Summary of the Story "A Devoted Son"
Full Summary
The story "A Devoted Son" by Anita Desai is about Rakesh, a young man from a poor Indian family, who achieves great success as a doctor. He studies hard, earns a scholarship to study medicine in the USA (which his father proudly calls "the USA" instead of just "America" to sound more prestigious), and becomes a highly respected doctor. Despite job offers in America, Rakesh chooses to return to his village to serve his family and country.
Rakesh’s father, Varma, is a simple kerosene dealer who sacrificed a lot to educate his son. The whole village celebrates Rakesh’s success and his return. Rakesh marries a girl chosen by his mother—plump, traditional, and uneducated—and they have a son.
Later, Rakesh becomes the director of the city hospital and opens his own clinic. He is now the richest doctor in town and proudly takes care of his aging parents. Varma grows old and ill, and Rakesh cares for him strictly, controlling his diet and forcing him to take medicines. This causes tension because Varma misses the simple, rich foods of his youth and feels his son's care is too harsh and controlling.
Varma feels unhappy and weak under Rakesh’s strict care, and they have misunderstandings. Varma even envies a neighbor’s easier life and cries about how his son, though educated and successful, does not treat him as he wished. Eventually, Varma, tired of medicines and strict rules, dies after refusing a new tonic from his son.
The story shows the complex relationship between parents and children, where love and care can sometimes feel like control, and success can bring both pride and pain. It reflects the tensions between tradition and modernity, duty and independence, and the difficulties in balancing personal desires with family expectations.