Page 71 - DENG202_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_III

Elective English—III

Notes Though Jagan was a Gandhian in his observances, his mind lacked that spirituality as one finds
in the beginning of the story. He was materialistic and profit motivated. Nevertheless, since
Mali and Grace started to exploit him for their whims, a sudden transformation took place in
Jagan. He wanted to reduce the price of the sweetmeats. He told his cousin:
“From tomorrow the price of everything will be reduced. I have made up my mind about it.”

“Why?” asked the cousin in consternation.
Jagan spurned an explanation. He just said, “We buy provisions for, let us say, a hundred rupees
a day, and the salaries of our staff and the rent amount to, let us say, a hundred . . . and the stuff
produced need not earn more than, let us say, two hundred in all. Now, the truth is . . . more
people will benefit by a reduction.” (Narayan 91)

Jagan’s transformation from a materialist to spiritualist is evident in these words. He has become
a true Gandhian now. When the cousin told Jagan that he (Jagan) was opposed to eating sugar,
Jagan replied, ”I see no connection. It others want to eat sweets; they must have the purest ones,
that is all. I am thinking particularly of children and poor people” (Narayan 91). The spiritual
and Gandhi an element of Jagan is evident in these words. He did not want to cheat people and
amass money as majority of vendors did.
On another occasion Jagan told the cousin, “Money is an evil . . . We should all be happier
without it. It is enough if an activity goes on self-supported; no need to earn money, no need to
earn money” (Narayan 92). These words proclaim that Jagan has grown into a real ascetic.

When the bearded man Chinna Dorai insisted Jagan to come down to the water in the pond,
Jagan doubted that he was going to be drowned by him. Jagan was not shaky but thought that it
was better to die than live. He told himself, “If I do not perish in this water, I shall perish of
pneumonia. In my next life, I’d like to be born . . .” his mind ran through various choices. Pet
dog? Predatory cat? Street-corner donkey? Maharajah on an elephant? Anything but a money-
making sweets maker with a spoilt son” (Narayan 116). It is evident from his thoughts that he
has matured into a spiritual man, purged of his material, moneymaking urges.
Chinna Dorai told Jagan that he was sixty-nine, and would die the next year. He wanted to finish
the idol of the goddess before his death on the stone, which his master had put in the pond for
seasoning. Thoughts about the future of the garden and image of the goddess after his death
troubled him. Hence, he asked Jagan to buy that garden and install the goddess. To quote his
words: “I only though it would do you good to have a retreat like this.”
“Yes, yes, God knows I need a retreat. You know, my friend, at some stage in one’s life one must
uproot oneself from the accustomed surroundings and disappear so that others may continue in
peace” (Narayan 120). Jagan’s transformation from grihasta to vanaprasta is revealed through
these words.
Jagan could not retreat to the forest and lead a lonely life there forever. His retreat had to be
bought with the money from the sweet shop. As the novel ends, Mali who has been imprisoned
and thus tempered of his aggressiveness waits to be bailed out by his father.
Narayan might have been ironical in the treatment of Jagan’s character, but his irony has been
tempered with sympathy. He is never critical of the Indian tradition. In the words of Nanda:
“In Jagan’s retreat, Narayan has given us the sense of the timelessness of his struggle and of the
larger social, cultural and religious fabric in which he plays his part. Jagan has turned sixty.
At this ripe age, the worldly entanglements appear futile to him, his daily routine monotonous
and empty. At this age, one has to turn the work of the world to others. Like a true Indian, Jagan
decides to retreat to some place of purity“.

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