Swami and Friends

Sometime shortly after the events of Chapter 1, we find Swaminathan and Mani sitting on the bank of the River Sarayu, a popular recreation area for the citizens of Malgudi. Mani asks Swaminathan if this area of the river is deep, to which Swaminathan replies yes. Mani says that is he asking because it is his intention to capture a boy that is new to the town, Rajam, and throw him into the river.

Rajam is a new boy at their school, and he makes an immediate impression. On the first day of his arrival, Mani jabs Rajam in the ribs, only to be jabbed right back. This feat impresses all the boys, because no one has ever dared to defy Mani’s bullying tactics. 

This bold and decisive response is not the only sign that there is something exceptional about Rajam. For example, he arrives the first day of class extremely well-dressed, wearing socks, shoes, and knickers, as well as a fur cap, a tie, and a coat. Unlike his peers, he was dropped off at the school in a car, and he instantly exhibited a seemingly perfect “European” knowledge of the English language. Furthermore, it becomes readily apparent to everyone at the school that Rajam is intellectually gifted, being only second to Sankar in prodigiousness. 

For these reasons, Rajam earns Mani’s jealousy, and Mani decides to teach him a lesson by throwing him into the Sarayu River. Although Swaminathan tries to dissuade Mani, reminding him that Rajam’s father is the local police superintendent, Mani, is seemingly unimpressed. Recalling that he had caught Swaminathan talking to the new boy in class, he forbids him from speaking to Rajam again. Swaminathan responds by denying any friendliness to Rajam, insisting that he was only rejecting Rajam’s request to borrow a pencil. 

The next day in class, Swaminathan passes a note to Rajam from Mani that asks “Are you a man?” When Rajam ignores this Mani ups the ante, passing a note saying, “You are the son of a dog if you do not answer this.” Rajam scowls at the two and returns to his work. At the end of that school day, the three boys meet off campus and Swaminathan stands between the two rivals as an intermediary, relaying their messages back and forth even though they are standing only a few feet from one another.

The boys arrange a fight between Mani and Rajam the next evening at Nallappa’s Grove by the River Sarayu. When the next evening rolls around, Swaminathan and Mani await Rajam’s arrival at Nallappa’s Grove in order to await Rajam’s arrival, and are surprised when they turn around to find him pointing the barrel of an air gun at them. Rajam fires the gun into the air and promises that next time he will shoot into Mani’s body.

Rajam then asks Mani what he has done to bother him, insists he never called Mani a sneak or wronged him in any way, and if there is no other gripe, then the boys should simply squash the conflict and become friends. All three boys agree to this, and, as a sign of peace and new friendship, they share a few biscuits that Rajam pulls from his pockets. 

In Chapter 3, the novel introduces Swaminathan’s grandmother, who lives in one of the passageways of Swaminathan’s father’s house with very few material possessions. The family has just finished eating dinner, and Swaminathan is resting his head in the comfort of his grandmother’s lap. He begins to explain to her how much he admires his new friend Rajam, and how Rajam and Mani overcame their initial disdain for each other.

Swaminathan reveals that Rajam’s father is the new Police Superintendent of Malgudi. In reply, Swaminathan’s grandmother begins to detail some of the exploits of the young boy’s grandfather, but Swaminathan is not interested and interrupts her with more stories of Rajam. The moment he finishes these stories, his grandmother begins another one of her stories, which quickly put Swaminathan to sleep.

The following Saturday afternoon, Swaminathan’s father orders him to stay home to avoid meaninglessly “loafing around.” Swaminathan, feigning obedience, appears to be hard at work deciphering a poem from his English Reader as his father gets dressed for work at the local courts, but the moment he leaves, Swaminathan heads for the door, eager to meet up with Mani and Rajam. When his mother asks him where he is going, he lies, telling her he has a study appointment with his drawing master.

Swaminathan collects Mani from his house (though Mani has to sneak out), and make their way to Rajam’s house, in the upscale Lawley Extension of Malgudi, where all of its governmental officials live. When the boys tell a nearby policeman whom they are going to see, he kindly escorts them to Rajam’s room.

Rajam’s room is large and organized, and, to the boys surprise, filled with furniture. Rajam greets them shortly thereafter and within minutes they are all digging through his cupboards of toys, filled with miniature trains, picture books, and bows and arrows. Later, Rajam calls a policeman into the room, and orders him to have the cook fetch coffee and treats for the boys.

