The World of Nagaraj

Nagaraj belonged to the elite Kabir street family and so didn’t have to care for a living. Infact he didn’t have a care in the world except writing his masterpiece on Narada. But life was soon to change when Tim, his nephew came to live with him forever. Social confusions seem to get in his way but his meek nature prevented to find a solution and so he remained only the silent spectator to the drama of life that revolved around him. Contrary to his ways of life, his wife though doted on the nephew but wished to be strict. But her wise means were easily foiled by her husband who had proper sense but lacked the courage to use it. To make matters worse sometimes the stubborn brother visited him and made his life even more miserable. Then came the daughter-in-law with her harmonium that seemed to create enough noise for Nagaraj to change his daily routine. There are also a few more characters of varied prominence including the Talkative Man who really breathed more fun to the already humourous mood of the narrative. But amidst all the chaos the focus to write about the great sage never became blurred and he tried every avenue to write his manuscript on Narada who was his idol. The entire pace of the story is perfect throughout but for the closing chapter that seemed a bit abrupt. The humorous perspective is most prominent but it adds a bit of sober romance that heightens its appeal more.

Grandmother's Tale

The story of Grandmother's Tale, as explained in the foreward, is the borderline between fiction and biography. The novelella is about Narayan's great-grandmother Bala and her search for her errant husband Viswa who left apparently on a pilgrimage soon after their marriage at a very ripe age, as was the custom at those times. Unable to bear the burden of whispering neighbours and determined to find the husband who deserted her without any strong reason, Bala went forward all alone, emboldened only by her strong will to reconcile with Viswa. What happened next was an amazing tell of courage masked by Narayan's signature comic style as related to him by Ammani - his grandmother whose memory tried to bring back almost everything but the trifling details that makes the narrative lacking in justification at certain parts but enhances the charm in no little way and can be considered as 'grandmotheretic' (it rhymes with the word 'poetic' and I think it carries the meaning I want to emphasize) justice which every Indian is well aware of. To the fans of Narayan's works this will augment the appeal like always but the added attraction is R.K. Laxman's illustrations that again makes this priceless.

The Guide

The Guide is the transformation of a corrupt and opportunist tour guide to a spiritual being. Starting his career without a heed to his father's business he gradually made a profit out of guiding excursionists to spots hitherto never hailed at all a place of sight seeing. Transforming places with only a trace of sceninc beauty just by the virtue of his story telling Raju had earned a regional fame around Malgudy. But unbeknownst to him, the Mempi Hills did really had a treasure of significant archaeology. Thus came Marco to explore the caves and with him came Rosie, his artist - the dancer of the Bharatnatyam genre. But it was not her dance that attracted Raju to her but something else made him lose his head completely. Then started the story of careful elopement that culminated in Marco and Rosie getting estranged. Raju, taking advantage of the situation gave Rosie a house but more importantly introduced her to the world of commerce. Rosie's dance, enthralling her audience wherever she went, soon catapulted them to a world of fame but not long before that Raju found himself thrown to jail due to a financial deal gone messy chiefly due to his ignorance in the legal and financial matters. But as he came out of jail, opportunities provided a remarkable transformation in him that, to me seemed to give him eternal peace.

An engrossing narrative that modifies the outlook of the reader as each page unfolds a new surprise this will hold you glued as long as it remains unfinished.

The English Teacher

A tragedy like never before, Narayan unfolds love, life and death in the last of his trilogy that started with Swami, continued with the BA graduate and culminated in The English Teacher, a remarkable adventure reflecting the social evolution of man. Dedicated to his wife, Rajam, the novel is emotional and enchanting as it speaks of the inner self and philosophises on the afterlife but remains so much rational. Pain and bereavement have been etched out in its pages but never for once they seek sympathy but remains calm and composed in its flowing narration. The simple joys of the simple people and life's own surprises and griefs had been compiled in this beatifully versed literary creation that will remain a classic for ages to come. The only thing that remains a mystery, rather a query to me, is whether the great Ray had ever come across Narayan's works and considered it to make it a film as only a great director like him could have made a visual masterpiece of the story.

