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Ganesh. (@ trt-*) on: Mon May 6 22:17:22
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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GV (@ lond*) on: Wed May 15 07:38:34
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from zatang.com (@ user*) on: Thu May 16 12:40:58
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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Morine Mickormick (@ slip*) on: Sat May 18 17:44:41
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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GV (@ ) on: Fri Jul 26 22:19:46
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Sujit Das (@ 164.*) on: Thu Sep 12 07:09:57
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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suvani pathirana (@ ) on: Fri Apr 11 04:36:48
I want details of birth, death, schooling, qualifications, prizes, personal life, time book english teacher was written
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Rajaraja czholan (@ 61.1*) on: Tue Apr 15 00:41:42 EDT 2003
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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Ahsan Sultan Ahmed. (@ ) on: Fri Dec 12 02:22:36
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 Sultan Ahmed. (@ ) on: Fri Dec 12 02:22:55
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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evano_oruvan (@ 203.*) on: Fri Dec 12 02:34:03 EST 2003
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://shopping.rediff.com/shopping/books/index.html
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Mihir Semwal (@ ) on: Wed Jun 16 03:22:37
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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Mihir Semwal (@ 203.*) on: Wed Jun 16 03:23:54 EDT 2004
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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anand (@ 210.*) on: Wed Jul 14 08:52:18 EDT 2004
His novels are avaiable at all higginbothams book stalls.
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L.O.R (@ host*) on: Thu Aug 5 05:41:47 EDT 2004
Available in platforms too!! :-))
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Hemanth (@ rev0*) on: Tue Aug 10 01:27:37 EDT 2004
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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N.V.s (@ ) on: Wed Oct 6 02:08:33
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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N.V.s (@ 202.*) on: Wed Oct 6 02:10:11 EDT 2004
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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twinkle (@ cvg-*) on: Wed Oct 6 23:03:07 EDT 2004
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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b.k.gaur (@ 210.*) on: Thu Oct 7 01:08:09 EDT 2004
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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arin (@ c-67*) on: Wed Nov 17 22:14:42
yo, u kno where i can get some literary criticism of Narayan's work? i need it for school.
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b.k.gaur (@ 210.*) on: Thu Nov 18 06:02:31 EST 2004
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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fghfgh (@ wnpg*) on: Sat Nov 20 18:08:51 EST 2004
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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fghfgh (@ wnpg*) on: Sat Nov 20 18:08:58 EST 2004
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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fghfgh (@ wnpg*) on: Sat Nov 20 18:09:04 EST 2004
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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jaya (@ 60.4*) on: Wed Dec 1 23:02:35 EST 2004
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?
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arin (@ c-67*) on: Mon Dec 27 18:40:48 EST 2004
b.k.gaur , thanx for the help
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R.K Narayan
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.
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My favourite all time - Swami and his Friends.. I would have read that atleast 10-15 times during my childhood..
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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.
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Wrong forum Sir! :twisted:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thiru
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.
walrus, I am looking forward to it! :wink:
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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?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hehehewalrus
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....... :?
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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