Story 1 Swami and friends
Swami is about 10 years old studying in Albert Mission School in Malgudi. He shudders at the thought of going to school daily but is forced to go (like all kids of his age). Each chapter in the book is a different day in the life of Swami and his friends Mani and Rajam.
The book starts with an introduction of Swami and his friends Somu the monitor, Mani the good for nothing boy who sits in the last bench of the class, Sankar the most brilliant boy in the class and Samuel or Pea the bond between him and Swami being able to see things in the same manner and laugh it off together.
Some noteworthy episodes include the arrival of Rajam the new boy in Malgudi and Swami's school. Rajam enters the class and occupies the last bench with Mani who is angry to share his last bench... He picks Swami as an interpreter and invites Rajam for a fight and then all three end up becoming best of friends. The other two kids Sankar and Pea start calling Swami as Rajam's tail.. which ends the friendship of Swami with them. But Rajan plays the mediator and gets them to talking terms.
R K writes the stories with an ease and you can imagine all this happening in front of your eyes.. so vivid and clear is his imagination.
He goes on to write various other episodes like the arrival of a new born baby in Swami's house and how Swami reacts to this. Swami's examination episodes are also worthy of reading; they are the most common thing any kid of his age would face and we adults can also relate it with our childhood.
Things turn political in Malgudi as India is caught in the Independence battle..Swami gets involved in strikes due to which he is punished in his school and then he runs away from it. His father enrolls him into another school the Board High School. Swami discovers that the Board School is worse than his previous school. The amount of homework piled up and the daily drills are too much for him to handle...
But again Rajam comes to his rescue and they start MCC the Malgudi Cricket Club where Swami earns the title of TATE the fast bowler of his team. The episode where they order bats from M/s Binns in Chennai and the innocence with which they write letters assuming that they will get bats for free are worth reading again and again.
He bunks the drill in the Board School to attend cricket practices and again gets into trouble :). And this time too he runs away from the school and intends to run away from Malgudi as well.. But then he wants to play in the cricket match versus YMU too and so he decides to come back on the day of the match... but alas he is still a kid.. he loses his way in a forest becomes delirious and hallucinates images and finally faints on a road near the forest. The forest guard nurses him back to health and sends him back home but by then the match is over and his team loses since the best bowler wasnt available.... and to top it all his best friend and captain of MCC Rajam stops talking to him considering him to be the sole reason of his team's defeat :( :(.. This was the most classic and well written episode of all and you could almost feel the kid's innocence and pain reaching out to you.
Finally the day comes when his best friend Rajam leaves Malgudi and how Swami who wanted to patch up things with Rajam is heart broken. He goes to the station to tell him a final good bye but doesnt get to talk to him.. and manages to give him a parting gift.. a book of fairy tales which he adored terribly. The parting moments are written in a simple and convincing manner that you feel as if you are being parted from your best friend.
All in all a very good book worth reading and can be read again and again and again and again.. :) :)
No comments:
Post a Comment