R.K. Narayan short story synopses


Author: Terence Rajivan Edward (or 0161__Rajivan, if it helps)
Draft version: version 4 (story added, 30 May; v1 1st October 2025, contained 11 stories)
Inclusion criterion: these are the kind of texts called short stories for decades. The aim is to summarize them all. 


An astrologer's day. This story tells of the typical day of an astrologer, who knows no more of the stars than anyone else and relies on shrewd guesswork. Also tells of a day in which he meets a man who is looking for someone who tried to kill him. The astrologer says this attempted murderer died under a lorry, but the story ends with the strong suggestion that it was the astrologer in his youth who tried to commit the murder.


Missing mail. A postman, Thanapp, gets very involved with the doings of the letter recipients, conversing with each one. One day he gets involved in the marriage of Ramanujan's daughter, so involved that he delivers other letters briefly, without the extended conversation. He does not give letters concerning the death of an uncle to Ramanujan, approaching the day of the marriage, which would have prevented Ramanujan from caring for the marriage. 


Gateman's Gift. A story about Govind Singh, who carried an envelope asking what is in it but refused to open it until he was thought mad. He had worked as a gatekeeper for years until retiring. He would then make models from clay and wood dust, which crowds loved, and bring some of them to the company where he collects his pension, eventually making a masterpiece. He receives the letter in the post, which he fears is from a lawyer. Enough people treat him as mad that he feels he is mad and destroys his latest work, enters the street and breaks a lamp. The policeman approaches, but also the accountant from his company office, who spots the letter and opens it. In it the General Manager of the company praises his models. He is able to return to sanity.


Fellow feeling. Rajam Iyer gets into a train compartment. He intervenes in the bullying of a meek man next to him by a newcomer. The newcomer says that Brahmins cannot boss us any longer; they secretly eat meat, driving up the price for everyone. Iyer and the newcomer square up, with Iyer promising to do some disfiguring jujitsu to the newcomer's face. The newcomer leaves the compartment at Jalarpret, saying his ticket was for there. Iyer lies to the meek man that the newcomer merely moved to another compartment.


Iswaran. There is much anticipation about the results of the intermediate exam, except Iswaran's parents. They assume he has failed again and wish he would leave the education system, rather than hoping for a pass this time and a university place. He is renowned for his results. Instead of going with the other boys to see the results, he goes to the cinema that day, to lose himself in films. Despite the appearance he presents to others, he is sensitive about his failures. In the films, he sees boys who live lives without examinations and portraits of the gods and he develops the idea of dying and going to a world without examinations. He enters the river, having written a note for his father, but sees a light from Senate House and goes to check his results. He has passed with a 2.1. He experiences a reverie and enters the river on an imaginary horse. He is found drowned the next day and the note expressing his conception of himself as a failure is read.


Such perfection. Sculptor Soma has made a perfect representation of a God, but he is told that it is too perfect to display at the temple. It is not for mortal eyes and he is recommended to break off a toe or some part of it. Instead he vows to make a temple for it and pulls down a wall to do so, inviting people to see the god, which brings a crowd. A storm occurs and the crowd is victim to it, with many lives lost. His friends urge him to do something, but he cannot bring himself to mutilate the image. A tree crashes through his house removing a toe of it. The sculpture is thenceforth used in religious settings, but Soma never touches the chisel again. 


Forty-five a month. A schoolchild, Shanta Bai, is concerned about being home on time for her father's arrival. He has instructed to meet her at 5 for the cinema. The teacher makes her read the clock, which she and others cannot. It's 2.45, not 9 (or 5), but she is still given permission to leave, when she says she must leave now. She is early home, dresses up, and follows his route to work, having to be taken back by a servant of another house. Her father, Venkat Rao, is forced to work late hours, which makes him think of resigning. But he is given a raise. He comes home at 9 to find a sleeping child, all dressed for the cinema. He thinks to take her for the night show, but mother recommends sleep.
 
