Malgudi Days by R. K. Narayan

Author:R. K. Narayan
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2010-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

A SHADOW

Sambu demanded, ‘You must give me four annas to see the film tomorrow.’ His mother was horrified. How could this boy! She had been dreading for six months past the arrival of the film. How could people bear to see him on the screen when they knew he was no more? She had had a vague hope that the producers might not release the picture out of consideration for her feelings. And when a procession appeared in the street with tom-tom and band, and with young boys carrying placards and huge coloured portraits of her husband, she resolved to go out of town for a while; but it was a desperate and unpractical resolve. Now the picture had arrived. Her husband was going to speak, move and sing, for at least six hours a day in that theatre three streets off.

Sambu was as delighted as if his father had come back to life.

‘Mother, won’t you also come and see the picture?’

‘No.’

‘Please, please. You must come.’

She had to explain to him how utterly impossible it would be for her to see the picture. The boy had a sort of ruthless logic: ‘Why should it be impossible? Aren’t you seeing his photos, even that big photo on the wall, every day?’

‘But these photos do not talk, move or sing.’

‘And yet you prefer them to the picture which has life!’

The whole of the next day Sambu was in great excitement. In his classroom whenever his master took his eyes off him for a moment he leant over and whispered to his neighbour, ‘My father was paid ten thousand rupees to act in that film. I am seeing it this evening. Aren’t you also coming?’

‘To see Kumari!’ sneered his friend. He hated Tamil pictures. ‘I won’t even pass that way.’

‘This is not like other Tamil films. My father used to read the story to us every night. It is a very interesting story. He wrote the whole story himself. He was paid ten thousand rupees for writing and acting. I will take you to the picture if you are also coming.’

‘I won’t see a Tamil picture.’

‘This is not an ordinary Tamil picture. It is as good as an English picture.’

But Sambu’s friend was adamant. Sambu had to go alone and see the picture. It was an attempt at a new style in Tamil films—a modern story with a minimum of music. It was the story of Kumari, a young girl who refused to marry at fourteen but wanted to study in a university and earn an independent living, and was cast away by her stern father (Sambu’s father) and forgiven in the end.

Sambu, sitting in the four-anna class, was eagerly waiting for the picture to begin. It was six months since he had seen his father, and he missed him badly at home.

The hall darkened. Sambu sat through the trailers and slide advertisements without enthusiasm. Finally, his father came on the screen. He was wearing just the dhoti and shirt he used to wear at home; he was sitting at his table just as he used to sit at home.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.