Malgudi Days is written by my favourite author, R K Narayan. It is a collection of short stories based on the people of a fictitious place, Malgudi.

Malgudi is a small village situated on the banks of river Saryu. R K Narayan includes the highs and lows of people staying here. The humorous adventures of some people are written cleverly by him.

My favourite character is Swami. There is a story about this timid child where his father asks him to spend a night in his office, so that he can get rid of his fears. Swami is a true-believer in ghosts, and when an intruder enters his office, he hits the thief out of fear and renders him unconscious. It is then revealed that the thief was most-wanted by the police and Swami turns into an overnight hero with his pictures published in leading newspapers.

RK Narayan also featured the misundertandings of old customs and believes of the new generation. It is clash between old and new. This clash is seen in one of his stories, whose title I cannot remember. Here a father objects from brushing his teeth with a toothbrush, believing that the bristles are made of pig’s hair. But his son uses toothbrush!

Talkative man is the most amusing character. This person fishes out tales to gatherings. These made-up tales amuses both the crowd and the readers. There is a story that the talkative man narrates about a temple. He says that while travelling in a car, they come across an old temple. The talkative man goes inside the temple to find himself in a weird place. But the next day, he do not find anyone in the temple! The narration is very engrossing.

He even features comic meetings between an English officer and villagers. The best one is about a old shepherd who rests under a statue of a horse. An English man stops there and sees the man under the statue. He thinks that the statue belongs to the old guy. He comes up to him and asks him to sell the statue. The old man thinks that the officer wants his goat. This is a very interesting interlude with both of them not understanding each other’s language. The officer then pays him a large amount and takes away the statue. The old man thinks he has sold his goat! But the goat returns to his house later. It is a good story.

There are several other compilations. The Guide written by RK Narayan was transformed into a film made by the same name. Today he is not amongst us. I was really saddened when the news of his death broke out.

By watching the serial, Malgudi Days, I always feel his immortal presence. His brother, R K Laxman, is a very good cartoonist. May God give him a long life.

---A tribute to RK Narayan

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