Use of Indian Theories in R. K. Narayan’s 'The Guide'

Use of Indian Theories in R. K. Narayan’s ‘The Guide Prof. G. S. Rathore * Mr. Muzaffar Khan ** [The paper was published in Journal of Well Being (ISSN-0974-8717) Vol. 9, No. 2, July 2015, pp 45-50.] ABSTRACT R. K. Narayan, one of the founding pillars of Indian writing in English is an institution himself. Narayan was capable of bringing small-town India to his audience in a manner that was both authentic as well as experimental. The current article concentrates on his novel The Guide, which won him the Sahitya Academy Award in 1960. The novel narrates the adventures of a railway guide, popularly known as ‘Railway Raju’. This paper examines the novel in the context of Indian philosophy, religion, ethics, theory of karma and moksha and Gandhism. Key words: - theory of karma and moksha, Gandhian ideology and Indianism. INTRODUCTION Sahitya Academy Award winning titled The Guide, R. K. Narayan’s magnum opus, published in 1958, is the most commendable novel of the author. The Guide was adapted for films in Hindi and English languages. Narayan is a true Indian both in spirit and thought. Much has been said about Narayan as a superb and unassailable story-teller, a serious comedian, a realist and a satirist. Narayan is often acclaimed as a painter of vibrant Malgudi, a microcosm of India. We are going to examine how Narayan incorporates the profoundest Indian cultures, myths, rituals, relationships, philosophy, thoughts and spiritualism in his novel. 1 Narayan felt, “To be a good writer anywhere, you must have roots – both in religion and family. I have these things.”1 Accordingly, he endeavours at a vision of life, a life of opposing dualities, of appearance and reality, belief and betrayals, good and evil, tradition and modernity etc. Narayan’s stories start off with realistic settings and everyday happenings in the lives of Indian society with characters of various classes. It is apt here in The Guide that the most significant issues are – relationship between ancient and the modern, role of gender, middle class life, their values, beliefs and dogmas, and the fusion of different genres such as myth, fiction philosophy and theory of karma. A critical study of the following dimensions in The Guide deserve deeper study here :1. Theory of Karma 2. Gandhian Ideology 3. Indianness 1. Theory of Karma :In Indian religion and philosophy, the universal law exists by which good or bad actions or deeds determine the future modes of an individual’s existence. There is a cycle of our life through karma to moksha from birth to death, which is determined by God. Karma is the application of the law of cause and effect to moral experience. Life is a continuous process. No one can escape from the good or evil consequences of one’s deeds. It is a fundamental law of nature, through which we get what has been written in our fate.2 Narayan’s stories project the great Indian theory of karma and he beautifully represents various paths of achieving moksha, i.e. self-realization and emancipation from the cycle of rebirths, in his novels. His fiction combines different facets of life and experiences. K. R. S. Iyenger rightly remarks : “Narayan’s is the art of resolved and conscientious exploration … 2 he would, if he could, explore the inner countries of the mind, heart and soul, catch the 3 uniqueness in the ordinary, the tragic in the prosaic.” Almost all Narayan’s main characters experience loneliness and alienation, because they are dissatisfied with their life. Because of this they gradually know what they are or their real identity and role. In the same way, Marco, Rosie and Raju in The Guide suffer from separation and loneliness which teach them to realize the real value of life. In the novel under discussion Narayan represents the life of Raju, Rosie and Marco with the touch of theory of karma. The protagonist, Raju, is at first an ordinary boy who runs a shop at the railway station; then he becomes a railway guide because of his good karma. Being a tourist guide he becomes a married woman’s lover, which is a diversion from his real path. Later, his bad karmas increase step by step and finally he becomes a saint or Swami at the end. Raju’s karmas transform his character gradually into many phases, such as a railway station food vendor, a tourist guide, a sentimental adulterer, a dancing girl’s manager, a swindler, a prisoner, and a martyred mystic. Initially Raju is impetuous, unprincipled and self-indulgent, but his karmas change him into rigorous, thoughtful, considerate and self-disciplined man. In Indian culture there is a belief that our good or bad karmas transform us into good or bad human beings. The jailbird Raju, after the release from the prison cell, is mistaken a spiritual guide or Swami and at the end he is made to sacrifice his life to save the villagers’ life. He did not perceive earlier that his transformation required that much of sacrifice but at the end he knows it. He never imagined that there would arrive a time when the fake sanyasi in him would become transformed into a genuine one. 3 Men’s deeds become their fate or karma. Everyone who is born in this world has to perform their duties, what Rosie for Raju when he is arrested by the police, “I felt all along you were not doing right things. This is karma.” (The Guide, 216). In the novel Raju’s karma and moksha are clearly shown through crime and punishment. Raju’s crimes are adultery and forgery. His first crime or mistake is his unethical and immoral relationship with Rosie, the wife of Marco. Because of Raju’s love and help in dancing Rosie deserts her husband and comes to live with Raju. His second crime is the forged signature of Rosie on the document which is sent by Marco’s lawyer. Owing to this he is punished and imprisoned and his career collapses. His cheating with people does not end even after his release from the jail. By mistake he reaches the village called Mangal and the villagers take him as a Swami or saint. He deceives the innocent villagers of Mangal. At the end of the novel, as a Swami Raju has to undergo an act of suffering to purify the sins of others and his own. It is destructively risky but he does it. Rosie is one of the main characters of the novel. She is presented as a beautiful classical dancer, belongs to the family of the devadasis, i.e. the temple dancers, and the wife of Marco. She is an educated woman but because of her misfortune she had to marry Marco but their marriage has been a curse. She is very