Legendary storyteller, Padma Vibhushan RK Narayan would have been so proud had he been alive today, because one of his great books ‘Guide’ has seemingly come alive in real life.
As it turns out, a 30-year-old tourist guide Ananth Raju has tied the knot with his 27-year-old Belgian girlfriend Camille in Hampi, Karnataka. And their love story came out straight from Narayan’s award-winning novel. Both of them got married on Friday according to Hindu rituals in Virupaksha temple in the city.
As per reports, both had met in Hampi just before the Covid pandemic hit India in 2020. When Camille came to visit Hampi with her family, Raju not only took her around the city and gave her information related to the history but also made arrangements for her stay in a good hotel.
Though Camille returned to Belgium with her family after her tour ended, the two kept in touch with each other through social media. Gradually friendship grew and both of them expressed their desire for marriage to their families, which both the families accepted.
Camille was not able to come to India due to the Covid curbs, but once the restrictions were removed, Camille came to Hampi. And, both of them got married according to Hindu rituals.
Narayan’s 'Guide', which was published way back in 1958, has a similar kind of plot where a tourist guide fell for a married woman who happened to be the wife of an archaeologist. The story took numerous twists and turns until the ‘guide’, ended up as a religious preacher in a temple.
A movie was made basing on the novel which was released in 1965. The block buster movie had Dev Anand and Wahida Rahman in lead roles.