Lawley Road

Lawley Road

— R.K. Narayan

Introduction

R.K. Narayan is a well-known Indian writer in English. He was born in Chennai in October, 1906. He is well known for his writings about Malgudi. His novel Guide won him country's highest literary award.

Lawley Road is the story of a talkative man who gets huge a statue of Sir Lawley, a British Officer, free. He was to carry it from its place to his house at his own cost. But he found it was not as profitable a bargain as he believed it to be. With much difficulty he had the statue blasted, & carted to his house. Then it was discovered that Sir Lawley had been mistaken for another Lawley. This Sir Lawley was a good man. The talkative man was in trouble. People picketed his house and demanded the statue back. The talkative man was finally able to persuade the Chairman of the Municipality to buy the statue along with his house. This plan worked to the benefit of the Chairman and the talkative man.

Summary

The story is told by the talkative man who lived in Malgudi and worked as a correspondent for an upcountry newspaper. In those days of the British Raj, the Magudi Municipality was almost non-existant. It did no service to the people. The town was dirty. Streets and drains were left to their own fate. Diseases appeared, ran their course and disappered without any credit to the Municipality. But when India won her freedom on 15th August 1947, the Municipality of Malgudi suddenly came into action. The streets and drains were cleaned. Flags were hoisted. The Independence Day was celebrated. The Chairman of Municipal Council was well pleased with himself for the successful celebration of the occasion.

The Talkative Man often reported the affairs of the Municipality in good light. He was a favourite of the Chairman and often went to see him.

About a week after the celebration of Independence Day, the Chairman was not happy. He wanted to do something more sensational and more patriotic. So he called a meeting of the Council and proposed to nationalise the names of streets, parks and localities. A few names like Mahatma Gandhi Road, Nehru Road and Netaji Subhash Bose Road were in great demand. The Councillors fellout for them. The result was that more than one street got the same name. This caused a lot of confusion. Letters often went to wrong places.

The Chairman was inspired to do something yet more grand. There was a statue of Sir Frederick Lawley in the Lawley Extension. The Extension was now called Gandhi Nagar. It was odd that it should continue to have Lawley's statue there. So the Council resolved to remove it from there.

But it was not an easy affair to remove it. The statue was about twenty feet high. It stood firmly on a solid pedestal of molten lead.

Tenders to remove it were invited. The lowest quotation stood at fifty thousand rupees. Municipality could not afford it.

So they offered it free to the Talkative Man provided he removed it at his own cost. The talkative man was happy. He hoped to make a good profit out of it. The statue weighed about three tons of metal. He hoped he could sell the metal and recover more than his cost. He hired men to hack it and coolies and bullock carts to cart it away. But the statue was too firm. So the talkative man had it blasted off its foundation. With a great difficulty he had it carted to his house in Kabir Street. He sent a long report about the removal of the statue to his paper.

Soon it was discovered that there had been a mistake of identity of Sir Frederick Lawley. Of course there had been a Sir Lawley during the time of Lord Warren Hastings. He was a cruel and ruthless tyrant. He had suppressed the people. But this Lawley, whose statue had been removed, had been a kind man. He was a friend of people. He had helped the people of Malgudi in many ways.

The Public was angry. They picketed the house of the talkative man where the statue lay supine. They demanded the statue back. They wanted to restore it to its original place.

The talkative man was not willing to part with the statue. He wanted the Municipality to pay him the money he had spent on bringing it to his house. A litigation started between the talkative man and the Municipal lawyer. The talkative man wanted to get rid of the statue in a respectable settlement.
The government asked the Municipality about the statue. It was feared that the Municipal Council would be dissolved and fresh elections would be held.

The talkative man was able to persuade the Chairman to buy the statue along with his house to convert it into a National Trust. The Chairman found it cheaper to buy the place than to contest a fresh election. He agreed to buy the house and turn it into a public park. He promised to call Kabir Street as Lawley Road. In this way the talkative man got rid of the statue and the Chairman was able to protect his position.

