Sent by- Shruti Aggarwal -R. Narayan (, -, ), born Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar Narayanaswami, is among the best known and most widely read -writing in.Most of Narayan's work, starting with his first novel ( ), captures many Indian traits while retaining a unique identity of its own. He was sometimes compared to the writer, whose novels were also grounded in a compassionate humanism and celebrated the humour and energy of ordinary life.Narayan lived till age of ninety-four, writing for more than fifty years, and publishing until he was eighty seven. He wrote fourteen, five volumes of, a number of and collections of, condensed versions of Indian epics in English, and the memoirHis writing career began with.
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In 1986, a few of the stories in the book were included in the Malgudi Days television series and directed by actor and director, Shankar Nag. In 2004, the project was revived with film-maker Kavitha Lankesh replacing the late Shankar Nag as director. The new series. Malgudi Ki Kahaniyan,authored by R. Narayan The famous Malgudi Ki Kahaniyan by R K Narayan.
At first, he could not get the novel published. Eventually, the draft was shown to by a mutual friend, Purna. Greene liked it so much that he arranged for its publication; Greene was to remain a close friend and admirer of his. After that, he published a continuous stream of novels, all set in and each dealing with different characters in that fictional place.Malgudi Days -is a collection of short stories by that focused on the trial and tribulations of a small Indian town of. According to R.K.
Narayan, Malgudi is a town 'habited by timeless characters who could be living anywhere in the world' and is located on the banks of river Sarayu and surrounded by the Mempi Hills. CHAPTER IMonday MorningIt was Monday morning. Swaminathan was reluctant to open his eyes.He considered Monday specially unpleasant in the calendar. After thedelicious freedom of Saturday and Sunday, it was difficult to get into theMonday mood of work and discipline. He shuddered at the very thought ofschool: that dismal yellow building; the fire-eyed Vedanayagam, his classteacher;and the Head Master with his thin long cane.By eight he was at his desk in his 'room', which was only a corner inhis father's dressing-room.
He had a table on which all his things, his coat,cap, slate, ink-bottle, and books, were thrown in a confused heap. He sat onhis stool and shut his eyes to recollect what work he had for the day: first ofcourse there was Arithmetic—those five puzzles in Profit and Loss; thenthere was English—he had to copy down a page from his Eighth Lesson, andwrite dictionary meanings of difficult words; and then there was Geography.And only two hours before him to do all this heap of work and getready for the school!Fire-eyed Vedanayagam was presiding over the class with his back tothe long window. Through its bars one saw a bit of the drill ground and acorner of the veranda of the Infant Standards. There were huge windows onthe left showing vast open grounds bound at the other extreme by therailway embankment.To Swaminathan existence in the classroom was possible onlybecause he could watch the toddlers of the Infant Standards falling over oneanother, and through the windows on the left see the 12.30 mail gliding overthe embankment, booming and rattling while passing over the SarayuBridge. The first hour passed of quietly. The second they had Arithmetic.Vedanayagam went out and returned in a few minutes in the role of anArithmetic teacher. He droned on monotonously.
Swaminathan was terriblybored. His teacher's voice was beginning to get on his nerves. He felt sleepy.The teacher called for home exercises. Swaminathan left his seat,jumped on the platform, and placed his note-book on the table.
While theteacher was scrutinizing the sums, Swaminathan was gazing on his face,which seemed so tame at close quarters. His criticism of the teacher's facewas that his eyes were too near each other, that there was more hair on hischin than one saw from the bench, and that he was very very bad-looking.His reverie was disturbed. He felt a terrible pain in the soft flesh above hisleft elbow.
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The teacher was pinching him with one hand, and with the other,crossing out all the sums. He wrote 'Very Bad' at the bottom of the page,flung the note-book in Swaminathan's face, and drove him back to his seat.Next period they had History. The boys looked forward to it eagerly.It was taken by D. Pillai, who had earned a name in the school for kindnessand good humour. He was reputed to have never frowned or sworn at theboys at any time. His method of teaching History conformed to no canon ofeducation. He told the boys with a wealth of detail the private histories ofVasco da Gama, Clive, Hastings, and others.
