UNIT-4 --GUIDE-R.K.

NARAYAN

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

R.K. Narayan (born October 10, 1906, Madras [now Chennai], India—died May
13, 2001, Chennai) was one of the finest authors of Indian writing in English.
His stories often explore themes such as the clash between tradition and
modernity, individual freedom, and the dynamics of Indian family life. His style
is marked by genial humor, gentle irony, and simplicity.

Hand in hand with pioneering Indian novelists Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao,
Narayan laid the foundations of the novel as a genre in Indian literature.
Whereas Anand focused on social realism, and Rao breathed philosophical
depth into his works, Narayan used simple, humorous prose to depict the lives
of ordinary people in India.

Early life and education

Raised by his grandmother, Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanswami

graduated from Maharaja College of Mysore in 1930 and devoted himself to
writing, using the pen name R.K. Narayan. His younger brother, R.K. Laxman,
was a renowned cartoonist, who illustrated many of his works, including Swami
and Friends (1935), The Bachelor of Arts (1937), Malgudi Days(1943), and The
Guide(1958).

Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, by the same titles in 1972 and
1978, respectively.

Recognition and legacy

Narayan received several venerable literary and civilian honors and awards in
India:

• Sahitya Akademi Award (1960): Awarded for his novel The Guide, this is
one of India’s highest literary honors. Narayan was its inaugural
prizewinner.

• Padma Bhushan (1964): India’s third highest civilian award, it was

bestowed in recognition of Narayan’s contributions to literature.
 • The Benson Medal (1980): Presented by the Royal Society of Literature,
this British award recognizes outstanding contributions to literature.

• Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (1994): This is the highest honor conferred

by India’s National Academy of Letters, awarded for lifetime achievement
in literature.

• Padma Vibhushan (2000): Awarded a year before his death, this is

India’s second highest civilian honor, further acknowledging his literary
achievements.

• Rajya Sabha nomination (1986–92): Narayan was nominated to

the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s Parliament, in recognition of
his contributions to Indian literature.

• Honorary doctorates: He received honorary doctorates from several

universities, including the University of Leeds (1967), the University of
Delhi (1973), and the University of Mysore (1976).

SUMMARY OF THE NOVEL “THE GUIDE”:

R.K. Narayan's novel The Guide summarizes the journey of Raju, a charming but
fraudulent tourist guide, who is transformed into a spiritual figure. After his
affair with a married dancer named Rosie and subsequent imprisonment for
forgery, a released Raju is mistaken for a holy man in a village. During a
drought, he begins a fast to bring rain, and the novel ends ambiguously as he
collapses, with the outcome of his penance uncertain.

Key plot points

• From tourist to dancer's manager:

Raju, a tour guide in Malgudi, meets and falls for Rosie, the wife of an
archaeologist named Marco. He helps launch Rosie's career as a classical
dancer, but his fraudulent actions, including forging her signature on a legal
document, lead to his imprisonment.

• Mistaken for a saint:

After his release, Raju finds himself in a village where he is mistaken for a holy
man. To escape his past, he adopts the role of a spiritual leader, a "sadhu".

• The drought and the fast:

A drought strikes the village, and the villagers believe Raju can bring rain. He
begins a fast for them, a penance that attracts a large following.

• Ambiguous ending:

On the eleventh day of his fast, a doctor warns Raju that he is too weak to
continue. He asks to be taken to the riverbank and, as he collapses, tells his
follower Velan that he feels the rain coming. The story concludes without
revealing if he dies or if the rain comes, leaving his fate and the success of his
fast open to interpretation.

THE GUIDE (R.K. NARAYAN)

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Brief Biography of R. K. Narayan

Born in the south Indian metropolis of Madras (now Chennai), R. K. Narayan

spent most of his childhood in the city under the guardianship of his
grandmother, who looked after him because his father’s occupation as
headmaster necessitated constant moves between locations. From a young
age, Narayan developed a taste for literature, and after a short stint as a
teacher following his university studies, he decided to devote himself to writing
full-time. His early career, however, was a struggle: in spite of the patronage of
one of the most important writers of the time—the British author Graham
Greene, who had read his work and recommended it to his publishers—
Narayan’s early novels did not sell well, and he faced financial difficulties.
However, he continued writing, and by the late 1940s began garnering a wide
readership as well as more financial stability. As his reputation grew, he also
traveled more, visiting Australia, the United States, and England, where he
finally got to meet his patron Graham Greene in person. Settling in the city of
Mysore in southern India, Narayan continued publishing into old age. His
fictional work—almost entirely set in the fictional town of Malgudi in southern
India—often reflects a comic-ironic mode in its treatment of themes such as
the conflict between tradition and modernity, materialism, family, and Hindu
mythology. By the time he died in 2001, his status as one of India’s most
important English-language writers was firmly established.

PLOT SUMMARY:

Moving between present and past, and narrated alternately in third-person

and first-person, The Guide tells the life story of Raju. Born to a modest
shopkeeper and his wife in the (fictional) town of Malgudi, India, Raju grows up
at a time of great changes: most notable among them the construction of
the railway line that comes to town in his childhood. The railway changes the
family’s fortunes and Raju’s life forever. As a result of a second shop that Raju’s
father opens in the railway station, the family prospers, and, after Raju’s
father’s sudden death, Raju takes over the rail station shop to continue his
father’s enterprise.
However, Raju doesn’t remain a shopkeeper for long. Soon, he takes to
showing the many visitors who arrive at the railway station the sites of
Malgudi. In re-inventing himself as a tourist guide, Raju often resorts to
exaggerations and fabricated tales to impress his customers. His reputation as a
guide grows to such an extent that he comes to be known as “Railway Raju,”
sought out by tourists from far and wide.

"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone
through the roof." -Graham S.

Raju meets his match in Marco Polo, a serious, studious academic of ancient
civilizations who arrives in Malgudi to research the cave paintings and temples
scattered around the town’s surroundings. He engages Raju’s services as a
tourist guide to navigate these many sites. Raju’s impulsive dislike of Marco
Polo—who is haughty and domineering—is further reinforced when he meets
his young, beautiful wife Rosie, who arrives in the town shortly after her
husband. Raju is immediately taken by Rosie, who, in spite of the foreign name
she goes by, is an Indian woman trained in the art of Indian classical dance.
When Raju takes Rosie to visit a snake charmer and watches her as she imitates
the snake’s movements in a fleeting dance, he is thunderstruck: she is, he
realizes, the greatest dancer he has ever seen.

Seeking to get closer to Rosie, Raju devotes himself to her and her husband’s
care. Soon, it becomes clear that all is not well in the marriage. The couple is
liable to bouts of quarrelling, which come to a head at Mempi Hills, an area
outside of Malgudi in which cave paintings are located that Marco,
accompanied by his wife and guided by Raju, goes to examine. At Peak House,
where the party lodges during the expedition to Mempi Hills, Raju learns that
Rosie is dissatisfied with her husband—primarily because he has banned her
from pursuing her passion, the art of classical dance that has been practiced by
members of her family for generations. Taking advantage of Rosie’s
dissatisfaction, Raju flatters and compliments her, praising her dancing abilities,
and soon, they strike up an affair behind Marco’s back.

With Raju’s encouragement, Rosie again tries to talk to her husband about
commencing a career in classical dance, but she is rebuffed, and inadvertently
reveals that she is having an affair with Raju; a man, she tells her husband, who
appreciates her talents. This leads to a crisis between husband and wife. When
Raju goes up to visit Marco and Rosie at Peak House, however, neither Rosie
nor Marco reveal exactly what is going on, and instead, Rosie commands Raju
to leave them alone.

Raju returns to Malgudi, where, depressed by Rosie’s absence, he has a difficult

time picking up his old life—the shop at the railway station, and his work as a
tourist guide. One day, a few weeks after his trip to Peak House, Rosie appears
with her luggage at the house that he shares with his mother. Raju’s mother, a
traditional woman, is surprised by the appearance of the single young woman,
but accepts her presence in the house for the time being. Raju learns from
Rosie that Marco has left her.

Raju is thrilled by Rosie’s reappearance, and is encouraging and supportive of

her reawakened devotion to dance: she takes to practicing everyday in his
house. However, trouble soon begins to brew with his mother, who has heard
rumors that Rosie is a married woman, and has realized, moreover, that Rosie
is a dancer who belongs to a lower caste. Financial troubles also escalate:
Raju’s creditor, the sait, a merchant from whom he buys wholesale supplies for
the railway shop, begins pursuing Raju in the courts to pay back his debts.
Raju’s negligence of the railway shop also leads to the loss of the business.
Problems further escalate when Raju’s uncle, his mother’s brother, appears in
the house, insults Raju and Rosie, and, along with his sister, demands that
Rosie leave. Raju defiantly takes Rosie’s side, and in response his mother packs
up her things and departs with her brother.

