R.K. Narayan

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Topic started by GV (@ hse-london-ppp244335.sympatico.ca) on Sat May 12 23:41:09 .


R(asipuram) K(rishnaswamy) Narayan has passed away, long live his stories and fame. He was one of the greatest story tellers of the world. The (imaginary) village of Malgudi became a landmark all around the world. R.K. Narayan was short listed for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times, but he never made it all the way (so far). One of the jokes in the literary circles was that the Nobel Committee and the western readers ignored his books because of the misleading titles. Many people apparently thought that they were self-help books on various subjects ( The English Teacher, The Painter of Signs, etc)!!
Let us hope that he wins this well deserved award this year. Better late than never.

Please share your thoughts, opinions and comments about this great Indian.

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All Indians must be proud of him. A great loss
to Indian English readers.

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I think, it's too late for the Nobel Committee to recognise the legendary Narayan. For, as far as I know, Nobel prize is not conferred posthumously. Narayan has been a household till internet swept the Indian middle class homes. Still, I presume, he will be long remembered for the typical Malgudi, the temple town, the Guide, and many many monumental works he gifted to the world.

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I wish I were born at malgudi and be one among swami's friends!!

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One of the most gratifying aspects of a Narayan work was the accompanying drawings by his brother Laxman. I remember the sketch of Swami sitting with his Grandma on the oonjal, telling her about Tate, the English fast bowler. That drawing to me epitomizes everything Malgudi and Narayan.

Narayan's work has snatches of his own life. The English Teacher captures his own trauma as he grappled with the loss of his wife, Rajam.

Narayan's characters are simple, lovable people. You can relate to them instantly, because they are prey to all the foibles that we are apt to fall prey to.

The English he uses in his Malgudi works is constructed along the lines of idiomatic Tamil. Remember Swami's mother 'mixing milk' for the baby? Delightful!!

The passing away of era in Indian English writing. His books will live on.

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What I really liked about R K Narayan's stories was his critique of the school system. It is a well known fact that he wasn't very happy about his school days and is supposed to have done pretty badly in (...gasp) English. This is reflected in Malgudi days and even in his tenure in the Rajya Sabha he kept raising the issue of children being overburdened (physically and metaphorically) by the school. I hope someone continues what he began. I am the father of a new born child and I do not wish to put him through what many of us had gone through in school...cane happy teachers, massive bags, too much homework and too little real learning.

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R.K. Narayan is wounderful witer among Asian. When I read The English Teacher, I feel proud that he is abele to invent new and creative concept in reading english in Asian context.
We all feel sad in the unexpected demise great literary figure

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http://www.the-hindu.com/2001/06/05/stories/0405401w.htm

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One of my favourite authors. I feel he never received the recognition he deserved. I wish someone would "market" him the way newer novelists are being marketed.

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i just read my first RK Narayan last week - The Astrologer and Other Tales. his writing is so visual. this is a great loss.

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I read R.K.Narayan's first novel Swami and Friends.It moved me.I have started collecting his novels and mobilising it to my friends too.
Though he had passed away,his writing will never die.

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Hi !
I happened to lay my hands on one of R.K.Narayan's books....Bachelor of Arts. I have a question for those who read that book.
How did you interpret the last chapter where Chandran leaves town to see his wife?
Is it as simple as it's said or does the writer leave it to the reader to come up with his/her own analysis?

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I read that at the time RKN began to write he lost his daughter to sickness and was heart-broken. I feel his work is tinged with this grief.

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he was a south indian brahmin.so madurai veeran and his tribe in this forum will never accept that he was great.

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While novels like Swami & Friends, The Guide and others are excellant, my favourites are definitely his essays - Dateless Diary, Writer's Nightmare etc.

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I am very weak in maths, but very proficient in english. It was Rk narayans stories i read in my school days that taught me that English lit. is a mirror of life. i use to compare myself with silly & mischievious boy(swami)in most his stories.

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V.S.Naipaul's tribute to R.K.Narayan.

http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/printout/0%2C9788%2C128162%2C00.html

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My fav is RKN. You almost live and walk along the Banks of Sarayu when u read his work. I like Vasu of "The Man Eater of Malgudi" very much - the comical villian.

I wish I can take a stroll down Kabir Lane or sit in the parapet of the fountain in the after noon with ppl from Malgudi.

Oh AHa.... ! What excitement >..!

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It is ironic that I just learned about RK Narayan's death, considering that he is one of my favorite Indian authors and that I just finished reading his autobiography "My Days".

For a man who wrote (and how unassumingly!) about small, pedestrian lives in a little, fictional town in a little India, he was a truly great man indeed.

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Yes, one of the great contributions of India to English literature. A most remarkable characteristic in his writings is the ease in which he tells the stories..so different from the laboured style of Indo anglican writers. Three of his outstanding works imo are Malgudi Days, The English Teacher and The Bachelor of Arts. Especially the poignant way in which the passing away of the teacher's wife is depicted never fails to draw tears from my eyes every time I read it. In contrast, the description of the restlesness of chandran before his marriage(in Bachelor of Arts) show how beautiful and light hearted RKN's humor can be. There are several instances in Swami too which bring out a smile in us - the so typical light humor that is so rarely found in english lit. Indeed his passing away is a great loss to Indian writing in english.

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Can somebody help in getting the prose version copy of Swamy and friends, Malgudi Days, Astrologers Day in the net.

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hiya,im reading 'The Man Eater Of Malgudi' for my A level course,ITS A GREAT BOOK, my class love it, they laugh soooo much. Soon im gonna have to do essays so please if anyone has information about this book just email me pak_e786@hotmail.com, thanks,take care

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If you have any photo gallery of indian girls, you may post here to.

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Please do not post obscene posts in this thread. Moderators could you please remove the above vulgar post.
Thankx

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he is a very good writer.we are proud that he is an indian

from,
jayesh&elesh

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RK Narayan is a master illusionist, he weaves places and characters into life. Absolutely magical is his writing. Malgudi days in it's splendid irony bold statement is a world favourite I believe. A great writer, whom the world will miss greatly. I hope more youngsters can get to read his literature.

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Hello everyone! I'm currently studying The Bachelor of Arts for literature and I'm going to need some help with it. Below's what I posted on a message board at askme.com . If there's anyone at all who can help me relate ( with examples ) the phrase, 'Literature is a mirror of life' to R.K. Narayan's 'The Bachelor of Arts', please reply! I really need help on that. Skip the Macbeth part of my question...I've figured out my way to that...now I'm stuck with the novel's revelence to 'the mirror of life'. Thanks for reading everyone!!! :) It's nice to know...

--------------------------------------------------

I'll be taking English Literature in the final year at secondary level ( or known as high school )...and I am currently in my first year studying Eng. Lit. so it's a bit difficult to cope with some of the assignments ( that's why I'm here ).

I'm given an option to answer either one of the questions below and if possible, please include/provide suitable sites for me to refer to ( to double-check my answer and to add-in stuff ). Also, if you can, please include YOUR own personal response ( or sample answer ) so I might have an idea how to prepare an appropriate structure for my final answer to one of the 2 questions.
_____________________

1. 'The study of literature makes us aware that we have to be responsible for the choices we make in life'. Show how this is true of any two (2) characters from any two text of your choice. The two characters you choose must be from two different text.
OR
2.Literature is a mirror of life. To what extent is this statement true? Discuss withy any reference to any two text which you have studied.
_____________________

Now, both the questions require me to base my answer on TWO DIFFERENT CHARACTERS from TWO TEXT. My pick would be of a play ( Macbeth; by Shakespeare ), and a short story ( The Bachelor of Arts; by R.K. Narayan ). So the two characters should be from the two text I had just mentioned.

I personally prefer to go with question #2, though if you decide to answer question #1, it would still be very much appreciated. But of course, if you can answer both the questions. then that would be of tremendous help. As I have said before, good sites related to the answers with tons of example/sample answers ( or where I could find 'em easily ) is as helpful.

ALSO, very important; I need EXAMPLES for question #2. I'm supposed to explain the 'mirror of life' trhough literature so I'm going to need as many examples possible to choose from. Any example on how the mirror of life reflects into NOW ( whether it is Madonna's life biography that is similar to ..say, Macbeth's or some sort of Mandela to Chandran's ). But PLEASE remember; the examples should NOT include any negetive side of a political party.

By the end of this whole thing, if you realise you can't contribute an answer...well, at least you read this damn thing ...nice to know :) - thanks for reading!!!

Many thanks,
Isabella

p/s: All answers will be rated ( but according to how relevent your answer is to the question(s) ).

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R. K. Narayan is one of my favourite writers.

