The Vendor of Sweets is a novel by critically acclaimed Indian author R.K. Narayan. Set in India during the 1960s, It follows the life of a vendor of sweetmeats named Jagan as he tries to navigate a difficult relationship with his son Mali.
Set in India in the 1960s, the novel begins with Mali announcing that he no longer has any interest in his studies and wants to become a writer. Jagan frequently spoils him because he is his only child and his mother (Jagan’s wife) died in Mali’s youth. Jagan allows Mali to drop his schoolwork to focus solely on writing. Mali tells him he will enter into a novel-writing contest. Months pass and Jagan learns nothing of Mali’s work. Mali becomes secretive and spends all of his time in his room. Eventually, Jagan learns from his “cousin,” a man who claims family ties with him, that Mali has decided he must travel to America in order to become a real writer. He also learns that Mali has been stealing money from him to support himself. Jagan pays for Mali to travel to America, despite seeing none of his actual work. Mali goes to America and writes to Jagan frequently with updates, though still sends none of his actual writing. Eventually he returns to India, shocking his father by revealing that he has married a half-American, half-Korean woman named Grace. Grace and Mali try to convince Jagan to invest in Mali's business idea: a machine that writes stories. Jagan is happy that Mali is home but is hesitant about this business venture. Mali and Grace continually press Jagan about the matter but he does not yield, though he begins to take a liking to Grace.
After encountering a spiritual man, Jagan decides to step away from his material possessions and business, much to the chagrin of both his cousin and Mali. After being concerned by some of Mali’s cryptic comments about his marriage, Jagan learns that Mali and Grace are not actually married, making him feel greatly ashamed. He also discovers, shortly after, that Mali wants to send her away. Towards the end of the novel, Jagan reflects happily on his courtship of his late wife and Mali’s birth. At the end of the story Mali is arrested for being drunk in an automobile. Jagan decides that some jail time might benefit Mali. He also tells his cousin to let him know if Grace should ever need plane fare to get home, as he will happily support her.
Published in 1967, the novel was critically praised in India. In 1986, the novel was adapted into an episode of the Malgudi Days television series, alongside the stories from Narayan’s collection of the same name.
