Essay Example on THE FINANCIAL EXPERT

THE FINANCIAL EXPERT The Financial Expert was published in 1952 It is the study of an ambitious and clever financial expert Margayya who is an expert in tackling minor transaction successfully His real name is Krishna but he is popular by his new name Margayya which is very significant for it is symbolic of one how shown the way He also shows the way out to those in financial trouble He first practices his trade as a financier in a small south Indian town of Malgudi He is such a financial wizard that he keeps the accounts of his numerous clients on the tip of his fingers and helps to draw unlimited loans from the Co operative Bank A brush with a secretary of the back makes him disgusted with his position as small financier with his position as small financier and he gives it up finally when his pampered son Balu throws his account book in a neighboring gutter His ambition was to grow rich As per the instructions of a temple priest he plans to propitiate the god Lakshmi by confirming himself for forty days in his house and chanting sacred in praise of the Goddess He goes through the sacred prayers but fails to win the favor by Goddess CSW P 37 Days passed and contrary to his expectations his financial position instead of improving grows worse While meditating one day on the choice of some business he is surprised by the presence of Dr Pal a journalist correspondent and author 

His new friends holds before him a bright vision of fabulous wealth from the publication work and works him to buy his own manuscript of BED LIFE for a small sum of twenty five rupees Incidentally the book when printed with the title DOMESTIC HARMONY makes a great success and makes Margayya one of the riches men of the town After getting a large property he takes to the banking business on a large scale This adds to his income and prosperity still more There is only one dark patch in the bright sky of Margayya s life His only son Balu whom he wants to develop into a highly educated man shows no signs of crossing even the early stage of matriculation To add to his worries further he runs away from the house and does not return After a great deal of difficulty Margayya traces him out and seeing no hope to his improvement marries him to the daughter of a rich owner of tea estates in Mempi hills Though already very rich Margayya is still not satisfied with his position His calculating mind plans a new scheme of starting a bank of his own and making the most of the inflated currency of war time He draws clients by paying them the exorbitant interest of twenty percent Dr Pal who was a failure in his career as a journalist also joins him and procures numerous clients to form him from amongst the people who have mode money by dubious methods during wartime Margayya now turns fabulously rich The goddess of Wealth however showers her blessing on Margayya only a short time Till now Margayya has been in the ascending order 

Then the whole thing turns against him He learns from his daughter in law that his son Balu has taken to gambling drinking and such other vicious habits and that Dr Pal is at the back of all Impelled by desperation Margayya beats his friend Dr Pal with his sandals for persuading people to withdraw their money from his bank In next few minutes Margayya s house and office are raided by a huge crowd crying for their money He is now reduced to poverty and thrown back to his original position He once again thinks of charming his livelihood by taking his old business as a small financier under a banyan tree opposite to the central co operative land mortgage bank There will be always an irony in the ending of Narayan s novels THE VENDOR OF SWEETS R K Narayan s The Vendor of Sweets was published in 1967 The story moves around Jagan the vendor of sweets and his youthful son Mali He is a widower of fifty years Being a follower of Mahatma Gandhi he is simple in his eating habits He takes neither sugar nor rice He avoids fashionable clothes 

And wears a loose Jibba and a dhoti both made of Khadi spin with his own hand Everyday he spins for an hour and produces enough yarn for his requirements He is very particular about putting on sandals made of the leather of an animal which died of old age Jagan is a religious minded person He offers prayers to the Goddess Lakshmi every morning and reads the Bhagavad Gita while sitting at his shop His belief in the Gandhian ideology and the sayings of Lord Krishna have however made him less worldly wise in any way He is very careful about his earning and maintains two accounts books one for his personal use and the other for income tax authorities Besides earning money Jagan s only other concern in life is his twenty year old son Mali He is a good father and has an indulgent affection for his son His affection however goes a waste for his pampered son who is a source of self centered that shows no consideration for the feelings of his father Though living with his father under one roof they are hardly communicative and Jagan is often led to use the good offices of the Cousin a man about town to know of his son s activities