He makes me feel proud to be a south Indian. Not because he was one but because that's who I am. I'm no longet embaressed to be a 'khatti' who eats rasam and curd rice, goes to a temple of Lord Venkateswara and who might have an arranged marriage.

What I really like about his work is that it is so easy to associate with his world. Anywhere you go, you'll find a malgudi.

And all his characters seem so familiar. Be it The guide, The English teacher, The Vendor of sweets, the astrologer or anyone else. They're familiar, loveable and - in most cases - rogues.

What makes his work so amazing is that there's something new to see each time you read the piece. It's not a one time deal. And the subtelity with which he operates and the fact that he never seems to condemn anyone only strengthens my admiration.

The way in which he ends his pieces is amazing. At first I think the ending was too abrupt. But the more I think about it, I feel to say any more is to undermine the readers' intelligence. And that is one thing R.K.Narayan never did.

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he is gay

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I wish i was born and lived in the Malgudi village..I would have been a very great friend of Narayan.

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I REALLY REALLY LIKE R. K. NARAYAN. BELIEVE ME, I READ HIS BOOK "SWAMI AND FRIENDS" 5 TIMES.
I COLLECT HIS PHOTOS TOO. I CRIED WHEN I HEARD THAT HE WAS DEAD

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R.K. Narayan is the pioneer of Indo anglian Literature, if you like it or not. There are other folks like GV Desabi and Mulk Raj Anand. But they didn't had as much influence as Narayan had in the west. By the help of British author Graham Greene (he helped him publish Swami and Friends), he had catapulted the Indoanglian fiction to a new height. I first read Narayan when I was in the eight standard and the first novel was The World of Nagaraj. Now I am in the 12th standard and I have read all his Malgudi based novels except for The Dark Room which I could not find in the book shops of Kathmandu. I have even read some of his short stories, essays and short pieces.

Reading some of the articles after his death whcih were meant to be obituary I came to know that Narayan was not that sort of person you would prefer to be in company with. His grumpy face in the last photograph taken of him (in India Today), says it all. The article on Narayan by Sir VS Naipaul was also very good.

No matter whether he was a gay (from the above post) or person who blew his own trumpets (he said on his America's trip that he is the world's best writer after Faulkner and Hemingway), to me he is a master story teller ie a person who had the ability to hold you in awe with his skill in story telling.

Please people do post any comments on my forum dedicated solely to Indoanglian Literature. http://forum.onecenter.com/indolit/ (http://forum.onecenter.com/indolit/
)

Or, visit my page on RK Narayan at http://www.rigzin.freeservers.com/rknarayan.htm

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R.K. Narayan is the pioneer of Indo anglian Literature, if you like it or not. There are other folks like GV Desabi and Mulk Raj Anand. But they didn't had as much influence as Narayan had in the west. By the help of British author Graham Greene (he helped him publish Swami and Friends), he had catapulted the Indoanglian fiction to a new height. I first read Narayan when I was in the eight standard and the first novel was The World of Nagaraj. Now I am in the 12th standard and I have read all his Malgudi based novels except for The Dark Room which I could not find in the book shops of Kathmandu. I have even read some of his short stories, essays and short pieces.

Reading some of the articles after his death whcih were meant to be obituary I came to know that Narayan was not that sort of person you would prefer to be in company with. His grumpy face in the last photograph taken of him (in India Today), says it all. The article on Narayan by Sir VS Naipaul was also very good.

No matter whether he was a gay (from the above post) or person who blew his own trumpets (he said on his America's trip that he is the world's best writer after Faulkner and Hemingway), to me he is a master story teller ie a person who had the ability to hold you in awe with his skill in story telling.

Please people do post any comments on my forum dedicated solely to Indoanglian Literature. http://forum.onecenter.com/indolit/ (http://forum.onecenter.com/indolit/
)

Or, visit my page on RK Narayan at http://www.rigzin.freeservers.com/rknarayan.htm

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RK Narayan was a really great author and his books entertained me and also influenced me.

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I am working in saudi arabia, i love to read R.K Naryans stories, if anybody has collection of his stories plz sen me in email my id is heartinindia2001@yahoo.com

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Unlike what some complete ignorants may assume, R.K. was not gay, in fact he had a great love for his wife. Her premature death and its devastating aftermath on his life are beautifully detailed in his novel 'The English teacher'.
Narayan is a brilliant writer whose style puts him a class apart from the over-hyped self-indulgent wordsmiths of Indian English writing.

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I need to understand/grasp the theme in his story "like the sun" if you have any info and get it to me by Apr.2.02 I would soooooo appreciate it
thanks soo much-

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DOES anyone have the theme song of Malgudi Days television series????

ta na nana tna nana naa.... PLZ TELL ME PRONTO`

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R.K.Narayan's stories and novels, revolve around pure Indian settings, bringing out the workings in the minds of typical, south Indian, conservative, middle class people.

They have a lucid clarity and a originality, typical of their author, R.K.Narayan.

Once you start reading the first few pages, you can not stop till finishing the book, laughing away all the way.

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dear sir,
send me all the names of all the books written by r k narayan.and also possible send me details of these books on which story it is written.

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Following article is dedicated to the
Late Thiru. R.K.Narayan, my favorite child-hood
writer.

By R.K. Narayan.

When an Indian professional becomes a 'Non-
Resident Indian' in the United States, he soon
starts suffering from a strange disease. The
symptoms are a fixture of restlessness, anxiety,
hope and nostalgia. The virus is a deep inner
need to get back home. Like Shakespeare said, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is
weak." The medical world has not coined a word
for this malady. Strange as it is, it could go by
a stranger name, the "X + 1" syndrome.

To understand this disease better, consider the background. Typically middle-class, the would be
migrant's sole ambition through school is to secure admission into one of those heavily
government subsidized institutions - the IITs.
With the full backing of a doting family and a
good deal of effort, he acheives his goal.
Looking for fresh worlds to conquer, his sights
rest on the new world. Like lemmings to the sea,
hordes of IIT graduates descend on the four US
consulates to seek the holiest of holy grails -
the F-1 (student) stamp on the passport.

After crossing the visa hurdle and tearful
farewell, our hero departs for the Mecca of
higher learning, promising himself and his family
that he will return some day - soon!

The family proudly informs their relatives of
each milestone - his G.P.A., his first car
(twenty years old), his trip to Niagara Falls
(photographs), his first winter (parkas,gloves).
The two years roll by and he graduates at the top
of his class. Now begins the 'great hunt' for a
company that will not only give him a job but
also sponsor him for that 3" X 3" gray plastic,
otherwise known as the Green Card. A US company
sensing a good bargain offers him a job.
Naturally, with all the excitement of seeing his
first pay check in four digit dollars, thoughts
of returning to India are far away. His immediate
objective of getting the Green Card is reached
within a year.

Meanwhile, his family back home worry about the
strange American influences (and more articularly,
AIDS). Through contacts they line up a list of
eligible girls from eligible families and wait
for the great one's first trip home. Return
he does, at the first available opportunity, with
gifts for the family and mouth-watering tales of
prosperity beyond imagination. After interviewing
the girls, he picks the most likely (lucky) one
to be Americanized. Since the major reason for
the alliance is his long-term stay abroad, the
question of his immediate return does not arise.
Any doubts are set aside by the 'backwardness' of
working life, long train travel, lack of phones,
inadequate opportunities for someone with
hi-tech qualifications, and so on.

The newly-weds return to America with the groom
having to explain the system of arranged marriages to the Americans. Most of them regard it as barbaric and on the same lines as communism. The tongue-tied bride is cajoled into
explaining the bindi and saree. Looking for
something homely, the couple plunges into
the frenetic expatriate week-end social scene
compromising dinners, videos of Indian/regional
films, shopping at Indian stores, and bhajans.

Initially, the wife misses the warmth of her
family, but the presence of washing machines,
vacuum cleaners, daytime soap operas and the
absence of a domineering mother-in-law helps.
Bits of news filtering through from India, mostly
from returning Indians, is eagerly lapped up.

In discussions with friends, the topic of
returning to India arises frequently but is
brushed aside by the lord and master who is now
rising in the corporate world and has fast moved
into a two garage home - thus fulfilling the
great American Dream. The impending arrival of
the first born fulfills the great Indian Dream.

The mother-in-law arrives in time: after all, no
right thinking parent would want their off-spring
to be born in India if offered the American
alternative.

With all material comforts that money can bring,
begins the first signs of un-easiness - a feeling
that somehow things are not what they should be.
The craze for exotic electronic goods, cars and
vacations have been satiated. The week-end
gatherings are becoming routine.

Faced with a mid-life crisis, the upwardly mobile
Indian's career graph plateau's out. Younger and
more aggressive Americans are promoted. With one
of the periodic mini recessions in the economy
and the threat of a hostile take-over, the job
itself seems far from secure.

