Characterization of Ajit

Ajit is the main character of Krishnan Varma’s  short story “The Grass-Eaters”. He is an extremely poor and homeless Indian man who currently lives in Calcutta. Ajit is married to Swapna, and they have had four children together, though only one is still alive. He worked as a teacher and tutor for some time. The only thing we know about Ajit’s appearance is that he is missing one leg. 

Ajit has a sense of humor. When he wakes up by accident with another woman next to him, his wife gets angry but he reminds the reader of this event with a few jokes. 

One cold morning I woke to find that the woman beside me was not Swapna at all but a bag of bones instead. And about fifty or sickly or seventy years old. I had one leg over her too. I paid bitterly for my mistake. The woman ve...