Swami’s father, W.T. Srinivasan, is an imposing figure who works at the courts and is usually strict with Swami. Swami sometimes feels afraid of his father, but at other times he turns to him for help and support. Swami’s father encourages Swami to study hard and helps him with homework and, notably, provides Swami with a study space within his own room. Late in the novel, Swami’s father reveals that his concern for Swami’s wellbeing outweighs his frustrations with his son, as shown when he searches for Swami all night and welcomes him home without punishment.
Swami’s Father Quotes in Swami and Friends
The Swami and Friends quotes below are all either spoken by Swami’s Father or refer to Swami’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 8
Quotes
Swaminathan reflected: suppose the Pea, Mani, Rajam and Sankar deserted him and occupied Second A? His father was right. And then his father drove home the point. ‘Suppose all your juniors in the Fifth Standard become your class-mates?’ Swami sat at decimals for half an hour.
Chapter 11
Quotes
When they came to the car, Swaminathan got in first and occupied the centre of the back seat. He was still in suspense. Father’s friend was taking time to start the car. Swaminathan was sitting all alone in the back seat, very far behind Father and his friend. Even now, the coachman’s son and his gang could easily pull him out and finish him.
Related Characters:
Swami, Swami’s Father, The Coachman’s Son
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16
Quotes
He had walked rather briskly up Hospital Road, but had turned back after staring at the tall iron gates of the hospital. He told himself that it was unnecessary to enter the hospital, but in fact knew that he lacked the courage. That very window in which a soft dim light appeared might have behind it the cot containing Swaminathan all pulped and bandaged.
Related Characters:
Swami, Swami’s Father
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17
Quotes
The only important thing now was home, and all the rest seemed trivial beside it. The Board School affair appeared inconsequent. He marvelled at himself for having taken it seriously and rushed into all this trouble. What a fool he had been! He wished with all his heard that he had held out his hand when the headmaster raised his cane. Even if he had not done it, he wished he had gone home and told his father everything.
Related Characters:
Swami, Swami’s Father, Mission School Headmaster
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Swaminathan was considerably weakened by the number of problems that beset him: Who was this man? Was he Father? If he was not, why was he there? Even if he was, why was he there? Who was he? What was he saying? Why could he not utter his words louder and clearer?
Related Characters:
Swami (speaker), Swami’s Father, Mr. Nair
Related Themes:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Swami’s Father Character Timeline in Swami and Friends
The timeline below shows where the character Swami’s Father appears in Swami and Friends. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...two hours before school starts. He settles into his desk in a corner of his father’s dressing room and begins to work.
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...he carries in his pocket. He thinks that he is an idiot for telling his father about the trouble with Mr. Ebenezar. Swami delivers the letter to the Mission School Headmaster,...
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Swami tells his friends about his father’s letter and all four of them approve of his telling his father about Ebenezar’s behavior,...
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...Swami should trust the headmaster and come to him with complaints instead of telling his father. The headmaster gives Swami a letter to give his father and Swami runs home, relieved.
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Chapter 3
...new friend Rajam and how wonderful he is, and he expresses particular excitement that Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent. Swami goes on to list all of Rajam’s good qualities, often...
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Swami sits at home studying at his father’s orders, trying to understand the meaning of a poem. His mother brings him a snack...
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Chapter 5
...his house that afternoon. Swami wonders where to host Rajam and realizes that, because his father will be out at court, he can host Rajam in his father’s room, pretending that...
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...asks him to bring the food directly to him and Rajam. Finally, Swami asks his father if he can use his room to host Rajam, and his father agrees when he...
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...not change his clothes. Rajam and Swami talk happily for hours, until Rajam notices Swami’s father’s large books and asks Swami if he reads them. Embarrassed that Rajam has discovered the...
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Chapter 8
Two weeks before his April school exams, Swami notices that his father is becoming more strict about making him study. He pesters Swami frequently, eventually pointing out...
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...of him.” However, the baby is asleep and Swami, even more bored, wishes that his father would let him go out to play with Mani. Swami tries to study a map...
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...few.” Swami makes his list longer and more complicated and then brings it to his father, who is busy working. Swami tries to go away and not interrupt him, but his...
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Chapter 10
...she has no money to give him, even though she wants to. Swami’s mother and father also refuse his request. Unable to find any coins in his house, he remembers that...
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Chapter 11
As the summer continues, Swami’s father stays home on vacation from his job at the courts. On his third day at...
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Later that evening, Swami’s father feels sorry for making Swami study all afternoon and invites Swami to join him at...
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Swami feels safe again when he is inside with his father in the card room, but it is dark outside by the time they leave the...
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Chapter 12
...center of town, where a large group of police is waiting. Swami realizes that Rajam’s father is leading these menacing men, a fact which horrifies him. Swami watches as Rajam’s father...
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Swami plans to keep his experiences in the riot secret from his father, but upon arriving home his father immediately begins talking about how Rajam’s father is “a...
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Chapter 13
...The reader learns that Swami refused to return to the Mission School and that his father sent him instead to the Board School. Swami quickly found himself happily the center of...
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...meantime, they make bats from a wooden box and get used tennis balls from Rajam’s father’s club and begin practicing without their complete supplies. The Pea joins their team, along with...
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Chapter 14
...her on the basics of cricket and explains how well Rajam leads his team. Swami’s father enters, carrying Swami’s baby brother, and remarks that soon it will be the baby teaching...
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...avoid seeing Rajam at his school, Swami pretends to be sick the next morning. His father thinks that he is well enough to go to school, but his Granny and mother...
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...with his club, but the headmaster is not intimidated. Rajam tells the headmaster that Rajam’s father is the Police Superintendent, but even that fails to convince the headmaster. Rajam leads his...
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Chapter 15
...to get a job, and although he would enjoy having money, he knows that his father won’t let him live at home without going to school. Swami decides that he cannot...
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Chapter 16
Swami’s father walks through town, ashamed of himself as he moves toward the Sarayu river. He is...
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Swami’s father thinks back to earlier in the evening, when he had not yet been worried about...
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Swami’s father considers checking the hospital, but thinks that he is not brave enough to see Swami...
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Chapter 17
...surprised that he ever thought he needed to run away. Swami regrets not telling his father what happened and is especially sorry to miss cricket practice leading up to the match.
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...see clearly. He sees and hears a man talking to him and wonders why his father is there with him. The man says that his father will arrive soon, which makes...
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Chapter 18
...is furious, in particular regretting that his team does not have a good bowler. Rajam’s father interrupts the game to give him a letter about Swami, from which Rajam learns that...
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...and treated him well. He is also touched at the memory of how kind Rajam’s father and his own father were, and he remembers with happiness how everyone laughed when he...
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Chapter 19
...order to get to the train station, from which Rajam is about to leave. Rajam’s father is being transferred to a new city, which Swami learned the previous evening from Mani....
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...Swami settles on giving Rajam a book of fairy tales given to him by his father years before. Swami recalls that he has never been able to read the whole thing...
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...arrives and Rajam’s mother gets in as the policemen say goodbye to Rajam and Rajam’s father. Swami finds Mani and asks if Rajam will speak to him, and Mani says that...
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