The Guide By R.K.

Narayan
No matter how many books I read, I keep coming back to R.K. Narayan for yet another
dose of his humorous satire, laden with rare pearls of wisdom, steeped in the humblest of
real life situations. Yes, recently, I finished yet another novel of R.K. Narayan, The
Guide and the story was so interesting that I did not want to put it down, even after the
novel has ended.
The Guide tells the story of Railway Raju, a young fatherless boy, who is transformed
from a lost-in-world jail convict into a holy saint without any conscious effort on his part.
Destiny pushes him towards saintliness in the most unprecedented manner, and R.K.
Narayan in his true style creates a wonderful tale brimming with love, treachery and faith.
The story begins with Raju sitting somberly on a river bank, near Malgudi, contemplating
his next move, as he has just come out of the jail after two years of punishment for fraud
and forgery. As Raju stares vacantly, he is noticed by a villager Velan, who is impressed
by the silent, wise man, and wants Raju to solve his problems. Raju is disarmed with
Velans innocence and his own instincts to guide a lost man. By sheer coincidence,
Velans problem is solved and he becomes a die-hard Raju loyalist. He invites his
villagers to take shelter under the feet of countrys wisest and yet humblest holy man.
One thing leads to another, and soon Raju Guide becomes famous as a wandering saint,
who is venerated like a God among villagers, and gives them daily discourses citing
mythological and allegorical stories. The villagers believe him to possess some kind of
magical qualities, and place him on a high pedestal, expecting him to solve their small,
myriad problems. For a few months, Raju enjoys his life as an anonymous saint, relishing
the food and respect offered by villagers, and keeps himself busy with small children and
adulating adults.
However, one day, the villagers just stop coming, thereby forcing Raju to starve. He
anxiously steps into the village, and sees that it is affected by the most dangerous
droughts. His first instinct is to leave the place and move onto greener pastures, but,
somehow, with some misunderstanding, he gets entangled in villagers problems, and is
expected to fast unto death, to pacify the Rain God.
Raju, who is corrupt to the core, is street-smart, knows how to fleece people for his petty
benefits, is now tied with the innocent, expectant countrymen, who hail him as their
savior and are ready to do anything for him. Will Raju be able to satisfy the villagers and
the Rain Gods, or will he run away from the tricky situation, and return to his earlier life
of falsehood and forgery is what the story is all about.
The Guide with its 247 pages long narrative, is essentially a tale of human instincts,
where faith and love can be expected to bring about a massive change in a mans nature,
capable of transforming a devil into saint. R.K. Narayan is at his best in this novel. He is
sublimely funny, satiric and thought provoking at the same time. Within the limited

spheres of a small town Malgudi, he once again fabricates an engaging, highly

entertaining story.
Narayans clever use of third person narration to tell the story of Raju the Saint and first
person narration to talk about Rajus past as a young restless boy, a careless son, a smart
crook, a blind lover and an over clever event manager for his beloved Rosie was simply
awesome. I always thought it was a cardinal sin to mix up the narrator in a story, as it
confuses the readers. However, Narayan dispels all my doubts as the story oscillates
between Rajus past and present, with him adopting the changing garbs of an efficient
manager, a jilted lover and a holier than thou saint easily, rapidly changing the narration
from third person to first person.
All thanks to the authors well laid narrative, I was privy to Rajus innermost thoughts
and was laughing out loud at the foolishness of people, whom Raju took for an easy ride.
He fleeced his believing customers, worldly unwise Marco, cunning Gaffur and
ambitious Rosie, in his disarmingly charming style. And yet, Rajus inner change
becomes noticeable, when he begins to take his role as a saint seriously, really wishes to
bring about a change in the lives of people, and is ready to sacrifice his own life for the
betterment of villagers.
As I said earlier also, while reading Bachelor of Arts, I had an inkling that the
renunciation episode of Chandran was in a way responsible for creation of a fake saint in
The Guide. And, I expected something on the lines of a loser trying to hide behind holy
garbs theory in Guide as well. But, the story turned out to be quite different and
impressed me more than I ever expected.
The Guide is delightfully funny, and yet extraordinarily serious at the same time. I simply
loved the contrasting nature of its characters, who struck me as real as Tagores
characters, as neither Raju, nor Rosie or Velan are entirely black or white, they all have a
mysterious grey shade and are blended well to chalk out a wonderful story of trust and
betrayal. Though, I was not very satisfied with the climax, as Narayan leaves it dangling,
with just a hint of the future events. But, all in all, it is a wonderful book and I have
marked it prominently on my Read Again list. A true Guide to light up the paths of your
life!