Glory at Twilight
Twilight splendour
Explain the title and how Indian idiom colours the dialogue.
At Srinath's house, the bride Beena washes Satyajit's feet, her married sisters fan him, and their mother thanks him with tears in her eyes.
His old schoolmaster, who used to quarrel with him when he was a mischievous boy, now claims that he always saw genius in him.
Satyajit feels like an impostor: he is not the great man they think he is. But he decides to enjoy one day of 'twilight splendour' before the hard struggle ahead.
He visits his ancestral house and its fish-pond, the only property he still owns, and catches a big carp.
The villagers' speech is full of Indian idiom: 'Your benediction is our blind-man's staff' (our only support); 'Saraswati at his left, Lakshmi at his right' (blessed with both learning and wealth).
The title is a clue: twilight is the last light after the sun has set. The glory Satyajit enjoys is real, but it has already gone.
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