KU Warangal-
Degree English- Sem 1-unit 1.
About the author
R.K. Narayan (1906–1901) is one of the greatest Indian English novelists. He published fifteen novels and more than two hundred short stories. His subtle irony, gentle humor, Indianness, and lucid narrative style captivate the readers. He created his characters in a fictional town called 'Malgudi'. He was honored with the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1956 for the novel ‘The Guide’.
About the story
An Astrologer's Day is a short story about a person who has run away from his village to escape from the law and settled as an astrologer. The story begins with the description of an astrologer sitting under a tamarind tree at a busy market in the town.
He punctually arrives at midday with his professional equipment consisting of cowrie shells, a cloth with mystic charts, and a bundle of Palmyra writing.
He wears a saffron-coloured turban around his head and puts ash and vermilion on his forehead. He transacts his business even after the sunset because of the light emanating from a groundnut heap nearby. Half of the market area doesn't have municipal lights, but it is lit up by shop lights. He never thought of becoming an astrologer. Had he not left the village, he would have carried out his forefather's work. i.e., tilling the land.
He packs his bags as the lights are being put out. The astrologer sees a possible client and invites him to sit and chat for a while to get to know his future. Being skeptical, the stranger challenges the astrologer to answer his questions. The stranger takes out an anna and demands anna with interest amount if he proves him bluffing. After a little further argument, a deal is fixed for sixteen annas.
The astrologer sees his face and is filled with fear when the man lights a cigar. The astrologer tries to leave the place, giving some false excuses, but the man insists he must face his challenge. The astrologer reveals to the man that he knows he was once stabbed and left for dead, and that now he is here searching for his attacker. He even reveals the stranger's name, Guru Nayak. In the darkness, Guru Nayak cannot see the astrologer’s face. The astrologer bluffs him, saying his assailant is crushed under a lorry, and warns him not to travel southward again. Guru Nayak leaves the place, giving the astrologer a handful of coins. After reaching home, the astrologer tells his wife that he had run away from home in his teenage years after believing he had committed Guru Nayak's murder. He was the one who pushed Nayak down the well and left him to die during a drunken brawl in their village. Today he sees Guru Nayak alive and feels happy that he doesn't need to live as a murderer.
Glossary
Astrologer= someone who predicts the future by the positions of the planets and sun and Moon.
anna= outdated Indian currency worth one-sixteenth a rupee.
cowrie shells= small sea spell
Palmyra writing- writing on palm trees.
vermilion- a bright red colour.
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