“Tanana ta na na na na,
Tanana ta na na na na”
In case you’re a 90’s kid, this tune should definitely ring a bell. Directed by Shankar Nag, the famous Kannada actor and director, “Malgudi Days” is a well-known Indian television series. Its first episode was aired on Doordarshan on 24th September 1986. The series is heavily inspired by “Malgudi Days” (1943), a short story collection by R.K.Narayan (1906-2001), one of the pillars and an eminent writer of Indian English Literature.
Like most of the other 90s kids, I too have grown up watching Cartoon Network. To be honest, I didn’t quite tune into Doordarshan and wasn’t truly aware of this masterpiece. However, I had heard m
y parents mentioning the name of the series while discussing the glorious era of Indian television.
As I grew up, I started getting acquainted with R.K.Narayan’s works. His fictional town named Malgudi fascinated me. I searched for the television series and on finding it, I binge-watched all the episodes to quench my thirst for knowing Malgudi and its residents with idiosyncratic appearances.
And, it was love at first watch! My watching spree heightened especially during my M.A. in English days when I had to know Narayan more closely as I had chosen him as my “Special Author” as a part of the prescribed curriculum.
The entire series consists of 4 seasons and 54 episodes in total. Season 1 entitled “Swami and Friends” is closest to my heart and makes me remember the good old days of my school life. Based on Narayan’s debut novel, “Swami and Friends” is like the magic potion that transports me into my childhood and makes me repent the idea of growing up altogether.
The experiences of the 10-year-old W.S.Swaminathan at school with his friends are something that I can relate to even today. His misadventures with his pals remind me of the innumerable foolish plans that I had hatched with my friends during my school days.
The ringing of the school bell, the shared tiffin, the possessiveness over best friends, the unnecessary giggles during the classes, the “Stand up on the bench” kind of dialogues of the teachers… “Malgudi Days” have them all!
I love the scene where the Geography teacher asks Swami about the Indian climate and he replies, “It’s hot during summers and cold during winters!” This hilarious comment brings with it a bag full of memories. The childhood innocence of Swami and his friends like Rajam, Mani, Somu, Shankar, etc., makes me want to revisit my childhood and live it to the fullest!
The series also features frequent scenes of classroom conflicts within friends. It brings to the fore the trials and tribunals that the friendship of these little boys endure. It also projects the way Swami’s life changes with the arrival of Rajam to Malgudi and his subsequent admission to the Albert Mission School.
While the entire group resents Rajam due to his overtly foreign manner of dressing up, style, and gestures; Swami is drawn towards him and lends a hand of friendship. He even tries to get his friendship validated by his best friend, Mani.
The scene with the three friends, Swami, Mani, and Rajam, hanging out on the banks of the Sarayu river while feasting on cream biscuits and home-made lime pickles, automatically brings a smile to my lips as my mind gets crowded with unforgettable experiences with my school friends.
The show deftly presents the typical school incidents during the exam season. Every time I watch Swami and his friends busy trying to revise their syllabus for the one last time before the exam; I go back 15 years ago to see myself and my friends doing the same in the corridors of our dear school.
I can relate to the madness that Swami and his friends experience on the last day of their final exams. I still remember how the last bell of the final exam meant a license for me and my friends to do anything and everything! The session break was the only time when we actually enjoyed ourselves and did all that was forbidden and disallowed.
The conclusion of the series is both heartwarming and disturbing. With Rajam leaving the sleepy town of Malgudi due to his father’s transfer to Trichinopoly (now known as Tiruchirappalli); we see Swami and Mani shedding tears for their friend and waving him goodbye from the dusty railway platform.
As the audience, we always have the urge to know what happened next. Did Rajam come back ever? Did he meet Swami and Mani? Did the bond among the three friends strengthen? The series doesn’t answer any of these questions because Narayan himself didn’t.
Season 1 of “Malgudi Days” thus ends on a sad note with Rajam leaving his friends and a bunch of memories in Malgudi. The end always haunts me and I’m sure it will continue to do so for years to come.
The ending reminds me of one of my best friends who, similarly, had left all of us, her school friends, and moved to a different city for her father’s workplace being shifted. The more I see Swami in that last scene, the more I’m reminded of the 13-year-old me, who had cried the entire night, clutching her best friend’s photograph and cursing her father’s transferrable job.
Childhood is all about passing chits during boring classes, getting into foolish pranks with friends, being in the “not talking mode” and then again going back to the same friends as they happen to be a part of us and a part of our existence.
Friendship is a beautiful feeling and “Malgudi Days” appropriately portrays the very essence of it. Apart from being one of the most iconic television series of the 90s, “Malgudi Days” shall continue to enjoy popularity for its authentic portrayal of the innocent world of Swami and his friends.
I will go back to this series time and again to escape from the mundane life and explore the beauty of Malgudi and its “Indianess”. Alongside R.K.Narayan’s other novels and short stories, this tv series too will stay in my heart forever. It will enable me to be observant and appreciative of all the small details of my life. It will guide me to look at life more simply. After all, that is what R.K.Narayan’s work is all about!
Nice book :)
ReplyDeleteSmart and smooth write
ReplyDeleteup .I am back to my school
days.