Trail Blazers : A Shadow Story by R K Narayan

           A Shadow is a story of a little boy Sambu, a young boy ,who lives in a village with his widow mother. He waits eagerly for the screening of a film, which features his father who is no more. It is a tender and emotional story where Sambu, demands to see a movie that stars his father. This small boy was very excited to see his father performance on the screen. He was going to see his father walking and dancing in front of him as if he was alive. He took permission from his mother for a daily show.

              The scene of the movie is very much like in Sambu’s home. In the movie, Kumari,the 14-year-old daughter does not want to marry, but instead wants to study. The father asks the girl questions about her school work, and is pleased when she gets them right. The girl was with a slate on her knee and he started dictating to her. He asked her a little arithmetic to which she accurately answered. Then his father was delighted. Sambu remembered how he once committed mistake in solving a puzzle.

            Actually, Sambu   was highly delighted as if his father had come back to life. Sambhu is trying to feel the presence of his dead father through his performance in the movie Kumari. The shadow of his father makers him happy and feel him his presence. He keeps his father alive in his memories through his appearance in movie.

            He repeatedly asked his mother to see the picture. However, she explained that she could not tolerate to see her husband again move and speak like alive. Sambu explained her that a mere photo was also no more different that from film photo.  At last, he takes his mother to the last show. She ,by recalling those ugly memories ,faints. By seeing her, Sambu cries, as he loves her much.

              He was seen as a small, innocent child who is unaware of the fact that how mother would feel when she will see her dead husband walking, talking and singing. In this story we can see the emotions, feelings, innocence and sentiments of any child who is deprived of his father’ love.

             The story captures with heart-rending accuracy, the joy and pain experience by the boy and his mother when they saw on the screen a dead man moving and speaking.