The Man-Eater of Malgudi is an ironic tale of two contrasting men with their lives intertwined as a knotted bundle of thread. The lead character Mr.Nataraj is the saint-reputed printing-press owner of Malgudi, a sluggish South Indian Village, which is taken for a ride by Nataraj's miscalculated decisions.
The new-comer yet a highly entitled Vasu, is a taxidermist and an unwelcomed dweller of the attic above Nataraj's printing-press.
The story begins with Natataraj describing his sundry activities early morning around the village everyday, along with small-talks with the passerby that know each other by their names. Sastri, an observing, elderly man, is the only help Nataraj trusts in his printing business with his expertise.
One fateful day, a beefy man, with bear-like paws and body, arrives at the press, demanding urgent printing requirement, his presence leaves Nataraj with stir and uneasiness and hence begins the circus when Vasu moves into his attic without even Nataraj officially agreeing to it.
Further in the story, we see that the dominating presence of Vasu not only affect the lives of Nataraj, Sastri, the neighborhood surrounding the street, Sen, the journalist and the poet, the usual visitors at the press, but also the whole of Mempi jungle uphill, where he shoots animals illegally for his taxidermy business, all sorts of dead animals from snakes, squirrels, hyenas to tiger cubs and what not are sneaked by him into the attic.
Nataraj (harmlessly cunning) executes most of his ferocious plans just in his mind not in reality.
He inwardly plots on the ways to get rid of Vasu, whom he names 'the man-eater' but never really gets the gall to do so as he feels overshadowed by Vasu's towering persona.
Soon his old insecurities seem to creep out and he unwillingly begins to admire Vasu for his reckless, bully-like nature, someone who isn't afraid of anyone on earth, in heaven or hell.
Vasu who seems like an immortal-beast, the unbeatable, ironically falls victim to his own hamartia (tragic flaw): his physical strength at the end of the story.
The Man-Eater of Malgudi is a comical tale that portrays the lives of differing characters weaved in close-circles with each other.
Quotes:
"in Sanskrit which said that to deal with a rakshasa one must possess the marksmanship of a hunter, the wit of pundit and the guile of a harlot."
"Every demon carries within him, unknown to himself, a tiny seed of self-destruction, and goes up in thin air at the most unexpected moment. Otherwise what is to happen to humanity?"
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