When he described the variousfights in History, one heard the clash of arms and the groans of the slain. Hewas the despair of the Head Master whenever the latter stole along thecorridor with noiseless steps on his rounds of inspection.The Scripture period was the last in the morning. It was not such adull hour after all. There were moments in it that brought stirring picturesbefore one: the Red Sea cleaving and making way for the Israelites; thephysical feats of Samson; Jesus rising from the grave; and so on. The onlytrouble was that the Scripture master, Mr Ebenezar, was a fanatic.' Oh, wretched idiots!' The teacher said, clenching his fists, Why do youworship dirty, lifeless, wooden idols and stone images?
Can they talk? No.Can they see? Can they bless you?
Can they take you to Heaven?No. Because they have no life. What did your Gods do whenMohammed of Gazni smashed them to pieces, trod upon them, andconstructed out of them steps for his lavatory? If those idols and images hadlife, why did they not parry Mohammed's onslaughts?' He then turned to Christianity.
'Now see our Lord Jesus. He couldcure the sick, relieve the poor, and take us to Heaven. He was a real God.Trust him and he will take you to Heaven; the kingdom of Heaven is withinus.' Tears rolled down Ebenezar's cheeks when he pictured Jesus before him.Next moment his face became purple with rage as he thought of Sri Krishna:'Did our Jesus go gadding about with dancing girls like your Krishna?
Didour Jesus go about stealing butter like that archscoundrel Krishna'?Did ourJesus practise dark tricks on those around him?' He paused for breath. The teacher was intolerable to-day.Swaminathan's blood boiled. He got up and asked, 'If he did not, why was hecrucified?' The teacher told him that he might come to him at the end of theperiod and learn it in private. Emboldened by this mild reply, Swaminathanput to him another question, 'If he was a God, why did he eat flesh and fishand drink wine?' As a brahmin boy it was inconceivable to him that a Godshould be a non-vegetarian.
In answer to this, Ebenezar left his seat,advanced slowly towards Swaminathan, and tried to wrench his left ear off.Next day Swaminathan was at school early. There was still half anhour before the bell. He usually spent such an interval in running round theschool or in playing the Digging Game under the huge Tamarind tree. Butto-day he sat apart, sunk in thought. He had a thick letter in his pocket.
Hefelt guilty when he touched its edge with his fingers. He called himself anutter idiot for having told his father about Ebenezar the night before duringthe meal.As soon as the bell rang, he walked into the Head Master's room andhanded him a letter. The Head Master's face became serious when he read:-Sir,'I beg to inform you that my son Swaminathan of the First Form, Asection, was assaulted by his Scripture Master yesterday in a fanatical rage.
Ihear that he is always most insulting and provoking in his references to theHindu religion. It is bound to have a bad effect upon the boys. This is not theplace for me to dwell upon the necessity for toleration in these matters.I am also informed that when my son got up to have a few doubtscleared, he was roughly handled by the same teacher. His ears were still redwhen he came home last evening.The one conclusion that I can come to is that you do not want non-Christian boys in your school.
If it is so, you may kindly inform us as we arequite willing to withdraw our boys and send them elsewhere. I may remindyou that Albert Mission School is not the only school that this town,Malgudi, possesses. I hope you will be kind enough to inquire into thematter and favour me with a reply. If not, I regret to inform you, I shall beconstrained to draw the attention of higher authorities to these Unchristianpractices.I have the honour to be,Sir,Your most obedient servant,W. When Swaminathan came out of the room, the whole school crowdedround him and hung on his lips. But he treated inquisitive questions withhaughty indifference.
He honoured only four persons with his confidence.Those were the four that he liked and admired most in his class. The firstwas Somu, the Monitor, who carried himself with such an easy air. He setabout his business, whatever it was, with absolute confidence and calmness.He was known to be chummy even with the teachers. No teacher ever put tohim a question in the class. It could not be said that he shone brilliantly as astudent. It was believed that only the Head Master could reprimand him.
Hewas more or less the uncle of the class.Then there was Mani, the mighty Good-For-Nothing. He toweredabove all the other boys of the class. He seldom brought any books to theclass, and never bothered about home-work. He came to the class,monopolised the last bench, and slept bravely.