passionate about dancing but her husband does not allow her to dance. When her adultery with Raju is detected, Marco leaves her and she has no other option but to live with Raju. It is her bad karma because of which she has to face this coldness of her husband. Later in the company of Raju, Rosie becomes Nalini, a national star of Bharatnatyam. Her caste is regarded as a low caste in India, but she proves by her art that she is more than that. Because of her struggle for existence she develops courage, self-respect and spirit of freedom. At the end she gets tired of her dancing schedules and tours. She compares herself 4 with her old character and thinks about Marco and feels guilty. After hearing about Raju’s imprisonment and his act of forgery, she gets upset and blames her karma for the disaster. At the end of the novel we see how Narayan lends many characters a unity of the novel. Rosie is transformed into Nalini – an artist and independent woman. Raju has an immoral life but is reformed. And his desire is purified in internal as well as spiritual sense. Both the characters play and go through Indian ways of life. Both belong to different backgrounds and yet give unity to the novel. Marco is a practical, self-centred and unemotional man. He marries Rosie through matrimonial advertisement. He is interested in the carvings on the walls, stone figures and caves; and so neglects his wife. The character of Marco may be considered both good and bad – good in the sense that he does not divert from his path of duty and bad on account of his cold and indifferent behaviour towards Rosie. But at the end he gets the result of his good karmas. He publishes a book ‘The Cultural History of India’. (The Guide, 198). Thus, we can well see that Narayan presents his main characters through the theory or philosophy of karma. Raju, Rosie and Marco do not accept life as it comes to them. They declare their free will and make their existential choices. Raju is a guide and lover; Rosie has passion for dancing; and Marco is a scholar. They do not follow the normal course of their lives and get alarming results : Raju goes to jail; Rosie loses her husband; and Marco leaves his wife. 2 Gandhian Ideology :Gandhi is regarded as both a man and an age. He served as the central figure for many Indian writers such as R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and so on. The main things which attracted these writers about Gandhiji were concept of truth, Satyagraha, simplicity and nonviolence. “Gandhi not only struggled for India’s independence but also taught the people of India to love one another and advised them to show bitterness towards non-violence.”4 The 5 basic and central tenets of Gandhian thoughts are social, political, educational, religious, cultural and economic issues and Narayan relates them into his fiction. The glimpses of India and Indian nationalism based on Gandhian thoughts are depicted in Narayan’s novel. In the domestic surroundings of Malgudi, Narayan has artistically crafted and portrayed Gandhian ideology. In The Guide, Narayan has created a picture of Gandhi in comparison with the Swami. The villagers of Mangal understand the Swami or Raju as the Mahatma, their spiritual saviour. They talk about how many things had changed in Indian when Gandhiji went without food. This act of Gandhi is compared with the Swami’s fast for rain. At that time Mahatma Gandhi saved India by his fast, so will Swami’s fast save the villagers and there will be rain in Mangal. There is a villagers’ statement in the text for the Swami, “He is like Mahatma. When Mahatma Gandhi went without food, how many things happened in India! This is a man like that. If he fasts there will be rain.” (The Guide, 102) At the end of the novel, Narayan shows what Raju does for the villagers. He risks his life for the sake of the villagers. It is Narayan’s art of characterisation that he imbues Gandhian spirit for saving others and risks his own life, into his character Raju. 3 Indianness :Narayan’s fiction reflects his intrinsic knowledge of Indian philosophy, classical literature, religion and ethics. Narayan not only tested Indian life but also tested by Indian life. His works are faithful presentation of life which is purely Indian. Narayan presents Indianness through Raju’s transformation. He portrays this in terms of the myth of spiritual saints that is a widespread myth in India. Indian masses have blind faith in sadhus and religious men and they accept Raju as a Swami, who is forced into this role because of circumstances. 6 Narayan’s characters like Raju, Rosie and Marco are deeply connected with Indian culture – Raju gains spiritual faith by the role of Swami; Rosie is a devdasi’s daughter and classical or traditional dancer; and Marco is a modern man appreciating the Indian heritage. “Narayan’s Indianness includes such words as some of which have become part of the vocabulary of the English language like saree or sari, Deepavali, etc.”5 He has used many Indian words in The Guide and a few of these are listed below :Ramayana (47) sadhu (111) vadhyar (226) dhoti (65) jibba (116) ghee sari (88), Saithan (156) darshan (240) Dashara, Dipawali (90), sabha (192) tabala (241) Bhagavad-Gita (104) karma (216) namaste (242). (234) CONCLUSION Concludingly, we can say that The Guide deals with the traditional faith in religion, worship and saints. The novel shows the traditional Indian domestic life as well as the ironies of modern Indian life. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. Graubart, Stephen (1989). An Interview with R. K. Narayan. Daedalus: pp. 234-235. http: // www.hinduism.about.com / od / basics /a/ Karma.html Iyenger, K. R. S. (1883). Indian Writing in English. Delhi : Sterling Publishers. p.372 Sudha, M. (2013). “Gandhiji’s Vision Exhibited in the Novels of R. K. Narayan.” The Down Journal 2(1) : 344-348. 5. Nirmala, Susan (2009). “Indianness in R. K. Narayan’s Novel.” Language in India (9):15-24. 6. Makodia, Vipul V. (2010). “The Depiction of karma Philosophy in the Novels of R. K. Narayan.” Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat. 7. Narayan, R. K. (2012). The Guide. Chennai : Indian Thought Publication. ___________________________________________________________________________ * Formerly Professor, Dept. of English, College of Arts & Science, Omar Al-Mukhtar University, Tobruk, Libya. <[email protected]> ** Research Scholar, Dept. of English, J. R. N. Rajasthan Vidyapeeth (D) University, Udaipur, Rajasthan. <[email protected]> 7