Question- Who is Ramani and what is the role of Ramani in this story "The Free Radio'?

Answer - 

In this story 'The Free Radio', Ramani is the hero of story. He is a naive, poor rickshaw driver. He falls in love with the widow and later marries her. It is widow who first steps into the relationship, and Ramani accepts her with her five children and lover her. His love is revealed when he meets the narrator after his marriage. The narrator asks him if he has gone to the carvan. He replies everything is totally fine and says, "I am in love, teacher sahib, and I have made it possible for me to marry my women,". He makes it possible to marry the woman through vasectomy.

However, it seems his wife does not value his sacrifice. Ramani's cold relationship is later unveiled when he is beaten inside the carvan, his wife does not come down from the rickshaw to see her man. Because his wife does not care for him. Her unmoved posture shows that she marries him not out of affection but only because of security with her five children. She befools him to believe that she also loves him.

So the gullibility of his nature makes Ramani vulnerable. We can explain this based on some instances of the story. The first example is when he believes he will receive a free radio for his sterilization and next when he decides to pursue acting career after the encouragement of his friends.

Because of his gullibility, the narrator advices him at certain points in his life since he had a good relationship with his late parents. For example the narrator warns him of his rowdy friends by telling him, he is wrong, However, he never regards them seriously and follows what he likes.

Ramani stands for the thief's widow as a savior. But her marriage to him is more for economic support and less for love. Seeing her with Ramani, the narrator blames her for her ongoing relationship with Ramani. He thinks that she uses Ramani as her target. The narrator's usage of words such as "the witch" "the thief's widow had her claws dug into his flesh," and "She had decided already to put her hooks into Ramani".

At last we can say that Ramani is innocent but he is aware of the predicament of marrying a women who has five children. Ramani as the main protagonist, represents the youth of the time, high ambitions and no agency. Ramani sees the vasectomy as an opportunity, a good thing rather than seeing it as something which is depriving him off his will and freedom. This represents the manipulation and strategic cunning ways used by the state of lure poor people for their mutual benefit. There was no agency provided to Ramani, no freedom or will at all. The state machinations took Ramani's freedom, his gift of nurturing lives, his identity and only pushed him to drown in the fictional world of a 'free radio'.

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