Although the household cook quickly brings a plate of drinks and edibles, Rajam wants to assert his authority in front of his friends, berating the cook and complaining that the cups are dirty. Agitated, the cook walks back to the kitchen with the entire plate in hand.

Rajam, embarrassed by his cook’s defiant display, leaves the room and comes back a few moments later with the plate of treats. Mani and Swaminathan are puzzled that Rajam allowed his servant to openly defy him. Swaminathan asks Rajam why he did not kill the man instantly. The chapter ends with Rajam explaining facetiously that he has already taken care of the matter by kicking the cook into unconsciousness in the back room. 

This chapter opens with Swaminathan roaming his school hallways during free time. Wandering the Infant Standards section of the school, he expresses contempt for these young children, musing on his own superiority. Annoyed by the sound of children reciting the Tamil alphabet, he determines to go upstairs to look at the senior classes, but decides against this, remembering that the headmaster teaches these classes.

He ventures outside and is delighted to see his school friends playing a game beneath a nearby Tamarind tree. Swaminathan warmly greets his friends though they only return silent half-smiles. Swaminathan asks if he can join their game, but Sankar says that they cannot accept any more players.

The Pea quickly chimes in that “[t]here are people who can be very efficient at the game of tails.” Sankar asks if this remark applies to anyone beneath the tree, to which the Pea replies that “It may.” Swaminathan knew that they were talking about him, but he did not understand what they meant by “tail.” Later during class, Swaminathan asks Somu what is the matter with everyone. Somu explains to him that his peers have labeled him “Rajam’s Tail.”

This comment completely shocks Swaminathan into a haze of disbelief. He quickly rushes home, drops his school items, and gulps down a cup of cold coffee. Later, he spends the evening crafting a small paper boat into which he places an ant. He takes the boat, ant and all, to the gutters in front of his house, and launches it into the streaming water, watching it until the boat wrecks and the ant is lost. He honors the ant with a memorial prayer.

Several days pass, and Swaminathan has become accustomed to being the enemy of all his former school friends. One day after class, Swaminathan is walking home from school when he turns around and realizes that Somu, Sankar, and the Pea are following him. Swaminathan becomes nervous, but he moves quickly as if he did not notice them. They continue to follow him until Swaminathan cannot bear it any more. He screams aloud that he has forgotten his notebook and quickly darts out of eyesight, losing the others. 

The scene opens on a Saturday as Swaminathan prepares to host Rajam at his house during the evening. Anticipating his friend’s visit, he takes several steps to impress Rajam. He asks his grandmother to leave Rajam alone during the visit; he implores his mother to cook something tasty for their guest, and he makes arrangements for Rajam to stay in his father’s room, pretending that it is his own room.

Later, Rajam’s visitation goes smoothly. Swaminathan’s mother has prepared coffee and a delicious assortment of treats for the boys, which they enjoy in Swaminathan’s father’s room. After several hours of discussing a wide variety of subjects, Rajam asks Swaminathan which room in the house is his. Swaminathan, lies, declaring that the room that they are in is his own. When Rajam asks why there are law books on the table, Swaminathan explains that his father uses the room to host clients when the boy is away from home.

Swaminathan attempts to change the subject by inviting Rajam to meet his grandmother. The boys arrive at her chamber, and she is delighted to finally meet Rajam. She plays with Rajam’s hair as he describes the city of Madras and the many beautiful jewels that his mother owns. Swaminathan’s grandmother gasps in amusement at the boy’s stories, and shortly thereafter Rajam’s visit comes to an end.

The next day, Swaminathan enters his first class to find his peers snickering and the word “TAIL” written up on the blackboard. Swaminathan quickly brushes the word away, and retaliates by slapping the Pea in the face, igniting a fight between him, Sankar, and the Pea, which is broken up by Mani and Somu.

Moments later, outside the school, Swaminathan explains to Mani that the other boys have been calling him Rajam’s Tail. This infuriates Mani, and another fight quickly breaks out between him and Somu. As they begin violently tussling, the other three boys go to fetch the headmaster. The chapter ends with the headmaster and his assistant easily breaking up the fight, surprising Swaminathan because he thought Mani and Somu were the strongest people he knew.