An Astrologer’s Day: An Introduction.

Hareshwar Roy,
An Astrologer’s Day: An Introduction.


An Astrologer’s Day is a fantastic tale by R. K. Narayan. It was first published in the newspaper The Hindu. After that it was made the title story of a collection of short stories. This collection appeared in 1947, the year of getting Indian independence. By the time this collection was published, he was already a well known novelist. He always wrote in his own style depicting different aspects of life. He did not write to interpret India for Westerners and that was his specialty.

An Astrologer’s Day is a very popular story by Narayan. It displays all the characteristics associated with his writing. Narayan’s sense of irony, his deep religious sensibility, his humour, his consciousness of the significance of everyday occurrences and his belief in a Hindu vision of life are all revealed in this story.

This fantastic tale begins almost in the middle. It concludes on what appears to be an ambiguous note. The story begins with a description of an astrologer. This astrologer is the central character of this story. In minute detail, his appearance, his clothes and all the materials he uses to ply his business are described. The details of the surroundings of his business place have also been given.

There are two major characters in the story. The first one is an astrologer who has not been given any name. It is only at the end of the story that the astrologer is given an individuality that makes him a distinctive figure. In the entire story he interacts only with two characters: the first one is Guru Nayak and the second is his wife. The first character, Guru Nayak, had been attacked in the past. He is now on a quest for revenge.

The short story of An Astrologer’s Day is that an astrologer is about to close up his shop for the day. In the mean time a client appears. The astrologer tries to induce this last client to buy his services. The client initially resists, but then gives in. The astrologer then reads in the client’s past that he had once been stabbed and left for dead in a well of his village. The client had all this time been searching for his assailant. The astrologer reveals that the assailant had died four months ago in a far off town. The client is relieved and goes home. When the astrologer returns to his home, he shares the experience of that day to his wife. He tells that once he had tried to kill a man.

In this story Narayan deals with the healing of memories. Magically, the astrologer himself was the man who once attempted to kill that client. For both the client and the astrologer a great load is gone after the mysterious encounter.

Narayan’s world is predominantly a Hindu world in which fate also plays an important role in man’s life. An Astrologer’s day is entirely based on the astrologer’s sense of guilt at having stabbed another young man in the village and then having absconded in order to avoid punishment. The stabbing is later seen to an act of youthful folly. Nonetheless, the astrologer lives with the fear of being identified. The curious irony is that it is he who identifies the victim. He does not pay for the crime. But the story ends on the note that he had spent years regretting his deed and that in itself is punishment enough. The story demands a suspension of disbelief.
Location: B-37, City Homes Colony, Jawahar Nagar Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India
Currently Dr. Roy is working as Professor of English at Govt. P.G. College Satna, Madhya Pradesh. He is the author of the following books: (1) Diasporic Articulation in the Novels of M.G. Vassanji (2) A Study of M.G. Vassanji 's Novels (3) Varieties of Indianity in the Works of M.G. Vassanji & Rohinton Mistry (4)Diaspora & Indian Diaspora: A Brief Study (5) Short Notes of English Literature - I (6) Short Notes of English Literature - II (7) हमार पहचान ह भोजपुरी - भोजपुरी कविता संकलन (8) हमरा प्यार हो गइल - भोजपुरी गज़ल संकलन (9) भोजपुरी कविताएँ

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