Jagan is a 55-year-old sweetmeat vendor, a successful businessman, a vehement follower of Mahatma Gandhi and an honest, hardworking and humble resident of the fictional suburb of Malgudi, India. In his youth, he was influenced deeply by Mahatma Gandhi and left his studies and his peaceful life to become an active member in India's struggle for freedom from the British Empire. The Bhagavad Gita forms the staple of his life; he tries to act on the principles described in the Hindu Scripture. Naturopathy forms the pivotal of his life and he even desires to publish his natural way of living in the form of a book, but it becomes obvious that it is a futile dream as the draft has been gathering dust in the office of the local printer, Nataraj, for the last five years. Jagan wears hand spun cloth that signifies purity to him, and he has been commended for it by Gandhi himself. In his early days Jagan's wife, Ambika, dies from a brain tumor and leaves him to care for his only son, Mali.[1]
Mali is gradually spoilt by Jagan and his almost 'maternal' obsession towards his son's life. Later, in his college days, Mali displays his deep dislike for education and says that he would like to be a 'writer', which Jagan at first interprets as a clerical occupation. Afterwards, Mali decides to leave to America to study Creative Writing. He gets his passport and tickets ready without even informing Jagan about his plans. In fact, Jagan used to conceal some part of his earnings to avoid the taxes. Mali takes the money from his father's hidden treasure to fulfill his expenditures. Eventually it becomes known to Jagan. But, he accepts this diversion with good heart and treasures every letter received from Mali and proudly exhibits it to anyone whom he met in his daily activities. A few years later, Mali returns to Malgudi very Westernized and brings along a half-American, half-Korean girl, Grace, whom Mali claims is his 'wife'. Jagan assumes that they are married according to the social norms and standards, but also realizes that Mali's relationship with him has further eroded. However, Jagan develops an affection for Grace and feels that Mali is not giving her the attention she deserves.
Soon Mali expresses his grandiose scheme of starting a story-writing machine factory with the association of some anonymous business partners from America. He asks his father to invest in this factory, but Jagan is unwilling to provide the financial infrastructure of this venture, which causes more friction between Jagan and Mali. Troubled by this turmoil, Jagan decides to retire from active working. Through an unexpected meeting with the top businessmen of the region, Jagan comes across the 'bearded man', a rather eccentric hairdryer whose eloquence makes Jagan contemplate on his dull and monotonous life. He starts to develop a desire to have renunciation from his life, and suddenly falls into a recollection of his happy past with his family and his wife, which further strengthens his need for reconciliation. As this happens, Mali is caught by the police for driving under the influence of alcohol and deserts his wife. Jagan then tells his cousin that 'a dose of prison life is not a bad thing' for Mali, so that he can learn his mistakes and be a better person in the future. However Jagan writes a cheque to the cousin so that he can pay the preliminary fees of Mali's bail, and asks the cousin to inform him if Grace needs to go back to her motherland, so that Jagan can buy her the plane ticket.
