The Financial Expert. With a new introd. by the author.

"'The Financial Expert' is a 1952 novel by R. K. Narayan. It takes place, as do many other novels and short stories by this author, in the town of Malgudi. The central character in this book is the financial expert Margayya, who offers advice to his fellow townspeople from under his position at the banyan tree. He is a man of many aspirations and this novel delves into some level of psychological analysis." (Wikipedia) Narayan is one of the major novelists of 20th Century India.