A Masterpiece. Review on Guide, The - R K Narayan

R.K.Narayan has been best known for putting human emotions in words. In all his books one identifies with each and every character. In this book (which I believe is not as popular as the movie which was based on it) the author has taken us through the life of a child, a man and finally a guide who in his life and death teaches us in a subtle way the essence of our existence. The author stumbled upon the idea of writing this book after seeing a photograph of some Sadhus praying for rains in a drought affected area in the newspaper The Hindu.

The book starts with the childhood of the protagonist of the story. In describing his childhood the author like in all his other novels gives us a glimpse of his own innocent childhood. (Source of information: My Days- Autobiography of R.K.Narayan) The divine innocence of the child and his own small world in the village in which he lives is beautifully described.

The protagonist with age turns into a charismatic young man, taking up the job of a tourist guide. Once he is hired by a tourist couple and he falls in love with the lady. He is able to rid the girl off her tyrant husband and helps her become a dance star at the local level. But one day due to some forgery he is sent to the jail. When he is released he finds that he has lost all that he had and there is nothing left for him in the world. He wanders off aimlessly and comes across a village where the people start to believe him to be a blessed soul and idolise him as a demigod calling him Swamiji.

The trouble comes when the village is hit with drought and people not having a drop to drink. They turn to their Swamiji who knows he is helpless but nevertheless moved by the emotions and faith of the innocent villagers he keeps a fast to please the Rain Gods. On the last day of the fast the protagonist experiences God and dies while at the very same instance the village is blessed with rains.

The book and the movie were different. For the first thing the book was better as it had more. The movie did not explore the childhood of the protagonist. Also in the movie the backdrop was set at Jaipur while the book talked of a small town. The lady in the movie was shown to have become a star of national and international fame while the author had not intended so. Yet both the movie and the book succeed in churning your emotions at the end.

This book has a very deep and subtle underlying message which it conveys without any unnecessary drama or sub plots. It is a good read even if you know the whole story and I can assure that it will have the same effect no matter how many times one reads it.