My book Numero Uno. Review on Swami and Friends - R K Narayan

Without doubt,it is the best book I have ever had my hands across by a large margin.This book was very instrumental in my life and in shaping my love to English language.I remember I got this book as a supplementary book when I was 8 Std.I wasnt much interested in these Supplementary books after I read books like ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'',''Great Expectations'',''Tom Sawyers School Days'' etc in my previous classes. As I have a great flair for nativity,I used to hate these novels that had potrayed all about English food,English way of life,English Environment, English culture etc. That was where ''Swami and his Friends'' came as a breath of fresh air.

The story has a very simple outline,but the depth in which R.K.N charecterises,the way with which he handles every bit of emotion,the way with which he potrays the traditional Indian village are all lovely lessons for amateur authors.The story is about Swami, a 12 year old school boy,his normal life and how the same is influenced by the arrival of a new friend Rajan and how life isnt the same after the departure of Rajan.In short I shall call it the ''Dil Chatha Hai'' of that time period. Charecterisation has always been RKNs forte and he displays that wonderfully in Swami and his friends.Any school boy may identify himself as any of the 6 friends,either the studious guy.the leaderly Somu,the brutal Mani,the westernised Rajan,the jack of all trades Swami and the uninfluenced Pea.His potrayal of the senior charecters in the book is one example for the term ''perfect''. The way RKN handles emotions (that require a knowledge of Indian nativity) is indeed impeccable.

The traditional RKN Climax where the harsh and unfazed Mani gives way to emotions never goes away from your mind.The emotions are given their best verbal expression in many scenes like during Swami creates such a fuss when his richer friend,the way the school peon tackles the brute Mani,and way the students discuss fearfully after the exams get over are classic examples. His nativity and word power in English are unique,unanimous and world renowned,and there needs no review on that. I have never come across any other book that had interested me like this one.I cannot count the no.of times I have read this book and I would tell u this work is a masterpiece from the master