Throughout, Rosie, unaware of the extent of Raju’s financial straits, continues

practicing her art. One day, she declares that she is ready to perform publicly,
and, after settling with Raju on the more traditional and captivating name of
“Nalini” as an appropriate moniker for her public debut, Raju sets to work
arranging her first public performance.

From the moment of her debut, Rosie is a huge success. Raju, who takes credit
for orchestrating her astronomical rise to fame, re-invents himself once again
as the “manager” of the alluring and captivating Nalini. Nalini is asked for
everywhere, and Raju’s role in managing Rosie’s career transforms him into a
man of wealth and influence. Still pursued by the sait for the debts he owes for
the railway shop, and finding that his father’s home is now under mortgage to
the sait, Raju and Rosie move to a larger, more luxurious house, where Raju
takes to hosting important visitors and hobnobbing with politicians, bankers
and rich merchants—all men who seek access to Nalini through Raju.

Keeping Rosie to a relentless schedule of engagements and performances, Raju

nonetheless starts growing jealous of the artist friends that she likes to spend
time with, and seeks to limit her contact with them. He does this, in spite of
sensing that a dangerous dissatisfaction is developing in Rosie. One day, he
receives an unexpected parcel in the mail. It is the book that Marco, Rosie’s
husband, has published on his research on the cave paintings in Malgudi. Raju
hides the book from Rosie. Nonetheless, news of the publication reaches her:
she becomes excited when she reads about Marco’s book in a magazine. Not
only that, but Rosie quarrels with Raju when she discovers that Marco’s book
has been sent to them, but that Raju has hidden it from her.

Increasingly jealous of Rosie’s preoccupation with her husband, Raju also hides
a letter which arrives for Rosie from Marco’s lawyers shortly after the arrival of
the book. The letter concerns a box of valuable jewelry that Marco wants to
release to Rosie. Instead of sharing the letter with Rosie, Raju forges her
signature on the form sent by the lawyers, hoping to acquire the box of jewelry
without Rosie’s knowledge.

Before long, Raju’s deceit is exposed: a police superintendent shows up at one

of Rosie’s performances with a warrant for Raju’s arrest for forgery. Raju is
forced to disclose all to Rosie. She is devastated, particularly upon discovering
that, in spite of her tireless dancing, Raju has been reckless with the immense
wealth they’ve accumulated through her engagements. They are now so poor
that even meeting the cost of Raju’s legal expenses is a burden. She takes to
dancing again to pay for Raju’s expenses, which include fees for an expensive
lawyer that she hires to defend Raju in the court case against him. The lawyer,
however, fails to get Raju off. Raju is convicted of forgery and sentenced to two
years in prison. Although he comes across reports of her continuing rise to
stardom in the newspapers he reads in jail, Raju never meets Rosie again.

Uncertain of where to take himself after his release from prison, Raju sits on
the banks of a river near a small village. A stranger approaches him, and stares
up at him reverently. Soon the stranger, a villager by the name of Velan,
confesses that he is having trouble with a younger half-sister who refuses to
accept the marriage match he has arranged for her. Although Raju is
disconcerted by Velan’s unwarranted respect for him, he tries to help. After
Velan brings his sister to visit Raju, the sister accepts the match arranged for
her by her brother. Velan and his family credit this success to Raju.

Raju’s success in pacifying Velan’s rebellious half-sister leads the villagers to

believe in his powers as a holy man, or spiritual guide. Raju, considering that he
has nowhere to go and that the offerings of food brought to him by the
villagers on a daily basis provide him with free nourishment, decides to play the
role that the villagers have given him. He grows his beard and takes up
residence in the temple by the river, all in a bid to play the role of “holy man”
more convincingly. Each day, a congregation of villagers arrive to listen to him
discourse on various topics. Although he often feels like an imposter, Raju
continues with the charade.

When a severe drought afflicts the village, Raju is unwittingly drawn into
undertaking a two-week fast on behalf of the villagers to bring about rains.
Realizing the enormity of the sacrifice that the villagers expect him to
undertake, and afraid for himself, Raju finally discloses his full life story to
Velan, including his history of deceit and imprisonment. Raju hopes that Velan
will see that he is just an ordinary man after all, devoid of the powers which the
villagers have invested him with. However, after hearing Raju’s story, Velan’s
view of him remains unchanged. He speaks and looks at Raju with the same
reverence and respect he had on that first day they met by the river bank.

Astonished, but also moved, that Velan should still continue to respect him as
the “swami” in spite of his shameful past, Raju decides to undertake the fast in
earnest, as a way of repaying Velan’s—and the villager’s—faith in him. News of
the swami’s fast spreads far and wide—people come to the village by the
thousands to meet the heroic holy man, and journalists and news people arrive
to report on the developments. On the final day of the fast, Raju is so weak
that that he is unable to descend to the river on his own to hold vigil, as he has
done every day throughout the fast. With Velan’s help, however, he musters
the energy to reach the depleted river. On the brink of unconsciousness, he
looks to the horizon, and tells Velan that he feels rain coming over the hills.

The Guide Themes:

Hypocrisy and Disguise

Raju, the protagonist and occasional narrator of N.K. Narayan’s The Guide, is a
character whose entire life is built upon the sins of hypocrisy and dissimulation.
His multiple careers—including his work as a tourist guide in his hometown
of Malgudi, southern India, his career as a “dance manager”
for Rosie/Nalini (the seductive dancer he begins an affair with when she visits
Malgudi with her husband, Marco), and his final reincarnation as…

Transformation and Redemption

In tracing the metamorphosis of Raju—the protagonist of The Guide—from

shopkeeper to tourist guide to stage manager to holy man, Narayan’s novel
delves both into the pitfalls and the redemptive potential of transformation.
While Raju’s many guises are framed by deceit and illusion, Narayan suggests
that throughout these transformations, Raju moves towards fulfilling his
destiny, redeeming himself in his final role as a spiritual guide. In this way, the
novel also affirms the…

Gender and Feminism

The Guide tells the story of Raju, the trickster-charlatan who, in his final
reincarnation as a holy man, ends up redeeming himself by undergoing a
heroic fast to save Indian villagers from a drought. But while this male
character (and occasional narrator) is at the heart of the story, it is the brilliant
dancer Rosie/Nalini—Raju’s love interest—who steals the show. While various
men—including Rosie’s first husband Marco, and later her lover Raju—
attempt…

Tradition vs. Modernity

Narayan’s The Guide depicts modernization overtaking protagonist-

narrator Raju’s hometown of Malgudi in southern India during the early
twentieth century. Not only are new technologies associated with
industrialization—such as the railroad—introduced during this period, but
social relations are also upended as hierarchies of caste and gender are re-
negotiated. The novel’s attitude towards the relationship between tradition
and modernity is complex and ambiguous. These forces are sometimes
depicted as in conflict, and sometimes in harmony…

Greed and Materialism

Raju, the protagonist of Narayan’s The Guide, is deeply motivated by his desire
for material wealth. Living in the town of Malgudi in southern India, he
constantly reinvents himself—taking on the role of a tourist guide and dance
manager—in his pursuit of money. However, the novel ultimately suggests that
it is only when Raju gives up his greed and materialism entirely in his final role
as a holy man that he achieves something.

The Guide Characters

Raju
The protagonist and part-narrator of The Guide, Raju is a trickster-charlatan
whose greatest talent lies in re-inventing himself. With roots in a modest
household in the town of Malgudi in southern India, Raju knows

Rosie / Nalini

The young and beautiful wife of Marco, and love object of Raju, Rosie’s most
striking quality is her immense genius for dance—most clearly manifested in
the “serpent dance”

Marco Polo

The husband of Rosie, Marco is a serious, studious, reticent scholar of ancient

civilizations whose only passion is for his work. His research into the sites of
ancient civilization’.

Gaffur

A rather grumpy taxi driver, who is often hired by Raju to act as driver on the
tours on which Raju takes the many tourists arriving in Malgudi on the railway.
In his role

Raju’s Father

A modest shopkeeper in the town of Malgudi, Raju’s father is by turns soft and
severe with his son, whom he takes shopping with him at times, and whom he
threatens with violence

Raju’s Mother

An uneducated, traditional woman, Raju’s mother is a devoted wife and

mother, who barely leaves the immediate vicinity of the house that
her husband has built in Malgudi. Although she seems to be

Raju’s Uncle
Elder brother to Raju’s mother, Raju’s uncle arrives in Malgudi to set his
nephew straight, once the latter ruins his father’s railway shop business and
takes up with Rosie, whom he

Velan

Velan, a local from the small village of Mangal in southern India, comes
across Raju sitting on the banks of the river one day. Velan is trusting and
respectful. Upon setting eyes on Raju, he…

The Villagers

Residents of the village of Mangal in southern India, located not far from
a river bank. The villagers, following Velan’s example, put their faith in Raju as a
spiritual guide. They suffer especially under

Velan’s Brother

A rather dull-witted 21-year-old who goes to inform Raju that his

brother Velan has been injured in a fight, which has broken out as a result of a
drought that afflicts the villagers.

