R.K. Narayan's Swami was The Guide for me

R.K. Narayan was one of my favorite authors when I began reading serious fiction.

Even now, I own a copy of "Swami and Friends"--though this is not the same physical copy that I read decades ago.  I enjoyed the stories about Swami all the more because of how much I could relate my own life to Swami's.

Narayan's tales of the fictional town of Malgudi--like Marquez's Macondo that I read not too long ago--were delightful. In those simple stories, Narayan smoothly wove in serious topics even in those simple and everyday tales.

As I progressed through Narayan's writings, a casual comment that my English teacher made led me to The Guide.  (I did not like that teacher for various reasons, and I still don't. But, hey, we grab the nuggets when we find them!)

The Guide, though, was very much unlike the simple childhood day experiences of Swami, while still set in the same fictional town of Malgudi.  It was one serious work, that left me inquiring about very many things in life that I hadn't inquired enough until then.  Isn't this what great works of literature make us do--to think?

The song/dance sequence here is from the movie whose storyline was adapted from Narayan's novel.  BTW, I find it wonderful that the character, Rosie--a Christian--is played by Waheeda Rehman--a Muslim--who was apparently well-schooled in Bharatanatyam--which is a part of the Hindu culture. 



Want to know more about Malgudi?

It turns out that all the songs from this movie have been collected in one single YouTube video.  The diffusion and adaptation of modern technology is awesome!

When Calvin and Hobbes met Swami and Friends

Oh, Bill Watterson, you have messed up my life, twice; first by creating this little devilish character, and then by abruptly walking away from it all!

And then, listen to Calvin opine on the opiate of the masses:

I have lots of memories of my childhood. There was no Calvin and Hobbes in it.  Instead, I had Swami and his friends in Malgudi.

Swami had none of Calvin's crazy aspects.  Swami's adventures were all I could relate to--given the very similar cultural background in which I grew up.  Years later, here in the US, I bought myself a copy of Swami and Friends.  It is now a treasured book along with various Calvin and Hobbes collections.

Oh, yes, I read the usual Enid Blyton books, the Hardy Boys, and even Nancy Drew.  But, as much as I enjoyed them, I couldn't quite relate to those characters and the settings.  Even the foods they ate.  I remember my sister and I once tried to figure out what the ham and bacon were all about.  These appeared all the time, particularly in the Enid Blyton books.  We figured it was from pigs.  But, what then was the difference between ham and bacon.  There is a limit to imagining foods of a different culture, particularly in those primitive days before the internet, before the television, and when telephones were rare.  So, I figured out a solution to the puzzle: bacon and ham had to be something like idly and dosai, which are from the same ingredients but look and taste different from each other.

With Swami and his friends, there was no need to imagine the foods they ate.  Because I ate the same kind of foods. Like Swami, I too hoped to have a good cricket game every single day.  Swami's grandmother reminded me a lot of my own grandmothers.  I mean, I could absolutely relate to this fictional kid in a fictional town.  The pains and pleasures of his were mine as well. His Malgudi was my Neyveli, plus Sengottai, plus Pattamadai.  It was neat.  He just didn't seem to have the girl problem that I had though :)

But all those were when I was a kid.  I don't recall reading any RK Narayan books in the five-plus years between high school and coming to America.  I came to America, and was in comic character heaven, with Calvin becoming my favorite. Turned out it was great timing--the syndicated comic strip began in 1985, and I arrived here in 1987.  It was a different culture now, with different foods, and different games.  But, both at the surface level of the joke, and at the deeper issues, I could easily relate to Calvin.

Now, I am much older--way older than Calvin's dad in the comic strips.  But, whenever I read the old strips, I find that it is Calvin that I still relate to and not to the father.  I feel sorry for the parents, but Calvin rules because he gets me.

The best thing now: when I read Swami and Friends, I can still relate to Swami.  A couple of years ago, I found an Enid Blyton book, and I can relate to the Famous Five too and their favorite drink is mine too--ginger beer.  How lucky am I to be able to a whole bunch of characters from across so many different cultures and eras!