Red Sea passes rocks of Aden and reach the Arabian Sea.

            On the next morning, while A.J. Cronin is doing the consultation, Hasan brings two of his “lascar deck hands”. Out of respect, he bows his head in front of  A.J. Cronin. He informs  A.J. Cronin that the“lascar deck hands” have fever. A.J. Cronin examines them. They show the symptoms of smallpox such as bone pain, fever, severe headache, “thickly furred tongues” and “nodules” under the wrist skin.

            A.J. Cronin is shocked that the“lascar deck hands” have smallpox because he does not know how to deal with this. He is an inexperienced physician. He hurriedly goes to meet Captain Hamble who is in the chartroom. Captain Hamble is a man of fifty-five, a “strict disciplinarian”, “just” and “fair-minded” officer. Hearing this shocking news,  Captain Hamble suggests A. J. Cronin to hide this news from the passengers. Otherwise, it will cause panic among the passengers. Since he is understaffed and too many passengers are in the liner, he cannot give his workers to assist A. J. Cronin. He suggests Hasan to give a helping hand to A. J. Cronin.

             A. J. Cronin comes back to his room. He is worried about the patients and how to deal with smallpox. Hasan is ready to assist  A. J. Cronin.  A. J. Cronin decides to isolate the “lascar deck hands” who have smallpox. Hasan suggests that they should make a shelter in the afterdeck.

            Hasan and  A. J. Cronin wipe the body of the patients with a sponge using a permanganate solution and give antipyretic. Around the shelter, they put sheets which are soaked in disinfectant. They even put a cooking stove for making food.

            Ten crews get smallpox. They put in lazaretto. A. J. Cronin scares a little bit because he does not know how to deal with this situation. But Hasan looks very calm, “unperturbed” and “indefatigable”. He is taking care of his patients without taking any rest. Even A. J. Cronin tells Hasan to take rest but he does not. Seeing Hasan's dedication, A. J. Cronin also does his job well. He too does not get time to take care of himself. The ship is moving to Colombo but will take eight days to reach there. Again four stokers get smallpox. There are also taken to the afterdeck. One of the earlier patients is in coma stage and he will die at any moment. Seeing all this,  A. J. Cronin cannot sleep.

            It is night and Hasan, the serang, is standing alone on the deck. He is in a meditative state. But when a sick man cries, Hasan runs inside to help him. Even though Hasan does not know like to share about his personal life to anyone,  A. J. Cronin gets to know a little bit of his life. Hasan is a Muslim. He was born in Punjab but brought up in the southern part of India from where he learnt about seafaring. He is working as a seaman for forty years. He is working in the Ranaganji for fifteen years. He has no family in the land and is unmarried. He has no money and property.

            Thinking all these, A. J. Cronin asks Hasan whether the company which is managing the functioning of the Ranaganji will give him extra money for serving A. J. Cronin. He tells that money has no meanings in his life because he has everything which he wants in his life. This makes A. J. Cronin to realise that Hasan does not care about rewards. He has courage, self-control and faith. He does not care about what will happen to him tomorrow.

            A. J. Cronin feels that Hasan has simplicity and all the world values which he learnt is nothing in front of the knowledge which Hasan got from his life. A. J. Cronin wishes to accumulate success and wealth in the future. But now he is ashamed of thinking like that.

            Two patients have died on the next day. Hasan willingly does their funeral in a ceremonious way. He put the dead-body in shrouds and even read a small passage from the Ramayana. In the midnight, he throws those dead-bodies in the sea. After this, no patients' names are reported. After a week, they reach Colombo. The patients are admitted to the hospital. Most of the patients have overcome the dangerous stage of smallpox. Only three patients' conditions are pathetic because sores are still in their body. Hasan is helping them and he cannot bear their pathetic condition. So he is crying.

            Finally, the Ranaganji pass the Bay of Bengal. Smallpox does not spread to any other person. Finally, the ship reaches Calcutta. Again  A. J. Cronin hears the “shrilling” voice of Miss Jope Smith who again calls Hasan as “absurd creature”. She asks  A. J. Cronin in which cage he keeps Hasan. As a reply, he says that that lazaretto is a cage where Hasan and he look after the patients. But the real animals like Miss Jope Smith and Ronnie who do not see the good heart of Hasan are outside.