The Guide by Narayan R. K

Author:Narayan, R. K. [Narayan, R. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Classics
ISBN: 9780143039648
Amazon: 0143039644
Goodreads: 129877
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Published: 1958-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

“In what way?”

“Do you also hate to see me dance?”

“Not at all. What makes you think so?”

“At one time you spoke like a big lover of art, but now you never give it a thought.”

It was true. I said something in excuse, clasped her hands in mine, and swore earnestly, “I will do anything for you. I will give my life to see you dance. Tell me what to do. I will do it for you.”

She brightened up. Her eyes lit up with a new fervor at the mention of dancing. So I sat up with her, helping her to day-dream. I found out the clue to her affection and utilized it to the utmost. Her art and her husband could not find a place in her thoughts at the same time; one drove the other out.

She was full of plans. At five in the morning she’d start her practice and continue for three hours. She would have a separate hall, long enough and wide enough for her to move in. It must have a heavy carpet, which would be neither too smooth under the feet nor too rough, and which would not fold while she practiced her steps on it. At one corner of the room she’d have a bronze figure of Nataraja, the god of dancers, the god whose primal dance created the vibrations that set the worlds in motion. She would have a long incense-holder, in which at all times she would have incense sticks burning. After her morning practice, she would call up the chauffeur.

“Are you going to have a car?” I asked.

“Naturally, otherwise how can I move about? When I have so many engagements, it will be necessary for me to have a car. It’ll be indispensable, don’t you think?”

“Surely. I’ll remember it.”

She would then spend an hour or two in the forenoon studying the ancient works on the art, Natya Shastra of Bharat Muni, a thousand years old, and various other books, because without a proper study of the ancient methods it would be impossible to keep the purity of the classical forms. All the books were in her uncle’s house, and she would write to him to send them on to her by and by. She would also want a pundit to come to her to help her to understand the texts, as they were all written in an old, terse style. “Can you get me a Sanskrit pundit?” she asked.

“Of course I can. There are dozens of them.”

“I shall also want him to read for me episodes from Ramayana and Mahabarata, because they are a treasure house, and we can pick up so many ideas for new compositions from them.”

A little rest after lunch; and at three o’clock she would go out and do shopping, and a drive and return home in the evening or see a picture, unless, of course, there was a performance in the evening. If there was a performance, she would like to rest till three in the afternoon and reach the hall only half an hour before the show.

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