"If one has got to read even during holidays, I don’t see why holidays are given at all." - How much I Agree with this quote !!
I remember on those rainy days, in my school years, how I used to pray for the rain to fall heavily during the time I had to leave for the school - 7 to 9 AM, 8 AM being the school start time - so an hour of pouring in and around it was sufficient for me to convince my parents and make them believe that there being so much rain, no one is going to come to school that day (including teacher) and so there will be no study ; which meant no use going to school.
I remember, how, after a continuous pouring during the night (much to my delight) rain used to stop pouring right at the time I was supposed to get up at in the morning (much to my misery) – giving enough time to my Mom to awake me and send me packed to school. On the way to school I could always see clear blue sky with no sign of clouds at all. And, as if that was not enough for an already troubled soul, it used to start pouring again during the first class session itself. How I used to curse the rain gods in those days.
After reading “Swami and Friends” I observed the extent of commonness between the school life and a child’s psychology of those times compared to ours. Swami had his school days around 1920’s (so to say) and I had mine around 1990’s - 7o years of gap - but still if one look at the basic characteristics of life of a school going kid, in 20’s and 90’s, they’re still same. It still consisted of having fun and adventure with friends, avoiding the misery of the home work, deadly days of exams, coping as best as one can with the teachers and the other adults around trying to make our life better, but giving the impression of spoiling it;.. and and.. avoiding school as much as one can.
I know the world has changed a lot in the last 20 years and there’s lot of pressure on kids this days, parental as well as self imposed; there are computers and automation all around and TIME is something everyone is short of – even kids – and that’s the worst part of developed world, but still I hope fun and adventure; dreams and innocence is still very much there in the hearts as well as lives of the kids of these days as well. After all, everyone deserves a childhood of abundance, be it in terms of TIME, FUN ADVENTURES, SMILES, LAUGHS or Carelessness.
“All through this vigorous confusion and disorder, Swaminathan kept close to Mani. For there was a general belief in the school that enemies stab each other on the last day. Swami had no enemy as far as he could remember. But who could say? The school was a bad place.” - A big asset of the book is the way it captures the Swami’s emotions towards the school life esp. the hatred, Of Course !!
ABOUT THE STORY: Written by R. K Narayan in 1935 “Swami and Friends” (SAF) tells the tale of a ten year old Swaminathan. It’s a record of Swami’s life, his day to day happenings of school hours, his adventures with his friends and difficulties he faced in coping with the adults around. How he tries to drive fun out of incidents happening around and how every time he finds himself caught in the act, which twice results in his expulsion from the school - of course from two different ones.
But Swami is a normal kid, fearful and afraid of big people around esp. his father’s wrath (“It’s easier to squeeze milk out of a stone than to get permission from father to keep away from school.”), and when he finds situation going out of clasp he takes protection in the company of friends like Mani and Rajam. Together this threesome of boys has lots of fun, they play cricket and form their own club of M.C.C (Malgudi Cricket Club).
Once, Swami gets into trouble for skipping his classes , which he do in an attempt to bestow more and more time to practice for the upcoming cricket match(he being the leading bowler of the team). With horrific Principal in front of him and his cane strucking hard on Swami’s hands and everywhere else on the body, and his talk raging Swami’s annoyance, Swami finds it more than he can wear and runs away from the school as well as from the Malgudi.
“If he kept walking along the Market road where would it lead him? Probably to Madras. Could he reach Bombay and England if he went further? He could work in any of those places, earn money and do what he pleased.”
Will it be the end of Swami’s Association with Malgudi and his friends and parents? What about the cricket match that lands him into all this trouble, ? Read to find out.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
SAF is written in such a fashion that each of its chapter can be read as a separate entity. Though they work best when read in order. It very beautifully captures the mind of a 10 year old; his attitude towards adults and the world around; his concept of school and fun. SAF really succeeds in bringing back some memories of the days gone back. Even the friends of Swami, characterize some of the common mindsets of that age that you can correlate with some of your own friends and some of you may find yourself , not in the character of Swami, but that of Mani, Rajam, Sanker or Pea.
Being based in the times of freedom struggle it does have a little flavor of it woven very meticulously and used very efficiently to propagate the story of Swami.
“There is this peculiarity about heat: it appears to affect only those that think of it. Swami, Mani and Rajam would have been surprised if anybody had taken the trouble to prove to them that the Malgudi sun was unbearable.”
Some of the really interesting chapters that could be read beforehand for whetting the appetite:
1.) What is a tail? : Friends of Swami tease him for being submissive to Rajam as friend anf give him a name of TAIL. “A long thing that attached itself to a donkey or a dog”
2.) The Coachman’s Son : Swami’s consuming passion to get a hoop of his own make him furnish The Coachman a sum of money and lands him and Mani in trouble while trying to recover it.
3.) In Father’s Presence: When Swami’s father’s office also closes during the summer, Swami finds it hard to deal with his presence during the day which disturbs his adventures errands with his friends. Best part is when his father gives him an arithmetic problem to solve involving buying and selling of mangoes, too good and funny.
FINAL WORDS: Written in very simple and witty language SAF is a good read for readers of all age and can easily be called as the best work of R K Narayan. Read it for Swami and his friends, if not, read it for the memories of your own childhood and friends of your own childhood. I highly recommend “Swami and Friends”, its “Dil Chahta Hai” of 10 year old kids.
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Take Care and Keep Writing
VIKKY GURAL
PYAR HUMIEN PHIR MILAAEGA....