Whenever I finish a novel I wonder what would have entered the author’s mind to write the book! There must be something interesting to be shared with the world. May be something enlightening, something new or a situation or a solution to it. Or a quest seeking an answer.
After finishing this novel I felt that the answer was easy. The author must have been into this kind of a thought and must have found some answer in this. R K Narayan has added not just eyes nose and ears to his story but also breathed life into an otherwise simple story with daily routines similar to ours and thoughts very much like ours.
The story begins with Krishna- an English teacher or rather lecturer who is staying alone in a hostel while his wife Sushila is with her parents for her delivery. A few months later Krishna’s father-in-law asks him to shift from the hostel to a house so that his wife and 7 month old child can move in. He does so obediently and in a while his wife and kid also move to the new house. Three years pass by in the domestic bliss which is laced by wife’s effort to read literary stuff, the husband’s desperation to write poetry every now and then, the child growing older and smarter, the presence of mother-in-law, and later an old lady staying with them and taking care of the child.
One fine day Krishna receives a letter from his father-in-law who promises to advance money and gently pressurizes his son-in-law to buy a house. The couple readily agree to this and plan to go out and there begins a search for the house. They plan to go out on Sunday leaving the child home with the maid. They go to temple, eat food at restaurant (a new experience for Sushila since she never has had food in a restaurant), and then meet a friend who shows them a few houses.
But suddenly something goes wrong and the happy Sunday turns out to be disastrous Sunday and every member of the family loses peace of mind. The story proceeds with such sadness so suddenly that you get almost angry with the author to bring us down to a harsh sad reality - death!
There are other interesting people too. Just like a man who runs his own play school for children and without being bookish, he teaches the children the "right and wrong" and encourages their creativity. Loved by children he hates his own nagging wife and wild children. Interestingly he knows when is he going to die and accepts death whole heartedly. Also suddenly you will find yourself reading about another character who is in touch with spirits. Spirits- aha that reminds me... there are those who vehemently deny it and there are those too who equally believe it.
The book provides simple answer to a complicated question - If I am sad, what do I do? How do I distract myself from loneliness, from sorrow (obviously when there were no great distractions like TV and net. The answer is do what you feel will make you feel better. Don’t be trapped in your own sorrows. A good read if you don’t mind the slight seriousness behind it.