Malgudi Days

The last collection of Narayan’s that I went through contained a number of short stories and I found to my delight that these too are treasures of a different kind penned by the creator of Malgudi novels. So this time I researched a bit on the short stories and bought Malgudi Days that contains stories from An Astrologer’s Day, Lawley Road and some other stories. I’m not sure whether the volume contained all from An Astrologer’s Day and Lawley Road but this seemed to be the best collection that I could find in the lot that was optimised both in content and price.

The entire content runs as

From An Astrologer’s Day

· An Astrologer’s Day

· The Missing Mail

· The Doctor’s Word

· Gateman’s Gift

· The Blind Dog

· Fellow-Feeling

· The Tiger’s Claw

· Iswaran

· Such Perfection

· Father’s Help

· The Snake-Song

· Engine Trouble

· Forty-Five a Month

· Out of Business

· Attila

· The Axe

From Lawley Road

· Lawley Road

· Trail of the Green Blazer

· The Martyr’s Corner

· Wife’s Holiday

· A Shadow

· A Willing Slave

· Leela’s Friend

· Mother and Son

New Stories

· Naga

· Selvi

· Second Opinion

· Cat Within

· The Edge

· God and the Cobbler

· Hungry Child

· Emden

After going thru the short introduction by the author, I scurried past the opening story that I’d earlier read to the next ones that took me on a fascinating tour of human nature, be it a postman’s prudence while delivering mails, the human psychology that sometimes plays as an effective placebo to incurable illness, the insecurity of an illiterate pensioner, the blind faith of a dog to the cruellest of masters and confidence trick that sometimes act as the guard against the mightier. Tragedy, not a very common in Narayan’s arts, is also depicted equally well in at least two of the narratives, one portraying the rash act of a student whose sudden success after constant failure hurls him headlong to a way of life that he finds hard to deal with and in the other he sketches the life of a gardener and his feeling towards the garden he fashioned that is awaiting an impending destruction. The author has also narrated the way of Providence that saves mankind in ways curious to the mortals. Swami also pops up in one of the narratives where his innocent view of life and school seems so much similar to our younger days. In the way of these narratives we meet my favourite, the Talkative Man, more than once, sometimes rambling on his close encounter with a man-eater, sometimes recounting his curious adventure as a trainee in flute playing, sometimes with his ill fortune over an unique prize. The author also does not forget the ordinary men and their striving for a decent living that exploits their soul and strains relations. But the silver linings in some also shows how misery is erased and hope regained.Narayan's comic genius also come to the fore when he describes the dumb behaviour of a dog that changes its status from a zero to a hero.
The second of the collection also starts with a story that I'd already come across and this collection seems to be my favourite maybe due to the humorous sides that highlight much of the narratives. Though full of pathos, the first few stories stories ramble past a thief whose sudden flash of kindness is returned very severely, a vendor of sweets reduced to a hotel attendant, the gambler with a disastrous luck, and in all of these, the humorous side seems to brush aside the austere events. But the later ones seem directed towards the harsher side of the coin where a child's craving for his dead father's company in the movie that he acted is weighed against his mother's wish to stay away from the same, the caring habit of a governess being exploited by all, the indifference of the master of the house towards a servant who was once a thief and the eternal relation of love and hate that cycles in families. I don't know whether it is the printer's mistake in quoting Mysore for Malgudi but there was an instance that I found Narayan's story to meander off outside Malgudi into the real world.
The first two and one coming a little late in the list of anecdotes of the final collection were already known to me and was thus given a fleeting glimpse but I was stuck in one of the next stories where the value of a second opinion seemed to be too much lengthened for its worth and for the first time I was disappointed in Narayan. But again enthusiasm was regained in the funny incidents of an excorsist's hoax, the remarkable rationale of a poor cobbler, a curious tour of a heartbroken lover and a lost child in a fair ground and the octogenarian whose ruthless activities in youthful times earned him the same name of a German battleship Emden but who had been reduced to just the opposite in later years.
The book also presents a glossary for regional terms that Narayan has used in each and every of his writings and may be helpful for any Narayan story.
This Indian Thought Publication has no doubt brought Narayan stories to customers at a reasonable price and that they were really thinking hard while designing the book is apparent from the finishing and my thanks to them for this great endeavour. The collection remains one of the closest to heart for Narayan's fans and may be valued as a priceless item to many.