A Pinch of Snuff by Manohar Malgaonkar | Characters, Summary, Analysis

A Pinch of Snuff by Manohar Malgaonkar | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A Pinch of Snuff is a short story written by Manohar Malgaonkar that was published in the assorted short story collection titled “Contemporary Indian short stories in English” in 1991. The story is witty sarcasm at the nepotism and corruption in the upper echelon of bureaucracy and the political structure of India. The story is written in first person narrative style.

Characters: Nannukaka is the protagonist of the story. He is an aged person whose nephew (younger sister’s son) is the narrator of the story who is an Under-Scretary working in the North Block of Delhi. Ratiram is a colleague of the narrator. He is Lala Sohanlal’s son who is the head of the Delhi unit of the ruling party. Hazrat Barkat Ali is an Ambassador supported by the ruling party. The Welfare Minister is a close friend of Lala Sohanlal. While Lala Sohanlal wishes his son to get married to the minister’s daughter, the minister is not willing for the relationship as he is planning for his daughter to be married to the prince of Ninnore. Nannukaka wishes to meet the welfare minister in person but he finds it not so easy and thus, he improvises his resources to create a situation where the minister himself comes forward to meet him. The Dhobi is a minor character who helps Nannukaka by playing his trick to get a luxurious car for a trial ride.

Summary of A Pinch of Snuff:

The story begins as the narrator’s mother informs him that his uncle, his mother’s elder brother, is going to visit them for two or three days. The narrator comes to know that Nannukaka, his uncle wishes to meet the Welfare Minister and since the narrator is working in the North Block of the Delhi secretariat, he expects the narrator to help him in fixing an appointment with the minister. However, the narrator is not happy about it because he is just an Under-Secretary and he is not sure he can manage a meeting of his uncle with any minister. However, his mother insists that he must do whatever he can to help Nannukaka. When the narrator goes to the railway station to pick up his uncle, Nannukaka hands him a basket with a kitten inside and tells him to rush outside. Nannukaka comes later with the Ticket Collector and informs that he traveled in a second-class coach on a third-class ticket with the help of the ticket collector. Furthermore, he was not asked to pay for the ticket of kitten.

On their way to home, Nannukaka asks the narrator about his meeting with the Welfare Minister. The narrator informs him that he was not able to fix his meeting because he is working as an Under-Secretary on probation and it is beyond his reach to fix an interview with the minister. Nannukaka was displeased by this information but soon he resumed his happy-go-lucky attitude. At home, the narrator’s mother greets Nannukaka with a warm heart and takes proper care of the kitten he brought with him. The narrator comes to know that he had to sleep in the backside verandah because his mother had arranged Nanukaka’s stay in his room.

The narrator had taken two days’ leave from the office because of his mother’s orders. The next day, he took Nanukaka to the north Block to see the Minister but to Nanukaka’s disappointment, after two hours of rushing here and there, he merely got a chance to get himself an appointment. On their way back, a luxurious yellow car rushed past them. The man driving the car honked the horn unnecessarily and waved at the narrator. When Nanukaka expressed his disliking towards the guy in the yellow car, the narrator told him that he knows him as they work at the same ministry. The guy was Ratiram, son of Lala Sohanlal. the head of the unit of the Ruling Party in Delhi. There were rumors about Ratiram going as Trade Commissioner to the Ambassador, Hajrat Barkat Ali but it was canceled due to some reason. Upon hearing this, Nanukaka asked the narrator to change into Jodhpuri closed collar and a turban to go see Lala Sohanlal whom he did not know at all. They went to Lala Sohanlal’s house and were received by his secretary to whom they told that they had visited to discuss the details of the Zamindars’ Convention. The Secretary went to see if Lalalji was free to take a sudden interview. He was actually free at that time which was clearly evident from the hookah-gurgling noises coming from the next room. Nanukaka started speaking loudly and tried portraying it as if he was in close alliance with Hajrat Barkat Ali. Upon hearing this, Lalaji came rushing out of the room to meet them and ask about old Hajrat Barkat Ali. Lala Sohanlal shared his concern with Nanukaka about how someone poisoned Hazrat Barkat Ali’s mind against his son and asked Nanukaka to convince him to take his son as the Trade Commissioner. Nanukaka assured him that he will look into the matter. He convinced him that the Ambassador is very close to him and listen to his suggestions.

Nanukaka casually took a pinch out of his snuffbox and mentioned the Welfare Minister. Lala Sohanlal expressed his disappointment in the Minister because he is in the ministerial position because of Lalaji and he still refused to consider his Lalaji’s son for his daughter’s hand in marriage. He further told Nanukaka that the Welfare Minister wants his daughter to tie knots with the Prince of Ninnore but they are yet to exchange horoscopes. After this, they came back home.

The next day, Nanukaka announced that they will be visiting the Minister. The narrator wanted to be kept out of the plan but got ignored by his Uncle. Nanukaka further expressed the need for a private car with a uniformed chauffeur to make an impression. The narrator knew one such friend who could help him with the car. Since the motor car touts can smell a rich man from a mile away, Nanukaka curated a small plan to impress the Sikka Auto Dealers. He wrote a bearer’s cheque worth a thousand rupees and kept it in an old coat of his. He handed over the coat to the dhobi who later came running in front of everyone waving that cheque, making it look like Nanukaka had been careless enough to leave a bearer’s cheque of such a huge amount. Nanukaka even rewarded the dhobi with money. This made him look rich and wealthy enough to be able to buy that outlandish car they were eyeing on. The narrator, dressed up in a white Jodhpuri coat and an orange turban drove the car and took Nanukaka, who was looking like a royal pandit of the princely state to the Welfare Minister.

At the minister’s residence, Nanukaka merely called for the visitors’ book as the secretary fussed about not being able to know the state of business he had come for. Nanukaka clarified that he was not there to disturb the minister but was at the location to make a formal call. He mentioned that he was there simply to fulfill a formality they follow in the old princely states. Upon getting the visitors’ book, Nanukaka specified himself as the “Hereditary Astrologer to the Maharaja of Ninnore” and gave his sister’s address of residence in Delhi. While driving away, he loudly announced to the driver to take him to Maharaja Sutkatta’s palace so that he could return all the horoscopes he was entrusted with. After this, the Welfare Minister himself came to have a word with Nanukaka at his sister’s place. The narrator is a bit worried about what would happen if the Minister found out that Nanukaka is not an astrologer from Ninnore but he was also relieved knowing that Nanukaka will handle the situation if it ever happens. However, he wants to be out of the scene if it happens anyway.

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