Swami and Friends

“I am going to bring Rajam here, bundle him up, and throw him into the river”.

Mani’s quote occurs when he and Swaminathan are walking along the Sarayu River. It conveys the distaste that Mani bore for Rajam before the two became best friends. 

“Yes, but my drawing master has asked me to see him. I suppose even then I should not go […] If I fail in the drawing examination I think you will be pleased”.

Swaminathan lies to his mother so he can play with Rajam for the first time. It is indicative of the boy’s tendency to tell lies throughout the book in order to achieve his desires. 

“By the way, may I inform you that you have earned a new name? The Tail – Rajam’s Tail, to be more precise. We aren’t good enough for you I believe. But how can everyone be the son of a police superintendent?”.

Somu says this to Swaminathan after Swaminathan asks why all of his friends have been acting strange towards him. After hearing this, Swaminathan and his previous friends become temporary enemies because of his friendship with Rajam. 

“You had better prepare something very nice, something fine and sweet. Rajam is coming this afternoon. Don’t make the sort of coffee you usually give me. It must be very good and hot”.

In this quote, Swaminathan demands that his mother prepare special treats for Rajam’s upcoming visit. As Rajam lives a life of relative luxury, Swaminathan wants to ensure that his friend is thoroughly impressed during his stay.

“Let me see the fountain-pen”.

Pea says this at the end of Chapter Six after Rajam presents Somu, Sankar, Mani, Swaminathan and himself with presents, persuading them all to be friends again. Within seconds, the boys are all playing with their new toys, and their friendships are renewed. 

“This thing has a wonderful pair of hands, so small and plump, you know! But I tell his face is awful, red, red like chili”.

Swaminathan describes the appearance of his newborn brother to the Pea. This quote reveals that Swaminathan is both intrigued and baffled by the appearance and reality of his newborn brother.

“Suppose you fail and all your class-mates go up, leaving you behind? You can start doing just what you like on the very day your examination closes”.

Swaminathan’s father admonishes his son to study in the build-up to the examinations. He poses the unthinkable to Swaminathan: what if he fails, and his other friends progress ahead a grade? Recognizing the paramount importance of peer status and relationships amongst boys Swaminathan’s age, the father uses this knowledge to motivate his son. This motivation works, as Swaminathan promptly begins studying. 

“I too wrote about that length, about half a page”.

Swaminathan lies to his friends about his answer on the last question of the placement examination. In reality, Swaminathan answered the question with a single sentence, so he is horrified when he discovers his peers wrote much longer answers. His lie is an attempt to save face. 

“There is a rascal in this town who has robbed me”.

Yet again, Swaminathan lies in an attempt to enlist Rajam and in his scheme to gain money from a local coachman’s son. Like many other of Swaminathan’s ideas throughout the book, this scheme quickly spins out the boy’s control and ends with his humiliation. 

“Look here, boy. I have half a mind to thrash you. What have you in your head? Fifteen mangoes cost fifteen annas. What is the price of one? Come on. If you don’t say it”.

Swaminathan’s father berates the boy for being unable to perform a simple mathematical problem. Before he can finish his thought, he begins painfully twisting Swaminathan’s ear. 

“We are slaves today, worse slaves than we have ever been before. Let us remember our heritage. Have we forgotten the glorious periods of Ramayan and Mahabharata? This is the country that has given the world a Kalidasa, a Buddha, a Sankar”.

This is the beginning of a nationalistic speech that stoked the angry crowd that amassed in Malgudi over the arrest of Indian politician Gauri Sankar. Swaminathan became swept up in this crowd and joined in its ransacking of two local schools. The crowd would later cause a stampede, leading to fifty people injured and at least one death. 

“Young man, do you want our country to remain in eternal slavery?”.

This quote comes from an anonymous Indian protestor who approaches Swaminathan during the fervor of the mob. He questions him about why he is wearing a foreign cap, suggesting that he is betraying his nation. We later find out from the boy’s father that the cap was not foreign at all, but a native khaddar. 