Unable or unwilling to socialize with the
Americans, the Indian retreats into a cocoon. At
the home front, the children have grown up and
along with American accents have imbibed American
habits (cartoons, hamburgers) and values(dating).
They respond to their parents' exhortation of
leading a clean Indian way of life by asking
endless questions.

The generation gap combines with the cultural
chasm. Not surprisingly, the first serious
thoughts of returning to India occur at this
stage. Taking advantage of his vacation time, the
Indian returns home to 'explore' possibilities.
Ignoring the underpaid and beaurocratic
government sector, he is bewildered by
the 'primitive' state of the private sector.
Clearly overqualified even to be a managing
director/chairman he stumbles upon the idea of
being an entrepreneur.

In the seventies, his search for an arena to
display his business skills normally ended in
poultry farming. In the eighties, electronics is
the name of the game. Undaunted by horror
stories about government red tape and corruption
he is determined to overcome the odds - with one
catch.

He has a few things to settle in the United
States. After all, you can't just throw away a
lifetime's work. And there are things like
taxation and customs regulations to be taken note
of. Pressed for a firm date, he says confidently 'next year' and therein
lies our story. The next years come and go but
there is no sign of our McCarthian friend.

About 40 years later our, by now, an old friend
dies of a scheduled heart-attack and it so
happens that his last wish was that he be laid to
rest in the city he was born in India.
So our friend at last returns to India for
good. But by now the people who were so looking
forward to see him return to his homeland are no
more.

In other words if 'X' is the current year, then
the objective is to return in the 'X + 1' year.
Since 'X' is a changing variable, the objective
is never reached. Unable to truly melt in the 'Great Melting Pot', chained to his cultural
moorings and haunted by an abject fear of giving
up an accustomed standard of living, the
Non-Resident Indian vacillates and oscillates
between two worlds in a twilight zone. Strangely,
this malady appears to affect only the Indians -
all of our Asian brethren from Japan, Korea and
even Pakistan - seem immune to it.

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Another interesting article:

http://www.zatang.com/locals/cityc/cspeaks13.htm

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Famousworks of R.K.Narayan.
Though he is in the Holy abode of Heaven, we will always keep him in our hearts.

1935: Swami and His Friends
1937: Bachelor of Arts
1938: The Dark Room
1945: The English Teacher
1947: An Astrologer's Day, and other stories
1949: Mr. Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi
1952: The Financial Expert
1955: Waiting for the Mahatma
1958: The Guide
1961: The Man-Eater of Malgudi
1964: My Dateless Diary: An American Journey
1967: The Vendor of Sweets
1970: A Horse and two Goats, stories
1972: The Ramayana; a shortened modern prose version
1974: My Days
1974: Reluctant Guru
1976: The Painter of Signs
1978: The Mahabharata: a shortened modern prose version
1980: The Emerald Route
1982: Malgudi Days
1983: A Tiger for Malgudi
1985: Under the Banyan Tree and other stories
1986: Talkative Man
1988: A Writer's Nightmare : selected essays
1989: A Story-Teller's World: Stories, Essays, Sketches
1990: The World of Nagaraj
1992: Malgudi Landscapes: the best of R.K. Narayan
1993: The Grandmother's Tale: three novels
1993: Salt & Sawdust : stories and table talk

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I like R.K. Narayan's Like the Sun. It is, what seems to me to be what would realy happen in that sort of situation! Granted people should still tell the truth!

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http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/05/20/stories/2002052001210200.htm

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I like R K Narayan's Malgudi Day's most.It seems
that we have to go back to days of 'Malgudi' to
revire our humanity and enlighten our heart with
love and care for all.

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I want details of birth, death, schooling, qualifications, prizes, personal life, time book english teacher was written

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Yeah, a great writer and a marvelous story teller
please check out his novel "the guide"..its very original and dont go by the stupid hindi movie ,read the novel...

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I am a great lover of R.K Narayan's writing and specially of the feature MALGUDI DAYS.But as Iam from Karahi,Pakistan it is very hard to find books on this great auther.I wil be very glad indeed if any body could please send me R.K Narayan's collection I am willing to pay or could tell me where i could find Narayan's books from my country.

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I am a great lover of R.K Narayan's writing and specially of the feature MALGUDI DAYS.But as Iam from Karahi,Pakistan it is very hard to find books on this great auther.I wil be very glad indeed if any body could please send me R.K Narayan's collection I am willing to pay or could tell me where i could find Narayan's books from my country.

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Ahsan,

U can visit either of these two online shops. They don't have a wide collection, but I think u'll have enough 2 start with RKN.

http://www.gobookshopping.com/ (http://www.gobookshopping.com/
)

http://shopping.rediff.com/shopping/books/index.html (http://shopping.rediff.com/shopping/books/index.html
)

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Unfortunately I haven't read any of the books written by Mr Narayan ,but I have seen the entire Malgudi Days on television .It was a great programme esp. the episodes on Swami and his friends , The vendor of sweets and all the episodes in which a man called Shaishadri tells stories about the wierd experiences he had in his life .I wish I could buy some of his great stories but I am unable to find them .I live in New Delhi near Connaught Place .

Can you please tell me about the place where the books will be available.Pleaseeeee.

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Unfortunately I haven't read any of the books written by Mr Narayan ,but I have seen the entire Malgudi Days on television .It was a great programme esp. the episodes on Swami and his friends , The vendor of sweets and all the episodes in which a man called Shaishadri tells stories about the wierd experiences he had in his life .I wish I could buy some of his great stories but I am unable to find them .I live in New Delhi near Connaught Place .

Can you please tell me about the place where the books will be available.Pleaseeeee.

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His novels are avaiable at all higginbothams book stalls.

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Available in platforms too!! :-))

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This man RK is all time great story teller, hat off to Shankar Nag who atleast could make some tele serials and enlighten many across the world why RK such great story teller.

Sadthing is we don't have both this greats with us today.

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I wish Kamalhasan could attempt on picturising Mr.Sampath The printer of Malgudi to revive our dying tamil film industry,out of story famine.

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I wish Kamalhasan could attempt on picturising Mr.Sampath The printer of Malgudi to revive our dying tamil film industry,out of story famine.

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hey can u tell where can i see malgudi days online?it reminds me of my childhood if someone knows plzz let me know.

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Mihir Semwal,
You can go to Bookworm in C.P.phone 3322260,3311140. If you can afford to go to Ansari Road, Daryaganj,you will find Atlantic publisher 4215/1, phone 3273880,3285873,Dk. pulisher, creative books and numerous others.i hope you will find book of your choice on R.K.Narayan

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yo, u kno where i can get some literary criticism of Narayan's work? i need it for school.

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arin,
schools normally teach literature in a different way than it is taught to the postgraduate students,however you can get material on net also,postgraduate level critism is available from Atlantic books and publishers ,Ceative books,D.K.Publishers,all are staioned at Ansari Road n.Delhi.

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hello all,
im rk narayan's great grandson.my name is mohan sundaram.i live in washington.i met gretgrandpa twice in india.he told me lots of stories.ok bye mohan

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hello all,
im rk narayan's great grandson.my name is mohan sundaram.i live in washington.i met gretgrandpa twice in india.he told me lots of stories.ok bye mohan

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hello all,
im rk narayan's great grandson.my name is mohan sundaram.i live in washington.i met gretgrandpa twice in india.he told me lots of stories.ok bye mohan

[Oldposts]

i read the "The dark room" in one day - the first time i finished a book in a day.simply cudn't put it down.am watching the serial (in tamil) on vaanavail(malaysian).how impressed how well the actors have captured their roles.there are some minor chgs here and there but the main storyline has been maintained.

the latest book that i read is "The grandmother's tales" published in 93.have there been any books after that?

[Oldposts]

b.k.gaur , thanx for the help
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[hehehewalrus]

Can we discuss the works of this great writer? Lets not spoil the suspense of any of his novels but discuss the style, presentation, plot-weaving ability of RKN. Recommend a book to start with, if any of his fans have gone through, we can start our inputs.

[Thiru]

My favourite all time - Swami and his Friends.. I would have read that atleast 10-15 times during my childhood..

[hehehewalrus]

Swami and Friends came out in 1934, when Narayan was a 24 year old English teacher starting out his teaching career. I am not sure but my if memory is right, he had not met Graham Greene at this stage. But this was THE book that won him a place in Greene's heart and started the enduring friendship between the two.

One of the marks of a good writer, or a good film director, is to state the obvious and to keep the matter simple and realistic. RKN has never been known for spider-web plots, labyrinthine developments in the story - and there cannot be a better example than this book. The theme is universal and appealing, the style uncomplicated and the portraits representative of every kid in his pre-teen years.

