Structure

The short story “The Grass-Eaters” by Krishnan Varma uses a non-linear plot structure, as the narrator and main character, Ajit, relates his past life, listing and commenting on the places where he and his wife used to live.

The beginning of the story shows Ajit thinking about the time when a man was shocked to find out Ajit lived in a pipe:

For some several years ago I was tutor to a spherical boy (now a spherical youth). One day his ovoid father, Ramaniklal Misrilal, asked me where I lived. I told him.

Misrilal looked exceedingly distressed. ‘A pipe, Ajit Babu? Did you say – a pipe, Ajit Babu?’ (…)

It was true: at that time I was living in a pipe with my wife, Swapna.

This makes Ajit start thinking about different places where he has lived. The story the...