RANGA'S MARRIAGE

RANGA’S MARRIAGE

Ranga is a young boy from the village of Hoshali in Mysore. He goes to Bangalore to pursue an English Medium education. When he returned to the village, all the residents flocked to his place to see if the youngster had changed. However, to their disappointment, Ranga is the same as he was before.

He even greeted everyone with a Namaskar before they all left. Hoshali is a nice village with excellent mangoes. It is a small village that is not even well-known. After the villagers leave Ranga’s house, the narrator stays back to speak with him.

As a result of their conversation, the narrator decided it would be a good idea to find a suitable girl for Ranga, who is not yet thinking about marriage and wishes to marry only a mature and admirable girl. As a result, the narrator decides that he will undoubtedly get Ranga married. He believes that Ratna would be a perfect match for Ranga. Ratna is from a big town and is adept at musical instruments like the veena and the harmonium. 

Thus, he decided to call Ratna on purpose while Ranga was visiting. ranga was taken aback when he saw ratna. However, the narrator lied to Ranga about her marital status. This disappointed Ranga since he had begun to like her. The narrator planned to take Ranga to an astrologer.

The narrator had already made plans with an astrologer, and everything was well-planned. So, the astrologer asked Ranga questions which enabled him to admit the fact that he liked Ratna. The problem of her marriage was at the forefront. Nonetheless, the astrologer informed Ranga that he was in love with a girl whose name resembled Ratna. Ranga was overjoyed, yet saddened again because she was not available.

After confirmation that Ranga loved Ratna, the narrator decided to arrange their marriage. The narrator visited Ratna’s house to request her hand in marriage to Ranga. Finally, the story jumps forward ten years. Ranga is paying a visit to the narrator to celebrate his son’s birthday. Ranga and Ratna got married and Ranga named their son after the narrator, who arranged their marriage.

To summarise, we learn about the beauty of a small community, its rituals and traditions, and the struggle to preserve our culture against westernisation.

Q: Comment on the influence of English—the language and the way of life—on Indian life as reflected in the story. What is the narrator’s attitude to English?
Answer: The story illustrates the traditional Indian way of life when just a few people spoke English. Those who knew it never used its words while speaking Kannad. People used to be simple and behaved similarly to a flock of sheep. The narrator was the true admirer of his village Hosahalli.

He was well-cultured and kind. He valued his mother tongue. He spoke English when it was necessary. The narrator feels it disgraceful to use English words when speaking Kannada. He is also feeling delighted while describing how, during the holidays, one can see many people in the village on every street speaking English.

Q: Astrologers’ perceptions are based more on hearsay and conjecture than what they learn from the study of the stars. Comment with reference to the story.
Answer: Answer: Most astrologers rely on hearsay or information gathered from their clients. The innocent client believes that his astrologer is reading his stars, but the deceitful fellow robs innocent people's faces. The same happens in the story when Shyam, the narrator instructs Shastri to regurgitate the muddled facts in front of Rangappa that Ratna would be the only eligible match for him based on the star cast. Because of the dramatic mockery enacted by Shyam and Shastri, Ranga listened to his heart and married Ratna. He got so influenced that he named his son ‘Shyam’ after the narrator.

Q: Indian society has moved a long way from the way the marriage is arranged in the story. Discuss.
Answer: In today’s world, every Indian is well-educated and cultured. As one's knowledge expands, so do one's expectations or vision. This deep thought existed in the narrator's mind and gave birth to the story. The entire story has been plotted by the narrator to let Ranga realize the marriageable age and how to find the ideal mate. He knocked at Ranga’s heart and he welcomed Ratna in. Ranga might have run away if the narrator had just proposed for Ratna.

Q: What kind of a person do you think the narrator is?
Answer: In Today’s self-centred fast world no one pains for others. But the narrator is a different man. He not only devotes his time but also Ranga’s wedding selflessly. In fact, he extends mature and experienced assistance to Rang's fragile heart and young mind in choosing a suitable life partner. As a reward for his altruistic act, Ranga named his son Shyam after the narrator’s name.

Q. Why has the narrator not given some mouth-filling title to his story ‘Ranga’s Marriage’?

Answer: The narrator has not given his story some mouth-filling or catchy title like ‘Jagannatha’s Vijaya’ or ‘Girija Kalyana’ because this is not a story about Jagannatha’s victory or Girija’s wedding. It's about Ranga's marriage.

