Hi Friends,
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayan Swami (in short R. K. Narayan) was born on 10th October, 1906 in his grandmother’s house in Purasawalkam, and old section of Madras city (Madras is now called Chennai). Narayan was a very celebrated author who wrote amazing fiction, most of it based in the fictional territory of Malgudi which is a town in south India, somewhere near Chennai.
Narayan is one of those authors who can not be easily criticized. Critics have tried to do it but without much success. Narayan’s stories are like drops of water trembling on a lotus leaf. He has enthralled and entertained generations of readers with his deftly etched characters, his uniquely stylized language and his wry sense of humor. His greatest achievement lies in creating and peopling the imagined landscapes of a town called Malgudi, located somewhere in south India, which has come alive in story after story in such a way that it has now become a part of modern Indian folklore.
The Man-Eater?!!
In ‘The Man-eater of Malgudi’, Narayan has taken the story of a demon – Bhasmasura. Bhasma means ash and Asura means demon. He was a demon who obtained a boon from Lord Shiva that anybody he touches will be burnt to a cinder immediately. (The story of Bhasmasura is a very famous tale in Hindu mythology. This tale is told every time one talks of Lord Shiva or Lord Vishnu).Bhasmasura, after getting the boon created a lot of trouble on the earth. To end the tyranny of the demon Lord Vishnu took the form of a beautiful woman and seduced the demon. When he desired for the woman, Lord Vishnu inside the woman said him to dance with her. During the dance woman made a gesture of placing her hand on her head which was to be imitated by the demon. The moment he did so, he himself was turned to ashes.
Taking this ancient mythological tale as base the author has written a story based in Malgudi.
Let us see the characters of the story.
The Characters and The Story
‘Natraj’ is a man who owns a small printing press in Malgudi. With him works ‘Shastri’ who is his support staff in press and a loyal employee. In his printing press ‘Sen’, the journalist and a poet are two of his regular companions. They just sit in the press all day but they leave when the press is crowded or someone comes to talk business with Natraj.
One day ‘Vasu’ walks in to get some cards printed. He is a taxidermist from Junaghar. As Vasu sees the attic of the press empty he requests Natraj to give him his attic to live in for some days until he finds his own residence. Natraj agrees.
Vasu is actually a very big, tall and strong person and everyone in the press feels intimidated by his because not only he is physically strong he is also aggressive in his attitude and he is very rude.
As Vasu starts his taxidermist routine of filling in dead animals in the attic space, whole press starts to smell of raw flesh. After some time, prostitutes start to come in dark hours of night and leave in the morning. Vasu was becoming notorious.
As the events start to take shape, a big festival is organized in temple and Kumar (an elephant from the temples of mountains that come in the way to Mempi, is called to Malgudi to lead the procession). Vasu wants to kill it.
But the morning after the procession Vasu himself is found dead in his attic and the elephant is safe. (For details read the novel!)
Final Views
Narayan’s short stories and novels are best known for their simplicity of characters and story. They are everyday characters. You can easily find the people of Malgudi all around you. This is also the same in The Man-eater of Malgudi. Natraj and his cronies are being bullied by Vasu who is creating trouble for the man who gave his shelter. He has two guns and everyone is afraid of his. They say he is a demon and Shastri says that every demon meets his end. What happened which Bhasmasura happed with Vasu too.
All in all, it is a pleasant read. The story progresses easily and one can enjoy Malgudi and the troubles of Natraj and the humor hence generated. It is a well written short novel which is very enjoyable. But it certainly not the best work of Narayan.
I, being a Hindu, personally enjoyed the analogy of Vasu’s story to that of Bhasmasura’s.
Happy Reading,
Khagesh Gautam