A simple farmer was exploited constantly by the landlord, who is a drunk and debauch landlord. Unable to bear the torture, the farmer pushes him into a well and flees, fearing the police will catch him. But the landlord has a miraculous escape and survives as the well has dried up. For many years the landlord thirst for revenge and is on the search for the farmer. One day he hears of a famous astrologer who can predict almost anything under the sun. Though the landlord is very cynical about astrology, he decides to pay a visit to the astrologer at the insistence of a friend. The astrologer shocks the landlord when he precisely recounts the landlord’s past by narrating to him the attempt on his life by the farmer. When the landlord asks him for the whereabouts of the farmer the astrologer tells him that the farmer has met with a gruesome death and that he should stop his futile search. The landlord, somewhat appeased, leaves. The astrologer returns home and removes his disguise. We find that he is none other than the farmer himself! All these years the farmer has been guilt – ridden for having killed the landlord, but since finding out that the landlord is alive, he is happy and relieved and makes plan to lead a normal and open life. A light and lively tale, “An Astrologer’s Day” has R.K. Narayan’s satire with a twist in the tale.
