May 31, 2012 06:33 PM
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“It was Monday Morning. Swami was reluctant to open his eyes. After the delicious freedom of Saturday and Sunday, it was difficult to get in thee Monday mood of order and discipline.”
How true! These were the lines that made me feel that this book is made for me. I feel the same too. These lines made me get this book.
Story
Swami is a young boy who lived in R.K. Narayan’s fictional town of Malgudi. His life was just like any other schoolboy of his age, daydreaming in the classroom, spending his evenings with his best friends loathing on the banks of the river Sarayu, being pampered by his mother and grandmother and made to do arithmetic sums by his father. One of his greatest achievements was forming the MCC (Malgudi Cricket Club). But times come which make Swami run away from home just before his match. Will he ever return and prove himself the team’s Tate?
Characters of Malgudi :
- Swami : Full Name : Swaminathan Srinivasan (quite a mouthful!) is a young school boy who is like any other school boy of his age. Even though he is not very good in algebra and is forced to study by his father, he is good in the things like friendship, kindness and day dreaming.
2. Mani : A tough boy, with a well built body and round belly, who carries a wooden club with him wherever he goes. Even teachers are said to be scared of him “One day a new teacher showed a little roughness with him and nearly lost his life”. Swami is proud to have him and have his company.
Rajam : He is son of Police Superintendent, which according to Swami is “WOW” . He brags a lot about his bravery and claims to have killed a tiger with his bare hands. Swami finds him interesting, is teased by his classmates and friends and was called is “Tail” – anything that is attached to a dog or an a*ss. He helps Swami get his friends back.
Somu, Sankar and Samuel- The Pea – Swami’s friends.
Swami’s Family – Father – He never missed an opportunity to make him sit and study. He is the only one who can make Swami Do arithmetic sums. He was strict in all senses. He never gave him money or freedom. His dressing room was Swami’s room.
Grandmother & mother – They both pampered him, which his father always complained about. They listened to his thoughts and views, believed his excuses and even helped him get out of father’s scolding.
There is a kind of pleasure in seeing in a book something you know, something you’re familiar with, and something that is a part of your life, something which makes you think “I know that” or “Yes, I felt exactly like that” or “That happened to me too”. I feel this book comes in that category because even though it is set in a much earlier time period when British ruled India, when children wore coats, caps and even dhotis to school, we see that the problems that they faced were the same schoolboys face today.
Malgudi is an imaginary town made by R.K. Narayan, where all his stories happen. The details like Sarayu river, the streets, the playground, the schools and the forest bring it to life and make it beautiful and picturesque. Some details are even important to the story. It is so well described that makes the reader feel that Malgudi actually exists. This book gives us an important moral value – childhood is not always happy and carefree, even Swami had his share of problems and mistakes, but he is given a chance to recover. It depends on us whether we take the chance or not.
The language is easy and interesting. The pictures are hand drawn by R.K.Narayan’s brother R.K.Laxman who is a famous cartoonist. This book has 18 chapters and 237 pages.
I regard it as one of RK Narayan’s greatest works eligible for all age groups.
Happy Reading
MJ