Atilla. This is about a dog, promised to be frightening, brought in by a family as a puppy to protect the household. He turns out to be very warm and companionable. He allows a thief to enter, namely Ranga, and exits with the thief bonding with him. In the street, Ranga and the dog are spotted. When Ranga runs, the dog runs with him so as not to lose companionship and blocks his way, causing the thief to be caught, along with stolen jewellery, and the dog to become a family hero.


The Axe. Velan comes from a ragged family but is predicted to live in a three-storeyed house. He left his village after being slapped by his father for lateness and travelled to Malgudi where an old man took him in to work on a garden. He became chief gardener and asked for the margosa plant to turn into a strong tall tree. We move forward to when this has happened. He has children, grandchildren, and is content until the house master dies. Tenants come and go briefly, he nearly becomes master of the house, but it is deteriorating and is called a ghost house. The house is sold to a company, with no need for a garden, and Velan must leave to his village. He tells them not to cut the margosa tree down in his presence, wait till he is long gone.


The Martyr's Corner. Rama runs a food establishment, waking up early, working hard to prepare food, and locating it so as to catch customers, his wife managing finances. But the gods grow jealous of too much contentment. One day there is a riot outside over political matters and a man dies. The area commemorates the death and Rama must locate elsewhere, where his business suffers, there are complaints, and he finds that he must end it and get work at as a waiter.


The Doctor’s Word. A story about a doctor valued because he is bluntly truthful. He treats the father of a family and realizes that the fate of the patient depends on what he says and does: if he signs the will, the patient will assume the worst and die. The doctor is evasive when faced with the patient’s questions about whether he will live, and the patient lives. (This story is also of interest to me, personally, because of “when he glimpsed the faintest sign of hope, he rolled up his sleeve and stepped into the arena.” See Jeanette Edwards Born and Bred, p.8.)


The Blind Dog. A stray dog is adopted by blind beggar, who is provided with a place to beg by an old woman. The dog protects him from a village urchin. The old woman dies and he loses his place. The dog is put on a lead and replaces the old woman for the blind man. The dog’s freedom is lost but the blind man gains and goes here and there. He becomes money oriented, the dog’s having little rest. Other businessmen are unhappy to see it slaving and the perfumer cuts the cord, freeing the dog. The dog returns after more than 20 days, but is put on a steel chain. Fool.


Father’s help. Swami does not want to go to school and says he has a headache. His father says he must go. Swami says he will be beaten if he says he has a headache and describes the teacher, Samuel, as violent. Father says Samuel should be driven out of the service and sends Swami with a letter to the headmaster. Swami is not confident about the enclosed description provided,feeling guilty: Samuel was not a bad man. Swami decides to give the letter at the end of the day,  hoping Samuel justifies the enclosed description by his behaviour. Samuel behaves more tolerantly though. Swami tries to provoke him and after some effort, gets beaten. He goes to give the letter to the headmaster but finds he is absent. His father calls Swami a coward for not delivering the letter and says he deserves Samuel.


Selvi. Selvi is a celebrity singer who has been wedded to Mohan for more than 2 decades, not speaking to anyone except in his presence. There is constant speculation about her early life; apparently Selvi had been brought up by her mother in a small house, had learnt music from her, practising with siblings. Mohan has a photography studio and Selvi’s mother brought the girl to be photographed for a school magazine after she had won the first prize in a competition, following which he visited the family and provided small services. He begins to refer to Selvi as his wife, but no one can recall exactly where, when or how they were married. It is risky to investigate. "Their home was a huge building of East India Company days, displaying arches, columns and gables, once the residence of Sir Frederick Lawley." Mohan found "money to buy the house when Selvi received a fee for lending her voice to a film-star, who just moved her lips, synchronizing with Selvi’s singing, and attained much glory for her performance in a film." (No term "playback singer" then?) "Bit by bit, by assiduous publicity and word-of-mouth recommendation, winning the favour of every journalist and music critic available, he had built up her image to its present stature." He sometimes rejects work offers simply to preserve rarity value for Selvi. Successful later, she is named Goddess of Melody. Years pass and she performs like an automaton, a machine. "They were in Calcutta for a series of concerts when news of her mother’s death reached her. When she heard it, she refused to come out of her room in the hotel, and wanted all her engagements cancelled." He finds her irritable after mother's death, compared to her previous compliance, and she veers from his script for dealing with the public. She is asked why she did not come when mother was dying, causing her to cry. Mohan says that she should attend an honorary degree ceremony at Delhi, presided over by the Prime Minister. She ignores him. She begins free music sessions, which the public attend. He tries to talk with her alone one evening and she says, "Go away, It is not proper to come here at this hour."


