Noticing him hesitating there, the shopman hailed from his shop, ‘Oh, Grand Master, you want anything?’ He felt annoyed. Why couldn’t they leave him alone? And then a young shop assistant came out to take his order. Rao looked down at him and asked, pointing at the cross street, ‘Where does it lead?’
‘To the next street,’ the boy said, and that somehow satisfied him. The boy asked, ‘What can I get you?’
‘Oh, will no one leave me alone?’ Rao thought with irritation. They seemed to assume that he needed something all the time. He hugged the packet of sweets close to his chest, along with the umbrella slung on the crook of his arm. The boy seemed to be bent on selling him something. And so he said, ‘Have you sandalwood soap?’ He remembered that S., or whoever it was, used to be fond of it. The boy got it for him with alacrity. Its fragrance brought back some old memories. He had thought there was a scent of jasmine about S., but he realized now that it must have been that of sandalwood. He smelt it nostalgically before thrusting it into his pocket. ‘Anything else, sir?’ asked the boy. ‘No, you may go,’ and he crossed Market Road over to the other side.
Trusting his instinct to guide him, he proceeded along the cross street ahead of Chettiar Stores. It led to another street running parallel, where he took a turn to his left on an impulse, and then again to his right into a lane, and then left, and then about-turn—but there was no trace of Gokulam Street. As he tap-tapped along, he noticed a cobbler on the roadside, cleared his throat, struck his staff on the ground to attract attention and asked, ‘Here, which way to Gokulam Street?’ At first, the cobbler shook his head, then, to get rid of the inquirer, pointed vaguely in some direction and resumed his stitching. ‘Is there a coconut tree in this street?’ The other once again pointed along the road. Rao felt indignant. ‘Haughty beggar,’ he muttered. ‘In those days I’d have . . .’ He moved on, hoping he’d come across the landmark. He stopped a couple of others to ask the same question, and that did not help. No coconut tree anywhere. He was sure that it was somewhere here that he used to come, but everything was changed. All the generations of men and women who could have known Gokulam Street and the coconut tree were dead—new generations around here, totally oblivious of the past. He was a lone survivor.
He moved cautiously now, as the sun was going down. He became rather nervous and jabbed his staff down at each step, afraid of stumbling into a hole. It was a strain moving in this fashion, so slow and careful, and he began to despair that he’d ever reach the Market Road again. He began to feel anxious, regretted this expedition. The family would blame him if he should have a mishap. Somehow he felt more disturbed at the thought of their resentment than of his own possible suffering. But he kept hobbling along steadily. Some passers-by paused to stare at him and comment on his perambulation. At some point, his staff seemed to stab through a soft surface; at the same moment a brown mongrel, which had lain curled up in dust, in perfect camouflage, sprang up with a piercing howl; Rao instinctively jumped, as he had not done for decades, luckily without falling down, but the packet of jilebi flew from his grip and landed in front of the mongrel, who picked it up and trotted away, wagging his tail in gratitude. Rao looked after the dog helplessly and resumed his journey homeward. Brooding over it, he commented to himself, ‘Who knows, S. is perhaps in this incarnation now . . .’
Glossary
almirah: cupboard
appalam: fried delicacy made of rice and other grains
bajji: a sort of cutlet made with sliced vegetables
beedi: leaf-wrapped tobacco
bhairavi raga: a melodic classification
Bhajan: a collective prayer, song
bhang: narcotic made from hemp
bonda: fried eatable made with flour
brinjal: eggplant
bund: elevated border of tank or river
chappati: wheat-flour pancake
choultry: rest-house for travellers
circar: government
dakshina: fee
darshan: grace conferred on the beholder of a godly person
dhall: lentil
dhobi: laundry boy or washerman
dhoti: sarong-like men’s garment, tucked and knotted at the waist
dosai: fried cake made of rice paste
idli: steamed rice cake
jaggery: product similar to brown sugar, made by boiling sugarcane juice
Javali: a musical composition
jilebi: a sweet
jutka: two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage
karma: Hindu theological idea meaning destiny, desert; the doctrine that one’s present actions continue to have effects in another incarnation
kurta: flowing shirt
lakh: a hundred thousand
lathi: heavy stick, often bamboo, bound with iron
Muhurtam: auspicious moment
namaste: greeting—‘I bow before thee’
Om: a mystical syllable
paisa (pl. paise): the smallest coin; one hundred make one rupee
Pallavi: special item in a musical concert
pandal: special shed put up for an assembly
payasam: sweet soup
pie: the smallest coin in the old currency
Pongal: harvest festival
puja: worship, offering
punnaga varali: a particular melody
pyol: platform built along the house wall that faces the street
ragi: millet
rasagulla: sweet made from condensed milk
rasam: lentil soup
sadhu: hermit or recluse
Sandhi: devotions at morning, noon, and evening
sanyasi: an ascetic who has renounced the world
shikari: professional hunter
sowcar: businessman or financier
Swarga Loka: heaven
teapoy: small table
thali: sacred marriage badge, symbol of wifehood
thambura: stringed instrument used for accompaniment
1 A German warship that shelled Madras in 1916; ever since, the term indicates anyone who is formidable and ruthless.
2 Dancing Girl, a term denoting a public woman in those days.
R. K. Narayan, Malgudi Days
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