Govind Singh, the gateman carries around a registered postal envelope asking everyone what’s inside, but recoiling at the suggestion of opening it to find out. No wonder everyone, including himself entertains doubts about his sanity. The background of his strange behavior takes us the time when Govind Singh, fiercely proud of his khaki uniform, and his short stick, stood to attention, and gave a military salute to the chief every morning. After his retirement he tries to express his gratitude by presenting the chief with one of the clay – models he makes so well. What happens next highlights the plight of simple, uneducated folk that inhabit our towns and villages. R.K. Narayan at his empathetic best.

The Gold Belt is a story, which revolves around the evil system of dowry. After years of searching, Sambasivan finds a groom for his daughter who is right in all aspects. Moreover their horoscopes are a perfect match too. The wedding is fixed and grand celebration takes place and people are busy making last minute preparations. Everything seems to be going fine, and the auspicious moment nears, but there is no sign of the groom or his parents. A worried Sambasivan goes to invite them, but something terrible awaits him. The groom’s relatives refuse to attend the wedding unless a gold belt is also given to the bride as part of the wedding dowry. Sambasivan who has already spent all his life savings and has even taken a loan for the wedding is heartbroken. Sastri, a close friend of Sambasivan, comes to the rescue and rushes out to buy a gold belt. The wedding goes off smoothly and the groom’s family leaves along with the bride. Now Sambasivan is worried about how to pay for the gold belt. But good news awaits him. Sambasivan’s daughter proves to be smart: she has made her new husband agree to pay for the gold belt without the knowledge of his parents. They all conclude that they really have a smart daughter and they are happy!

If you asked Ranga how long he’d been sharpening knives and other things, he’d reply” ever since a time of moustache began to appear here” drawing a finger over his lip. For there were no calendars, watches, almanacs or even mirrors in his world. His mission was getting people to see the importance of keeping their edges sharp. He even guaranteed his work for sixty days to keep ahead of his sole competitor. No one knew Ranga’s secret dream to protect his little daughter in the village from his quarrelsome wife, and make her a lady doctor. So he came to the village every other month, enduring the torture of his wife’s barbs only to enjoy watching his daughter dress up in her green skirt and yellow jacket to go to the Mission school. After one of his visits, when Ranga get a lift in a car, he wished his wife could see him and realize how people respect him. The message TWO WILL DO painted on the car doesn’t have any significance for him till much later. Ranga is one of R.K. Narayan’s most successful characterizations, making you smile, chuckle, worry and fear with him.

The rebellious boy is called Nitya, 20 years ago, his mortal illness led the parents to make a vow: to place the tiny tot’s hair on the Lord’s alter — if he saved their boy’s life Allopathy or sacred vow — Nitya lived on. The parents grew forgetful till one day they remembered the vow. Both grew fretful, for Nitya was not one to fool about with. A 100 — mile journey, ending in a total head shave was not his idea of fun. But somehow, the parents managed to convince their son and they all set off one Friday morning. The journey, to say the least, was comfortable and on reaching the site, a steep hill — climb awaited them. Nitya cursed to his heart’s content — but there was no way out. On reaching the village, the party were greeted profusely by the villagers and refreshments were laid out — which Father politely refused. Worse still, the barber was missing from his house, so no shave could take place. This pleased Nitya no end, but annoyed his parents. An infuriated Nitya offered a mere four inches of his front locks to the village Headman just as the local barber came cycling desperately down the lane. Would the young lad lose his glorious mane or survive the ordeal.

Snake Song is an incident that occurs in the Talkative Man’s life. He recounts an interesting and gripping anecdote to his friends when an argument starts about the difference between extraordinary music and mediocre music. The story unfolds with the Talkative Man having harbored ambitions of becoming a flautist and how it all came to an end. As per the traditional system of Gurushishya parampara, the Talkative Man, an orphan, had become the disciple of a famous music Guru. Just when he had mastered the art of playing the flute, an incident occurs in his life that shatters his dreams. One day, the Talkative Man turns away a hungry mendicant, as he is too busy practicing. The Mendicant loves the music, but goes away hunger — stricken cursing that this will be the last time the Talkative Man will ever play the flute. As the Talkative Man continue to practice the Punnaga Varali, the raga of the snakes, a real snake comes in and haunts him to continue playing non- stop till he drops out of sheer exhaustion. The Guru tells him that unless he manages to be forgiven by the mendicant he can never play the flute again. Thus ends the dreams of the Talkative Man of becoming a flutist. The story, like all R.K. Narayan’s masterpieces, t ells us that ambition alone is not enough to master an art, but being humane and compassionate is equally important in achieving one’s goals in life.

