Swami and Friends, the Bachelor of Arts, the Dark Room, the English Teacher: Introduction by Alexander McCall Smith by R. K. Narayan

Author:R. K. Narayan [Narayan, R. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-49813-7
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2012-05-09T00:00:00+00:00

Next morning Babu took a look at his work and decided to improve it. It was all very well as far as gum and paper could go, but the lighting was defective. All the illumination that the pavilion got was from the bulb hanging a few yards from it in the hall. He would get his friend Chandru in, and fix up a festoon of ornamental coloured bulbs under the pavilion arch; he would transform the doll pavilion into something unique in the whole of Extension.

He brought Chandru in the afternoon. Chandru was very much his senior, but Babu spent much of his time with him. Chandru was studying in the Intermediate and had a genius for electricity. He had made miniature dynamos, electric bells, and telegraph sets.

Sumati and Kamala were delighted. ‘It is going to beat the pavilion in the Police Inspector’s house,’ they said ecstatically. Chandru worked wonders with a piece of wire and a spanner. In a short while he had created a new circuit with an independent switch. When the switch was put on, a festoon of coloured bulbs twinkled in the archway and two powerful bulbs flooded all the dolls with a bluish light.

‘When you switch on in the evening, do it very carefully,’ warned Chandru, and left.

It was a great triumph for Babu. He felt very proud of being responsible for the illumination. ‘If you like I will ask him to come and add an electric train to the dolls. That will be wonderful,’ he said.

At five o’clock the two girls worried Babu to put the lights on. He told them he knew the right time to do it and warned them not to go near the switch. ‘Lighting at six,’ he said.

‘We will be out at six,’ they protested, ‘inviting people. A lot of our friends will be coming now to invite us to their houses, and we would so love to have the illuminations at once. Please.’

‘Will you leave that to me or not? I know when to do it, and I want you to mind your own business now.’

Savitri said to Babu, ‘Don’t be so strict. You have done everything for their sake, why should you grudge them the light now?’

‘All right, at five-thirty,’ said Babu.

At five-thirty nearly a dozen visitors had already arrived. Everyone wore bright silks, and sat gazing at the dolls. Finding so many ladies sitting in the hall, Babu hesitated at the door, wondering how he was to reach the switch in the pavilion. He called Sumati and said, ‘With the tip of your finger push that small rod to one side, to the left. You must do it very gently.’

Sumati pushed the switch gently, then less gently, and then Babu shed his shyness and dashed to the switch. He rattled it, but nothing happened. Not only were the pavilion lights not on, but the usual hall bulbs had also gone out. Babu looked at Sumati and said, ‘I knew that if I let you touch it something or other would happen.

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