Sujoy Ghosh

As an 80s born, RK Narayan was a part of our childhood through the stories from Malgudi including Swami and his friends. When we grew older, we were introduced to several writers from all over the world – Saki, O. Henry, Dickens, Austen, Chekhov and Maupassant. Then we were introduced to The Guide. It’s been over two decades and The Guide is one of the most enigmatic novels I have read. Personally, in terms of the complexity of the narrative, I rate it at par with the likes of The Great Gatsby.

The Guide is the story of three parts – Rise, Fall and Redemption. In the first arc, the protagonist reflects the progressive side of the character, flirting with the ideas of romance and voyeurism and advocating for the advancement of women in an orthodox society. As a young man, he is willing to fight for his love and seems to be idealistic. However, as the rise commences, the fall lurks in the shadows. He slips in the second arc and falls prey to his vices. He fails to rise to the occasion and become the person he wishes to become. He eventually becomes the person he was always afraid of and meets his fate in court where he is sentenced for fraud.

The last arc is a beautiful interpretation of Dacoit Valmiki’s evolution into the Saint who wrote Ramayana. He is mistakenly believed to be a saint and at some point, he decides to become one. His first step into sainthood, despite his internal conflict, becomes a stepping stone to his eventual redemption. The entire transition feels like the aftertaste of some of Chekhov and Tolstoy’s works while remaining inherently Indian and ingrained in a rural environment.

The Guide is a masterclass in storytelling, evoking strong emotions from the readers across the board. Desire is a recurring motif depicted through actions and elements of the story. At the beginning of the story, the protagonist is a self-serving and materialistic character who has a sense of abandonment. He spares no stone unturned in pursuit of his desires and greed which leads to his fall. In the end, all the desires evolve into a spiritual expression in its last arc which is accentuated by a longing and moral evolution of the character. Some books don’t have a defining villain but still manage to paint a hero’s journey. Guide is a prime example.   

Through his stories, Narayan was able to build a Malgudi universe where characters were always evolving and felt folksy and unneighborly. The brilliance lay in the simplicity of the characters, circumstances and evolution. Although these elements were elevated in The Guide, keystrokes remained the same and felt organic for the Malgudi world. Wish we had more writers like him.

Best

~S