corner of his house was stuffed with sacks full of currency notes. He was on the right side of the police, contributed to the War Fund when driven to do so, and worked day and night with his accounts and money bags, though his wife was unhappy at his straining himself so much. One day Margayya visited his son in Lawley Extension. He found Brinda and her child. The girl could not hold back her tears while narrating Balu's nocturnal activities. When Margayya got out of the house, he found a car halting in front of it. Out of which emerged Balu. His companions were Dr Pal and a couple of women in the town. The enraged Margayya pulled Dr Pal out of the car, beat him and dismissed the two women with contempt. The next day Dr Pal with a bandaged face whispered to all and sundry that things were not going well with Margayya's concerns. Hundreds of people swarmed Margayya and pressed him to return their deposits forthwith. All the accumulated wealth was disbursed. Still, hundreds of people could not be satisfied. The run on the Bank led to Maragayya's filing an insolvency petition. And thus like a house of cards, the wealth that Margayya had accumulated was blown away. He advised his son to take his place under the Banyan tree with the old box. When Balu hesitated to do that for fear of what people would say about it, Margayya offered to do so himself. Film adaptation The Financial Expert was adapted to a Kannada-language film, Banker Margayya, in 1983. References External links Analysis of themes & plot in The Financial Expert Literary review of The Financial Expert Indian novels adapted into films Novels by R. K. Narayan Novels set in India Methuen Publishing books 1952 Indian novels