Bachelor of Arts

The Bachelor of Arts by R.K.Narayan
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i have been wanting to read this book from my school days but somehow or the other never had a chance to get a hold on this very first book of R.K.Narayan. There is a place called Book Chowk (both in Trichy and Coimbatore) where they sell and buy all sorts of used books. Chowk is any narrow laned street full of roadside book vendors in the heart of the City.you will get anything from IAS preparatory materials of Brilliant Tutorials to last month's ananda vikatan. It will be a surprise to any first time visitors that people who have not even gone to school for namesake surround themselves with books of all sizes and shapes, pounce and grab customers to have a look at what they have got to sell. more surprisingly the sellers also have some kinda knowledge about what they dusted just yesterday. these self taught small scale business men are such skilled master sellers that only strategic haggling can fetch you the books you want at the price you want. if one seller does not have or not able to find quickly what topic or title you asked for, he will immediately run across the street to other sellers to see if they could find it right in front of their eyes. habitual visits to chowk will get you some familiarization with these sellers. this will come very handy as some sellers make a note of any book that they could not find for you right away but will search for it over a week and get it ready when you make the next visit. not that they develop any form of respect for you as an ardent book lover or voracious reader...they know too very well that one day whatever book you buy there will return to the same place or to some other chowk in some other city. they take very good care of the books indeed...to prevent the books from getting drenched in case of a sudden rain, they always keep the big polythene sheet ready to cover or simply sell under a water proof roof of polythene sheet. luckily to the sellers, it never rains without enough prior notice in both Trichy and Coimbatore as far as i know. in short, to strike an analogy, Chowk is the pondy bazaar specialized in books. it is still a wonder to me as to why would anyone do this as a business??how much profit will one see in selling used books??quite a lot if one person is the owner of the entire chowk and lets small men handle one small shop in it on lease or for some charge based on commission and how much one sells. the system might work typically like the auto rickshaws...the auto driver does not necessarily own the auto...he takes it on lease on a daily or monthly basis from a owner who owns many autos and makes big money. more than the money, what is attractive to think is that this one person controls what the city reads and knows their minds. looks like he is playing lordess saraswati!!!!

coming back to my story, during all those frequent visits to chowk i have never managed to get Bachelor of Arts though i used to look around for it. i started reading as a habit mainly after the inspiration of Chowks. i used to think if there are any budding mahans there who sell books in the day time and read them at nights....sitting amongst books, on a stack of books, smelling books, in the dim rays of poorly lit streetlights, after the city had fallen asleep....wow. my very first book of R.K.Narayan was also from Coimbatore's Chowk - the Guide. after that, i started my hunt for RKN's works and managed to find Mr.Sampath, Swami and Friends, Malgudi Days, Waiting for the Mahatma and collection of some short stories. i also bought The English Teacher and The Financial Expert but didn't have time to read them amidst my board exams.

after many years, it was pure serendipity ...i just found Bach of Arts lying on the dining table one fine morning. My roommate's friend had left it there the previous night. i didn't even care to ask for permission...just grabbed it on my way to work and later called her to say that i have taken it and will return it only after reading it!!!!!

what a read!!!!the book made me feel in every nerve and bone that reading is absolute relaxing. a simple story told masterfully simply. no hurry-burry , fussy-messy plot or thriller or suspense...pure indian village tale told as it is. subtle humor and sarcasm artfully aesthetic and authentic. RKN just kicked my imaginary horse and galloped the narration to Godspeed. after reading plenty of American authors in English, it was a welcome home ceremony to read RKN. my toast to the brilliant story teller.