Dec 20, 2010 11:32 AM
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(Updated Jan 18, 2011 09:45 AM)
The creator of the fictional village Malgudi- R.K. Narayan has always charmed readers with the simplicity in his writings. His collection of the innocent, interesting and entertaining stories of Swami and his friends form an indispensable part of any Indian book shelf. Here is my take on one of his less known masterpieces- Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories.
This book has a collection of twenty eight delightful short stories of different colours, revolving around the ancient village - Malgudi. Such is the magic of story- teller R.K.N. that you would instantly be transported into the village and start living the lives of the characters- Be it the 70 year old Muni or young Nityaor the dog Chippy!
A few words on my favourite stories in this book follow-
Nitya (The generation gap) - 20 year old Nitya is in a dilemma. His parents have suddenly remembered an unfulfilled vow they had taken in his childhood when he was suffering from some illness. The vow claimed that Nitya’s head be shaven in the ancestral temple of the family in a nearby village. Nitya is aghast that his parents want their son to become bald and the laughing stock of his college. However, the religious parents are adamant that a vow should be fulfilled, come what may. Nitya tries striking deals like offering 4 locks of the best available hair on his head and tries justifying that God also wouldn’t be too interested in keeping a huge collection of hair!
A horse and two goats (Language barrier between 2 persons of different nationalities) - A poor elderly couple- Muni and his wife live in a little village called Kritam. Muni’s meager assets are his two frails goats. He has lost count of his age since his marriage at the age of thirteen! His daily task is to take his scanty flock for grazing on the outskirts of the village, and his source of entertainment here is to sit at the pedestal of a stone horse and watch the occasional vehicles passing through the highway. The sight of this highway is his only connection with the larger world. Once, a tourist from US passes by and shows keen interest in buying this stone horse. He takes it that Muni is the owner and starts negotiations with him. What follows is some hilarious miscommunication between the English speaking foreigner and the Tamil speaking Muni, in which, neither person understands the other’s language!
Dodu (Innocence) – Eight year old Dodu has serious financial worries and the worst part is that his elders are not keen on heeding them. He requires money to buy candies and crackers! He thinks of schemes and plots to earn money that eventually fail. His little ‘office’ where he does some serious thinking is a wooden box which also acts as a store room for his collection of ‘valuable’ things as bits of coloured thread, discarded book covers and anything that catches his fancy. A day when his elder brother mentions that epic writings on palm scripts fetch a lot of money, Dodu becomes ecstatic that he has got hold of a new scheme. In his wobbly hand-writing, he writes a few words from his limited English vocabulary on some leaves and heads off to the village university building. He hopes of selling his masterpiece to any professor he catches hold of and consequently, earn a fortune. What happens next it to be read!
4.Flavour of coconut (A light story) -This one starts with a description of a prisoner convicted of destruction to property on a household. He is known to be a sly, clever and invincible thief who has punctured clothes, torn important documents and has caused huge financial losses- a sinner who is now waiting for his sentence to be declared. He is none other than a tiny mouse that has walked into a mouse trap by getting lured to the piece of roasted coconut used as the effective bait!
Another Community (A story on communal tensions) - This touching story is based in the month of October of 1947. It depicts the tension that was prevalent amongst different communities. Our author has taken care to not mention the name of any particular religion or sect but has referred to them as ‘One Community’ and ‘Another Community’. The protagonist is referred to as ‘Our friend’ so as to not reveal his background. ‘Our friend’ has a family of five to support and is the sole bread earner. Those were the times when a petty quarrel would act as a matchstick on a stack of hay and huge flames would spread for no apparent or conspicuous reason; put in R.K.’s words, the times when a good action in a far-off place did not find an echo but an evil one did possess that power.
Four Rupees (A Satirical Comedy) –Ranga earns his living by doing peculiar tasks for villagers. Once the task is from a rich household, the servant of which, has accidently dropped the ancestral vessel of the family into the backyard well. The vessel should be drawn as soon as possible from the bottom of the sixty feet deep well. He is offered a fortune of four rupees for this dangerous task. Before Ranga knows it, he is cajoled, fed lunch and almost pushed into the dark well.
Annamalai (The simpleton) – This is a story narrated by the master of a house about his home- servant, gardener and watchman Annamalai. Anna is a simpleton but has a helping nature, a heart of gold and the strength of three men. He talks a lot and it is a futile exercise to teach him anything new! One of his greatest achievements in life is that he has learnt to pick up the ‘telepoon’ and answer it! He has a queer answer or another question for every question put to him. For example, if he receives the phone in the master’s absence, he enthusiastically mentions on the master’s return, “There was a telepoon for you sami”.
“Who was it?”
“How could I know? He dint show me his face.”
“Did you ask his name?”
“He said, ‘Trunk call’. I told him- Go away, no trunk or baggage here.”
- A Hero (Adventure) - A collection of RKN’s short stories would be incomplete without one on Swami. Swami sleeps beside his granny every night after hearing a bed time story. One day, his father challenges him to sleep alone at night. Despite Swami’s mild attempts of resistance, father commands him to sleep in his office. This story describes his adventurous night at the office filled with nightmares and a burglar creeping in.
I wouldn’t say all stories deserve a 10 on 10, some are less interesting. A few are open ended and the conclusion is left for the reader to infer. Overall, a nice read. 3.5. out of 5.