Swami's likes and dislikes are well stereotyped as the ubiquitous kid, mixture of innocence and impishness. The friend's circle is varied and reflective of the natures of boys of 10-12 age group. One of the enjoyable passages of the novel is the initial introductions to Mani and Rajam. Mani is described as a "Mighty Good-for-nothing" - a graphic and terse description :D

The meeting between Mani and Rajam with Swami as the go-between is really the phase when the novel sets the rubber burning! "Are you a man?", shouts Rajam through Swami. "Which dog doubts it?", rejoinders Mani. "Which dirty dog doubts it?", exaggerates Swami! :lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

The passage ends with the three of them sharing some candies and coconuts in all camaraderie. From then on, its a coaster all the way.

[blahblah]

Wrong forum Sir! :twisted:

[Roshan]

My favourite all time - Swami and his Friends.. I would have read that atleast 10-15 times during my childhood..

Thiru,

I remember the tele serial 'Malgudi Days' - based on RKN's stories. Was it based on "Swami and Firends" or is it a different one? Anyways "Malgudi Days" serial was dubbed in Singhala too and it became very popular among Singhalese here. The serial has been repeatedly telecast in different channels many a times. Beautiful stories they are.

[Cinefan]

Roshan,
There was a mini-series in that serial based on 'Swami&Friends'.

Wonderful serial that one was,directed by the late Shankar Nag(younger brother of renowned actor Anant nag).He was a supremely talented director who unfortunately got very few oppurtunities to display his talents&got bogged down in mindless action flicks as an actor(very average).The serial&a few films like 'Minchina oata'(Lightning run),'Accident','Ondu Muthina Kathe'(The story of a pearl)are what he has left behind apart for theatrical adaptations like Jo Kumaraswamy,Nodi Swamy Navu erode hege.He was tragically killed in a road accident in 1991 at the young age of 39.His wife Arundathi Nag single handedly completed&opeaned his dream project,a world class theatre(for plays)'Ranga Shankara' in October 2004 at J.P.Nagar,Bangalore.

[mandangi]

In telugu channel ETV i used to watch serial "Malgudi kathalu" which is based on the book written by Mr RK Narayan. I got attracted to that serial.

[a.ratchasi]

I am yet to read Swami and friends, but Mr Sampath had me mesmerised for few days. More so the dialogues between Srinivas and the old landlord.

The other gem would be A tiger for Malgudi.
The insecurities felt by the tiger was as if it was my own.

Simply excellent.

[hehehewalrus]

Ratchasi, we will get to them in the coming days. :)
Refresh your memories and try to contribute as much as you can. A Tiger for Malgudi was full of philosophical rants and it took a second read to enjoy it better.

One of the things about RKN is that the novel generally starts off in very vague fashion, leaving the reader with absolutely no idea of the situation. The first few pages are very much like a random ramble, often aggravated by his verbosity. And then finally RKN hits the earth with a pithy, to-the-point incident(no doubt, beautifully woven) - The story "soodu pidichi-fies" from this phase onwards.

Cutting to RKN on TV:
Swami started on DD in 1987 July and went on till about October. However this was not his first work on the celluloid screen. When The Guide(1961) won the Sahitya Akademi, it was on the hotlist of movie-makers. Dev Anand was constantly after it and had negotiations with RKN, vowing not to dilute or adulterate the literary content. RKN being a cynic of the movie world, reluctantly agreed. Finally after a protracted journey through the sets, lasting months and years, The Guide was released in 1965(Dev Anand/Waheeda Rehman). The story was vastly different from the novel, RKN laments in "A Grandmother's Tale".

Malgudi Days featured about 20 short stories of RKN. It was brought on Doordarshan in late 1986 and carried a story each week. RKN being a friend of Hindu's N.Ram since 1940(as well as being a weekly columnist in the Hindu since the 1930s), the Hindu Sunday magazine used to feature the incoming story every week. We will look back upon those stories in the coming days.

Screen version of Swami and Friends being a lengthy venture and RKN being a novelist more than a story writer, there were no other works of RKN onscreen after 1987. Early in 1998, Sony featured The Vendor of Sweets. It was still having re-runs as late as 2002.

[a.ratchasi]

Ratchasi, we will get to them in the coming days. :) Refresh your memories and try to contribute as much as you can. A Tiger for Malgudi was full of philosophical rants and it took a second read to enjoy it better.


walrus, I am looking forward to it! :wink:

[Cinefan]

I had read sometime back that filmmaker Kavitha Lankesh is remaking 'Malgudi days'.Ananth Nag was to be play an important part in this project also,wonder what happened to it?

[lordstanher]

Swami and Friends came out in 1934, when Narayan was a 24 year old English teacher starting out his teaching career.

Huh??! I thot when it came out, he had actually failed in his BA English...? Tats wat RK Laxman said in an interview w/ Reader's Digest I read in Dec....... :?

[hehehewalrus]

LordStanher
Thanks for the correction!! :clap:
I am vaguely recollecting the minutiae since the last time I read an RKN book about personal details was The English Teacher(2001). Pitch in whenever you feel like.

N.Ram on RKN:
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1811/18110040.htm

[hehehewalrus]

If I remember right, RKN met Rajam in 1933 and was wooing her for a year or two, they got married around '35-36. Is it possible he approached her dad while still an unemployed youngster?

[Niranjana]

I have read all his books. 'The Guide' no doubt is a masterpiece. A masterpiece of Indian Writing in English. The film was a major disappointment in RKN's own words in his autobiography, "My Days'.

The narration is beautiful. It describes complex human emotions, thoughts, relationships, incidents etc all with subtle humour that is charecteristic of Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan's Writing. This is a beautiful book!

[mandangi]

I think this topic should be discussed in forum of english literature.

[hehehewalrus]

Nov/Thiru,
Can you pls move this to Literature Section?
If possible can you add this to the thread on RK Narayan which exists with the same title, I just found out.

[a.ratchasi]

RKN has potrayed the inner most thoughts of a tiger (an apt metaphor most fitting for man) through its life passage.
The insecured egoist it is. The need to flaunt its self imposed supremacy is all too real for man to ignore.

I shall stop here for if not I will started retelling the story of 'Raja' and spoil the fun for other hubbers. :D

An interesting tidbit on why RKN chose a tiger and not any other animal:
A journalist once asked RKN why a tiger and why not a mouse.
To which RKN answered "...so the chief character may not be trampled upon or lost sight of in a hole."

[ramyajeyaraj]

wat is all this???????????

[a.ratchasi]

R.K.N-Time Asia (http://www.time.com/time/asia/2005/journey/writers.html)

[Badri]

Good article, A.R!!!

just reading it took me back to Purasaiwalkam, and the world of Malgudi!! Hmmm!!!

Thanks for posting the link!

[shree_nav]

hi

[phantom363]

My favourite is The English Teacher, followed by Waiting for the Mahatma.

The Teacher is biographical, and sort of describes RKN's own sorrow at losing his wife at a very early stage. The part where she is prepared for cremation, brought tears to my eyes. RKN remained single after that throughout his very long life.

In Waiting for the Mahatma, the story of a new woman, Bharathiyar's pudhumai peNN. The hero itself is a sort of wimp, more inspired and driven by the heroine. There is a scene in this novel, even now after so many years, causes me to erupt goose pimples. If I mention it, you will lose the fun of anticipation! :roll:

[bingleguy]

Hi all

I really cherish and relish watching Malgudi Days in POGO TV .... Mon-Fri at 20:30

Go watch it !

[pooja.shankar]

Well .. r k narayan is one of my favorites too ...but ou r library doesnt have much of his work and i havnt read much by him ...
neither do i have time to download e-books

I love his style because it is natural and genuinely Indian. His writing is as though it is out of his heart . Comparing to Vikram Seth whu is also a good writer from india .. r K narayan gives a feeling that the work is truely ' desi'

Vikram Seth often adapts a Western styleand also uses long , hard to comprehend sentences making it complex .....

R k narayan is natural writer

His autobiography

A writerly Life ..tells that every book ..how ever famous or infamous it was ..... was based on some true life exprience ...

For example . the english teacher ...was based on his family life and mainly on his wife ......

[Fire111999]

swami and friends, the dark room and the astrologer's day (i think that's what it's called) are some of his work that i like.

the only book i like by vikram seth is a suitable boy.

[ssanjinika]

I am currently reading The Dark Room.Start is brilliant.Pretty stark and emotional.

[Fire111999]

i thought the dark room was quite depressing though.

[ssanjinika]

i thought the dark room was quite depressing though.
Well..I am on page 60 only and so far ive not been depressed.Its set in 1930s when such things were common I guess.