The Trail of the Green Blazer. A pickpocket named Raju is in the town observing the crowd. He prefers to seal a purse and doesn't want to take fountain pens any more. People haggle. There is a loud Bible preacher and also a health van amplifying messages about malaria and tuberculosis. Raju's eye is on a man wearing a Green Blazer. He skillfully follows the man at a distance. This Green Blazer is a hard bargainer, with a frightening voice. He buys a balloon after a long argument with the shopowner, saying that it is for a motherless boy. Raju steals this harsh man's purse and plans to give some of the money to beggars. But he finds the balloon inside. He imagines a motherless child crying without the balloon. He returns the purse to the pocket, but the man with the Green Blazer catches him and he receives a beating, despite the explanation he gives: he is putting back the purse. Later the Magistrate also does not accept this and he becomes a joke in the police world and a shame to his wife. After the 18 month sentence, he is not sure what to do but concludes that these gifted fingers are not for returning things to pockets.


Wife's Holiday. Kannan lives in a village. His wife and son have gone to visit her parents. If she were here, she would make him work rather than rest. "He would have to be climbing coconut trees, clearing their tops of beetles and other pests, plucking down coconuts, haggling with miserly tree-owners, and earning his rupee a day." He has been invited by his friend the oil-monger to the Mantapam, an ancient pillared structure, where he and friends gamble. But without working, he has no money. He manages to remove the cast-iron lock of a trunk: his wife's trunk and the most valuable possession in the house. He judges that she preserves saris he bought for her as a young bridegroom because she is too niggardly to wear them. [Makosi Musambasi?!] He finds her money-box empty, irritating him: giving all the money to her brother; he will wring his neck. He turns his attention to a cigarette tin in which his son keeps money, owing his encouragement. He tries using a nail to open it which was for hanging a God's picture, convincing himself that father and son are one and that he will double or treble the money inside. He injures himself. He smashes the box open with a stone pestle, but loses his son's money gambling. Mother and son take a bus home, returning early and he must face the ensuing storm when they witness the domestic scene.


God and the cobbler. The story begins with a hippie, in-between the temple and the street. The hippie is perceived by the cobbler as a man without local identity: "if you lived in the open, roasted by the sun all day, you attained a universal shade transcending classification or racial stamps and affording you unquestioned movement across all frontiers." The cobbler wonders whether the hippie is a God. The hippie has a mistaken perception of the cobbler: "the hippie concluded that, apart from the income, the man derived a mystic joy in the very process of handling leather and attacking it with sharpened end." The hippie offers the beedi and we are told "The cigarette was a sophistication and created a distance, while a beedi, four for a paisa, established rapport with the masses." They converse and the hippie asks whether the cobbler believes in god. We learn that he does but seeks to escape the cycle of rebirth. There is a strong suggestion the cobbler has committed violence. Drunk he burnt an enemy''s hut while his children were asleep, a man who took away his money may have molested his wife? The hippie says that in another incarnation, another life, "I, too, set fire to villages and, flying over them, blasted people whom I didn’t know or see." During the conversation, the cobblers wonders if this is a god or his agent. 




References
N.a. n.d. Makosi Musambasi. Wikipedia. Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makosi_Musambasi
[Preserves clothes for later. Hated British Big Brother show figure before Shilpa Shetty?]
Edward, Terence Rajivan. 2026. Learning about Inclusion criteria. Instagram video, available at:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DY0aWdlNxYR/
Edwards, Jeanette. (No relation,) 2000. Born and Bred: Idioms of Kinship and New Reproductive Technologies in England (Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Narayan, R.K. 1984 (1982). Malgudi Days. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Available at:
https://eruditesdps.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/malgudi-days-narayan_-r-k_.pdf