Word Meanings

Existence = presence; Ebbed and flowed = increased and decreased, water level in the drains rose and fell; Jubilation = celebration; Inspiration = stimulation; Hoisted = raised; Benignly = kindly; Epic = a story of bravery and adventure Bunting = decorative flags; Upcountry = towards the interior; Idealized = highly praised; Mark off = distinguished; Harangued = lectured; Nationalize = give a national status or name; Coronation = crowning of a king or a queen; Bothered = cared; Uprooted = removed completely; Transformation = total change; Feasible = possible; Wilderness = place of confusion; Gratified = satisfied, pleased; Unhaimously = with one voice; Resolved = decided; Sallied forth = rushed forward; Triumphantly = victoriously; Circumbulated = went round; Towered = rose high; Pedestal = foot-rest, base of the statue; Molten = melted; Vigorous = energetic, forceful; Topple down = make fall down; Satrap = governor, chieftain; Blasting up = exploding; Scourage = calamity, punishment; Craftiness = cunningness; Razed to the ground = destroyed completely; Subjugated, = kept under control, ruled; Countenanced = looked, met; Loitered = wandered abut; Derisively = contemptuously; Dangling = hanging loosely; Tyrant = cruel ruler; Shuddered = trembled; Ancestors = forefathers; Tenders = offers or etimates; Estimates = quotations of probable price; Dislodge = remove; Elaborate = worked out in detail; Hack = cut, saw; Slave-driver = lord of the slaves; Acquire = obtain, get; Dynamite = an explosive, gun powder; Cordoned off = separated; The Knight = the warrior, (here) Sir Frederic Lawley; Booty = prize, loot; Incessant = continuous; Inconvenient = difficult; Nightmare = frightening experience; Mounted j guard = acted as a sentinel, kept watch; Haughty = proud and short tempered; Imperialist = support of imperialism; Obstruction = hindrance; Tacking = attaching, enclosing; Agitation = unrest, disturbance; Misled I = misinformed; Pertained to = belong to, about, regarding; Irrigated = watered; Dissipating = wasting away; Despatches = reports; Reinstate -restore to the original condition; Sentiment = feelings, emotions; Black market = demanding a price higher than lawful; Infuriated = made angry; Picketed = surrounding and protesting; Prosecution = bring legal proceedings against someone; Repudiated = cast off, disown; Bewildering - confusing; Nuisance = trouble; Despairing = losing hope; Lapses = mistakes; Wailed = lamented; Gesture = action showing one's intention; Unique = matchless; Relieve = part with

Questions You May Be Asked

Q.1 What impression do you get about the Chairman of the Municipal Council for your reading of Lawley Road? Substantiate your answer with reference from the story?

A.1. The Chairman of the Municipal Council was a self-centred and selfish person. Whatever he did he had some axe to grind. He was indifferent to the plight of the town of which he was the Chairman. The drains and streets were never cleaned. The garbage was blown about by the winds. Diseases came and went but he never bothered to take any preventive or curative measures. During the war he had supplied blankets to the army and made huge profits. He knew the power of money. He used this power to get himself elected as the Chairman of the Municipality.

But he wanted to prove that he was a great patriot. So he had the names of streets and other place nationalized. In the same fervour he decided to remove the statue of Sir Frederick Lawley which he considered was a symbol of British Raj. But when there were protests he was greatly disturbed. It was pointed out by historians that this Sir Lawley was a different person. He was a benevolent person who ^ befriended Indians and tried to help them. There was a demand for restoration of the statue to its original glory. There was every chance of dissolution of the Municipal Council. The Chairman did not want to contest an election too soon. He found it cheaper to raise a park in memory of Sir Lawley and erect his statue there. Thus he made a political move to safeguard his position and to be called a true nationalist.

Q.2 Some critics felt that the person who gained most from the statue of Sir Lawley was the talkative man. Do you agree with their assessment? Discuss your answer with the help of textual details.

A.2 In the heat of nationalism, the Chairman decided to remove the statue of Sir Lawley from the Lawley Extension which was renamed Gandhi Nagar. He took it for granted that Sir Lawley had been a cruel person, & his statue was a black symbol of British imperialism. Tenders were invited and the lowest estimate stood at fifty thousand rupees. The Municipality could not afford such a high price for it. So it offered the statue to the talkative man free provided he removed it at his cost.

He hired men and had the statue carted to his house. Indeed it was very tiring and costly affair. He lost hope of making profit out of it, Then it was found that Sir Lawley had been a good and kind man, So the talkative man was asked to surrender the statue. But he wanted to be reimbersed at least the money he had spent on removing it to his house. He got deep into litigation. He was greatly worried. But he was relieved when the government asked for explanations from the Chairman regarding the statue. The talkative man was able to persuade the Chairman to buy the statue and his house and to convert it into a national monument. In this way he was able to get rid of the statue, and get a good price for his house, He was free from worries. He gained the most out of statue of Sir Lawley.

O.3 Recount in you own words the circumstances leading to the removal of the statue of Sir Lawley and its subsequent installation.

Ans. In the wake of independence, there was a wave of nationalisation of names of streets and other public places. In Malgudi the Lawley Extension was renamed Gandhi Nagar. There was a statue of a British Officer, Sir Frederick Lawley. Nobody ever cared to know who Sir Frederick Lawley was. But the Chairman of the Municipal Council decided to remove this symbol of British Raj. He believed that Sir Lawley was a cruel tyrant who had ruthlessly oppressed Indians, It was a huge and heavy statue. Its removal was a costly affair. So the talkative man was permitted to take away the statue free of cost. The statue was removed and carted away with much difficulty. The talkative man sent a report about the removal of the statue in one of the newspapers.

There was a series of protests from historians and other people. It was said that this Sir Lawley had been a good and kind man. He had done many good turns to the people of Malgudi. He was a friend of India. There were public protests. There was a demand for its reinstallation. It was a task more difficult and more expensive to install it in its original place. The government also demanded a report about the statue. It was feared that there would be fresh elections. The Chairman found it cheaper to buy the statue and the house of the talkative man than to contest election. He declared that Sir Lawley would be reinstalled in a new place in Kabir Street which was re­named Lawley Road. In this way Sir Lawley was re-installed and the Chairman regained his lost prestige.