[Fire111999]

well, i don't read really depressing books. my fav authors are p.g. wodehouse, terry pratchet, jane austen and georgette heyer. so in comparison, the dark room is quite depressing.

[ssanjinika]

Fire,I love wodehouse,jane austen and georgette heyer too..but I guess Ive read really depressing books and dont find this one that depressing.
BTW dont you think Jane austen is a bit of a sadist herself :P

[Fire111999]

yeah, sometimes i feel that too sometimes. but the general story is nice. and she is only bringing out the lifestyle of that time. and a pill in a banana is not too bitter.

[ramky]

I have read most of R.K.NARAYAN's works, though my all time favourites are : "THE GUIDE" and "MR.SAMPATH", which were adapted and made into movies.

"The Guide" was made in Hindi by none other than DEV ANAND ( the 'Markandeyan' of Bollywood - he also enacted the main role in the movie ) and he did not deviate much from the original storyline. No wonder the film became such a huge hit !

"Mr.Sampath" 's movie adaptation of the same name was in Tamil, with CHO playing the role of the protagonist Mr.Sampath. In this case, the film had noticable variations from the original story. Though I cant imagine anyone else other than Cho, who could have played the character of Mr.Sampath with such perfection.

And how can one forget "Malgudi Days" which was also serialised & telecast on the Indian National network ! The story of Swami, his friends, family & others in the town of Malgudi entertained me without fail each and every episode.

The excellent characterisation of people in all of his novels show how well R.K.Narayan had observed & understood the psychology of his fellow humans.

[raagadevan]

[tscii:0268a81e02]

Letting the light in

S. JAGADISAN AND M.S. NAGARAJAN

V.P. Ranga Rao, novelist and scholar, talks about the nature of R.K. Narayan's artistic vision.


R.K. Narayan: Humane vision.

One of the earliest scholars to do research on R.K. Narayan's writings, V. Panduranga Rao took his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Andhra University, Waltair. Even as a student, he was obliged by family circumstances to take up a job. He worked as a telegraphist without prejudice to his studies from the old Intermediate to the Post-Graduate course. On completion of his research, he taught at Sri Venkateswara College, New Delhi for seventeen years. Dr. Rao is now Reader in English at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Prasanthinilayam, A.P.

V. P. Ranga Rao is the author of three novels, Fowl Filcher, Drunk Tantra and The River is Three-quarters Full (all published by Penguin India) and a collection of short stories, An Indian Idyll and Other Stories (Ravi Dayal). His English translation of Telugu short stories has been published under the title Classic Telugu Short Stories (Penguin). Excerpts from an interview.

You are one of the first few scholars to have worked on R.K. Narayan's novels. What prompted you to choose Narayan as a topic for your doctoral thesis?

I received my Honours degree in English in 1961, from the Andhra University. Prof. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar had just returned from Leeds University. He accepted me as his research scholar and suggested Narayan as the topic for my research.

You have discussed Narayan's characters in the light of what you call "Gunas Comedy". In what sense is Gunas Comedy different from Ben Jonson's Comedy of Humour?

First, it is a label of convenience. Second, I find a striking difference between the novels Narayan wrote before Independence and those he wrote later. The heroes of the novels set the tone in both the groups. The focus shifts from one type of characters to another, from the sensitive, introspective heroes to the more outgoing, passionate ones.

Narayan's "Gunas Comedy", if it can be so called, is not an Indian form of the Humour Comedy. The Jonsonian theory, no doubt, has its parallel in our indigenous system of medicine, though there is a superficial similarity between the two. The theory of humour has not given rise to an Indian variant of Humour Comedy. Jonsonian Humour is physio-psychological, whereas the gunas are psychic-moral. Jonsonian Comedy is the comedy of excess, of abnormality. Narayan's comedy, based on the gunas, is charged with humour within the bounds of normality. Viewed in isolation, a few characters governed by the gunas may be interpreted as humour types; for example the miser in Mr. Sampath. The gunas — particularly rajas and tamas — are not aberrations but stages or states in the inevitable progression of the human spirit. Narayan's novels, viewed from a different perspective, are humane comedy, striking a note of serene optimism.

In Narayan's early novels, the gunas provide the human material for a form of comedy focussing on the protagonists — sensitive, creative, questing, questioning, resilient, committed, "conscionable" aspiring, truth-seeking — who ought to be at the centre of tragedy.

Vis comica (comic vision) in Narayan is a kind of Vis sanitas (vision of sanity). Its characteristic dignity arises from the satvic nature of the hero. No mortal is exclusively satvic or rajasic or tamasic. It is a blend. The Gunas Comedy radiates a serene charm.

What are the stages of development of Gunas Comedy?

Unlike the Humours Comedy again, the Gunas Comedy projects the dynamic of the human spirit, unfolding the possibilities of spiritual evolution. The premature death of his wife — whom he had married in defiance of custom and astrological prediction — almost shattered Narayan. "A profound, unmitigated loneliness is the only truth of life," he says. In the years following it, he underwent a psychic and spiritual training and that shows in his art. The two early novels, written after Rajam's death, The English Teacher and Mr. Sampath, make Narayan's characteristic preoccupation clear and unmistakable. The ethical ballast of the Gunas Comedy is evident in the philosophical tilt of his early comedy. At its very centre is the theme of self-development. The joyous, celebratory, life-affirming, "happy" ending of conventional comedy becomes in Narayan's Gunas Comedy a certain fulfilment of the self, a self-realisation, however marginal or ambiguous.

The quest for self-discipline, more than any other feature, lends homogeneity to Narayan's early Gunas Comedy. Of relevance to our appreciation, especially of the early novels is what he says in My Days.

A 16th century Tamil mystic had sung: "One may learn to walk on water, mesmerise a mad elephant, muzzle a tiger or a lion, walk on fire, and perform other feats, but yet the real feat would be to still the restless mind and understand one's real self."

Harmony is the ideal that dominates the vision of Narayan's protagonists.

How is your approach to Narayan different from that of others?

I haven't thought of it in terms of difference. Perhaps it is the concept of the gunas that makes it different. Besides, I am not comfortable with critical jargon.

There is a trend now to choose recent writers for research purposes. Earlier writers are sidelined. Narayan is said to be an overworked writer. Does this imply that he is exhausted as a subject for further research? Your comment on this.

I haven't read much of recent criticism on Narayan. As you know most doctoral theses are so many attempts at cutting one's critical teeth. The preference for recent writers, especially in countries like Australia and the United States only reveals a new popular interest, reflected in academic focus on new literatures. True, these are fashions; they will run their course. They will leave behind some good work.

Narayan is accused of lacking historical sense. What is your reaction to this view?

A charge levelled by V.S. Naipaul. After accusing him of lack of historical sense and political sense, Vidya himself sort of changed his mind.

However Narayan's novels show that, like any creative writer, he was sensitive to the world around him. His post-Independence novels reflect, as I have shown, changes in Indian society. Aren't we Indians said to lack a historical sense?

Have you been influenced by any theory of translation in your translation of Telugu short stories into English?

No. I have no head for theories. But, yes, I do believe that a translator of fiction has to play the role of a windowpane: let the light in, be faithful to the original. Translation is an exercise in humility. Doesn't that make it a spiritual experience?

Could you say something about your monograph on Narayan published by Sahitya Akademi, Delhi?

I had earlier focussed on the first five novels for a book on Narayan. But when the Akademi asked me to do a monograph, meant for the general reader, I went back and looked again at all the books, fiction, and non-fiction by Narayan. The length prescribed for the monograph is thirty thousand words. The style should be non-academic. The book is dear to me: it is my first on Narayan, it is a debt redeemed to my Professor Iyengar and to Narayan as well. It is dedicated to the memory of Srinivasa Iyengar.

(From The Hindu - October 1, 2006)

[/tscii:0268a81e02]

[RVG]

I enjoyed reading "The Guide" and "Swami and Friends" of R.K.Narayan.

[raagadevan]

[tscii:f15d788b1a]
This article is from the Hindu - October 08, 2006. For the full article with a few rare photographs, please click below:

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/10/08/stories/2006100800050100.htm

Reluctant centenarian


N. RAM

Malgudi will live on, long after the October 10 centenary of the birth of its creator.


NO COMPROMISES: R.K. Narayan was the first modern Indian writer in English to make a full-time career out of literature.

THERE are intimations that the birth centenary of R. K. Narayan is being observed in a modest, contemplative, almost-apologetic way. If you search the Internet, you will find such commemorative events as a seminar on "Relocating R. K. Narayan" organised by the media studies department of a Bangalore college, or a reminiscential talk somewhere else. You will find postings on blogsites where citizen journalists register sentiments like "R. K. Narayan, the man for whom simplicity meant everything... has had a great influence in my life." You are likely to read journalistic or scholarly articles, specially commissioned for the occasion in India and abroad, on the writer, his body of work, his life, perhaps on his current literary standing and even the future of his literary reputation.

