R K
Narayan
(1906-2001)
|
|
The Malgudi Man |
|
"I'd be quite happy if no more is claimed from me
than being just a story-teller. Only the story matters, that is all."
|
| |
 |
R.K.
Narayan was famous the world over for his humourous and realistic
novels. Remember the Malgudi Days, and that music Ta-na-na-na-na…starts
playing in our head. Every one of Narayan's readers knows what
Narayan-land is called: Malgudi described as small-town India like
any other town with ordinary people, ordinary needs and simple life.
Most of his works, starting from his first novel, 'Swami and His
Friends' (1935) is set in the fictional town of Malgudi. |
|
Once the
readers are in this village-town, our guide, the storyteller, awaits
them and gets the reader so engrossed through his simple yet vivid
description, that a few pages flipped, and one actually feels that
one has been to Malgudi.
Born in Madras in 1906, R. K. Narayan had his initial education in
Madras (Chennai) and later at the Maharaja's College in Mysore. He
lived in Mysore, the place that had maximum influence on him and
reflected in his novels till recently, before moving to Chennai
where he took his last breath. R.K. Narayan died at a private
hospital at Chennai in the early hours of Sunday 13th of May at the
age of 95 and is survived by his brother, Mr. R.K. Laxman, the
famous cartoonist of the 'common man' fame from the daily - Times of
India, son-in-law C S Chandrasekharan and two grandchildren.
|
|
Fundu Fact |
|
R.
K. Narayan's complete name is Rasipuram Krishnaswami Ayyar
Naranayanaswami. In his early years he signed his name as R. K.
Narayanaswami, but apparently at the time of the publication of
Swami and Friends, he shortened it to R. K. Narayan on the
advice of friend Graham Greene. |
|
|
|
Narayan's wife died some years ago. Dr Narayan had travelled
extensively. After completing his education in 1930, he worked as a
teacher and a journalist for a while before taking up writing as his
profession. |
| |
|
Did you
Know? |
|
Mr. Narayan
is the hero of his own early books - the unforgettable ten-year old
'Swami', a lovable, mischievous young boy, from his imaginary locale.
Most of his books in this phase were based on the life and the
environment in Mysore. |
| |
| Narayan
started writing by 1924 and completed his first, brilliant novel, Swami
and Friends in 1932. But it was only after persistent effort that he got
it published in England in 1935. |
 |
Narayan's publications include, short stories, essays, epics
(retold), sketches and memoirs, all of which tried to convey his
understanding of the land and the people he knew. His work was born
out of his own "regional'' experience; though he wrote in English,
it has flavours of Tamil - the language the genius grew up with. His
works have been extensively translated in Hebrew and European
languages.
Narayan wrote 34 novels, including all-time favourites as The
Bachelor of Arts, The Man-eater of Malgudi, The Financial Expert and
Malgudi Days. Swami And Friends and Malgudi Days were made into a
highly successful Doordrshan series in the eighties by the late
Kannada film-maker Shankar Nag. Another of Narayan's hit novels, The
Guide, was made into a successful Hindi film by Dev Anand's Navketan
Films in 1962. |
|
| |
|
Did you
know? |
|
In his stint
as a Rajya Sabha member, Narayan apparently made only one intervention.
This was a passionate criticism of a school system that bends children's
backs with heavy schoolbags rather than exciting their minds or
imaginations. |
| |
|
R K
Narayan's Works |
|
Fiction |
|
1935 |
Swami
and Friends |
 |
|
1937 |
The
Bachelor of Arts |
|
1938 |
The Dark
Room |
|
1945 |
The
English Teacher |
|
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 |
|
1967 |
The
Vendor of Sweets |
|
1976 |
The
Painter of Signs |
|
1983 |
A Tiger
for Malgudi |
|
1986 |
Talkative Man |
|
1990 |
The
World of Nagaraj |
|
1993 |
Grandmother's Tales |
|
| |
|
Non-Fiction
|
|
1960 |
Next
Sunday |
|
1964 |
My
Dateless Diary |
|
1974 |
My Days
|
|
1980 |
The
Emerald Route |
|
1988 |
A
Writer's Nightmare |
|
| |
|
Short
Stories |
|
1947 |
An
Astrologer's Day and Other Short Stories |
|
1956 |
Lawley
Road |
|
1970 |
A Horse
and Two Goats |
|
1974 |
Reluctant Guru |
|
1982
|
Malgudi
Days |
|
1985 |
Under
the Banyan Tree |
|
1993 |
Salt and
Sawdust |
|
| |
|
Mythology
|
|
1965
|
Gods,
Demons and Others |
|
1972 |
The
Ramayana |
|
1978 |
The
Mahabarata |
|
| |
|
Recent
Publications |
Memories
of Malgudi / published on 11/1/00
Indian Epics Retold / published on 3/1/00
World of Malgudi / published on 1/8/00 |
| |
|
Awards
and Honours |
- Padma
Bhushan -1964
-
Sahitya Akademi Award, 1958 - The Guide.
- A.C.
Benson Award, 1980 by The Royal Society of Literature
-
Fellow, The Royal Society of Literature
-
Honorary Member, The American Academy of Arts and Letters
-
Member, Rajya Sabha for a six-year term in 1989.
-
Honorary Doctorate from The Mysore University - for contribution to
Indian English literature.
|
| |
| |
|
Malgudi
Days |
 |
Thoroughly entertaining and humourous, this book also touches an
emotional chord with the readers. R.K. Narayan underlines his status
of being a literary genius with this book.
The Malgudi tale is set in a traditional laidback Indian Village
called Malgudi. The different short stories in the book center
around various characters in that village and the small but
interesting incidents concerning them. The story of Swami and his
friends is extremely interesting and caught the people's eye in the
popular teleserial Malgudi Days. The characters Swami and his rich
friend are described as full of life and charm.
All the stories are simple with a moral attached to them. The
touching story of Mali and his father where a father copes with a
son's foreign wife and the son neglects his father because he is
simple and traditional may even bring tears to your eyes.
All stories are well written and suitably injected with humourous
quotes and anecdotes. In short, a timeless classic one must read.
|
|