Thanappa is more than just a postman to the Ramanujam family. He shares their good news and also wallows in their sorrow as well. Thanappa is instrumental in bringing about their daughter’s engagement — the one whose birth he had brought news of almost seventeen years ago. Thanappa finds himself in a tricky situation, when a day before the happy occasion of her marriage, a letter arrives bearing news of Ramanujam’s elder brother’s illness and a telegram follows with the news about his passing away. Thanappa is in a dilemma whether he should risk by telling the family on this happy day or postpone the delivery and risk getting sacked for his efforts, thus bringing to light the problems of arranged marriages in a middle class family.

In the courtyard of a 100 year old building live Malgudi’s odd trio-Pachai the blind beggar (whose eyesight is as sharp as a razor), Kuppan the rickshaw cyclist and Kali the coolie. His one weakness is children. And the school opposite is his haven He never mingles with the kids- always keeping distance from them. And so the three eke out a living from day to day till the child-lover gets an opportunity to earn some big money at the local ration store. Feigning illness to his friend, he summons up the courage to buy sweets for the children. At school – break, he approaches them. Being children, they cannot refuse his tempting offer and soon there is commotion all over the place. Some passers – by mistake him for a kidnapper and within no time, rumors about him are rife. A large crowd chases him till he finds refuge in a stranger’s house. An exhausted Kali tries to escape, but of no avail. The police arrive and apprehend him. Kali has got himself landed in hospital, shorn and shaven. His friend on a consolation visit, suggest he can go back to his old ways as no one will recognize the new, hairless Kali.

To Malgudi comes India’s most famed archaeologist – Dr. Bandhopadhyaya, a bit of a crank! His equally cranky theories are conveyed to old friend cum assistant, none other than the Talkative Man. The archaeologist believes that remnants of Ancient Rome still lie about the plains of Malgudi – and he’s out to prove it! And so the two go tramping around the countryside, looking for these remnants till the Talkative Man comes up with a stone image which is confirmed as Roman! The press laud them, the Historical Society praise them, and the two bask in public adulation. Returning to the spot one morning, the Talkative Man chances on the truth about the image – was it really from Ancient Rome or have our heroes made a slight geographical error.

This is the story of Ramu, an orphan boy wanting to have a job with a merchant in the town of Malgudi. Being orphan, he takes pity on Ramu and employs him. Ramu develops association with the whole family in a manner that they begin trusting him totally. Sheshadri, the boy practically allows Ramu to handle total business including purchase and sale and he thinks of expanding the business with the assistance of Ramu who has become one of the family member. One day when Sheshadri was out of station and returns back, finds that his whole shop is empty and Ramu not only had swindle all the money but also borrowed money and disappeared. Sheshadri now forced to leave the town because of the heavy loss and after several years when he is going to a Temple, he sees a man begging on the steps of the temple who is affected by leprosy. He realizes that he is Ramu and tries to call him. When he turns back, he finds Ramu not there and has disappeared, leaving in the mind of the audience whatever they feel like.

The Neighbour’s help is a beautiful story that portrays true friendship never dies. Ekambaram and Ram are childhood friends: they have grown up together, and even got married around the same time, Ekambaram has a large family and find it difficult to manage on his meager lawyer’s income. However, Ram has inherited his father’s business, has a small family and is prosperous. One day, Ekambaram dies, leaving the family’s gold jewellery in Ram’s charge till such a time his son grown up. Ram is helpful and starts to give money to Ekambram’s family and educates his children. But soon his businessman’s instinct takes over and he thinks, he should start charging interest. One day when he sits down to calculate the interest in the quite of his farmhouse, Ekambaram’s ghost comes and taunts him about being greedy. Ram is shaken. He goes back home and tell his wife about Ekambaram’s ghostly visit. His wife laughs it off saying that it’s his own conscience that’s telling him not to be selfish and she advises not o be greedy and not to charge interest. Ram realizes his folly and makes it up to Ekambaram’s family helping his son get job. He returns the jewellery that has been his custody, and also gives them some money. Ram’s guilt conscience is appeased and he lives happily ever after.

‘Salt & Stardust’ is a light story that reflects a young couple’s dreams and ambitions. Swamy works in a factory and Veena is a housewife. Veena is a bad cook, so Swamy cooks everyday before going to work. Veena harbors dreams of becoming a writer and Swamy brings her a notebook to write. Many days and months pass, and Veena has not progressed much with her story. Finally, with the help of Swamy, Veena manages to complete a story. The story is a comedy and tells the tale of a Chinese dentist who falls in love with his toothless patient and how they get married. Swamy is a very good cook, and he has a brilliant idea. He suggest that the story should not merely mention the grand wedding but also give details of what food was served at the banquet with details of every dish. He also suggests that the recipe of the food served should form a detailed portion for people to appreciate the book. Finally they send it to the publishers. The story ends hilariously when the publishers want to print only the recipes and not the story! Thus, Veena who does not know how to cook becomes a famous recipe writer with the help of her husband Swamy!

