A Gift of Chappals NCERT Class 7 Honeycomb book Chapter 2 Summary 

A small girl named Mridu resides in Chennai with her grandparents, Thatha and Tapi. One afternoon, Mridu visits to her aunt Rukku Manni's house with Tapi. She runs across her relatives Meena, Ravi, and Lalli there. Mridu was welcomed in Rukku Manni's home by everyone. In their backyard, there was a large bitterberry bush, so Ravi led her there. A torn football contained a tiny cat within. The tiny animal was occupied with consuming milk that was preserved in a coconut half-shell. 

Meena informed Mridu that morning that they had discovered the kitten outside their home. However, they have to keep it a secret or the grandmother would leave their home right away. While kids were being taught to treat animals with kindness, elders were yelling at them and calling the kitten a filthy thing, which infuriated Ravi. While he was retrieving milk from the kitchen for the kitten, his grandmother became suspicious. To convince her that the milk was for him, he had to consume more than half of it. From its pelt, he could tell it was a fine breed cat, a near relative of the lion family, similar to the one Pallava kings had adopted as their emblem. He told her this. Mridu chuckled in response, which inspired Ravi to further demonstrate his historical knowledge. He saw a statue of a lion during his school trip to Mahabalipuram, and he is adamant that it was that kitten's progenitor. He bragged about how his tiny kitten was a Mahabalipuram Rishi-Cat ancestor. He made Mridu think of the Egyptian cat worshippers. He thought it was a lineal descendant of Bastet, the cat goddess.

When a strange 'Kreech' sound emerged from the window, Ravi was busy announcing how proud he was of his kitten. Mahendran was terrified while Mridu was startled. When Mahendran saw some red peppers drying in the sun, he leaped in terror. Mridu asked what it was while the "kreeching sounds continued in the background. She was told by Ravi that Lalli was picking up the violin. Lalli was holding the violin awkwardly while sitting a little bit away from her music teacher, who had his back to the window, when Mridu peered out the window. The instructor was bald with a black hair fringe that hung around his ears. A ring was on this hand, and there was a gold chain around the neck. With his big toe, he was striking the ground. While Lalli was working extremely hard, he was playing the violin with perfect pitch. His tracks were melodically rich, but Lalli kept failing to hit the CS.

When Rukku Manni summoned Ravi to get the beggar out of the way, kids were having fun peeking through the window. She wanted the beggar to find another home because she was tired of him frequenting their home for the past week. At the garden, the beggar had established a cozy spot for himself. His upper garment was spread out beneath the neem tree as he leaned against it. He heard Ravi telling him to leave just as he was about to fall asleep. Hearing this astonished him, so he called for the lady of the house. Rukku Manni, enraged, informed Ravi that there was nothing left in the kitchen and requested the beggar not to return.

Her voice was so loud that Ravi didn’t have to repeat her words to the beggar. The beggar told them that he would leave after taking rest for a while. It was too hot outside and there were blisters in his feet. The children were in pain seeing this and started making plans to give him chappals. Mridu recalled entering Ravi's home and spotting a pair of worn-out, gray chappals. She questioned Ravi as to whose they were. The beggar received the chappals from Ravi, who also urged him not to return. After blessing the kids, the beggar left wearing his chappals. The music instructor needed to leave at this moment. In search of his chappals. He contacted Lalli, and together they searched all over but couldn't find them. Rukku Manni was briefed about it by Lalli. The kids were asked by Rukku Manni if they had seen anyone picking up the chappals. 

Rukku Manni was quite irate, and Mridu lost all control. She informed her that the chappals belonging to the music teacher had been donated to the beggar. Rukku Manni stepped inside and gave the music instructor Gopu Mama's new chappals. Despite being pleased with his new chappals, the teacher claimed that accepting them was difficult. Ruku Manni, the Compassionate Mother It was obvious that Rukku Manni didn't like the teacher's description of Ravi as a monkey and an embodiment of Lord Hanuman. She demanded that the instructor leave right away.