Review Of The

Bachelor Of Arts
By R.K Narayan
It has always been that oddity of imaginative earthy characters of R.K Narayan that
readers get hooked up to know the deeper treasure of their fictitious tale by him. He
is one of the most illustrious Indian novelists. This master storyteller was born in
Madras (Chennai). As, many of us would recall our days of fascination for the short
stories by R.K Narayan: Malgudi Days – set in the fictional South Indian town of
Malgudi. Bachelor of Arts is significantly written on the same line of characters and
places as his other novels, like- Swami n’ Friends and The English Teacher, highly
recommended work by him.
 
A peculiar element of this story is the drench of experience which is simple and
ordinary, yet a subtle novelty will strike you. R.K. Narayan’s depiction of the story
and the characters written in 1937 is nothing but the showcase of time, which in no
sense is different from now, present. This story made me realize that he writes for
the common man of no era in particular. His prose is as young, modern, and fresh
as present contemporary writers. This contemporary element in his books written
over villages, small towns, and away from urban touch places is quite enthralling. 

Bachelor of Arts depicts the vivacity of Chandran’s life.  A young lad, dedicated to
the subject of History with disciplined nature. His presence reflects his thoughtful
mind of a strong opinionated character. He is vocal about issues and aspires to
change things with his firm statements about the time, history, and people.
Chandran portrays a fellow going by the rules of hard work.

His college days are exhausted in the scheduling of studies, a company of friends,
and living their life with aspirations, wants, and discussions. Ramu, his only
companion, spent most precious time together. Their indulgence would be
smoking, coffee, cinema, quarreling, sharing life pacts, and long walks at the banks
of Sarayu River; two closest companions on the run. On the other hand, Chandran’s
family adds humor of conservative nature yet engages in Chandran’s life.    

You see, the portrayal in the book, in particular of Chandran will make you wonder
about lots of things in life that you believed in since your college days, young adult
days, and the days to come which were uncertain or still are uncertain for most of
us. In the mundane affairs of every aspiring youth- rebellious streak, passion for
things, and thoughts of idealism keep us the longing to wait for the future, desires,
and wants, which may not be necessarily so material in nature.
Later, Chandran bid farewell to his student life, and his college days come to an
end. Sure – unsure of his dreams and plans. Where his friends were taking
decisions, he was still making a map.  And like a wandering soul, he finds himself
tangled with questions and emotions of tenderly feeling; affection, love. A mind
with ideal thinking gets lost in bewilderment of the opposite sex, her name was
Malathi.  It amuses him and becomes a frenzy.  Chandran lost in the image of
beautiful Malathi drifts away. Despite his persistent efforts, things remained the
same for him. She is still unreachable and each day becomes like an impossible
task. She moves on, life goes on.

Madras brings an idea to Chandran’s life, to think over his desires, and little did he
know, the city transforms him into a state of transmigration. And just like in the
search for answers, lost in the drift, he reaches the highest of his surreal self. His
mode of life; Sanyasi teaches him the bizarreness of time.

Scientifically, saturation is inevitable. Chandran returns home with a vision of

starting his life with productivity and transforming into a responsible man. Amid
labor, hard work, and hours of constructing ideas into actuality, it was just his way
of coming out of the jolted experience of extreme emotion and realizing the
absurdity of life. As he says, "There was no such thing (called love): It was a
scorching madness. There was no such thing."

I feel, in the rat race of this thing called life we do feel lost, uncertain. The survival
of the fittest ideology tests us every day. Chandran’s life quite got me fixed on that
part.  Optimism comes by experience and indulgence, but who can say when the
opposite would hit you. And as life goes on, something new, something stained
with old memories but in the end, you see the new light; new love, and new
engagements, where we find stillness.

It was a delight reading this masterpiece by R.K Narayan, it leaves you in

tranquility. The charm is created for the readers, sincerely translated from the
narrator’s mind.