The Sait

A merchant who acts as Raju’s creditor in Malgudi, and from whom Raju
supplies the railway shop. When Raju, busy with Rosie and Marco, fails to repay
his debts, the Sait is

Mani

Raju’s secretary, who works for him once Raju reinvents himself as the manager
of Rosie/Nalini’s dance career. Raju’s trust in Mani begins to waver once Rosie
discovers that Raju has hidden Marco’s

Minor Characters
The Master

An old man who oversees a pyol school in Malgudi, a school in which lessons
are held on the old man’s stoop. Raju’s father sends Raju to this school to
remove him from the influence of the construction workers who are building
the railway.

Joseph

A reticent man who looks after Peak House, the house at the top of Mempi
Hills. Raju takes Marco and Rosie to stay there while Marco studies nearby cave
paintings.

Raju Character Analysis

The protagonist and part-narrator of The Guide, Raju is a trickster-charlatan

whose greatest talent lies in re-inventing himself. With roots in a modest
household in the town of Malgudi in southern India, Raju knows how to make
the best of opportunities—as evidenced, for instance, in the way that he takes
advantage of the railway that is newly constructed in Malgudi to create a
career for himself as a tourist guide. Articulate and persuasive, Raju has no
qualms about twisting facts—and even reality—to suit his interests, a skill
which he deploys relentlessly in his role as host to tourists in Malgudi. Raju’s
penchant for duplicity is also evidenced in the affair that he commences
with Rosie behind the back of her husband, Marco, who also happens to be
one of Raju’s customers. Driven by a desire for wealth, Raju’s greed is apparent
in the way that he exploits Rosie’s immense talents as a dancer to enrich
himself once he again reinvents himself as her manager. Jealousy and a desire
for control are the other hallmarks of his character, qualities which, along with
his deceitful tendencies, ultimately land him in prison. And yet, as low as Raju
may go, he seems always able to rise again. In his final reinvention as a holy
man or spiritual guide on the riverbank near a small village after his release
from prison, Raju comes to fulfill the destiny of “a guide” in the highest sense.
Although initially playing the role of “swami” so as to exploit the villagers’
generosity, Raju ultimately lives up to the villagers’ faith in him by risking
everything to save them.

Rosie / NaliniCharacter Analysis

The young and beautiful wife of Marco, and love object of Raju, Rosie’s most
striking quality is her immense genius for dance—most clearly manifested in
the “serpent dance” she performs only on rare occasions. Descended from a
poor, lower-caste family who have traditionally devoted themselves to the art
of temple dancing, Rosie, in spite of her own passion for dance, attempts to
escape the constraints of her caste and poverty by marrying a wealthy,
educated, upper-caste man. And yet, rather than providing Rosie with
deliverance, the men with whom she becomes entangled inevitably attempt to
repress her creativity and independence. Not only does Marco condemn and
ban Rosie’s pursuit of dance, but Raju, with whom she commences an affair
soon after she arrives in Malgudi with her husband, also lets her down. While
Raju genuinely supports and encourages Rosie’s pursuit of her art at first, once
she achieves fame as the dancer “Nalini,” he begins to exploit her success in his
role as her manager to enrich himself. Not only that, but Raju repeatedly lies to
and deceives Rosie, and attempts to control her contact with others because of
his jealousy. And yet, try as they might, the men in Rosie’s lives ultimately fail
to contain and control her. Forceful, free-spirited, and a brilliant artist, her
artistic and feminine powers are such that, by the end of the novel, she has
discarded the chains that both men have sought to confine her in, and is
outshining both as a free and independent woman, successful beyond
measure.

Marco Polo Character Analysis

The husband of Rosie, Marco is a serious, studious, reticent scholar of ancient

civilizations whose only passion is for his work. His research into the sites of
ancient civilization has turned him into an eternal tourist, as evidenced by the
traveler’s clothes that he always wears. Arriving in the town of Malgudi on
the railway one day to examine cave paintings, Marco hires Raju to show him
the sights. His insensitivity and callousness towards everything other than his
work is reflected in his neglect of Rosie during their visit to Malgudi. Marco’s
controlling and dominant nature is also reflected in the ban that he imposes on
Rosie, forbidding her to pursue the passion for classical dance which she
nurtures. Marco’s rigidity and cruelty become apparent when, upon
discovering that his unhappy and dissatisfied younger wife has commenced an
affair with his tourist guide, he completely ignores her for three weeks, and
then abandons her at the railway station of Malgudi as punishment. And yet,
although he leaves his wife, Marco is clearly unable to let her go entirely, as
suggested in the communication that he attempts to commence with her, via
his lawyers, once she establishes herself as a famous dancer managed by Raju.
 Gaffur Character Analysis

A rather grumpy taxi driver, who is often hired by Raju to act as driver on the
tours on which Raju takes the many tourists arriving in Malgudi on the railway.
In his role as driver, Gaffur is the first to notice Raju’s designs on Marco’s
wife, Rosie. Gaffur is an honest, upright man with principles, as evidenced in
his repeated warnings to Raju to leave Rosie alone.

Raju’s Father Character Analysis

A modest shopkeeper in the town of Malgudi, Raju’s father is by turns soft and
severe with his son, whom he takes shopping with him at times, and whom he
threatens with violence at others—particularly when Raju misbehaves or fails
to learn the lessons that his father attempts to teach him. He is a social man
who likes chatting with the customers who stop at his shop. When he opens a
second shop in the railway station that is built across from his house, he
prospers. However, Raju’s father doesn’t survive long—taken ill during the rainy
season one year, he dies before his son reaches full adulthood.

Raju’s mother Character Analysis

An uneducated, traditional woman, Raju’s mother is a devoted wife and

mother, who barely leaves the immediate vicinity of the house that
her husband has built in Malgudi. Although she seems to be a meek, pliant
woman, she is in fact strong-willed. She frequently butts heads with her son,
particularly after he ruins the railway shop business that her husband had built
before his death. She also rebels against the presence of Rosie in her house
when Raju invites her to live with him and his mother. Clinging fast to her
principles relating to caste and family honor to the last, Raju’s mother goes so
far as to leave her own house with her brother in order to protest her son’s
disgrace.

Velan Character Analysis

Velan, a local from the small village of Mangal in southern India, comes
across Raju sitting on the banks of the river one day. Velan is trusting and
respectful. Upon setting eyes on Raju, he seems to identify something spiritual,
and immediately puts his faith in him as a holy man. It is Velan’s faith in Raju
that precipitates the latter’s transformation into a holy man of renown, as
other villagers also begin to put their trust in his powers. Velan’s trust is such
that, even after Raju confesses to him his life of deceit and trickery, his faith
remains unshaken: and it is this act of trust that motivates Raju to genuinely try
to help the villagers by undertaking a fast to bring about rains to end the
drought under which they suffer. Velan acts as Raju’s support to the very last,
helping him down to the river to hold vigil on the final day of the fast.

The Villagers Character Analysis

Residents of the village of Mangal in southern India, located not far from
a river bank. The villagers, following Velan’s example, put their faith in Raju as
a spiritual guide. They suffer especially under a severe drought that afflicts
them one year and puts their livelihoods in jeopardy. Turning to Raju for
guidance, they draw him into a long fast to alleviate the drought.

The symbols in the fiction “Guide”:

The Railway Symbol Analysis

The railway, which comes to Raju’s hometown of Malgudi when he is still

a child, represents modernization and industrialization. Raju and his family
watch in awe as construction workers appear to build the tracks and the
railway station which is located right across from Raju’s family home. On the
day the railway is completed and the station is officially opened, the town is
given a holiday in celebration. Indeed, the construction of the railway line to
Malgudi changes the villagers’ lives in many ways. Raju’s family, for instance,
grows wealthier as a result of the second shop that Raju’s father opens in the
station. Raju’s own career prospects are transformed by the railway, when
visitors who arrive by train become the customers that he leads as a tourist
guide. The railway not only improves the financial prospects of Raju’s family; it
also opens the family and the town’s inhabitants to a broader world beyond
Malgudi—exposing them to people from all over India, and from different
walks of life. As such, in symbolizing modernization and industrialization, the
depiction of the railway in the novel alludes to the ways in which these forces
have the capacity to transform people’s material, social, and cultural prospects.

