Talkative Man

Madhu is his name. Not many would remember this even after they read the novel cover to cover. This is because only one character in the entire novel (including himself) calls him with that name. Such is the aptness of the name "Talkative Man" to the character. Again, like Nataraj in the Man-eater, he is born into one of those rich Kabir street families. For a change he lives alone... and does not have a family to call his own. Since he is a journalist (wannabe) he gets to be at almost every where in Malgudi as and when he pleases. Together with a kind heart and lot of wealth, (seemingly very logical) he has a habit of going out of his way to help people.

This helpful nature, first gets him mixed up with a 'behrupia' - a man posing himself as a UN researcher in 'futurology'. Then TM helps the 'queen', the behrupia's first wife to get back her husband... In between, he tries to help an old man get his grand daughter back on track. His antics with Jayaram - the photographer and the bookworm neighbor are throughly refreshing to read... but nothing great to repeat ;-(

Some people may TM (story) has an abrupt ending... RKN himself inclusive. However, I feel nobody should read RKN for the story any way... what if the story ended abruptly, prematurely or did not end at all. I enjoy the story telling while it lasts. Thats all.

Some time in the near future, I shall write about the short stories I liked...