An Astrologer's Day

 

The Astrologer's Day is a short story features a fake astrologer and a significant day happened in his life.

The action takes place in the popular fictional town Malgudi which is located in South India, near to Madras.

The story begins at the midday. Usually This is the time when the astrologer starts his business. The writer describes how he begins his
business. He takes out all his professional equipment like cowries
shells, charts, Palmyra writing (like rules of palm line) etc. He is also dressed typically like an astrologer to attract customers. His forehead is bright with sacred ash and vermilion. Customers assumes that the astrologer is blessed with enlightenment and prophetic skills.

 

Thus the astrologer presented himself so perfectly that he was consequently a point of attraction for all the people in the country and town. The writer describes the path along the Town Hall Park where the astrologer sits to attract his prospective customers. He proceeds 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 always fully crowded with different trades and traders like medicine sellers, hardware,  magicians and cloth - sellers etc. Next to him sat a fried nut vendor whose gas light enabled him to carry on his business even after
the sunset.

The astrologer was in fact a highly wise and oservant  person who hardly had any
knowledge of astrology. He just made a guess work when people approached him. He needs to work hard to earn his wages. He had run away from his native village since he didn't want to continue the traditional occupation of his forefathers i.e. farming. He also never had any plans to return to his native village.
He was highly cunning at analyzing human mind and psychology. Thus he can easily anticipate the people’s deeds and needs.

 

At any cost he leaves his customers with complete satisfaction.

One day,  He prepares to close  his shop early as his neighbor, nut vendor blew out his light. The story mainly focuses the incident happened in that particular day. The astrologer was packing up his materials and he locates
a man standing before him. He perceived him to be a fittest customer to earn a penny. When the astrologer invited him, he posed a challenge before him and his astrological science. They made 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 additional 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. Meanwhile, when the customer lights a cigar, the astrologer catches a brief glimpse of the man’s face and is susequently filled with fear. All of a sudden the astrologer denied the challenge and requested the man to let him go. The man said that he will not allow him to go until the challenge is done. He holds his hand and frightens the astrologer. Finally, the astrologer realized that he is
trapped and has no chance of moving out. 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 (16 annas). 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 passer-by 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 whether he can find the killer or not. 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 uttered strikingly the name of the man before him as Guru Nayak. He 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 hurriedly packs up his belongings and went home.

The astrologer's wife was waiting for him worriedly since he was
too late unusually that day. The astrologer throws the coins at his wife to
count. They were twelve and a half annas in all. She was extremely happy to find that big amount. She planned to buy jaggery and coconut for their child, who was demanding sweets for 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 unravels a secret with his wife. He said that a great burden of his life was gone that day . He always felt that he had killed a person named 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. In fact,  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 the real astrology. The astrologer
confessed to his wife that in his youth he was happened to be in bad company with Guru Nayak. He drank, gambled and quarrelled badly and the resulting fight prompted him to stab fatally even push into a well.