The Serpent Symbol Analysis

 The serpent, closely associated with Rosie, symbolizes feminine power
and energy in the novel. The animal first makes an appearance when Rosie asks
to see a dancing cobra, and Raju, playing the tourist guide, duly locates one for
her on the outskirts of Malgudi. Rosie is fascinated by the cobra as it rises from
the ground to the tune of a flute, and imitates its movement. It is at this
moment that Raju realizes that Rosie is amongst the greatest dancers he has
ever seen—Rosie’s imitation of the snake seems to reveal her full feminine as
well as artistic power, and Raju is completely captivated. Towards the end of
novel, Rosie—now the famous dancer Nalini—performs her “snake dance”
before an auditorium packed with a thousand spectators. She rarely performs
the dance, which is special because of the incredible dexterity that it requires.
Again, as Raju watches her, he is completely captivated by the beauty and
power of her snake-mimicry, as are the other spectators in the auditorium. The
close link established between the serpent and Rosie, therefore, indicates that
the serpent represents Rosie’s energy and power not only as a dancer, but as a
woman. By the end of the novel, after all, Rosie looms larger than both the
men—Marco Polo and Raju—who have tried to contain and control her. As
such, the sliding, dexterous movements of the snake seem to point to the
suppleness and dexterity of Rosie’s own feminine and artistic powers.

WaterSymbol Analysis
 Water is an integral part of Raju’s final incarnation as a holy man, or
“swami,” in the small village of Malgam. He ends up here after his release from
prison, and as such the water associated with his new life represents his
purification and redemption. It is by the river that Raju meets Velan, the
villager who innocently puts his faith in his healing powers. The significance of
water as a symbol of purification and redemption becomes apparent towards
the end of the novel, when a drought afflicts the villagers, who then draw Raju
into a long fast in the hope that his sacrifice will bring about rains. Raju, who at
first reluctantly, and then willingly, accepts the responsibility, stands in the river
each day during the fast to hold vigil, chanting incantations. For the first time in
his life, Raju acts out of self-sacrifice, on behalf of others, not out of self-
interest. As such, his immersion in the river signals the transformation and
purification that he undergoes in his final role as a holy man. The significance
of water as a symbol for redemption is further reinforced in the final image of
the novel, which depicts a famished and weakened Raju, possibly on the brink
of death, standing in the river with the help of Velan, perceiving rain coming
over the hills. Although Narayan doesn’t confirm or deny whether rain does
actually arrive, Raju’s perception of water coming from the sky is significant:
whether real or imagined, he feels as though he is about to be drenched in
rain, and indeed feels the water in his body, coming up his feet and legs. This
imagery of rain suggests that, at the climax of his act of self-sacrifice, Raju is
purified and transformed.

Malgudi Symbol Analysis

 The fictional town of Malgudi represents India in miniature. Like the
country of which it is a part, Malgudi undergoes tremendous changes,
including the arrival of industrialization and modernization, as symbolized by
the railway line that is newly built there. Furthermore, it is a microcosm of the
society at large, as it is home to people who occupy various social and
economic positions. The Sait, for instance, is clearly wealthier than Raju and
his family, while the poor people who occupy the huts outside of town, where
Raju takes Rosie to meet the snake charmer, are much poorer, and most likely
of low caste. Malgudi’s geography also reflects the wider country: the town
itself, with its condensed population, recalls the large urban centers of India,
while the beautiful wild landscape that surrounds it, such as that found at
Mempi Hills, where Raju takes Marco and Rosie to look at cave paintings,
suggests the country’s extravagant natural scenery.

Summary

Chapter-1

Sitting on a granite slab by a river, Raju is approached by a stranger, who

looks up at him reverentially. Slightly disconcerted by the stranger’s gaze, Raju
nonetheless invites him to sit. Raju asks where the stranger comes from, and
the stranger tells him that he is from a nearby village, Mangal, located across
the river bank. Raju enjoys the stranger’s talk, considering that he has been all
alone in this place for a day. Again noting the stranger’s respectful gaze, he
strokes his chin, wondering whether “an apostolic beard” has sprouted there.

Raju’s musings on his facial hair lead him back to his last visit to a barber for a
shave, which took place two days earlier. To Raju’s chagrin, the barber, whose
shop is located close to the prison gates, had correctly guessed that Raju had
just been released from prison. He also guessed that Raju had not committed a
serious offence like murder or rape, but rather a petty one of cheating, and
that he had not been in prison for a long time. When the barber asked Raju
what he intended to do next, Raju said he didn’t know—though he must go
somewhere.

On the river bank, Raju finds the stranger still seated on the steps
below him, looking at him with devotion. Raju asks him irritably why he looks
at Raju in this way. Raju is tempted to confess to the villager that he is here on
the river bank because he has nowhere else to go, but he is worried that he will
offend the villager if he mentions the word “jail.” Before he has a chance to
speak, however, the villager tells Raju that he has a problem. Raju encourages
him to share it.

Before the stranger, whose name is Velan, shares his problem, the
narrative jumps forward to Raju telling Velan his life story. His troubles began,
he says, when he met Rosie, a woman who, in spite of the exotic name she
went by, was an Indian dancer. At the first opportunity he found, Raju told
Rosie that she was a great dancer who fostered India’s cultural traditions.

alludes to the way that she straddles the divide between tradition and
modernity.

Raju flatters and praises Rosie’s talents whenever he finds the

opportunity and whenever they are out of range of her husband’s hearing. Her
husband, in contrast to Rosie, is grotesque, always dressed like a man about to
undertake an expedition—which prompts Raju, upon meeting him for the first
time in the railway station, to refer to him as Marco Polo.
 Raju says that he was fated to become a guide. As a child, he had grown
up in a small house opposite the railway station of Malgudi, in a house built by
his father long before trains arrived in the town.

Raju’s father made a living from a small shop he built on the premises of
the house, around which peasants and drivers of bullock wagons were always
gathered. When his father went inside the house to eat lunch every day, Raju
would take his place in the shop. Each morning, after drinking the buffalo milk
warmed for him by his mother, Raju would find his father waiting for him on
the pyol, or stoop, of the house, ready to commence giving Raju lessons on the
Tamil alphabet and arithmetic. To Raju’s relief, the lessons inevitably ended
with the arrival of the first customer at the shop, and he would immediately go
off to play under the shade of a tamarind tree across the road.

Back on the riverbank, Velan is seated on the steps that lead down to
the river, telling Raju that he has a problem. Raju has felt important ever since
this man gazed up at him. He tells Velan, in a sudden fit of sagacity, to show
him a person without a problem, and he will in turn show him a perfect world.
He then tells a story of a woman who went crying to the Buddha, clutching a
dead baby in her arms. The Buddha tells her to go into every home in the city
and find one where death is unknown. Raju adds that if Velan can show him a
single home without a problem, he can show him the way to find a solution to
all problems.

Velan, impressed by the weightiness of Raju’s statements, tells him that

the youngest daughter of his late father’s third wife, for whom he acts as a
guardian, refuses to accept his plans for her marriage—Velan wants her to
marry his cousin’s son. He is at a loss over what to do with the girl, and asks
Raju for counsel. Raju instructs him to bring her to see him. In gratitude, Velan
reaches down to touch Raju’s feet, but Raju recoils, telling him that it is only
God who is worthy of such prostration.

After Velan leaves, Raju sits watching the river for a long time and
counting the stars. He has a fantasy that, by charting the stars, he will become
a famous night guide for the skies. However, he soon finds himself muddled
and exhausted by the task and lays down to sleep.

The next morning, Raju awakens to find Velan standing with his sister, a
fourteen year old girl. Raju, still groggy from sleep, finds that he is not quite
ready to take charge of the world’s affairs, and he directs Velan and the girl to
wait for him in the hall of the temple by the river. When he goes to meet them
again, he finds that Velan has brought him a basket of food. Raju, who can use
the food, welcomes this.

Nonetheless, Raju takes the basket and places it at the foot of a stone
image of a god in the temple, saying that they will eat the remnant only after
the god has taken his fill. He begins telling a story of a man named Devaka who,
in ancient times, begged for alms at the temple gate, but would always put
offerings given to him at the feet of a god first. Halfway through the story, Raju
realizes he can’t remember the point or the ending of the story, and he lapses
into silence, while Velan waits patiently. Raju turns and strides to the river step,
and Velan and his sister follow.
 Raju remembers being back in Malgudi, his mother telling him stories as
they waited for his father to close his shop. Raju’s mother would send her son
out to see if his father—who enjoyed the company of his late-night
customers—could be convinced to turn in. Inevitably, the father would tell Raju
to tell his mother not to wait for him, but to leave some food out. Raju and his
mother would then eat dinner, and Raju would lie down, cozy with his mother
beside him, and listen to her stories about a man called Devaka, falling asleep
before his mother was even through the beginning of the story.