No teacher ever tried to prodhim.It was said that a new teacher who once tried it very nearly lost hislife. Mani bullied all strangers that came his way, be they big or small.People usually slunk aside when he passed. Wearing his cap at an angle,with a Tamil novel under his arm, he had been coming to the school eversince the old school peon could remember. In most of the classes he stayedlonger than his friends did. Swaminathan was proud of his friendship. Whileothers crouched in awe, he -could address him as 'Mani' with gusto and pathim on the back familiarly. Swaminathan admiringly asked whence Maniderived his power.
Mani replied that he had a pair of wooden clubs at homewith which he would break the backs of those that dared to tamper with him.Then there was Sankar, the most brilliant boy of the class. He solvedany problem that was given to him in five minutes, and always managed toborder on 90%. There was a belief among a section of the boys that if onlyhe started cross-examining the teachers the teachers would be nowhere.Another section asserted that Sankar was a dud and that he learnt all theproblems and their solution in advance by his sycophancy. He was said toreceive his 90% as a result of washing clothes for his masters. He couldspeak to the teachers in English in the open class. He knew all the rivers,mountains, and countries in the world. He could repeat History in his sleep.Grammar was child's play to him.
His face was radiant with intelligence,though his nose was almost always damp, and though he came to the classwith his hair braided and with flowers in it. Swaminathan looked on him as amarvel. He was very happy when he made Mani see eye to eye with him andadmit Sankar to their company. Mani liked him in his own way and broughtdown his heavy fist on Sankar's back whenever he felt inclined todemonstrate his affection. He would scratch his head and ask where theblithering fool of a scraggy youngster got all that brain from and why heshould not part with a little of it.The fourth friend was Samuel known as the 'Pea' on account of hissize.
There was nothing outstanding about him. He was just ordinary, nooutstanding virtue of muscle or intellect. He was as bad in Arithmetic asSwaminathan was. He was as apprehensive, weak, and nervous, about thingsas Swaminathan was. The bond between them was laughter. They were ableto see together the same absurdities and incongruities in things. The mosttrivial and unnoticeable thing to others would tickle them to death.When Swaminathan told them what action his father had taken in theScripture Master affair, there was a murmur of approval.
Somu was the firstto express it, by bestowing on his admirer a broad grin. Sankar lookedserious and said,'Whatever others might say, you did right in setting your father to thejob.'
The mighty Mani half closed his eyes and grunted an approval of sorts.He was only sorry that the matter should have been handled by elders. Hesaw no sense in it. Things of this kind should not be allowed to go beyondthe four walls of the classroom. If he were Swaminathan, he would haveclosed the whole incident at the beginning by hurling an ink bottle, ifnothing bigger was available, at the teacher. Well, there was no harm inwhat Swaminathan had done; he would have done infinitely worse bykeeping quiet.However, let the Scripture Master look out: Mani had decided towring his neck and break his back.
Samuel the Pea, found himself in anacutely embarrassing position. On the one hand, he felt constrained to uttersome remark. On the other, he was a Christian and saw nothing wrong inEbenezar's observations, which seemed to be only an amplification of one ofthe Commandments. He felt that his right place was on Ebenezar's side.
Hemanaged to escape by making scathing comments on Ebenezar's dress andappearance and leaving it at that.The class had got wind of the affair. When the Scripture periodarrived there was a general expectation of some dramatic denouement. Butnothing happened. Ebenezar went on as merrily as ever.
He had taken thetrouble that day to plod through Baghavad Gita, and this generous piece ofwriting lends itself to any interpretation. In Ebenezar's hand it served as aweapon against Hinduism.His tone was as vigorous as ever, but in his denunciation there wasmore scholarship. He pulled Baghavad Gita to pieces, after raising Hinduismon its base.
Step by step he was reaching the sublime heights of rhetoric. Theclass Bible lay uncared for on the table.The Head Master glided in.
Ebenezar halted, pushing back his chair,and rose, greatly Hurried. He looked questioningly at the Head Master. TheHead Master grimly asked him to go on. Ebenezar had meanwhilestealthily inserted a finger into the pages of the closed Bible. On the word ofcommand from the Head Master, he tried to look sweet and relaxed hisbrow, which was knit in fury. He then opened his book where the fingermarked and began to read at random.