You might be intrigued to come across "churumuri's R. K. Narayan campaign," which wants the commemoration to go beyond "getting a road or circle [in Mysore] named after him" or "holding a seminar or centenary events" and create "something more substantial, something that will last forever... [and show] how we honour the good and the great." You will learn about the forthcoming `R. K. Narayan Birth Centenary Conference' in Mysore, a two-day scholarly event organised by the Indian Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies and the Sahitya Academy. In a communication accessible on the Internet, the chairperson of IACLALS notes that the conference, in which top Indian and international "experts on Narayan" will participate, has been planned on "a small and unpretentious Malgudi scale."

I know the creator of Malgudi would have been amused. He might have approved of the low key of these celebrations — adding, in all likelihood, this caveat: `if celebrate you must.' Narayan disliked anything extravagant, sentimental, `artificial.' I know from repeated observation that among the television scenes that offended his literary-aesthetic sense most (and he invariably converted his disapproval into a sense of amused acceptance) was the sight of VVIPs making a beeline for samadhis, as though these flower-bedecked, staged events would confer immortality on the great departed.

Just as he was both displeased and amused by the constant stream of `book releases' by presidents, governors, ministers, judges, bankers, industrialists, editors, entertainment world figures, and other bigwigs. "Books are there to be picked up from the shelves of bookshops and libraries," he remarked to me once. "They should not be written to be `released'." Of course, as a life-long professional writer with a keen practical sense and an unrivalled knowledge of publishers, agents, copyright, and the book trade, he went along with publishers' book launches and other promotional arrangements, even consenting coolly, in his advanced years, to sign copies for book buyers as well as recipients of his books as gifts.

Commemorative editions

I know Narayan would have been happy that Indian Thought Publications — the unorthodox publishing experiment he launched in 1942 that had him as the sole author and is today a thriving business venture run by his grand-daughter `Minnie' (Bhuvaneshwari Srinivasamurthy) — has special publishing plans for the centenary year. The first commemorative offering, scheduled for an October 10 launch, is a limited deluxe edition of Narayan's acclaimed autobiography, My Days (1974), with R. K. Laxman illustrations, rare photographs, and a new introduction by the writer Alexander McCall Smith. Next will come an omnibus collection of Narayan's best short stories, some 75 of them, with an introduction by Jhumpa Lahiri. A volume collecting the writer's less-known travel writings, also under the Indian Thought imprint, will be another special treat in the centenary year.

If I were to make up a Narayan quote, as some practitioners of the (now quite old) `new journalism' allow themselves to do, it would be something like this: "Celebrating the centenary of somebody's birth, a mere accident, is a meaningless sentimental exercise. If a writer's readership and appeal survived his death by some years that would be worth celebrating." The Narayan I knew would certainly have been far more pleased with the prospect of his debut novel, Swami and Friends, being in print in 2035, a hundred years after its publication, than with the celebration of his hundredth birthday.

Art of omission

"There is but one art, to omit!" noted Robert Louis Stevenson many years before Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami was born and grown into a publishable writer. "Oh, if I knew how to omit I would ask no other knowledge. A man who knows how to omit would make an `Iliad' of a daily paper." Out of such knowledge and secret was born Malgudi — India's best-known, best-loved fictional town — and the lovely, grave as well as comedy-laden, art and voice of its literary creator who is widely regarded as India's greatest writer in English of the twentieth century.

All of Narayan's fiction testifies to this secret knowledge, as does much of his non-fiction. In fact, such was his commitment to the art of omission that he had absolutely no problem when the 38-letter name, which appears on his degree certificate, was shortened in 1935 for literary convenience to R. K. Narayan at the instance of Graham Greene and the publisher Hamish Hamilton. His writing career was exceptionally long lasting, encompassing seven decades. His literary output is rich and varied — 15 novels, all but one set in Malgudi; scores of short stories, the best of them offered in two collections, Malgudi Days (1982) and Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories (1985); retellings of Indian epics and mythology; travelogues; essays; and the autobiography, My Days.

For Narayan's `discoverer' Greene, it seemed, nothing could better Swami and Friends, the typescript of which charmed the English writer in 1934-35. Most critics are likely to consider the eighth novel, The Guide (1958), as the writer's most imaginative and accomplished. However, each reader might have her or his personal favourite — The English Teacher (1945) or The Financial Expert (1952) perhaps. (Narayan once related to us what he claimed was the real life story of a practical banker who, beguiled by the title of the sixth novel, ordered dozens of copies for the edification of his employees and then, when he discovered its fictional content, didn't know what to do with his paid-for stock.)

A reader's favourite might also be Mr Sampath — The Printer of Malgudi (1949) or The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1962) or The Vendor of Sweets (1967) or The Painter of Signs (1976) or The Dark Room (1938), the little-known `schematic,' socially radical third novel that Narayan, in his autobiography, describes as a product of his obsession with "a philosophy of Woman as opposed to Man, her constant oppressor" and as "an early testament of the `Women's Lib' movement." Readers looking for a full literary cycle — the return of the writer's fiction and voice to the autobiographical mode — will be charmed by the last novel, a novella actually, The Grandmother's Tale (1993).

Like many a writer, Narayan went through a period of derivative, footloose, "unclassifiable" experimentation — before he discovered his métier. In September 1930, when be began writing his first novel, Swami and Friends, he made his breakthrough: "I began to notice that the sentences acquired a new strength and finality while being rewritten, and the real, final version could emerge only between the original lines and then again in what developed in the jumble of rewritten lines, and above and below them. It was, on the whole, a pleasant experience..." In July 1983, he told a group of American teachers who met him in Mysore: "I always blue pencil anything that seems at all repetitive."

Interestingly, a few months before Swami and Friends was published in England, Narayan's literary promoter, Greene, expressed in a letter practical anxieties about the brevity of the debutant's work: "I think if we fail to get it published, it will be chiefly because of its length; 50,000 words is awkwardly short. It may seem foolish that good work should not be published because it isn't padded out to 70,000, but that's how the racket is run..." It is a measure of Narayan's artistic integrity that not once during an exceptionally long writing career was he tempted to compromise with "the racket."

Look out of the window

Contrasting with the style and approach with which Narayan seemed to arrive, readymade, on the world literary stage was the plenitude of material that seemed always at hand. In 1962, when Ved Mehta asked Narayan in New York if he was ever oppressed by a sense of diminishing literary powers, the novelist came up with an answer that was only half-joking: "I really have more stories than I can write in a lifetime, and probably in the next janma I will be not an author but a publisher... How nice it would be to live in Malgudi."

In his author's introduction to the splendid short story collection, Malgudi Days, Narayan returned to this theme of the richness and diversity of story material India offered any perceptive writer who had the technical competence to work on the ideas: "The material available to a story writer in India is limitless. Within a broad climate of inherited culture there are endless variations: every individual differs from every other individual, not only economically, but in outlook, habits and day-to-day philosophy. It is stimulating to live in a society that is not standardised or mechanised, and is free from monotony. Under such conditions the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character (and thereby a story)."

This writer placed a high value on spontaneity and `non-deliberateness' in fiction, as he did in real life. Any knowledge of his novels and short stories reveals that he is the most unselfconscious of writers. He has himself explained, on more than one occasion, how as a writer he let things run their course, allowing characters to surface or ideas to develop without `deliberateness' of any kind.

Roots

But all this understates, in a crucial respect, what Narayan came to believe a good novelist needed. The art of omission, a plenitude of story material, perceptivity, and unselfconsciousness and non-deliberateness in the writing are necessary and vital — but still insufficient conditions for mastery of his kind of literary art. This is made clear in an insight he offered Ved Mehta in 1962: "To be a good writer anywhere, you must have roots — both in religion and family. I have these things..." The idea of being rooted in a society and civilisation — in one's own culture, traditions, values, changing local milieu, modernity and family, and among one's own people — is important to Narayan's development as a writer and, incidentally, to his assessment of other writers. "His writing is interesting," he would remark to me about some writer who was temporarily in the news. "But you can see the writer has no roots."

Literary standing

There is a tendency among some lesser writers of Indian origin, the likes of Shashi Tharoor, to denigrate the literary art and achievement of Narayan. Among other things, his vision is held to be "narrow"; his concerns "banal"; the pool of experience and vocabulary he drew from "shallow"; his style "pedestrian," "metronomic," "predictable," "limited and conventional," and "impoverished" (all these adjectives must be credited to a Tharoor column). The birth centenary is perhaps a good occasion to proclaim that there can be no serious question about where Narayan stands in the literary world, especially in relation to his detractors.