In the riverbank, Raju is still sitting on the steps with Velan and his sister
patiently waiting for him on a lower step. Raju is irritated by them; he has his
own problems to think about and wishes he were alone. He tells Velan he will
not think of his problems now, but only when the time is right for it. When
Velan rises to go, Raju tells him he needs to give the matter some thought. He
suddenly finds himself asking, “Have I been in prison or in some sort of
transmigration?” Velan seems relieved and happy that Raju has spoken so
much, and states that the course of things is pre-determined just as the course
of a river is pre-determined. They gaze on the river. Raju watches Velan and his
sister cross it and disappear

Chapter-2

Raju tells Velan of the construction of the railway in Malgudi, across the
street from his father’s house. Construction workers have begun work on the
line, parking their trucks beneath the tamarind tree under which Raju plays.
Raju is busy among the workmen, and he has taken to playing on the red
mountain of earth beneath the tree.

One day, Raju gets into a fight with a boy who encroaches on the red
mountain of earth by the railway construction site that has become Raju’s
territory. Raju pounces and curses the boy, who runs to Raju’s father, repeating
the curses that Raju hurled at him. Raju’s father is infuriated and, upon learning
from his son that he has picked up the words from the railway construction
workers, announces that he will send Raju to school to remove him from the
workmen’s influence.

Each morning, Raju’s mother makes a fuss over Raju as she dresses and
prepares him for school. He has an endless walk to school, and is often
distracted, dawdling on the way. Raju’s father, proud of his son’s education,
takes to boasting about the old master who oversees the school.

The school, in fact, is not terribly sophisticated—it’s a pyol school, one in

which lessons are held on the front stoop of an old man’s house, who also acts
as master. All levels of classes are held there at the same time. The master is
abusive, often irritated by his young, clumsy pupils, who like to sneak into his
house and make fun of him while cooking.

Despite the chaos of the pyol school, Raju makes enough progress to
qualify for first standard at the Board High School. On the day Raju attends the
new school, he is accompanied by the master, who is proud, strutting about like
a king.

By the riverbank near the small village of Mangal, Velan appears,

bursting to tell Raju that his sister has admitted her follies before the family
and has accepted Velan’s decision to betroth her to their cousin. Velan is clearly
incredibly impressed with Raju’s prescience. Raju, on the other hand, is once
again tempted to debunk himself, but once again holds back.

Grateful to Raju for helping him conclude the affair with his
sister, Velan comes to invite Raju to the wedding, which has been arranged. He
offers Raju a large tray of fruit in thanks. Although Raju manages to avoid the
wedding, the wedding comes to him—Velan and the family, including the girl
and her suitor, come to pay thanks to Raju by the river.

After the wedding incident, Raju’s circle begins to widen as news of his
success with Velan’s sister spreads. Other villagers begin to come sit by
the river steps, stopping there after work to visit him.

One day, Raju hides himself in the temple. Villagers arrive as usual,
wondering where he has gone to. They speak in praise of him, saying that his
presence has changed things for the better. Eventually they leave, leaving
behind offerings of food, and Raju emerges from his hiding place, grateful for
the food, and hopeful that Velan will always offer some to him.

The next day, Raju wakes up, and contemplates his future. He must
decide whether he will go back to his hometown of Malgudi, where he will
have to bear the giggles and looks of the townspeople, or whether he will go
elsewhere—but he is not sure where. Raju thinks that he’s not trained to work
hard, and that it is unlikely that he will find another place where he will have
such easy access to the nourishment that Velan and the villagers provide him.
He decides, therefore, to play the role that Velan has given him. He will give
guidance to the villagers, and he will play his role brilliantly, as the villagers
want him to do.

Having decided on his course, Raju sets up a place in the temple beside
the river for himself with a better backdrop. However, Velan and the
other villagers don’t appear. Raju begins to worry that they may never come.
Raju sees a boy bathing in the river, and the boy tells him that his uncle has
sent him to see if the man—that is, Raju—is present. Raju sends the boy back,
telling him to inform his uncle that he is indeed back.
 Chapter-3

Raju tells of the day that the railway line is finally completed in Malgudi.
Everyone in the town is given a holiday to celebrate. The railway station is
decorated, and important officials of the town give speeches, hailing the
achievement of the railway.

The railway is good for Raju’s father’s shop, which prospers as a result of
the growing population around the railway station. Raju’s father can now afford
to buy a juka (a carriage) and horse, in order to do his shopping for the shop.
However, Raju’s mother is not impressed by the horse and carriage.

Raju’s father makes a deal with a groom, who hires the carriage to sell
goods in the market when the carriage is not in use by Raju’s father, and with
the agreement that he will then pay the father a portion of the profit. However,
this turns out to be a bad deal for the father—the groom gives no money to the
family, swearing that he is unable to make a profit. He convinces the father to
sell the horse and carriage to him. Only then does it become apparent that the
father has been cheated: suddenly, the groom is seen selling his goods up and
down the streets.

Raju’s father is given the privilege to run a fancier, bigger shop at

the railway station. The shop is so large that he doesn’t even have enough
supplies to fill the shelves, though he follows the stationmaster’s orders to fill
them.

Raju takes his father’s place at the hut shop—the original shop built on
the premises of their home. However, he doesn’t do well there—his father’s
old customers miss chatting with their patron, and so Raju and his father switch
places. Raju is charged with overseeing the railway shop, and his father returns
to the hut shop. At the railway shop, Raju flourishes, and drops school to spend
all of his time looking after customers.

Chapter-4

Back at the riverbank, the boy whom Raju had sent to his uncle
announces the return of the “saint,” and soon the villagers come en masse to
visit Raju. Raju tells the villagers that their boys must learn, and the next day a
teacher appears, to whom Raju offers the space of the temple to give his
lessons. The following day, the teacher arrives with students, and it is Raju,
rather than the teacher, who ends up lecturing them, speaking to the boys
wisely on such topics as godliness and cleanliness. Raju is impressed by his own
eloquence.

Raju recalls that, in spite of dropping school, he had continued to read in

between serving customers at the railway shop. Raju’s father died suddenly
during the rainy season of that year. With his mother’s consent, Raju decided
to close the hut shop and focus on the railway shop instead, where he took to
selling magazines and school books.

At the riverbank, the school children, who have arrived at the temple for
instruction with their teacher, are rapt by the stories that Raju tells them. Soon,
their parents also arrive to hear Raju’s stories.

As the gatherings around Raju grow, he can’t help feeling like an actor.
Indeed, on one occasion, he is asked to give a discourse by a villager, and finds
himself suddenly lost. Casting about for something to say, Raju tells the
gathered crowd that all things must wait their hour. He also tells the puzzled
villagers to reflect on their actions. It occurs to him that “The essence of
sainthood” rests in “uttering mystifying statements.”
 At the next gathering, Raju chants holy refrains, which the audience
repeats. The villagers also decorate the halls of the temple by the river.

Raju decides to grow his beard in order to look more like an authentic
holy man. His prestige is growing. The gatherings have grown so huge that the
crowds that come to listen to his wisdom spill out of the temple halls and reach
all the way to the river. However, in this vast crowd, Velan is the only person
that Raju knows personally.

Raju not only chants holy verses in his role as spiritual guide, he also
discourses on philosophy and prescribes remedies and medicines to
ailing villagers. People also bring him their disputes, which he helps resolve. He
is so busy amidst his various obligations, and is under so much demand that he
has no privacy.

Chapter-5

After his father dies, Raju comes to be known as “Railway Raju.” Visitors
arriving in Malgudi by train ask him for his guidance in exploring the sites of the
town. With the help of Gaffur, a taxi driver in the town, Raju shows them
around. In acting as guide, Raju often changes facts and stories about the
places that he shows, or makes up things all together, depending on his mood
that day, or on what he thinks his customers want to hear. He gauges
customers according to their means and adjusts his tours accordingly to reap
maximum profit.

One day, a girl from Madras, by the name of Rosie, who

visits Malgudi with her husband, asks to see a dancing cobra. While enchanted
by the girl, Raju develops a deep dislike of her husband. Her husband had
arrived first in Malgudi, seeming already to know everything about the town.
Because he was dressed like an explorer, Raju gave him the nickname Marco.
Shortly after arriving, Marco had asked Raju to take him to the railway station
to meet a train coming from Madras. From this train, Rosie had stepped down,
beautiful and enchanting.

Raju, eager to please Rosie, searches for a cobra. While Marco is busy
examining an ancient temple one day, Gaffur drives Raju and Rosie to a remote
part of Malgudi. There, they meet a snake charmer who, under a tree, reveals
a dancing cobra. Rosie is completely fascinated by the snake and suddenly
imitates its movements in a dance. Watching her, Raju is thunderstruck: her
movements are so captivating that he thinks that she must be the best dancer
in the world. After the meeting with the snake charmer, Raju and Gaffur drop
Rosie off at her hotel, where they find her husband waiting. Marco, to Raju’s
annoyance, demands that the car be ready the next morning at 10 am.

