An Astrologer’s Day by R. K. Narayan

 TOPIC OF THE BLOG:- 

This blog is a part of a task given by Megha Trivedi Ma'am from The English Department, MKBU, Bhavnagar. The topic for this blog is to explore and give details about the short story "An Astrologer’s Day" by R. K. Narayan. Further, I am going to discuss about my point of view and try to answer the questions (Click Here) that asked us through this task.

R. K. NARAYAN:-

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan, popularly known as R. K. Narayan, was one of India's most celebrated and beloved English-language writers. To know more about him visit my blog on Crime and Punishment by R. K. Narayan(Click Here).

AN ASTROLOGER'S DAY:-

"An Astrologer's Day" by R. K. Narayan is a captivating short story set in a bustling marketplace in India. The tale revolves around an astrologer who makes a living by offering predictions to unsuspecting customers. One evening, a stranger approaches him seeking guidance on a pressing matter. As the astrologer examines the stranger's palm, he is shocked to recognize him as a man he believed he had killed years ago. Fearing the worst, the astrologer devises a plan to escape the clutches of his dark past, only to find redemption and a surprising twist of fate as the story unfolds. In this intriguing narrative, Narayan skillfully weaves elements of mystery and suspense while exploring themes of guilt, destiny, and human nature. 

The story paints a vivid portrait of a street astrologer's deceptive existence and the unforeseen consequences of his actions. Through the astrologer's journey of self-discovery, Narayan leaves readers pondering the complexities of the human psyche and the power of redemption in the face of past misdeeds. (helped by Chat GPT)

Here is the video from the questions are asked available on YouTube:-

🐾How faithful is the movie to the original short story?

Original text and movie or video based on that naturally has so many difference. Somewhere movie should be good to understand the plot and sometimes original text. 

This video is a quite a good adaptation of this Short Story. If we say faithfulness of the movie to the original text, we have pass the movie. Characters, dialogues, expressions, plot are well managed too. 80% of the movie is similar to the original text. We can compare the line 'The astrologer caught a glimpse of his face by the matchlight' with the movie scene (Click Here to watch). 

🐾After watching the movie, have your perception about the short story, characters or situations changed?

Of Course, After watching the movie some perspective about some scenes are changed. Specially the end part of the movie has proper end but in the original text has not described it perfectly, 'in our village, when I was a silly youngster. We drank, gambled, and quarreled badly one day why think of it now ? Time to sleep," he said, yawning, and stretched himself on the pyol.'

The second perspective about the characters are changed in a mean of their looks and style of talking. While reading the description of the main character what we think how they look and in movie how they look changed this perceptive.

🐾Do you feel ‘aesthetic delight’ while watching the movie? If yes, exactly when did it happen? If no, can you explain with reasons?

To give answer to this question, I have only one scene which gave me aesthetic delight while watching the movie which I already link above about lighting the matchstick. Why? because that scene gives us thrilling that now astrologer knows that the one person who is asking the question to him and the answer of that question is astrologer himself.

🐾Does screening of movie help you in better understanding of the short story?

Yes, the screening of the movie help us to get clear idea about the story in many ways. First of all, it gives us idea of expressions of the characters second about the appearances and most importantly how they all described the themes of the story very clearly.

🐾Was there any particular scene or moment in the story that you think was perfect?

Click Here to watch the perfect scene according to me, and here are the original lines from the text "You were left for dead. Am I right ? " " Ah, tell me more." " A knife has passed through you once ? " said the astrologer. " Good fellow ! " He bared his chest to show the scar. "What else?"

🐾If you are director, what changes would you like to make in the remaking of the movie based on the short story “An Astrologer’s Day” by R. K. Narayan?

Most of the scenes are perfect and understandable in this movie but for this Short Story I would like to suggest another video of YouTube which is different form the original text and other video but mostly follow the original story line.

Now, If I want to make some changes I like to change place in the movie, name of the characters and some of the dialogues and why these things? Reason is very simple, because I want to give a touch of modernity to this Short Story. 

To read my Blog on another Short Story named Crime and Punishment by R. K. Narayan Click Here.

NOTE:- If you have any suggestion or wants to say something please comment below or contact me on my social media.