Novel by Indian author R. K. Narayan
Swami and Friends is the first of a series of novels written by R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), English language novelist from India. The novel, the first book Narayan wrote, is set in British India in a town called Malgudi. The second and third books in the trilogy are The Bachelor of Arts and The English Teacher.
The novel follows a ten-year-old schoolboy, Swaminathan, and his attempts to court the favour of a much wealthier schoolboy, Rajam.
Malgudi Schooldays is a slightly abridged version of Swami and Friends, and includes two additional stories featuring Swami from Malgudi Days and Under the Banyan Tree.[1]
Summary
Swaminathan is a lazy schoolboy who lives with his father, mother, and grandmother in Malgudi. He attends the Albert Mission School with his friends Samuel, Sankar, Somu, and Mani. The arrival of a new student, Rajam—the son of a wealthy police superintendent—threatens Swami's popularity. After an initial rivalry, Swami and Rajam reconcile and become friends.
A protest, part of Gandhi's non-cooperative movement, erupts through the town. Swaminathan, participating in the protests, breaks the window of the headmaster's room. Rajam's father leads a violent crackdown of the protest. The next day, a distressed Swami runs away from the school after the headmaster vows to punish participating students. He is subsequently expelled from Albert Mission and is compelled to enroll in the stricter and more rigorous Board High School.
Rajam and Swaminathan start a cricket club, gathering friends together for practice after school, in which Swami is chronically tardy due to his relatively late-afternoon dismissal from Board High School. With a match scheduled, Swami pleads with his new headmaster to allow him to leave class early; he refuses. An undeterred Swami is caught committing truancy after asking a doctor to write a note of absence and is beaten and expelled by the headmaster.
Now expelled from two schools, and fearing his father's wrath at home, Swami runs away from town. Becoming lost and hungry, Swami regrets his decision. Meanwhile, Swami's father attempts to locate his missing son. Swami is discovered by a man carrying a cart who promptly contacts his parents. Swami's relief at returning home turns to dismay when his friends report that they have lost their cricket game, and Rajam declares the end of their friendship.
One night, Mani informs Swami that Rajam and his family are relocating to another city. Swami wakes up early the next day to attempt to reconcile and bid his farewell to Rajam, gifting him a copy of Hans Christen Anderson's Fairy Tales. He asks Rajam, as the train speeds away, if he would ever return, but his reply is drowned out by the sound of the locomotive. Swami weeps, wondering if Rajam would ever think of him again.
Publication
Swami and Friends is the first novel written by Sir R. K Narayan.[2] It was published through the intervention of a friend and neighbour, "Kittu" Purna, who was studying at Oxford. Through him, Graham Greene came into contact with Narayan's work, became especially interested in it and took it upon himself to place the book with a reputable English publisher, Hamish Hamilton.[3] Graham Greene was responsible for the title Swami and Friends, changing it from Narayan's Swami, the Tate, suggesting that it would have the advantage of having some resemblance to Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co.[4]
Greene arranged the details of the contract and remained closely involved until the novel was published. Narayan's indebtedness to Greene is inscribed on the front endpaper of a copy of Swami and Friends Narayan presented to Greene: "But for you, Swami should be in the bottom of Thames now".[4]
Critical reception
On 5 November 2019 BBC News listed Swami and Friends on its list of the 100 most influential novels.[9]
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