The next morning, Raju and Gaffur duly arrive at the hotel at the allotted
time. Marco emerges without Rosie and wants to set off in spite of her absence
to examine cave friezes at Mempi Hills, a wild area on the outskirts of Malgudi.
At Raju’s prodding, Marco reveals that he is having trouble with his wife, which
is why she is not accompanying them on the trip. Raju, looking for any
opportunity to approach Rosie, convinces Marco to let him go and speak to her.

Raju goes to the hotel room and knocks, telling Rosie through the
doorway that he is not her husband. He flatters and compliments her, saying
that he couldn’t sleep all night, thinking of her dancing before the cobra. Finally
she opens the door, and he continues with his flatteries, entreating her to join
them on the trip, telling her that life without her is meaningless. Rosie is won
over by Raju’s compliments and closes the door to change for the trip. Raju
informs Marco that Rosie is coming, and Marco is amazed at Raju’s success.
Rosie, having packed a bag for herself and her husband for what is likely to be
an overnight trip, joins them in the car.

The party—driven by Gaffur—arrives at Peak House, a lodging at the top

of Mempi Hills outside of Malgudi, later that afternoon. Gaffur drops them off
and returns to the town. Rosie is in ecstasy over the wild and beautiful
surroundings. Joseph, the man who looks after Peak House, lights lanterns as
night approaches. At dinner, Rosie insists on serving the meal and accidentally
touches Raju, who is electrified and haunted by her touch.

After dinner, Marco announces that he intends to spend the evening

reading, and so Raju and Rosie go to sit in the house’s glass veranda, through
which they can watch wild animals coming and going in the night. Sitting beside
Rosie in the darkness, Raju is dazzled and excited by her nearness. Suddenly,
they see the eyes of a wild animal flashing in the dark. Rosie is excited. Raju,
unable to contain his own excitement at Rosie’s proximity, breathes hard, and
she asks him what is the matter, but then Marco appears and interrupts them.

The next morning, the mood is tense. Marco appears without Rosie, and
when Raju presses him on her whereabouts, Marco says to leave her alone.
Raju wonders what has happened between them. He is reluctant to leave
without Rosie, but Marco is impatient to embark on his visit to the caves, and
so Raju has no choice but to follow him. At the caves, Marco comes alive. He
talks to Raju about the site’s history, and he is soon busy measuring and
photographing the friezes that decorate the walls. Watching him, Raju thinks
that Marco is only passionate about dead and decaying things.

Looking for an excuse to check on Rosie, Raju pretends he hears Gaffur’s

taxi and excuses himself from Marco for a brief visit to Peak House. There, he
finds Rosie sitting on a boulder beneath the shade, clearly unhappy. She asks if
her husband is still wall-gazing. Raju boldly asks her about her quarrels with
Marco, and she informs him that they disagree about most things. Raju takes
this opportunity to again praise her dancing and to flatter her, going so far as to
reveal his feelings for her.

Rosie, perhaps prompted by Raju’s flattery, opens up about her conflicts

with Marco. She tells Raju that she had married Marco because of his wealth
and class. She further shares that she comes from a family dedicated to the
temples as dancers—the women of their caste are viewed as public women. As
a girl Rosie had attended school, and had gone so far as to earn a degree in
economics. One day, she saw an ad in the paper, placed there by an academic
in search of a wife. After Rosie met Marco, the author of the ad, she was
encouraged by her family to marry him, given that Marco was a man of wealth
and class. If necessary, they told her, she must give up the family’s traditional
art of dance, particularly as it turned out that Marco had no interest in her art.

When Raju touches Rosie after she finishes speaking, she does not
refuse his touch. Emboldened, Raju again flatters her, telling her she is a queen.
Later that day, news arrives that Gaffur’s taxi has broken down, which means
that he cannot come to pick them up as planned. Everyone is happy—
particularly Raju, who sits again with Rosie in the glass veranda that night to
watch the animals. This time, he holds her hand in the darkness.

Gaffur, having fixed his taxi, arrives at Peak House, but Marco, still deep
in his cave study, wants to remain at the House to continue with his research.
After they decide to remain at Peak House, Raju accompanies Rosie back
to Malgudi with Gaffur to pick up more things for the extended stay. As he
drives them back, Gaffur looks at Rosie and Raju suspiciously—gleaning that
there has been some sort of change between the tourist guide and Marco’s
wife.

In Malgudi, Raju briefly stops at his house, where his mother confronts
him, full of questions about his disappearance. Raju avoids his mother’s
questions and instead takes the opportunity to show Rosie the sights. Gaffur,
who drives them around, explicitly warns Raju that Rosie is a married woman.
Rosie, meanwhile, is excited like a child at the sights that Raju shows her. One
evening, after a long day of sightseeing, he takes her to her room and follows
her inside.

Chapter-6

At the riverbank near the village of Mangal, months or years have

passed. Raju’s hair and beard have grown long; his repute has grown so much
that he has come to be called “Swami,” or religious teacher, and visitors come
to the temple from afar to visit him. He is so inundated by offerings from the
supplicants that he has lost interest in accumulation and gives everything back
to his visitors. The temple hall is especially packed during the rainy season,
when people shelter within to hear the swami speak.

One year, Raju notices that there has been no rain. The river has shrunk,
and the food offerings of the villagers have grown meager. Everyone in the
village is thinking about the rains, and they ask Raju for explanations for their
plight. The drought worsens; the cattle that the villagers herd are weak,
producing little milk, and soon they begin dying.

One day, Velan asks Raju to go with him to a forest path to examine a
dead buffalo in the hope that Raju will be able to determine the cause of the
animal’s death. Raju goes with Velan and tells him that the buffalo has died of
poison. This reassures the villagers for a time—but cattle continue dying.

The local shopkeepers, eager to exploit the villagers’ desperation, raise

their prices. Soon, a fight between the shopkeepers and customers engulfs the
entire village, leading to violence.

The day after the fight, Velan’s brother comes to Raju to inform him
that Velan has been injured. Raju is not sure what he is expected to do and
doesn’t care much. Seeking to avoid a commotion, Raju tells Velan’s brother—a
rather dull-witted 21-year-old who is visiting the temple for the first time—to
tell the villagers not to fight. Uttering one of his cryptic statements, he tells
Velan’s brother that unless the villagers are good, he’ll never eat.

Velan’s brother finds a gathering of village elders discussing the drought

and the recent fight with the shopkeepers. Afraid to tell the villagers that he
has mentioned the fight to Raju, he muddles up Raju’s message, suggesting
that Raju has undertaken not to eat until the rains arrive again. Impressed by
Raju’s readiness to take on such a sacrifice, the villagers compare him to the
great freedom fighter, Mahatma Gandhi.

The villagers decide to visit the swami by the river. At the

gathering, Raju waits for the food offerings that they always present to him,
but no offerings appear. Raju continues to read and discourse to the gatherings
on various topics, but still there is no food.

Velan tells Raju that everyone is hoping for Raju to come through the
ordeal safely. The villagers come to touch his feet and again compare him to
Gandhi. Raju, reading into Velan’s words, realizes that Velan and the others
think that he is fasting today. Velan says that he will keep watch over Raju—
that this is the least he can do—and he tells Raju that his brother has told the
villagers that Raju is prepared to fast. Raju remembers that he has discoursed
to the villagers on penance, and suddenly he realizes the seriousness of the
situation that he is in. Agitated, he tells Velan to leave him alone until the next
night.

Raju, finally alone, attempts to sleep, but finds it difficult. He wonders

whether the villagers actually “expect him to starve for fifteen days,” as well as
to stand for hours each day in the river’s knee-deep water, holding vigil. He
thinks of running away, but he is moved by the villagers’ gratitude for the deed
they think he is undertaking. He eats the few remaining morsels of food he still
has.

When Velan returns the next night, Raju asks him what makes him think
that Raju can bring about rain. Raju tells Velan that he’s no saint, but an
ordinary man, and he begins narrating to Velan.

Chapter-7

Returning to his past in Malgudi, Raju speaks to Velan about how he

continued to devote himself to Marco’s care. Marco decides to remain at Peak
House for a month to explore the caves. In the meantime, Raju also looks
after Rosie, with whom he has become totally obsessed, neglecting his old life
to cater to her needs.

While Rosie continues her affair with Raju, she also begins to show
excessive consideration for Marco, still up in Mempi Hills. One day, at the hotel
in Malgudi, she suddenly demands that Raju call Gaffur so that he can drive
her to Peak House. Raju talks to Rosie about her dance, which she has begun
practicing, and as he encourages her to teach him more about her art, an
intimacy grows between them. He is mesmerized when one day she performs a
dance for him.

