Leela's Friend

                                        Leela's Friend

                                        R.k Narayan

1. Discuss the Character of Sidda.

 Sidda was a poor boy. He belonged to a poor society.  Sidda was assigned to the house of the Shivashankar Is especially for his cleanliness. He was assigned to do laundry, tend to the garden, run errands, chop wood and take care of 5-year-old Leela. He used to obey Leela's orders.  He was a patient playmate and highly imaginative. He was able at perceiving the mind of children and possessed a present wit. He was a good story teller and could tell amazing stories that filled Leela's mind with wonder. Sidda had to suffer the humiliation of losing the gold chain.  He was subjected to cruel exploitation by the upper class.  Here Sidda is a tragic character.  He is deprived of justice.

2. Discuss the character of Leela.

Leela is the main character of the story by R.K Narayan 'Leela's Friend'. She is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Sivasanker and therefore has an influence on her parents. It was Leela's decision to hire Sidda to do the housework and take care of her. Being simple-minded, she easily believed Sidda and his stories. She loved listening to Sidda's imaginative stories at bed time. When Sidda was suspected of losing Leela's gold chain, she stood by Sidda's side. She values ​​Sidda's friendship more than worldly rights or social status. Leela was by his side as a true friend when everyone framed Sidda with false accusations.

3."Sidda, come and play!" ___Who is the speaker? What would Sidda do when he heard this call?What kind of games did the speaker play?

The speaker in the above quote is Leela. She is the five-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sivasanker.  

Sidda would drop whatever work he was busy with and rush to Leela when he heard this call.

Sidda and Leela used to play in the front garden with a red ball every day. Sidda would make a beautiful story when the ball would come down after being thrown up, Leela would see the mark of the moon on the ball. Sidda convinced Leela that he was very familiar with the moon and that moon followed him every where. Every evening Leela took Sidda's class. If Sidda failed to copy whatever Leela wrote or drew in the catalogue, she would multiply her efforts. Leela wouldn't let Sidda move from the spot until his wrists almost cracked. She would make him sit down on the floor with a catalog in front of him with a pencil between his fingers. The speaker used to play those games.

4. "He looked at her mutely, like an animal."-who looked at whom? What was the situation when this occurred?

Sidda was silently looking at Leela like an animal.  

An inspector and a constable caught Sidda and brought him back to the house four days after he was found guilty of stealing a gold chain from Sivasanker's house. Although Leela was excited about her partner's return, she was prevented from approaching him by the inspector. The inspector and Leela's parents together framed Sidda for the theft. Leela wanted Sidda's release. Leela pleads with the inspector to release Sidda but Sidda did not say a word for himself. He just looked helplessly at Leela. Leela asked the inspector to let Sidda free, but on the order of the inspector, the constable held Sidda's hand to take him back to the police station. It was the situation when this occurred.

5. "In any case, we couldn't have kept a criminal like him in the house."_ Who is the speaker? Who is the 'criminal' referred to here? What led the speaker to such a comment?

Here the speaker is Mr Sivasanker .

Sidda is referred to as the 'criminal' here.

Sidd was responsible for stealing Leela's gold chain. Also, Sidda's running away from home strengthened Leela's parents' suspicions. The police arrested him but were unable to get him to confess his guilt. The missing gold chain was later found in a tamarind pot in the kitchen. But even though the chain was recovered, it failed to change Mr. Sivasanker's mind. Although Sidda was proved innocent, Mr. Sivasanker did not consider re-hiring Sidda as Sidda's past record indicated a convicted criminal. He did not think of giving Sidda a chance to lead an easy life in a dignified manner based on the information provided by the police. Mr. Sivasanker considered it dangerous to keep a servant like Sidda in their house. His words reveal the existence of class differences and the indifferent attitude of the upper classes towards the poor in the society.

6. How did Leela try to make Sidda write? What was the result?

Every evening Leela arranged lessons for Sidda and she had a box full of catalog picture books and scraps of pencils. She would ask him to sit on the floor with a pencil between his fingers and a catalog in front of him. She would have the same thing and she would order him to write it. Sidda had to imitate what Leela wrote on the catalog pages. She herself knew two or three letters of the alphabet and could draw a vague picture of cat and crow. Leela would check his work and scold him for failing to duplicate her work. Leela would feel sorry for him and she would start teaching him again with extra enthusiasm. Leela kept Sidda in a place until his inflexible wrists almost cracked.

Sidda found it difficult to continue with this study and found solace in saying that Leela was being called by her mother for dinner. Leela would immediately drop her pencil and run out of the room. Thus Leela assumed the role of a teacher and tried to teach Sidda.