His international standing is expressed in the fact that his novels, short stories, and retellings of Indian epics and myths can be read in most of the world's major languages; that his fiction has been the subject of a substantial scholarly and critical literature produced over several decades; and that elaborate literary tributes appeared in the world's media following his death on May 13, 2001. He was nominated on more than one occasion for the Nobel Prize, although like his friend Greene, he did not win it. Like the Canadian novelist Robertson Davies whom he greatly admired, Narayan — the most unpretentious and accessible of writers — is also regarded as a writer's writer.

Voice and style

His fiction, deceptively simple and elusive in terms of literary theory and technique, is distinctive for its voice, its fusion of the comic with the sad, and its philosophical depth. He is famed for his lightness of touch and a style that is lean, lucid, undecorated, but wonderfully expressive and full of understated surprises. Narayan was a master of the `clear glass' style long before that term of art was invented. "Since the death of Evelyn Waugh," declared Greene, "Narayan is the novelist I most admire in the English language." It was no small praise from one of the great writers of the twentieth century. For John Updike, Narayan's ability to convey the "colourful teeming" of his fictional town places him in the Dickensian tradition.

The remarkable thing about Narayan — master of the art of omission — was that once he discovered his metier and his fictional town, he stayed with it for life. All his originality, inventiveness, imagination, and philosophical resources were invested in the space of his small town, now familiar to millions of people through the medium of television.

Narayan had a special ability to make the rhythms, intricacies and humanism of South Indian life accessible to people all over India and indeed to people of other cultures round the world. Central to this achievement was Malgudi, the fictional South Indian town, which he peopled with ordinary men and women made memorable by his art. The stuff of his fiction is the precise registration of the particular and the local, mediated by the art of omission — what V. S. Naipaul memorably called the life of "small men, small schemes, big talk, limited means."

"Whom next shall I meet in Malgudi?" was the thought that occurred to Greene when he finished reading, usually in manuscript, a Narayan novel. He knew that if he went out of the door into "those loved and shabby streets" of Malgudi, he could see "with excitement and a certainty of pleasure" a stranger approaching past the bank, the cinema, and the haircutting saloon — "a stranger who will greet me I know with some unexpected and revealing phrase that will open a door on to yet another human experience."

It is `voice' as much as anything else that defines our writer. Learned essays and treatises have been written about it. As has already been noted, Narayan's is a lovely, original, grave as well as humour-laden voice. In its registration of ordinary life in Malgudi, its unhurriedness, its imperturbable humour set against a "sad and poetic background," its many shades of irony, its never-heavy philosophising, and its detachment and constancy, this voice seems to convey something universal. There is nothing false, strained, `deliberate' about his fiction.

Pioneer

Another dimension of Narayan's literary achievement needs to be highlighted. He was the first modern Indian writer in English to make a full-time career out of literature. He was, in fact, modern India's first successful professional writer in English. When Narayan started out in the 1930s, he had no literary forebears or peers to relate to. When he was ready with his first novel, he could find neither a publisher nor a reading public. The India of the 1930s and early 1940s lacked an organised publishing industry. Writers who got published in newspapers or periodicals were paid essentially small change. The absence of a significant book-buying public for Indian fiction in English must have been enormously discouraging.

It was a heroic struggle for the first 20 years and it is to the credit of the Indian press that during this period it provided support to the creative writer. A monograph can be written on Narayan the journalist. In 1931, after trying to interest "every kind of editor and publisher" in his short stories and after making a half-hearted attempt to land a job in The Hindu as a trainee sub-editor or reporter, he had a book review and short story published in The Indian Review. In 1933, he scored a one-off: Punch published his short satirical article, "How to Write an Indian Novel." In 1934-35, he worked hard as the Mysore stringer for The Justice, the official organ of the non-Brahmin movement.

In the late 1930s, Narayan made a breakthrough with The Hindu — with Kasturi Srinivasan asking him to contribute short stories and other pieces because, as the great editor put it, he "valued good English, which was in short supply." Thus began a long and productive association with our newspaper group, which meant that many of the writer's well-known short stories and essays were first published in The Hindu. From the second half of the 1980s, our fortnightly magazine Frontline had the privilege of publishing a number of Narayan "Table Talk" pieces, some short stories, and even three novels in serial form. In the middle period of his creative writing, Narayan had a productive association with The Illustrated Weekly and The Times of India, with whom R. K. Laxman, India's greatest cartoonist and the writer's youngest brother, has had a wonderful lifetime association.

Narayan never wavered, never deviated from the decision he made early on that the only life for him was that of a writer. Recalling that decision made around 1929-30, he once remarked to me: "I wonder how I had the foolhardiness to make such a crazy decision! I don't think I could do it again if I had to make a choice." This part-joking, part-serious remark seemed to capture the essence of Narayan's early life as a writer. He summed it up for his biographers: "Good reviews, poor sales and a family to support."

The last years

I can recall some typical Narayan observations in his final years. He would remark that as writers (for example, Saul Bellow or himself) grew older, their novels got shorter. "It's like the Indian goldsmith at the end of the day," he told me once. "He sweeps in the dust carefully to retrieve the gold particles he thinks can be found in the dust."

On April 10, 1994, when his daughter Hema died of cancer — the worst personal blow since the death of his wife Rajam, from typhoid, in 1939 — he said to me: "We are all in the queue. She has jumped the queue." And on the side-effects of chemotherapy under certain circumstances: "It's like setting fire to the house to roast the pig." The allusion, extraordinary for a lifelong vegetarian and an 88-year-old father grieving the death of his only child, was to the `Chinese manuscript,' or rather fable, figuring in Charles Lamb's "A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig" in Essays of Elia (1823). For me, this observation presented a rare insight into a creative mind.

This writer's mind was extraordinarily clear until the last. In an introduction to a Narayan novel, Greene once speculated: "a writer in some ways knows his own future — his end is his beginning." Narayan in his nineties would return imaginatively to the characters and scene of his childhood, as though he were examining them as subject matter for new, shorter fiction.

Just a few hours before being put on a ventilator in May 2001, while he was experiencing fairly severe cardiac-respiratory problems and the duty doctor was cautioning against the strain of talking, he told us who were at his bedside about a "short novel" he wished to begin. He spoke of its plot at some length. It would be based on the life of his tahsildar grandfather, who had managed to accumulate property way beyond his legitimate means and lost it all. "Part biography, part fiction," these words keep ringing in my ear. We discussed the book's length, I enquired, "about 35,000 words?" and the writer agreed: "that will be appropriate." He wanted me to bring him a diary in which he would start writing his 16th novel. He was in the habit of writing his fiction and essays in old diaries when he did not use elegantly bound notebooks. The way a book or notebook was bound was important to him. "Will it be a 2000 diary or a 2001 diary?" were the last words I heard from him. To my wife, he said: "Please ask Ram to bring the diary quickly, the story is forming in my mind."

Some decades after Narayan — in the company of Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao, the last of the `big three' to pass on — cleared the path for modern Indian fiction in English, there has been a remarkable flowering of literary talent of Indian origin in English. Successful and, in some cases, world-renowned writers of Indian origin have dealt with imaginative themes in diverse ways in varied voices and different styles. You can take your pick of world-view, approach, theme, narrative technique, style, voice, it is a free literary world. In the midst of all this, Narayan's work stands tall — unpretentious yet original, understated yet path-breaking, `non-deliberate' and accessible yet philosophical and profound.

It will ensure that Malgudi lives on, long after works by younger writers have lost their public.

(This article incorporates some material from the Cover Story by N. Ram, "Malgudi's Creator: The life and art of R.K. Narayan (1906-2001)" published in Frontline, June 8, 2001; and from the biography, R. K. Narayan: The Early Years - 1906-1945, Penguin India, New Delhi, 1996, by Susan Ram and N. Ram.)

[/tscii:f15d788b1a]

[raagadevan]

http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/13/stories/2006101304331500.htm

[ramky]

RD : nice article - hope that the idea of R.K. Narayan Research Centre is brought into reality ! :)

[raagadevan]

I hope so too Ramky :) If R.K. Narayan lived a few more years, he would surely have won the Nobel Prize for literature. He was short listed for the prize several times. As you know, the Nobel committee has a habit of waiting and waiting... but unfortunately, they waited too long in this case!!