Raju and Rosie go up to Peak House, with the plan that Rosie will speak
to Marco and once again attempt to convince him to allow her to have a dance
career. At Peak House, they find Marco in a good mood; he has discovered
another cave, and he tells Raju that, when his research is published, it will
change present ideas about the history of civilization. He says he will thank
Raju in the book.

Raju leaves Peak House for Malgudi to allow Rosie time to speak
to Marco. He returns two days later. When he arrives, he learns
from Joseph (the man who looks after the house) that Rosie and Marco are at
the caves. When Raju finds them, they are silent and morose, barely speaking
to him. Marco enters the house and Rosie follows.

Gaffur, who has driven Raju to Peak House, advises Raju to

leave Rosie and Marco alone. In retrospect, Raju thinks he should have
followed Gaffur’s advice. Marco exits the house again and enters Gaffur’s
waiting taxi, informing Raju curtly that he will be closing his account at the
house. Raju pulls Marco out of the taxi and demands that he tell Raju what is
happening.

Instead, Marco goes back into the house and locks himself in his
room. Rosie is also in the room—neither she nor her husband emerge to
disclose what is going on. Raju goes to the room with food and opens the door,
only to find Rosie lying silently, while Marco sits and stares blankly into space.
Rosie tells Raju to leave them.
 Raju returns to Malgudi with Gaffur. In town, he attempts to return to
his previous life at the railway shop, and he returns to showing tourists around.
But his mind is troubled. He feels betrayed by Rosie, who seems to be allying
herself with her husband. He is so bored and terrified by the normal life to
which he has returned that he even stops taking tourists, leaving them to the
station porter’s son to show around.

A month passes. One day, Rosie appears at the door to Raju’s house. She
is carrying a trunk and a bag. Raju, shocked by Rosie’s reappearance, tells
his mother that Rosie will be a guest at their home. Raju is ashamed of his
modest home and bad dress—as he was unprepared for Rosie’s arrival. His
mother, also startled by Rosie’s appearance, asks her many questions and is
impressed when she finds out that Rosie is an educated woman.

Raju hires Gaffur to take him and Rosie on an outing to the beach
in Malgudi. There, Rosie tells Raju that Marco has left her, and she recounts the
events of the past month with her husband. She tells him that when she had
broached the topic of dancing, Marco had grown hostile, telling her that she
had promised never to mention dancing again. Rosie was ready to compromise,
even ready to give up dancing, but she had asked Marco to allow her to show
him just one bit of dance. When she began to dance, he stopped her and
dismissed her abilities. In response, she told him that Raju liked her dancing—
which then led Marco to realize that she was having an affair with Raju. After a
long night spent questioning her on the details of the affair, Marco retreated to
the caves.

After her disclosure, Rosie felt terribly sinful and sad over her affair
with Raju, and she followed her husband to the caves, where he proceeded to
ignore her for three hours. It was then that Raju had found them at Peak
House. Marco continued ignoring Rosie for the next three weeks, and when she
attempted to confront him, he told her that she was no longer his wife. Finally,
Marco packed up, and she followed him down to the hotel in Malgudi. At
the train station, to which she also followed him, he told her that he had no
ticket for her. He entered the train and shut the door in her face. Having
nowhere to turn, she went to Raju’s home.

After listening to Rosie’s story, Raju comforts her and tells her that he
will make the world recognize her as the greatest artist. But things, at first,
prove to be difficult, especially with Raju’s mother, who has begun to hear
rumors about Rosie. She tells her son that she doesn’t want a dancing girl in
the house. She wants the girl to return to her husband.

Totally caught up by Rosie’s arrival at his home, Raju further neglects

the railway shop, which is not doing well under the care of the porter’s son,
whom he has charged with looking after the shop. The railway gives Raju notice
to quit, and Raju, losing his temper over this new setback, fights with the
porter’s son and the porter. But to no avail—a new shopman takes over the
railway shop. Raju also fights with him, leading to an end to his association with
the railway.

Chapter-8

Shortly after the loss of his railway shop, the Sait, a wholesale merchant
at the market who was also Raju’s creditor, arrives at the house and demands
that Raju pay back the 8,000 rupees he owes him. Raju, inappropriately, is
overcome with a fit of laughter. The Sait leaves, angry and offended. Raju’s
mother has stopped speaking to him, although she is still civil to Rosie. She
thinks that her son has ruined everything that his father built.
 Within a few days of the Sait’s visit, Raju finds himself involved in court
affairs—the Sait has brought a criminal case against him. Raju seeks Gaffur’s
counsel, but he isn’t happy to hear Gaffur tell him that he must
send Rosie away. Raju quarrels with him, and Gaffur leaves. With the help of a
lawyer, Raju manages to get the case against him adjourned (postponed), and
he tries to reassure his mother that all will be well.

Raju’s uncle—his mother’s eldest brother—appears unexpectedly one

day at the house. The uncle castigates Raju. When Raju leaves him to
watch Rosie practicing her dance, the uncle follows him, then insults Raju by
telling him he has turned into a dancer’s backstage boy. The uncle addresses
Rosie disrespectfully, alluding scathingly to her low caste and class. Rosie is
devastated, but the uncle doesn’t relent, telling her she must clear out by the
next train. Raju, flying to Rosie’s defense, attacks his uncle. His mother, siding
with her brother, is drawn into the commotion and arrives to tell Rosie that she
is a she-devil who has ruined her son. Raju’s uncle and mother are shocked
when Raju puts an arm around Rosie and tells her that she is staying in the
house.

The next morning, Raju’s uncle renews the fight by saying that
the train is arriving in an hour and he asks whether Rosie is ready to
leave. Raju’s mother, too, asks whether Rosie has packed her
things. Raju responds by saying again that Rosie is not leaving. Raju’s mother
announces that if Rosie doesn’t leave, she will. Raju’s uncle encourages his
sister to pack, and Raju is saddened as he watches his mother leave the house
with her brother.

After his mother’s departure, Raju and Rosie continue living as a married
couple. Rosie diligently practices her art every day, and, after several months
pass, she announces that she is ready to perform. When she asks Raju what his
plans are, he tells her that first, they need to come up with a more appropriate,
traditional name for her public persona, and after some brainstorming, they
settle on the name Nalini.

Raju begins looking for opportunities for Rosie and approaches the
Albert Mission School. In order to more convincingly play his part as a cultural
ambassador of classical dance, he changes his appearance—dressing seriously,
and sporting glasses. He invites members of the School committee to view a
sample of Rosie/Nalini’s dance. Two committee members duly arrive at the
house on the appointed day, and, when Rosie appears before them and begins
dancing, they are dazzled. Completely enchanted by Rosie’s dance, the
committee members not only agree to include her in the school’s variety show,
but to cut down on the other minor entertainments so as to give her more
space in the show. They also agree to provide accompanists for the dance.

Chapter-9

Continuing to narrate to Velan, Raju recalls Rosie’s rise to stardom.

While, in retrospect, Raju reflects that Rosie—by virtue of her genius and
talent—was responsible for her own success, at the time he had taken credit
for her success. Raju himself becomes important as a result of his role as
Rosie’s manager. He arranges and oversees all aspects of her performances,
creating an aura of power and mystery around Rosie, now known publicly as
Nalini. When Rosie expresses in private her gratitude to Raju for guiding her
career, Raju accepts this as his due.

Raju’s creditor, the Sait, is still pursing Raju in the courts of Malgudi.
Upon learning from his lawyer that he must make mortgage payments to the
Sait to continue to live in his own house, Raju decides to move. Raju’s
mother writes to her son telling him that she wants to return to her home but
Raju, not wanting to have her back, ignores her.

Raju and Rosie move to a new, large, two-story house in a fashionable

part of Malgudi. The house is full of servants, musicians, and dance teachers. It
is also full of visitors—those who come as supplicants, such as musicians who
hope to accompany Nalini, and whom Raju treats with disdain. Those more
important visitors who come with offers of performances for Nalini, Raju treats
with more respect and courtesy. A few select groups—the most important
visitors—are given occasional access to Nalini. Through his role as Nalini’s
manager, Raju comes to fraternize with men of money and power—including
politicians and bankers.

For her part, Rosie is happy to receive as guests the artists—actors,

musicians, and dancers—who come to call on her. However, as her circle of
artist friends widens, she and Raju begin to quarrel. Raju is jealous of her
friends and seeks to limit the time she spends with them.

Raju and Rosie, followed by a posse of musicians, travel to engagements

hundreds of miles away, sometimes remaining on the road for weeks at a time.
On the road, as at home, Raju seeks to limit Rosie’s access to others, as he is
jealous when he senses that she enjoys the company of anyone but himself.

As a result of Rosie’s popularity and her growing number of

engagements, Raju begins earning enormous amounts of money, spending
much of it on maintaining the lavish lifestyle that has become a habit for him.
Rosie, however, is dissatisfied: feeling constrained by her relentless schedule,
and by Raju’s over-protectiveness, she asks him what is the use of earning so
much money if they can’t enjoy it. Although Raju senses that a dangerous
dissatisfaction is developing in Rosie, he is obsessed with accumulating more
and more wealth.

