Comment on the influence of English—the language and the way of life—on Indian life as reflected in the story. What is the narrator’s attitude to English?

The story ‘Ranga’s Marriage’ takes us to those times when there were few people in villages in India who knew English. The village accountant was the first one who had enough courage to send his son to Bangalore to study. Those days people didn’t speak in English in the village. Nor did they bring English words while talking in Kannada. To support this, the narrator gives an instance. Rama Rao’s son bought a bundle of firewood. The woman asked for four pice, the price of firewood. The boy told her that he did not have any ‘change’. The poor woman did not understand the English word ‘change’. She went away muttering to herself.

However, English was considered to be a ‘priceless commodity’. That was why Ranga’s home coming in the village was a great event. The people wanted to have a look of the boy who had gone to Bangalore to study English. Many people believed that those who received education in English lost their caste. Ranga was still wearing the sacred thread, ‘the janewara’. He had not lost his caste and culture.

The attitude of the narrator to English is quite positive. He considers English to be ‘a priceless commodity’. But he wants to show that English doesn’t have any adverse influence on the religious and cultural practices of the people. Ranga wears the sacred thread and bends low for ‘namaskara’ to his elders.