‘Salt & Stardust’ is a light story that reflects a young couple’s dreams and ambitions. Swamy works in a factory and Veena is a housewife. Veena is a bad cook, so Swamy cooks everyday before going to work. Veena harbors dreams of becoming a writer and Swamy brings her a notebook to write. Many days and months pass, and Veena has not progressed much with her story. Finally, with the help of Swamy, Veena manages to complete a story. The story is a comedy and tells the tale of a Chinese dentist who falls in love with his toothless patient and how they get married. Swamy is a very good cook, and he has a brilliant idea. He suggest that the story should not merely mention the grand wedding but also give details of what food was served at the banquet with details of every dish. He also suggests that the recipe of the food served should form a detailed portion for people to appreciate the book. Finally they send it to the publishers. The story ends hilariously when the publishers want to print only the recipes and not the story! Thus, Veena who does not know how to cook becomes a famous recipe writer with the help of her husband Swamy!

This is the story of Venkatesh, a Snake charmer and his son Pundi who perform various acts with live snake for their living. The boy develops love for the snake. Venkatesh, the snake charmer having lost his wife develops an association with another married woman. In the mean time they catch hold of a monkey and train it to perform in the public along with the snake.

This episode continues with the training of the newly caught monkey to perform in the public. Venkatesh, the snake charmer deserts his son and runs off with other woman and also takes the newly trained monkey for his living. Left at this, the boy tries to live by performing in public with the snake. The snake is old and is not above to raise even its hood. Pundi, the boy having developed association with the snake tries to feed it even though he goes hungry. With disgust he tries to get rid of the snake by leaving it in forest. When he sees an Eagle is about to attack the snake he rushes to the snake and protects it and take it back.

Dr. Raman has a reputation of foreseeing his patient’s future; life or death. He is known never to have gone wrong. But Dr. Raman faces a strange predicament when his closest friend Gopal falls ill and his is compelled to predict whether he is going to live or die. It is imperative that Gopal knows whether he is going to live or die since he has to sign papers concerning property documents. If he does not sign them, his family will be poverty stricken. But if Dr. Raman allows him to sign them, that would mean giving his friend not even an iota of hope. After much contemplation, Dr. Raman decides to play with fate and for the first time lies to Gopal. He tells Gopal that he has to fear no more and that he is going to live for many years to come. After the surgery, Dr. Raman has no hope, but to his surprise, Gopal’s health steadies and he becomes hale and hearty! In this simple tale, R.K. Narayan plays between the virtues of honesty against dishonesty, and end up showing the strength of a determined spirit and that dishonesty works too when the intension are good.

Gopinath is the village miser who cares more about money than his own family. He never spends a rupee when he doesn’t have to. One day in an indulgent mood he decides to take his grandson to see a movie and won’t spend money on sweets, telling the boy they are not good for him. While Gopinath finds the movie entertaining, the boy is bored and finally sneaks out of the theater and sets off to meet his friends to play cricket. Gopinath eventually realizes the boy is missing and goes in search of him. Suddenly his money is of no benefit, as he searches fruitlessly for the boy. He buys a packet of sweets for the boy, and even pays homage to the gods, promising to offer a whole coconut if the boy is found. When darkness falls, he makes his way back to his daughter’s house, and struggles to find the words to explain the situation to her.

This story introduces the talkative man. He joins his friends at the town square and begins to talk about the local driver Daas. While everyone seems to agree that Daas is certainly a wonderful driver and handyman, the talkative man insists that despite this he has a tale which will show good old Daas in a bizarre light. To prove his point he begins narrating a story of when he used to work in Kumbum – a town near Malgudi. On his way back from there he says he had used Daas as the driver. He was fast asleep when Daas swerved through a mud path and almost rammed the car near an old and abandoned temple. On waking up and inquiring about the incident Daas started telling the talkative man about how he was trying to avoid hitting the old man. On looking around the talkative man found no one in sight. Just as they were about to leave the place a relatively young Daas undergoes a weird transformation. He starts to talk and walk about like an old man who he claims was the builder of the temple they are at. He even starts to call himself Krishna Battar. This scares the talkative man a little but he keeps his wits about him. He continues to humor Daas (now in the old man’s personality) and extracts information on how he died 500 years ago while crossing across the forest one night.