An Astrologer's Day
by R. K. Narayan
R. K. Narayan sets this Malgudi story under a tamarind tree, where a showman astrologer, all saffron turban and sacred ash, earns his living by shrewdly reading strangers rather than the stars. One evening a determined client dares him to prove his powers, and in the matchlight the astrologer recognises the very man he believed he had killed years before in a village brawl. What he chooses to say next turns a chance meeting into a quiet escape from a lifelong burden of guilt.
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R. K. Narayan's famous story is rich in irony. Every midday an astrologer sets up his equipment, cowrie shells, charts, a saffron turban, sacred ash and vermilion, under a tamarind tree in the Town Hall Park. He is a fraud who knows nothing of the stars; his success rests on shrewd guesswork, keen study of people and an impressive appearance. Years ago, in a drunken village quarrel, he had stabbed a man, thrown him into a well and fled, believing he had killed him. One night a stranger challenges him to prove his skill. By the matchlight the astrologer recognises the man as Guru Nayak, the very person he thought he had murdered. He astonishes Guru Nayak by describing the stabbing and the well, then lies that the attacker was long dead (crushed under a lorry) and urges him to go home and never travel that way again. Guru Nayak leaves satisfied. Reaching home, the astrologer feels a great burden lift, he is no murderer after all, for Guru Nayak is alive.
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'An Astrologer's Day' by R. K. Narayan, set in his fictional town of Malgudi, is a masterly short story built on irony and a surprising twist. It tells how a fraudulent astrologer unexpectedly meets, and unknowingly outwits, the man he once believed he had killed.
The astrologer and his trade
Punctually at midday the astrologer spreads his professional equipment, cowrie shells, mystic charts, a notebook and palmyra writings, under a spreading tamarind tree in the busy Town Hall Park. His forehead shines with sacred ash and vermilion, his eyes gleam between painted forehead and dark whiskers, and a saffron turban crowns the effect, attracting clients 'as bees are attracted to cosmos or dahlia stalks'.
In truth he is no astrologer at all: he knows 'no more of what was going to happen to others than… to himself'. His success comes from study, practice and shrewd guesswork about mankind's common troubles, 'marriage, money, and the tangles of human ties'. He listens for ten minutes, then says things that please and astonish, earning honest wages for his skill in reading people.
A hidden past
We learn that the astrologer never intended this life. He had fled his village suddenly, without telling anyone, unable to rest till he was hundreds of miles away. Had he stayed, he would have followed his forefathers in tilling the land. His flight, we later understand, was to escape the guilt of a crime he believed he had committed.
The challenge of the stranger
As the nuts vendor douses his flare and the astrologer prepares to leave, a stranger appears and scornfully challenges him: 'You call yourself an astrologer?' A bargain is struck, money against the astrologer's accuracy. Catching a glimpse of the man's face by matchlight, the astrologer grows uneasy and tries to back out, but the stranger grips his wrist and forces him to continue.
The astrologer then astonishes him: 'You were left for dead… A knife has passed through you… you were pushed into a well.' He even names him, Guru Nayak. He advises Guru Nayak that the man he seeks (his attacker) is already dead, crushed under a lorry four months ago in a far-off town, and urges him to go straight home, never to travel south again, or he will face great danger.
A burden lifted
Guru Nayak, who had been searching for the man to take revenge, is satisfied and leaves into the night, giving the astrologer a handful of coins. Reaching home near midnight, the astrologer tells his surprised wife that a 'great load' has gone from him: for years he had believed he had a man's blood on his hands, the reason he ran away, settled here and married her, but now he knows the man is alive.
The irony is complete: the fraud who 'sees' others' fates could not see that his own victim would seek him out, and the man hunting his would-be killer sat before him without recognising him. By his quick wit, the astrologer both saves himself and, at last, frees his own conscience.