[Wibha]

i liked his Bachelor of Arts,Swami and Frnds and English teacher

[raagadevan]

[tscii:78a71cb54e]


Fans assemble to celebrate the creator of Malgudi Days

Ramya Kannan

"First Indian Journalist in India to make a living out of writing in English" Excerpts from My Days were read out to illustrate the author's humour, progress of his life

CHENNAI: R.K. Narayan's fans are an obdurate lot. Much as they figured that the author might have disapproved of the energy or sentimentality with which his centenary was being celebrated, they did not let this knowledge keep them from celebrating his work, again and again.

On a gloomy Saturday evening, in the brief hiatus when the rain clouds held back, fans assembled at the new Crossword bookstore in T. Nagarto discuss their favourite author from the point of view of his autobiography, My Days.

The centenary edition of the book, originally printed in 1974, was reprinted and launched by Indian Thought Publications, headed by his grand daughter `Minnie' (Bhuvaneshwari Srinivasamurthy).

Close friend of Narayan and Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu , N. Ram, highlighted the traits of the author's writing that endeared him to masters of literature all over the world — "lovely, grave, comedy-laden." Though his style seemed deceptively simple, "there was considerable art behind that superficial artlessness," Mr. Ram delineated.

Special ability

While commending his capacity for economy of writing and his ability to make omission, he added that the author was also known for his special ability to make the rhythms and intricacies of South Indian life accessible to all cultures.

Memorable characters

He also believed in remaining faithful to his creation Malgudi throughout his life, never straying out of the boundaries of the fictional town. He breathed life into his memorable characters. "The remarkable thing about this long-lived author was that once he discovered his place and his fictional town, he stayed with it for life," Mr. Ram said.

At the same time, Narayan, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, managed to incorporate historical facts into accounts that were mainly reminiscences of the past. Mr. Ram also recounted the author's close ties with The Hindu Group of Publications, lauding him as the first Indian Journalist in India to make a living out of writing in English. And testimony to his enduring appeal was the fact that his books continue to sell throughout the year in bookstores across the country.

An appreciative audience lapped up anecdotes from the author's life, colourfully recounted by Mr. Ram and sourced from his personal interactions with him.

S. Ramachander, senior management consultant, read out skilfully chosen parts from My Days to illustrate not only the humour, but also the progress of his life.

(From "The Hindu" - November 06, 2006)[/tscii:78a71cb54e]

[Alan]

I 've read as many RK Narayan books I've been able to lay my hands upon.

My all time favourite is of course The Guide.

The Man Eater of Malgudi and Grandmother's Tale follows.
And of course RKN's autobiography- "My days'

[Wibha]

"The Guide " is everyone's Favorite all time :D

i just read "Vendor Of Sweets"....... R.K.Narayan has described the exact character of a person when he/she returns from a foreign country and the feelings of his/her relative in India............the novel is so good........

I hate the son in the novel and his actions towards his father. but tat's how many are so it's mostly true.......

R.K Narayan :clap: for dis novel :D :D

[sm maddy]

I feel that Malgudi days and Swami and Friends
wer superb. I enjoyed reading My days tooooo........ . I am certainly a great fan of RKN sir

[raagadevan]

"The English Teacher"

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2007/01/14/stories/2007011400110300.htm

[smith1]

Waiting for the mahatma - one of R.K's finest.

Regarding Guide, it was made in englsih & hindi. The hindi version flopped though.

In fact R.K.Narayan was thoroughly unhappy with the final product that he called up dev anand & fired him.

After that, he announced that none of his novels must be made into films.

[Wibha]

RK sir's book as a movie :shock:

:banghead:

good RK sir fired him :thumbsup:

i kinda didn't like waiting for the mahatma...............

[always]

Just read Swami and Friends

The first time I read it I liked it. This time I love it :) The way he portray's Swami is really good. A well defined, whining school boy. When I read it many sentences reminded me of myself. :lol:

"Swaminathan seemed to be an expert in thinking out difficulties."


The character that appeals to me the most is Rajam though I don't know why.

[raagadevan]

Memories of Malgudi Man:

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/06/01/stories/2008060150140500.htm

[raagas]

Waiting for the mahatma - one of R.K's finest.

Regarding Guide, it was made in englsih & hindi. The hindi version flopped though.

In fact R.K.Narayan was thoroughly unhappy with the final product that he called up dev anand & fired him.

After that, he announced that none of his novels must be made into films.

It is the english version that flopped. The Hindi version was a huge hit.
Yes, RK didnt like final product and that is natural, because he visalized it in different way and the story has been adapted to a movie-screenplay differently. For me, even as a fan of the novel, i did like the film. RK was rightly unhappy inis own way and Dev was right in his own way, becase cinema needs a different language. The movie a quite good. Plz watch it.

[Sanguine Sridhar]

Currently I am reading "The Man Eater of Malgudi" :)

[P_R]

Waiting for the mahatma - one of R.K's finest.

Regarding Guide, it was made in englsih & hindi. The hindi version flopped though.

In fact R.K.Narayan was thoroughly unhappy with the final product that he called up dev anand & fired him.

After that, he announced that none of his novels must be made into films.

It is the english version that flopped. The Hindi version was a huge hit.
Yes, RK didnt like final product and that is natural, because he visalized it in different way and the story has been adapted to a movie-screenplay differently. For me, even as a fan of the novel, i did like the film. RK was rightly unhappy inis own way and Dev was right in his own way, becase cinema needs a different language. The movie a quite good. Plz watch it.

I think it is in Salt and Sawdust, that RKN writes about the making of the film. He does not have good words for Dev Anand but it makes lovely reading.

The problems start with the location hunt where apparently someone rebuffed RKN's objections to the location of choice with "how do you know where Malgudi is ?" :lol:

And apparently Dev Anand talked him into a percentage contract with the lines "the sky is the limit" and if the final accounts as stated to RKN when his royalties were calculated were to be believe : "the sky was so low I could poke it with my umbrella" (sic) :-)

[complicateur]

In a collection of passages RKN had written a description of how they filmed a scene indicating conflict by likening it to 2 wild animals (a lion and tiger if I remember correctly) going at it. It was one of the most hilariously scathing indictments of the film industry I have read.

[chevy]

I want "The dark room" soft copy or ebook..

[Wibha]

I want "The dark room" soft copy or ebook..

I'm looking for it too. I could find only Bachelor of arts :( :)

[raagadevan]

Memories of Malgudi

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/02/01/stories/2010020150860500.htm

[19thmay]

Talkative Man :lol:

The characters in the novel still haunting my mind, excellent! :notworthy:

[19thmay]

B.A Bachelor of Arts, finally. Superb! Can't believe that this was a 1937 work. Must read.

[chevy]

I'm looking for it too. I could find only Bachelor of arts :( :) Read it about a year ago. I was hoping to read more about the lady finding solace in a dark room, because I used to feel the same too. I always prefer dim to dark light settings when I am upset. So it was disappointing that the story didn't talk much about that.

[raagadevan]

"Jeffrey Archer loves the scent of Malgudi, city hotels"

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Jeffrey-Archer-loves-the-scent-of-Malgudi-city-hotels/articleshow/7666951.cms

[19thmay]

The Financial Expert - A guide to write a novel! Simply awesome... :clap:

[Wibha]

B.A Bachelor of Arts, finally. Superb! Can't believe that this was a 1937 work. Must read.

One of my favorite works by RKN sir :notworthy:

[19thmay]

The Painter of signs - Slowly I am getting addicted to R.K.Narayan. Painter of Signs ends with some serious climax and I liked it. Wits were spontaneous, born genious! :clap:

[raagadevan]

"Stay on demolition of house where R.K. Narayan lived"

http://www.thehindu.com/news/article2427504.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

"R.K. Narayan's house to be restored"

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/history-and-culture/article2436898.ece?homepage=true

[chhinder]

I love RKN stories especially Malguddy days. It seems we, ourselves are moving here and there with the innocent child in villages of India.

[anisha_astrologer]

Malgudi Days was something we grew up reading and watching. he was a gem and no indian library could ever be complete without his stories in there.

[raagadevan]

Mysore University to take over R.K. Narayan’s bungalow

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/mysore-university-to-take-over-rk-narayans-bungalow/article4013790.ece?homepage=true

[19thmay]

The Dark Room :clap: Man you are awesome!

[raagadevan]

Rereading: R.K. Narayan

By Charles Nicholl - The Guardian - May 14, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/14/rk-narayan-malgudi-south-india

[raagadevan]

Google Doodle remembers R.K. Narayan

http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/google-doodle-remembers-rk-narayan/article6487648.ece?homepage=true

[raagadevan]

Eminent cartoonist R K Laxman (R.K. Narayan's brother) dies at 93

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Eminent-cartoonist-R-K-Laxman-dies-at-93/articleshow/46021781.cms

[raagadevan]

MY DAYS - R.K. Nayan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-mA2ewAM9A