“What would you say to a cricket team?”.

Rajam asks this question immediately after forgiving Swaminathan for his involvement in the recent mob. This question initiates the boys’ cricket team, the M.C.C., which triggers a series of events that eventually leads to the unraveling of their friendship. 

“Swami, do you know what the catalogue man calls the Junior Willard? It seems it is the Rolls-Royce among the junior bats. Don’t you know the difference between the Rolls-Royce and the other cars?”.

Rajam lectures Swaminathan on the quality of Junior Willard bats as the boys survey a sporting catalogue. He compares their quality to that of a Rolls-Royce, a type of luxury car, in order to get his point across that these are the best bats. 

“Well, well, I don’t care. You are always ready with excuses. Since the new balls, bats, and things arrived, you have hardly played four times”.

Rajam vents his anger at Swaminathan for missing so many of the M.C.C.’s practices. Since Swaminathan has switched schools, his classes run later into the evening, and he misses most of the team’s practices. This causes friction in Swaminathan’s relationship to Rajam, as he direly wants to win the upcoming friendly match with the Y.M.U. 

“I shall give you six paise. You can take three paise and get me a lemon for three paise”.

Swaminathan’s grandmother asks the boy to fetch her a lemon in exchange for three paise. Swaminathan responds with thoughtless cruelty, telling her to go get the lemon herself if she needs it so badly before rushing off to cricket practice. Later, he feels tremendous guilt at his cruelty towards his grandmother. 

“I don’t care. What I want is that you have good practice. If you keep any batsman standing for longer than five minutes, I will never see your face again. You needn’t concern yourself with the score”.

Rajam delivers an ultimatum; he will never speak to Swaminathan again if he misses the upcoming match with the Y.M.U. Because Swaminathan is the best bowler on the M.C.C., Rajam knows they need him in order to win. 

“Rajam, do you think I am so necessary for the match?”

After throwing his headmaster’s cane out of a window, Swaminathan determines to run away from Malgudi for good. When he ventures to tell Rajam goodbye, he decides against it and instead their conversation turns to the upcoming match. Swaminathan poses this question to Rajam to gauge the necessity of his presence at the game, and Rajam reminds him that his presence is absolutely necessary. 

“Oh, god, help me”

Swaminathan’s father utters this out of desperation during his search for his son, who has run away. The father’s considers the possibility of finding his son drowned and floating in the river, and thus he mutters this short prayer out of desperation. 

“Certainly, this very evening. But you must tell me which is your place and whose son you are”

At the close of Chapter Sixteen, Mr. Nair is put in charge of making sure that the recently lost Swaminathan makes it home to his father and family. After the boy seems more preoccupied with his cricket match, Mr. Nair poses this question to discover how to get him home safely. 

“Rajam says a lot, which I don’t wish to repeat. But I will tell you one thing. Never appear before him. He will never speak to you. He may even shoot you on sight”

Mani explains to Swaminathan that he has missed the M.C.C.’s first match, and because of this, Rajam will never speak to him again. At this point in the book, Swaminathan is unaware that he missed the match, so it horrified him to find out how badly he has let Rajam down. 

“Goodbye, Rajam. Swami gives you this book”

Swaminathan and Mani are at the Malgudi Railway Station to say goodbye as Rajam departs from Malgudi for good. Swaminathan intends to give Rajam a copy of Andersen’s Fairy Tales as a departing gift, but Rajam refuses to speak to him. Mani has to hand the book to Rajam as he leans out the train’s window.

“Mani, I am glad he has taken the book. Mani, he waved to me. He was about to say something when the train started. Mani, he did wave to me and me alone. Don’t deny it”

Swaminathan says this to Mani after Rajam’s train has departed; these words are an attempt to console himself over Rajam’s ambiguous and difficult departure. Rajam’s departure has left everything in a state of irresolution, and Swaminathan is unsure whether he has been forgiven or not.