An Astrologer's Day

 Theme 

The theme of the story focuses on a single day in the life of an ordinary astrologer who suddenly faces past life in the present drastic

situation. The story has a twist in the tale. The otherwise adventure

less life of the astrologer suddenly poses a grave problem from his

past life and demands alertness to tackle the situation. The story describes of a single day in the lives of the sleepy town of Malgudi.

The story also deals with the darker side of human nature with its

hypocrisies, shrewdness, revengeful nature and selfishness. The

characters in the story are no exception to these qualities of human

nature. Finally all is well that ends well with the astrologer coming out

with flying colors in his examination of befooling his opponent, saving

his life and also saw to it that he does not face the man again in future.

Summary of "An Astrologer's Day"

"The Astrologer's Day" is a short story which deals with a day in

the life of an ordinary but fake astrologer. The setting of the story is a

town, Malgudi which is located in South India, near to Madras. It is not

a story of contemporary times but pre - independence times.

The story opens at the midday. This is the time when the

astrologer opens his business. The writer describes how he begins his

business. He removes all his professional equipment like cowries

shells, charts, Palmyra writing etc. He is also dressed typically like an

astrologer to attract customers. His forehead is bright with sacred ash

and vermilion. His eyes are assumed to have a prophetic light by his

customers. He wears a saffron turban. Thus the astrologer presented

himself so perfectly that he was consequently a point of attraction for

all the people.

The writer describes the path along the Town Hall Park where the

astrologer sits to lure his prospective customers. He carried on his

business under a tamarind tree on the Town Hall road. The path was

the right place to carry on his business as it was amply crowded with

different trades and traders like medicine sellers, hardware and junk,

magicians, cloth - sellers etc. Next to him sat a fried groundnut vendor

whose gas light enabled him to carry on his business even after

sunset.

The astrologer was a shrewd person who hardly had any

knowledge of astrology. He just made a guess work when people

approached him. He had to work hard to earn his wages. He had

absconded from his native village since he didn't want to continue the

traditional occupation of his forefathers i.e. farming. He never had any

plans to return to his native village.

He was a mastermind at analyzing human mind and psychology.His strong perception made him diagnose the exact problem of his

customers. His customers would finally leave satisfied.

He closed his shop for the day when his neighbor, groundnut

vendor blew out his light. On the day under description in the story, the

groundnut vendor left and the astrologer was packing up his wares

when he located a man standing before him. He perceived him to be

his prospective customer. When the astrologer invited him, he posed

a challenge before him and his astrological science. They have a deal

between them. The man gave him an anna and asked the astrologer

to answer his questions and if he doesn't answer satisfactorily he will

have to return the anna with interest. At the same time if the astrologer

is able to answer the questions satisfactorily he would give him eight

annas. But if the astrologer fails, he would pay double amount i.e.,

sixteen annas to the man. Thus the deal was finalized between them.

The astrologer prayed to the heaven. Then suddenly the astrologer

denied the challenge and requested the man to let him go. The man

said that he will not let him give in. He holds him in his grip thereby

making the astrologer shiver. Finally, the astrologer realized that he is

trapped and has no chance of moving out. The man turned out to be

a criminal by profession.

The astrologer shivered and unwillingly accepted the challenge.

He started telling about some woman but the man was not satisfied

and stopped him. He had a single question that whether he would get

what he was searching for. The man promised the astrologer that if he

is satisfied with his answers, he would pay him a rupee. The astrologer

prayed a few incantations before replying. The astrologer began with

his prophecies by saying to the man that you were left for dead in the

past and a knife has passed once on your chest. The man was excited

at this information since he had really faced it. After he got wounded,

he was thrown into a well nearby to die. A passerby saw him and

rescued him and that is how he was saved from dying. The man was

waiting to revenge the culprit who had attacked him and was in search

of the culprit who had tried to kill him. The only thing which the man

wanted to know from the astrologer was if he can find his killer.

The astrologer instantly replied that the culprit had died four

months ago in a far - off town. The man was disappointed to hear this.

The astrologer identified the name of the man before him as Guru

Nayak. He told the man that his village was a two days' journey to north and warned him to go back home and never to travel south

again. He asked him to return to his hometown immediately as his life

was in danger if he left his hometown again. The man replied that he

left home just to search the culprit who had tried to kill him and was

interested in knowing if he had died in a worst way. The astrologer

satisfied him by informing that the culprit was crushed under a lorry.

The man left after giving the astrologer a handful of coins. The

astrologer too winded up his belongings and went home.

The astrologer's wife was waiting for him worriedly since he was

unusually late that day. The astrologer flung the coins at his wife to

count. They were twelve and a half annas in all. She was extremely

happy to encounter that big amount. She planned to buy jaggery and

coconut for their child, who was demanding for sweets from a long

time. However, the astrologer looked worried and was not happy like

his wife. He was angry at Guru Nayak as he had cheated him. He

promised to give a rupee and actually gave only twelve and a half

annas. After dinner, he shared the secret of his life with his wife. He

said that a great burden of his life was gone that day. He always felt

that he had killed Guru Nayak. So the astrologer had run away from

his native village due to the fear of being accused as a murderer. He

settled in Malgudi and married and decided that he would never return

back to his native village. Actually the man who tried to kill Guru Nayak

was the astrologer himself. So he was able to make accurate

predictions about him though he hardly knew astrology. The astrologer

confessed to his wife that in his youth he was into bad company with

Guru Nayak. He drank, gambled and quarreled badly one day and had

a fight and had almost killed Guru Nayak.

This is how life with its unpredictable twists and turns had created

an astrologer out of a vagabond.