Q. What does the narrator say about Hosahalli?

Answer: The action takes place in Hosahalli village. The sahib in England and Indian writers have not made any mention of it in their Geography books. It is not depicted on any map by any cartographer. The narrator emphasises its importance by comparing it with the preparation of a festival meal known as Karigadabu.

Q. Mention two distinctive features of village Hosahalli.

Answer: In the village Hosahalli, there are a few mango trees. One comes to know the extreme potency of sourness if one happens to taste a raw mango from one of them. Then, there is a creeper growing in the water of the village pond. One will not require the afternoon meal if one consumes two leaves from the creeper while bathing in the pond.

Q. What are the two special products of Hosahalli and in what respect?

Answer: The two special products of Hosahalli are mentioned below. First, there is the raw mango. The Brahmarandhra, or the sensitive area of the child's head where the skull bones subsequently attach, is certain to feel the sourness of its bites. The second speciality is a creeper that grows in the water of the village pond. Its flowers are a visual feast. One's entire family can have the midday meal on its two leaves.

Q. Describe the narrator’s experience of tasting a raw mango from the mango trees growing in the village.

Answer: Once the narrator brought a raw mango home and chutney was prepared with it. The entire family tasted it. They had a severe cough. The narrator had visited the doctor to get cough medicine.

Q: Ranga possessed certain qualities that endeared him to Shyama, the narrator. Mention three qualities.

Answer: Ranga was well educated; he respected his tradition and did not remove his sacred thread; he was respectful of elders.

Q: Describe the village scene when Ranga returned from Bangalore.

Answer: People came to see Ranga out of curiosity. He had gone to Bangalore to study. People were curious if his education had changed him.

Q: How did the narrator let Ranga have a glimpse of Ratna?

Answer: The narrator asked Rama Rao’s wife (Ratna’s aunt) to send her to his house to get some buttermilk. When Ratna came, he sent for Ranga. He asked Ratna to sit a while and sing a song. Ranga came while she was singing. His curiosity and interest were roused. 

Q: Astrologers’ perceptions are based more on hearsay and conjecture than what they learn from the study of the stars. Comment with reference to the story.

Answer: The astrologer plays an important part in the story ‘Ranga’s Marriage’. Shyama, the narrator wanted to bring about the marriage of Ratna to Ranga.
Shyama met an astrologer and gave him certain instructions. Then he took Ranga to meet him.
The astrologer told him that the girl he was thinking about could be his if he approached the family. Ranga was able to marry Ratna because of what the astrologer said. Astrologers do not always say what the stars tell.

Q: Why is there no mention of Hosahalli in any Geography book?

Answer: Hosahalli is not mentioned by the English experts and therefore not by Indians either. As a result, Hosahalli is not in geography books or atlases.

Q: Did Ranga select his bride according to the views he held on the subject of marriage?

Answer: No. Ranga did not select his bride according to the new fanged ideas on marriage he had acquired. He fell for an eleven-year-old girl Ratna and married her.

Q: Why was Ranga’s homecoming a great event?

Answer: Ranga’s homecoming was a great event for the people in the village. People came to see Ranga out of curiosity. He had gone to Bangalore to study. People were curious if his education had changed him.

Q: Why does the narrator compare himself to a he-goat and Ranga to a lion?

Answer: The narrator referred to a story in which a clever he-goat was able to scare away a lion. Here, he himself is the shrewd goat who has laid a plot for Ranga’s marriage. Ranga, though like a lion, was unable to escape the wiles of the clever goat.

Q: What were Ranga’s ideas about marriage? Do you find any change in them at the end of the story? How?

Answer: Ranga was the accountant’s son and the first person to go out of Hosahalli for education. He was the most eligible bachelor in the town.
When he returned from the city, he said he would marry when he found the ‘right girl. The ‘right girl’ would be mature, and not likely to misunderstand him. Besides, he felt that a man should marry the girl he admired.
But Ranga did not adhere strictly to his views. He was attracted to Ratna, the eleven-year-old niece of Rama Rao and ended up marrying her.

Q: Comment on the influence of English—the language and the way of life—on Indian life as reflected in the story. What is the narrator’s attitude to English?

Answer: The narrator of the story Shyama lived in a remote village in Karnataka. He has written of the time when the English language was not used in the village. Not many knew English or used English words in their speech. Therefore when the accountant sent his son Ranga to Bangalore to study, it was a revolutionary step. When Ranga returned to his village everyone came out to see if he had changed due to the influence of his education. Ranga showed the influence of English on his thinking when he named his child after Shyama who had brought about his marriage. The narrator does not know English. He is sarcastic towards and resentful of the English language.