Swami and Friends
I read “Swami and Friends” after watching the TV serial by the same name. Rupavahini dubbed it in Sinhala under the supervision of veteran media personality Titus Thotawatte. We enjoyed it as schoolboys and the adults too enjoyed it equally. Swami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R. K. Narayan, a celebrated English language novelist from India. The novel, which is also Narayan’s first, is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town called Malgudi. The second book is The Bachelor of Arts and the third is The English Teacher. I have read all three novels and will write short reviews about all of them in this blog for those who love Narayan’s writing.
Ten-year old Swaminathan is the protagonist of Swami and Friends. He is very curious and mischievous and always prefers adventure though he is strictly governed by his tough father. Swami’s mother and the grandmother are sympathetic towards him though. He has an interesting flock of friends starting from the pint-sized Samuel a.k.a the Pea, Rajam, Shankar and Mani. Together they found the Malgudi Cricket Club (MCC.) All attend the British-established Albert Mission School.
