The Guide: Transformation of a Tour Guide into a Spiritual Guide – Summary
Last Updated: November 27, 2023
Welcome, dear readers! Today, I invite you to immerse yourself in the enchanting summary of ‘The Guide,’ a mesmerizing narrative by R. K. Narayan Ji (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami Ji). This captivating tale unfolds the transformation of Raju, from a tour guide into a spiritual guide. In 1960, Narayan Ji was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for this novel. Eager to delve into ‘The Guide Summary’? Let’s embark on this enlightening journey together.
Raju, the protagonist of the story, is released from prison after two years. He has long hair and a beard. Due to it, Velan contemplates him as a sage. He arranges food and water with a shelter in the temple for him to stay. In a short time, the news spreads rapidly in the village that a monk is residing in the temple. Villagers start to come to see Raju. Seeing it, Raju gets upset and reveals his truth to Velan. Raju says, “Velan, I am not a sage. I just got out of prison.” Raju unfolds his story to Velan.
Raju told to Velan that he was born in a village around Malgudi. His father had a small shop at the railway station. His father died when Raju was a child. After his father’s death, Raju took charge of the shop, and within a few days, he became a famous guide (the tourist guide). Raju used to guide the travelers for the visit of Mempi Hills.
One day, Rosie and Marco came to visit Mempi Hills. They made Raju their tour guide. Marco was a scholar, and he came to Mempi Hills only for his research work. Rosie and Marco kept fighting for a minute cause.
Dancing was the passion for Rosie since her childhood, but Marco didn’t support her. He was always meant by his work and never cared about Rosie’s needs. Raju encouraged Rosie to follow her dream and career. Marco was often busy with his work and therefore, Raju and Rosie had plenty of time to spend with each other. During all of it, they became close to each other.
Rosie had sympathy for her husband. For this reason, Raju couldn’t understand whether Rosie loved him or not? One day, there was a fight between Marco and Rosie, and she revealed everything about her closeness with Raju. She also apologized. Knowing it, Marco became furious and left Rosie in Malgudi and went back to Madras alone.
Rosie came to Raju’s abode. Raju arranged a dance teacher for her, and Rosie started to practice dance. Raju’s mother used to ask him when Rosie would leave their house. One day Raju’s maternal uncle came to sort-out the matter, and he said that either Rosie would stay in the home or his sister. Raju said that Rosie wouldn’t leave the abode. The mother moved away with her brother.
Rosie started to earn plenty of money from dancing. Gradually Raju became greedy. One day, Marco’s letter came for Rosie. Raju put the fake signature of Rosie on the letter. Due to it, he was imprisoned. Rosie left him.
Due to the ebb and flow of life, one day Raju became a sage. At the end of the story, Raju helped Vilan and the people of his village. There was no rain for a long time, and the drought had ruined the life of villagers. The sage Raju performed intense austerity (Tapasya) to bring rain.
This story has many captivating twists. You should enjoy this novel once in your life.
Works Cited
1. The feature image used in this post was created on Photopea.com on November 26, 2023 by Preeti Bhandari.