It happened to be the Nativity ofChrist. The great event had occurred.
There the divine occupant was in themanger. The Wise Men of the East were faithfully following the Star.The boys attended in their usual abstracted way.
It made littledifference to them whether Ebenezar was making a study of Hinduism in thelight of Baghavad Gita or was merely describing the Nativity of Christ.The Head Master listened for a while and, in an undertone, demandedan explanation. They were nearing the terminal examination and Ebenezarhad still not gone beyond the Nativity. When would he reach the Crucifixionand Resurrection, and begin to revise? Ebenezar was flabbergasted. Hecould not think of anything to say. He made a bare escape by hinting thatthat particular day of the week, he usually devoted to a rambling revision.Oh, no! He was not as far behind as that.
He was in the proximity of the LastSupper. At the end of the day Swaminathan was summoned to the HeadMaster's room. As soon as he received the note, he had an impulse to runhome. And when he expressed it, Mani took him in his hands, propelled himthrough to the Head Master's room, and gave him a gentle push in.Swaminathan staggered before the Head Master.Ebenezar was sitting on a stool, looking sheepish. The Head Masterasked: 'What is the trouble, Swaminathan?'
Oh—nothing, sir,' Swaminathan replied.' If it is nothing, why this letter?' Swaminathan ejaculated uncertainly.Ebenezar attempted to smile. Swaminathan wished to be well out ofthe whole affair. He felt he would not mind if a hundred Ebenezars said athousand times worse things about the Gods.You know why I am here?'
Asked the Head Master.Swaminathan searched for an answer: the Head Master might be thereto receive letters from boys' parents; he might be there to flay Ebenezarsalive; he might be there to deliver six cuts with his cane every Monday attwelve o'clock. And above all why this question?' I don't know, sir,' Swaminathan replied innocently.'
I am here to look after you,' said the Head Master.Swaminathan was relieved to find that the question had such a simpleanswer.' And so continued the Head Master, 'you must come to me if you wantany help, before you go to your father.' Swaminathan furtively glanced at Ebenezar, who writhed in his chair.' I am sorry,' said the Head Master, 'that you should have been sofoolish as to go to your father about this simple matter. I shall look into it.Take this letter to your father.Swaminathan took the letter and shot out of the room with great relief.
Navigate through the article:.Swami and Friends Character SketchHere are the Characters in Swami and Friends:⦁ Swaminathan⦁ Swami’s Father⦁ Swami’s mother⦁ Swami’s Grandmother⦁ Swami’s Little Brother⦁ Somu⦁ Shankar⦁ Rajam⦁ Mani⦁ SamuelBefore we dive into the Swami and Friends Character Sketch, let’s first know about the Swami and Friends theme to understand the characters better. Swami And Friends ThemeThe protagonist of the story is a 10-year-old boy.
He is an unconstrained, indiscreet, wicked but then also an exceptionally honest child. His character is a kid in the fullest feeling of the world. How he grows up, his mischiefs which made his family irritated, his wonder, growing pains and innocence and many aspects are being portrayed in the novel. He lives in a universe of bossy grown-ups. He is a student at Albert Mission School.
It is a British established school where importance is given to Christianity and English education.One of the most watershed moments in the novel is the time when Rajam joins the school and he becomes friend with Swami. That was a life-changing stage for him. But later he breaks his friendship due to some reasons.Everyone can relate R.K. Narayan’s account of childhood games and friendship. It’s an age where friendship is more important than family and more urgent than school. Also, holidays are heaven on earth during those days. The author effectively sketches those days through Swami and Friends.
Swami And Friends Character Analysis Swaminathan (Swami)The protagonist of the novel Swaminathan (Swami) is a school going boy. He belongs to a South Indian middle-class family. His family comprises of his grandmother, mother, father, and mother. In the initial trenches of the story, his younger brother was born. He epitomizes the innocence of a youth mischievousness that childhood necessitates. His Family and FriendsSwami’s mother Lakshmi is a homemaker and his father, W. Srinivasan, a lawyer.
