Class 12 English Chapter 1
'An Astrologer's Day' Explanation
Introduction:
In this blog, I am going to summarize unit 1.1 'An Astrologer's Day''. It is a thriller suspense short story written by R.K. Narayan. As the title suggests, the story deals with a single day in the life of an astrologer. 'How had he become an astrologer?' and 'how his past affected his present?' 'what is the significance of that day which is mention here?' Let's understand.
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About the Author :
R. K Narayan
R. K. Narayan was an Indian English writer, f f his realistic novels. he has written 14 novels, 5 volumes of short stories, and several travelogues. 'My Days' is his famous memoir where he has created imaginary town 'Malgudi'. His other book 'The Guide' has won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1961.
Theme :
Irony of fate
Religion and blind faith,
crime and punishment,
human greed
Karma
Summary:
The Astrologer started his day like any other day. He sat under the tamarind tree, spread all his equipment like Cowrie shell, a square piece of cloth which had an obscure mystic chart, a notebook, and a bundle of a palmyra writing. His forehead was decorated with sacred ash & vermilion, a saffron-colored turban was rolled around his head and had dark whiskers. His appearance enhances the power of his eyes & helpful to attract his clients.
It was a crowded marketplace with varied trades and occupations. we can experience the struggle of the people to be successful in their business or profession. Here the astrologer is not the only person who is cheating the people but others also, for example, a vendor of fried groundnut who called his wares a fancy name each day. Now it was dark enough but the marketplace did not have sufficient lighting. Some people have their lights but one or two like astrologers had to manage without lights of their own.
Then writer tells us about the astrologer's past life. The astrologer didn't want to be an astrologer. It is his fate that made him an astrologer. In the past, he had to left his village without any previous thought or plan. So he settled in this village and became an astrologer for his subsistence. He was successful in pleased and astonished people though he didn't have any knowledge about astrology. Even he was unable to pretend about his own life. How? It's just because he studied the human mind, his many year's practices, some tricks, and obviously guesswork.
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At the end of the day when the astrologer started to bundled up, he saw a man. Assuming he was a client he started chatting with him. The man expressed doubt on the astrologer's knowledge. the astrologer took it as a challenge and started to predict. He said all the similar things that he said to others. But the man catches his trick and stopped him. Then he gave an offer to the astrologer and they made a deal that if the astrologer's answer satisfied the man then the man has to give him eight annas otherwise the astrologer has to give him all his collection of that day.
An Astrologer's Day 12th exam guide
Then they both sat down and the man lightens the cheroot (type of cigar). In that deem light, the astrologer got the sight of his face. Now the astrologer was very uncomfortable and again started to bundled up. but the man didn't let him go. So the astrologer started predicting. he told the man that he was tried to be killed and left him for dead. the agreed and told that he was finding that person to take revenge. then the astrologer amazed him by calling his name 'Guru Nayak'. Now the man had faith in him. the astrologer took advantage of this chance and warned the man to leave the village soon for his safety and convince the man to believe that the person he was searching for was dead now.
In the end, when the astrologer reached home and was talking with his wife, the secret of the story is revealed that the person whom the man was searching is not anyone but the astrologer himself. this is the event for that he was run away from home and became an astrologer.
Finally, we can say that is a fine example of Indian society where people are so superstitious. I hope you have understood the topic. If you have any questions please comment below. I will try to answer. In the next blog, we will see activities based on it. So stay tuned.
2 Comments
Very nice story
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