Finished On:20th of November, 2013
of Malgudi. What can I say about the book? I loved the book as I’ve
loved all the works of Narayan. This novel is set in the period where
India was fighting for its freedom.
When Sriram turns 20 his grandmother gives him the pass book of the
saving account where she had been assiduously saving pension of Sriram’s
father. She now considers Sriram old enough to take care of his
finances. Sriram who has been petted from childhood by her grandmother
and who till now seems to be living under the shadow of her grandmother
feels for the first time like a grown up man.
It was an adventure accompanying Granny to the Fund office, four doors
off. She seemed to shrink under open sky-she who dominated the landscape
under the roof of Number 14 lost her stature completely in the open.
Kanni cried breezily from his shop:’Oho,grandmother and her pet on an
outing! A fine sight!The young gentleman is shooting up madam.”. Sriram
felt proud of this compliment; he was seized with a feeling of towering
height, and he pursued his lips in a determined manner.
which often comes to those who have been pampered all their life. Time
flies by and it was after four years that another chapter of Sriram’s
existence begins.
the next four years, the passing of time being hardly noticed in this
scheme-except when one or the other of the festivals of the season
turned up and his granny wanted him to bring something from the market.
‘Your contritbution ?’ she asked, shaking a sealed tin collecting box.
Sriram’s throat went dry and no sound came . He had never been spoken to
by any girl before; she was slender and young, with eyes that sparkled
with happiness. He wanted to ask, ’How old are you? What caste are you?
Where is your horoscope? Are you free to marry me?’ She looked so
different from the beauty from Kanni’s shop; his critical faculties were
at once alert and he realized how shallow was the other beauty, the
European queen, and wondered that he had ever given her a thought. He
wouldn’t look at the picture again even if Kanni should give it to him
for free.
Mahatma Gandhi and that the great man is due to make his presence in
Malgudi for the first time. So with thoughts of the girl he decides to
go to the meeting.
And his thoughts could not be any far from the welfare of the country.
your heart is not pure or that there is bitterness there, I’d rather
have the British stay on. It is the lesser of the two evils.’
Sriram thought: ’Oh, reverend Mahatmaji, have no doubt that my heart is
pure and without bitterness. How can I have any bitterness in my heart
for a creature who looks so divine?’
woman of his dreams. He finds out that the woman, Bharti, is prominent
member of Mahtamaji’s cadre and he’ll have to be part of it too if he
wants to be near her. Would lovelorn Sriram see his love reciprocated?
And what are the problems that lay ahead of him as freedom fighter? For
the above questions you’ll have to read the book.
freedom struggle of India and is seen through eyes of Sriram and Bharti.
Where Sriram has entered in the struggle for impressing Bharti, but in
case of Bharti it’s about the ideals. Sriram respects Mahatma although
most of the times he doesn’t have a clue what his teaching means. He
reiterates it to people without having a clue what he’s speaking about
and is gullible to be influenced by personalities like Jagadish who is a
violent freedom fighter. On the other hand Bharti is mature and
intelligent.
The book is interspersed with narayanian brand of humor which is to be
found in most of his books. The character of Sriram and his thoughts are
sometimes so childish you can’t stop from laughing.
however far away they sat. He was sure to catch him the moment he
arrived on the platform and say, ’You, there! Come up and make a clean
breast of it. Tell this assembly what your thoughts were. Don’t look in
the direction of the girls at all if you cannot control your thoughts.’
Sriram resolutely looked away in another direction, where men were
seated. ‘A most uninteresting and boring collection of human faces;
wherever I turn I see only some shopkeeper or a schoolmaster. What is
the use of spending one’s life looking at them?’ Very soon
unconsciously, he turned again towards the women, telling himself,’So
many sisters and mothers. I wish they would let me speak to them. Of
course I’ve no evil thoughts in my mind at the moment.’
She became tender when she found out she was talking to someone without a
mother, and Sriram noticing this felt it was worthwhile being
motherless and grandmother tended.
the same for this visit too. This was also an entertaining and
engrossing read. If you have still not visited Malgudi, I must say you
have missed out a lot and those who have visited and not met Sriram, I’d
say you should.