He is seen irritating his family members in the novel. Also, he himself sometimes gets irritated by the way his family scolds him. He takes his family for granted and to some extent, it can be said that he is not given proper attention after his brother was born.
He was unbearable to his mother. There were times when his mother thought of giving up on him. He inherited a kind of revengeful quality in him after he got ignored by his mother. But it was not the same for his father. Srinivasan, even though he was a bit rude to him he has always been his soft corner. Swami tries every time and again to win sympathy for his grandmother. He dislikes staying at home and likes spending his time idly.He has got Rajam and Mani as his fast friends.
Swami was not an extraordinary character. Like all the other boys of his age, he likes spending time with his companions.Mani is Swaminathan’s best friend. Swami’s family is comfortable in the sense of finance, as we can see from his father’s job or lifestyle as a lawyer. But Mani isn’t.
His family lives in poverty. He is not regular in his school attendance and is a backbencher. Even though he is faint-hearted and timid he becomes aggressive and undisciplined at times. With all his companions, Mani stands to be the strongest and largest. He does not care to bully anyone coming in his path. But it is worth mentioning that his bond of friendship with Swami never lessens.Rajam’s life is the complete opposite of Mani.
He is sincere in his academics and has self-respect. The author portrayed him with a delightful personality. Initially, Mani had enmity towards Rajam as he was living a rich lifestyle and feels Rajam to be doing show-offs. But later, Rajam solves this problem and he forwards his hand of friendship to him. He also invited them to his home which played a vital role in suppressing the enmity.
Apparently, Rajam justifies everything with a concrete reason. On the other hand, Mani was smart enough to accept his friendship. Swami’s ParentsSwami’s father, W. Srinivasan was a lawyer of a good rank and his mother Lakshmi was a homemaker. He gets irritated by his family members as he feels he is not given much attention.He is unbearable to his mother and he also becomes revengeful on being ignored by her. But his father had a soft corner for him despite being so nasty and troublesome. One of the incidents that prove his father’s calmness is his ‘Lending his Room’. Rajam promised Swaminathan to pay a visit. Swami was both excited and conscious. So, he asked his father if he could lend his room, full of books and reading materials.
Swami’s GrandmotherSwami’s grandmother was a short and fat and a slightly bent woman. She was a notably a religious woman. She had inner beauty intact with her rather than physical. She was not an attractive woman as she herself says she wasn’t pretty. He lived with her in his childhood days. He describes her as a good friend of his. She used to wake him up during the school days and prepare breakfast for him.
After the breakfast is being done his grandmother hand over the pen, wooden slate, and earthen ink-pot to him. While Swami attended school his grandmother would study the scriptures in the temple which his nearby his school.Later when he shifted to the city he never went to school with her; instead, he went on the school bus. He himself agrees that his relationship with his grandmother has changed a lot during these times as she no longer assisted him in doing his homework. Besides, Swami got some advanced subjects which are beyond the experience and expertise of the grandmother.Swami’s grandmother became distanced from him and other people. Unlike before she spent most of her time spinning, feeding the sparrows which falls on the garden and since she was a religious person she kept herself busy with praying. When Swaminathan went abroad for his further studies, his grandma didn’t speak to him. She kissed him on the forehead before they got separated.Five years later when Swami came back home, his Grandma welcomed him home.
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Her actions showed her great love towards her grandson. For Swami, she will still beautiful because she continued to love him. After her death, Swami notes that his grandma never stopped loving him. Swami’s FriendsSwami had a lot of friends but he limited himself to Rajam and Mani.The character of Rajam: Rajam was the guy with an endearing personality. He is smarter and grown-up than Mani. He believes in self-respect.
Rajam is very sincere in academics. He likes assisting or helping his friends in academics. Mani possesses a propensity for domination amongst every one of his age but Rajat didn’t feel that within him.
In fact, Rajam tries to put forward a hand for friendship with Mani. He wanted to settle the enmity with Mani and this signify the nobility Rajam has got with him.He believes in justification of everything with a concrete reason.Swami liked staying or passing his time with Rajat. Swami and Rajat were not in good terms earlier but after their friendship, Rajat tried his best possible way to assist Swami in all the fields. Swami took him as a kind of motivation as he is the son of police superintendent and he thrives to acquire that kind of lifestyle.
