An Astrologer's Day

 Hello Visitors!

This blog is a response to a task given by Megha Madam as a part of thinking activity during our studies.

A Narayan's mentor and friend Graham Greene was instrumental in getting publishers for Narayan's first four books including the semi-autobiographical trilogy of Swami and Friends , The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher . The fictional town of Malgudi was first introduced in Swami and Friends . The Financial Expert was hailed as one of the most original works of 1951 and Sahitya Academy Award winner The Guide was adapted for the film (winning a Filmfare Award for Best Film ) and for Broadway.                

Narayan highlights the social context and everyday life of his characters. He has been compared to William Faulkner who created a similar fictional town and likewise explored with humor and compassion the energy of ordinary life. Narayan's short stories have been compared with those of Guy de Maupassant because of his ability to compress a narrative.    

In a career that spanned over sixty years Narayan received many awards and honors including the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature , the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan , India's second and third highest civilian awards, ^[2] and in 1994 the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship , the highest honor of India's national academy of letters. ^[3] He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha , the upper house of the Indian Parliament .   

Malgudi Days story collection [click here to read a story collection]

        

An Astrologer's Day  is a thriller , suspense short story by author RK Narayan . While it had been published earlier, it was the titular story of Narayan's fourth collection of short stories ^[1] published in 1947 by Indian Thought Publications .  It was the first chapter of the world famous collection of stories Malgudi Days which was later telecasted on television in 2006.         

Fallon and et al. described the work as "a model of economy without leaving out the relevant detail."  Themes found in An Astrologer's Day recur frequently throughout Narayan's work. The story was adapted into a 2019 Kannada movie Gara . 

Features of the story 

1. The ironical fact about the protagonist is that a gambler and a murderer, who is ignorant of his own future has become an astrologer.
2. The writer reveals how the only qualification needed to be an astrologer in India is saffron clothes, a few charts and tilak and a keen observation of human nature along with a presence of mind.    
3. The astrologer should have been greatly relieved that he is not a murderer after all and he has managed to put Guru Nayak off, and he should not have bothered about how much money he had received. Yet, when he realizes Nayak has cheated him of some money he is angry. ^[

    

An Astrologer's Day [click here to read a story]

Theme of “An Astrologer's Day”

The theme of the story focuses on a single day in the life of an ordinary astrologer who suddenly faces past life in the present drastic situation. The story has a twist in the tale. The otherwise adventure less life of the astrologer suddenly poses a serious problem from his past life and demands alertness to tackle the situation. The story describes of a single day in the lives of the sleepy town of Malgudi.  

The story also deals with the darker side of human nature with its hypocrisies, shrewdness, revengeful nature and selfishness. The characters in the story are no exception to these qualities of human nature. Finally, all is well that ends well with the astrologer coming out with flying colors in his examination of befooling his opponent, saving his life and also saw to it that he does not face the man again in future.