One day, while Raju and Rosie are in Malgudi, a book arrives
from Marco, Rosie’s long-forgotten husband. One section of the book, entitled
“Mempi Hills Pictures,” includes a note of gratitude to Raju. Raju, shaken by the
sudden reappearance of Marco in their lives, debates showing the book to
Rosie, but in the end decides to hide it from her.

Three days later, Marco’s photo appears in a Bombay magazine with a

positive review of the book. Rosie comes running downstairs to show Raju the
magazine. She wants to see Marco’s book and asks if they can get a copy. Later,
to his shock, Raju notices that Rosie has cut out the magazine photo of Marco
and has hung it on her dressing mirror.

A few days later, while in bed, Rosie asks Raju where he is hiding the
book. Raju guesses that Mani, his secretary, has revealed the secret of the
book to Rosie. Rosie wants to know why Raju hid it, and Raju says that he
thought she wouldn’t be interested. Rosie cries in the dark, saying
that Marco was her husband, and that she deserved the way he left her.
Unsettled by Rosie’s sudden longing for her husband, Raju suggests they take a
holiday. He tells Rosie that she can always decline engagements, but she points
out that he often makes engagements on her behalf without even consulting
her. Raju points out that Rosie has everything—she is famous, rich, and is
pursuing her passion for dance. She retorts that the thought of dancing now
makes her sick; she has become a performing monkey. In spite of the quarrel,
the two make up somewhat and go to sleep.

For the next three months, Raju and Rosie continue their engagements
during the all-important season of music and dance in south India. When they
return to Malgudi, Raju, going through the mail, finds a letter addressed to
Rosie from lawyers in Madras. Raju opens the letter and reads it. Sent
by Marco’s lawyers, it concerns the release of a box of jewelry to Rosie. Raju,
afraid of Rosie’s reaction to the letter, hides it from her, as he had Marco’s
book. He fears that Rosie might leave him to return to Marco.

One night, while sleeping beside Rosie, Raju wakes up, thinking about
the letter from Marco’s lawyers. He goes downstairs and forges Rosie’s
signature on the forms that the lawyers have sent and sends the form back to
them. He then obsessively awaits the arrival of the valuable jewelry. When he
and Rosie are readying to leave for a four days’ engagement, he instructs his
secretary Mani to await the arrival of the jewelry box.

Raju and Rosie depart for a performance in a city 60 miles away

from Malgudi. The show, a benefit performance for the construction of a
maternity ward, is important. Influential men are present, and the auditorium
is packed with a thousand spectators. Nalini, enchanting as ever on stage,
finishes the show with her snake dance—a long, arduous and hypnotic dance
which she rarely performs due to its difficulty.

As he watches Rosie on stage, Raju thinks of his mother, to whom he

occasionally sends a postcard and some money. A man approaches him in the
middle of the dance to tell him that the District Superintendent of Police wants
to see him, and Raju tells him that he will find the superintendent after the act
is finished. Finally, Rosie finishes her dance to thunderous applause.

Outside the auditorium, Raju meets the superintendent, who is an

acquaintance. He is not in uniform. The superintendent takes Raju aside and
tells him that he has a warrant for his arrest—initiated by Marco—for forgery.
Raju, trying to cover for himself, explains to the superintendent that he had
signed the form sent by Marco’s lawyers because Rosie was busy. Raju
convinces the policeman to wait until the show is over, and goes back inside
the auditorium. After the show, the superintendent accompanies Raju and
Rosie back to Malgudi.

At home, Raju pleads with the superintendent to give him more time to
speak to Rosie. When Raju finally confesses his deed to Rosie, she is stunned
and says that the warrant for his arrest is karma.

Chapter-10

Continuing to tell his tale to Velan, Raju speaks of the two days he was
forced to spend in lock-up after his arrest for forgery. Rosie visits him at the jail
and cries when she sees him. When Raju is released and returns home, he finds
everything different. Mani, his secretary, is silent. Rosie has stopped practicing.
There are no visitors. As Raju had never been careful with money, Rosie had
been forced to scrape up 10,000 rupees to secure his bail. Raju suggests that
Rosie take up engagements to earn more.

Back in the house after his two days in jail, Raju realizes that he is now a
“hanger-on,” and “that mastery ha[s] passed” on to Rosie. She treats him with
disdain, and Raju, absorbed in self-pity, fails to see the predicament he has put
her in: they are poor, in spite of all her tireless dancing.

Rosie wants to repay their debts. She considers going back to Marco. She
says that she never wants to perform publicly again, after Raju’s disgrace. She
also considers a suicide pact with Raju, but doesn’t trust that he will carry out
his side of the bargain. Raju tries to convince Rosie to dance again, but she says
she is tired of her circus existence. Finally, Rosie says that she will help Raju, but
that when everything is over she wants him to leave her alone.
 With Mani’s help, Rosie busies herself with booking engagements.
Watching her, Raju becomes jealous of her self-sufficiency, realizing that she
did not need him, and had never needed him nor Marco all along.

With the money that Rosie raises from her performances, she hires a
reputable, but expensive, lawyer to defend Raju against Marco in the
upcoming trial.

At the trial, Raju’s lawyer presents the chief villain as Marco, who, he
argues, wanted to drive Rosie mad. It was Raju, the lawyer contends, who
saved her from her cruel husband. He even goes so far as to argue that it was
Marco himself who orchestrated the forging of the signature, but Mani’s
testimony about Raju’s obsession with the arrival of the insured parcel, as well
as the testimony of a handwriting expert, who deduces that the signature is in
fact in Raju’s handwriting, seal Raju’s fate. Raju is sentenced to two years in
prison. In the meantime, Rosie continues her dancing engagements to pay for
the expensive trial.

In jail, Raju is a model prisoner, getting on well with both warders and
prisoners. Raju adjusts himself to life in prison, content to take care of the
prison superintendent’s garden and to stroll the 50 acres of the prison grounds.

The prison superintendent transfers Raju to his office to act as his

personal assistant. While organizing the super’s newspapers, Raju comes across
news of Nalini. He sees photos of her in the papers and reads reports of her
engagements. She is growing more and more in fame and stature as a dancer,
and he is affronted that she should have managed so well without him.

Raju wonders whether Mani, his old secretary, has taken his place
in Rosie’s life. Mani had been his only visitor during his first months in jail. He
had given Raju the news that Rosie had moved to Madras, and that a huge
crowd had gathered in Malgudi to see her off. She had discharged all of the
debts that Raju had accumulated. Mani further informs Raju that, after the
trial, Marco and Rosie never met, going their separate ways.

On the last day of the trial, Raju’s mother had appeared. She had
refused to let Rosie speak to her, and, directing her fury at Raju, told him that
he has brought great shame on the family, and that it would have been better if
he had died.

Chapter-11

Back in the present by the riverbank, Raju has told his story throughout
the night and a rooster crows as he finishes. Raju expects Velan to rise in
disgust and leave him. Instead, Velan remains seated in silence. Perturbed, Raju
asks Velan whether he has heard him fully. Velan answers, “Yes, Swami.” Raju is
further shocked by Velan’s use of the respectful term “swami,” and by Velan’s
further statement that he doesn’t know why the swami has told his life story to
Velan, who is merely the swami’s “humble servant.” He tells Raju that he will
not speak a word of what Raju has told him.

As news of Raju’s fasting penance to end the drought continues to

spread far and wide, newspaper correspondents arrive in the village to report
on Raju’s progress. Bigger and bigger crowds congregate in the village to visit
the swami. Raju has no privacy, even to consume the few morsels of food he
has left. He blames Velan for his predicament.

Finally, having run out of any kind of nourishment and completely lacking
any privacy, Raju gives up on food. For the first time in his life, he decides to
make an earnest effort on behalf of others. He acts not out of lust for money or
love, but out of benevolence.

An American TV producer arrives in the village, wanting to make a film

about the Swami’s heroic fast. In an interview, the American asks Raju, “Have
you always been a yogi?” and Raju answers, “Yes; more or less.”

By the last day of the fast, Raju’s condition has worsened considerably.
The government doctors who have been sent to the temple to monitor his
health send a telegram to the authorities that the swami’s condition is grave.

Raju, although weak to the point of being unable to stand upright alone,
nonetheless wants to go to his spot in the river where he has gone every day
during the fast to hold vigil. Helped by Velan, and followed by a huge crowd of
spectators, he makes it to the river.

Supported by Velan in the river, Raju suddenly stirs, opens his eyes. He
tells Velan that it’s rain coming in the hills beyond the river; he can feel it
welling up below his feet and legs. Before he finishes, he “sag[s] down.”