Gurus: Short Stories

Abstract

Ruth Jhabvala’s fiction does contain a number of gurus who stand for — or at least on — a path of legitimate spiritual development: there is the smiling guru of The Householder, who inspires his band of followers to a blissful ardour that is portrayed without irony. There is the peaceful guru of ‘The Old Lady’, or Banubai, the elderly female guru of A New Dominion, or the music master of ‘The Housewife’, or finally Maji, whose special powers help the modern narrator of Heat and Dust. Though flawed, some more than others, each does represent at least some of those positive qualities that a spiritual teacher might embody: knowledge, wisdom and compassion. Each is a real source of comfort and delight to his or her followers. But these followers are almost always Indians.