Leelas Friend by R.K.

Narayan pages
Background
Rasipuram Krishaswamy Narayanswarmy was born in the Indian city of Madras in 1906
and, apart from occasional trips abroad, lived in India all his life. His father was the
headmaster of a local school. Narayan trained to be a journalist and then went on to win
international recognition for his numerous novels, five collections of short stories, four
collections of essays and two travel books. He was admired and encouraged by the
English novelist Graham Greene, who described him as the foremost Indian writer in
English and suggested that he should shorten his name for publication purposes. He is
widely regarded as the finest Anglo-Indian writer of the twentieth century. He has
received several awards and his work has been translated into many different languages.
Leelas Friend is one of his best-known and most popular short stories. Narayan died in
May 2001, aged ninety-four.
NB:
Four rupees (line 21): the rupee is the Indian unit of currency. At todays rates, four
rupees are worth about six pence.
Whats the story?
1. After your first reading, fix the story in your mind by identifying seven more main
events and listing them in order.
1. Mr and Mrs Sivasanker decide to employ Sidda.
2. ...
Characters-what are they like?
2. What is your view of Sidda, the servant boy? Is he a suitable friend for Leela? Do
you accept the following evidence against him?
a) He is vague about his previous employer. (lines 9-14)
b) He makes false claims about the moon and misleads Leela
(lines 41-57).
c) He is uneducated and illiterate (lines 63-70)
d) He looks guilty at the mention of the chain and then runs away (lines 93-9)
e) Mrs Sivasanker thinks of him as a villain (line 113).
f) He has a criminal record for stealing jewellery from children (lines 125-127)
g) The inspector calls him a devil (line 151)
h) Mrs Sivasanker calls him a rough fellow (line 172)
What evidence can you select from the story to give a more sympathetic view of Siddas
character?
3. What is your view of Leelas parents? Are they good parents? Look at the following

evidence in their favour and decide whether you agree. Then identify evidence which is
less sympathetic.
a) They are generous with their daughter (like the gift of the gold chain).
b) They provide her with a companion, with books, catalogues, pencils (line 60).
c) They are very concerned for the safety of their daughter (lines 112-14).
4. Finally, what is your view of Leela? Is she just a spoilt, thoughtless, bossy and rather
naive five-year-old-or is there more to her than this? Identify evidence from the story for
both views of Leela.
The plot-conflicts and twists
There is a clear conflict between Leelas view of Sidda and her parents view of him. The
central narrative question is Did Sidda steal the gold chain? (or who is right about
him-Leela or her parents?
5. Re-read the section (lines 24-84) which describes the times Sidda and Leela spend
together. Narayan shares this with the reader but not Leelas parents. What is there in
these lines that might convince you to share Leelas trust in Sidda?
6. Re-read the final section (line 175to the end). How many twists and ironies and
injustices can you find here?
Themes-what is it really about?
7. The honesty, directness and wisdom of children can often expose the stupidity and
unfairness of the adult world, and many writers make use of this irony. Look at extracts ad below, and decide what Narayan might be suggesting through Leela about:
Prejudice
Poverty
Class divisions
Injustice
Being a good parent
What is important and what isnt
a) I dont like you, Mother. You are always abusing and worrying Sidda. Why are you so
rough?
But he has taken away your chain...
Let him. It doesnt matter. Tell me a story. (lines 103-6)
b) Why should Sidda not sit in our chair, Mother? Mother didnt answer the question.
Leela said a moment later, Sidda is gone because he wouldnt be allowed to sleep inside
the house just as we do. Why should he always be made to sleep outside the house,
Mother? I think he is angry with us, Mother. (lines 118-23)

c) He is a thief. He has taken away your gold chain.

Let him. I will have a new chain, Leela said, and all of them laughed. (lines 139-41)
d) Leela felt disgusted with the whole business and said, Leave him alone, he hasnt
taken the chain.
You are not at all a reliable prosecution witness, my child," observed the inspector
humorously. (lines 154-8)
The writer and the writing-Narayan at work
Characterisation-the presentation of Sidda
8. In the Characters section, you considered some harsh judgements of Sidda, mainly
from the point of view of the adults in the story. In the Plot section, you looked at the
time Sidda spent with Leela in order to consider a more sympathetic view of him. Now
look at other ways in which Narayan encourages the reader to take a sympathetic view of
Sidda and the life he leads. Look at the effect of:
The way Narayan has Sidda address Mr Sivasanker in the opening section
The way Narayan lists his jobs (lines 22-3)
The way Narayan positions him in the house: She made him squat on the floor... (line
61), He sat down on the floor near the bed... (line 77)
The description that good fellow (line 69). Whose view is this?
Siddas response to the accusations: His throat went dry. He blinked and answered that
he did not know (lines 93-94); Sidda stood with bowed head (lines 134-5); He looked
at her mutely, like an animal (line 166)
9. Look at the contrast Narayan builds up between Leelas feelings for Sidda and her
feelings for her parents. Find evidence for the following statements in the story.
a) Sidda makes time to play very patiently with Leela, to excite her imagination, to read
her stories and to answer her questions.
b) Leelas parents may give her material things, but they give her no time or attention,
they blame her, they laugh at her, fail to answer her questions and discipline her too
harshly and angrily.
c) Leela finds joy in the company of Sidda and is deeply unhappy when he is accused and
eventually removed.
A closer look at some language choices
10. One of the suggested themes in the Themes section is prejudice. Sidda certainly
suffers from the way adults form snap judgements based on appearances or on rumour.
How does Narayan draw attention to this prejudging or prejudice:

 In the opening twenty lines

In Mrs Sivasankers instant suspicions (lines 91-3)
In her disturbed thoughts (lines 110-14)
In Mr Sivasankers final description of Sidda (line 194)?