Critically analyse the father son relationship in Swami and Friends.

Swaminathan’s father is a lawyer by profession. He is stern and authoritarian, but caring. He worries about his son’s studies and encourages him to study hard. Sometimes he is overly strict, but later in the novel he also shows his concern for the well-being of his son.

Swami is always navigating men who wield authority over his life, whether his school headmaster, the doctor, or his father. The men in the story are whom Swami both fears and resents, but also desires approval from, as evidenced by his elation when his father invites him to the club with him. In contrast, the women—primarily his mother and his granny—are the people whom he relies upon to listen to and care for him. His mother always brings his coffee and sugar as his afternoon snack after school. His granny is always available to listen to his latest story or lecture. When Swami fakes sickness, he manipulates his mother and granny to convince his father to let him stay in bed.