Apparently, Rajat is the only boy in Swami’s class who is dressed smartly and speaks English fluently like a European. Since Swami follows Rajat in almost every aspect, he gets the name “The Tail” of Rajam from his classmates.The character of Mani: And on the other hand, Mani never brings books to school or submits his homework on time. He is completely opposite to Rajam in the field of academics.
In fact, he is also known for sleeping bravely in the class. Mani always sits on the last bench of the class. Even though he is not a sincere or profound guy Swami liked staying with him.While the exams approached, Mani tries to convince and bribe the clerk to leak the question paper by giving him fresh brinjals.Mani reckoned Rajan as his enemy as he is jealous of his lifestyle. Unlike Rajat, Mani comes from a very poor family. His parents hardly afford to pay his schooling expenses. During the enmity, Swami acted as a middleman in delivering the pieces of chats to each other.Mani is fond of dominating the entire class of his power.
He likes bullying his juniors and also some his classmates. He is tagged as the hero of his class.
Mani is a very weak student academically. He is superstitious and believes in ghost.Swami’s other Friends: He has other friends as well with whom he came in bad terms after his friendship with Rajat. Not only Mani but most of the students in the class disliked him. Some of his other friends who played an important role in the novel are Somu- the class monitor who was a responsible lad, Shankar – one of the most hardworking and brilliant boys Swami’s class, and Samuel who didn’t have any special skill in him. These four friends shared everything with each other and were united until Swami made friendship with Rajat.
Swami’s Teacher:Swami finds his class lectures boring.Vedanayakam was Swami’s class teacher. He was also the Head Master of the school. He scourges Swami for doing arithmetic sums wrong. This is the reason why Swami hates doing arithmetics.Besides, he likes his history teacher, Pillai.
He is portrayed as a very kind person.Swami once came on bad terms with the teacher of Scripture Class, Ebenezar. He keeps on praising the holiness of Jesus.
Swami felt really exasperated for this. Moreover, he also called Krishna as the Arch Scoundrel as he stole butter and danced with girls. In response to that, Swami asks his teacher, on why did Jesus ate flesh and wine. The teacher pinched Swami on his left ear for putting forward his question.So this was all about the swami and friends character sketch.
Let’s move to the last part of the post, the character sketch of Swami in Swami and Friends:The Character Sketch of Swami in Swami and FriendsHIS ACTIONS AND HABITS: As mentioned above, Swaminathan is a loafer. He likes to spend his time doing nothing. He does not want to study. He was scolded frequently by his father for not studying for his exams. According to Swami, the holidays after his exams are not given for studying. He keeps telling this to his grandmother. For Swami, a holiday means playing and roaming with his friends all the time.“” –This proverb sarcastically fits him very well.He has also got some bad habits as well.
He is a liar and does not hesitate telling lies to his father.HIS NATURE: Swami was an irresponsible kid. His father on attempting to teach him Arithmetics found that his books were filled with dust and cobwebs. This directly shows how careless and imprudent he is! On being told by his father to put the throw out the spider from his book self he keeps it in his pocket. This shows his love towards pet animals.His father sometimes shows his rudeness towards him due to his troublesome behavior. And in response to that Swami leans the table and disperses all the books on the floor. He does that to shows his anger against his father as he is incapable of telling back anything to his father.
While shaking off the dust from his books, the way he banged the books shows his exasperation. He might get angry sometimes due to acts like scolding but he is genuinely an innocent guy. His father gives him a sum to solve. He, instead of doing calculations thought of the nature of mangoes and it’s sellers.CONCLUSION:The novel Swami and friends were first focused to be young audience targeted. But later it was expanded into a universal copy as the narrative and the overall depiction of the book was very prominent.One of the most blazing thing that could be found in the novel is the similarity of children throughout the world. The children have not changed since the writing of the novel.
They are all playful, fun-loving and mischievous just like Swami was.If you want us to add something to the swami and friends character sketch, consider commenting below.PS: Stay updated with to know more about the latest novels summary, critical analysis, and character sketch.Thanks!
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