Father’s help

-r.k. Narayan

Born Rasipuram Krishnaswami

Iyer Narayanaswami
10 October 1906
Madras (now Chennai)
Died 13 May 2001 (aged 94)
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation Writer
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Maharaja's College, Mysore
Genre Fiction, mythology and non-
fiction
Notable Padma Vibhushan, Sahitya
awards Akademi Fellowship, Benson
Medal

Vocabulary:
1. shudder: to tremble or shiver out of anxiety or fear
2. withstood: to stand up against/ to resist successfully
3. caning: to beat with a cane
4. vermillion: a vivid reddish orange colour
5. dismiss: to remove from position or service
6. acknowledgement: a declaration for the action done
7. conscience: sensitive regard for fairness or justice
8. knuckles: rounded prominent projection formed by the end of two adjacent
bones
9. smear: to spread over a surface
10.obstinate: stubborn
11.fling: to throw away forcefully
12.gutter: a low area that carries dirty water at the edge of a street
13.desperate: of extreme intensity/ outrageous
 14.drastic: acting rapidly
15.whacked: to strike hard
16.smarting: causing sharp stinging pain
17.muttered: to utter sounds or words indistinctly.

Questions and Answers:

1. “Father’s behaviour took an unexpected turn.”What was unexpected about
Swami’s father ’s behaviour?
Ans: Swami put forward the excuse of his headache for not going to school but
his father was adamant. Swami further said that he was already too late for going
to school and Samuel-the teacher would beat him for being late. Swami gave a
vivid account of Samuel’s cruelty towards the boys. He described how Samuel
would cane the boys continuously till they bled and then he would make them
press the blood on their forehead as a vermillion marking. Father was infuriated on
hearing this and he thought of writing a complain letter against Samuel to the
headmaster. It was then that his behaviour changed completely. His focus shifted
from sending Swami to school to writing a complain against Samuel.This was not
at all as Swami had expected.This was the unexpected turn of father’s behavior.

2. Swami felt as if he was the worst perjurer on earth- Why did he feel so?
Ans:Swami knew that whatever he said about Samuel was false,the description
was not accurate. But he was nonetheless confused as to how much of it was real.
He stopped for a while in order to introspect. He felt that Samuel was actually
much more genial than the other teachers,he would often crack a joke about
Swami. But he also recalled the times when he caned students. Swami felt dizzy
with utter confusion about Samuel’s character. He couldn’t clearly understand
whether Samuel was good or bad,whether he deserved those allegations. It was
then that swami felt to be the worst perjurer on earth.

3. “You don’t know what my father has done to you”-Why did Swami think
so?
Ans: Samuel was quite impressed when Swami said that his father told that one
should not miss classes. Father had actually written a complain letter against
Samuel for beating the boys of the class. This complain letter ,if handed to the
headmaster would perhaps result in dismissal of service for Samuel. Thus Swami
had said the mentioned line.
Synopsis of the chapter:
Swaminathan didn’t want to go to school-made an
excuse of a headache. Father was obstinate-forced
him to go to school

Swami gave a false vivid account of Samuel’s cruelty

towards late comers. This infuriated father- he wrote a
letter to the headmaster against Samuel.

Swami was baffled-introspected about Samuel’s character

throughout the way to school-thought of giving the letter at
the end of the day.

To his surprise, Samuel did not scold him for coming late-neither
was he scolded for not doing homework-Swami was confused. He
wanted to infuriate Samuel in order to prove the allegations of the
letter .

Swami became desperate to get a scolding and to get caned by

Samuel. He shouted out questions, answered unnecessarily and
even argued with Samuel in order to enrage him. He was
successful in infuriating him and was finally caned.

After the class was over Swami went to the headmaster’s room-
found it locked-was told by the peon to hand over the letter to the
assistant headmaster who was none other than Samuel.

Swami was perplexed-he ran away without delivering the letter

Father told him a coward for not being able to deliver the letter
and added that he wouldn’t help Swami even if Samuel
throttles him. Swami was saved.