Malgudi Days is a collection of short stories

Short story

A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...

 by R. K. Narayan

R. K. Narayan

R. K. Narayan , shortened from Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami Tamil: ) , Madras Presidency, British India. His father was a school headmaster, and Narayan did some of his studies at his father's school...

 published in 1943 by Indian Thought Publications

Indian Thought Publications

Indian Thought Publications is a publisher founded in 1942, in Mysore by R. K. Narayan. Narayan founded the company as he was cut off from England owing to the war and needed an outlet for his works. The first book to be published by the company was Malgudi Days, in 1943. The publishing company...

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The book was republished outside India in 1982. The book includes 19 stories, all set in the fictional town of Malgudi

Malgudi

Malgudi is a fictitious town in India created by R.K. Narayan in his novels and short stories. It forms the setting for most of Narayan's works. Starting with his first novel, Swami and Friends, all but one of his fifteen novels and most of his short stories take place here...

, located in South India. Each of the stories portrays a facet of life in Malgudi. The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

 described the virtue of the book as "everyone in the book seems to have a capacity for responding to the quality of his particular hour. It's an art we need to study and revive."

In 1986, a few of the stories in the book were included in the Malgudi Days

Malgudi Days

Malgudi Days is an Indian television series based on the works of R.K. Narayan. The series was directed by the late Kannada actor and director, Shankar Nag and Carnatic musician L. Vaidyanathan composed the score. R. K Narayan's brother and acclaimed cartoonist R. K. Laxman was the sketch artist....

 television series and, directed by actor and director, Shankar Nag

Shankar Nag

Shankar Nagarkatte , 9 November 1954 - 30 September 1990) popularly known as Shankar Nag was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days, based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved...

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In 2004, the project was revived with film-maker Kavitha Lankesh

Kavitha Lankesh

Kavitha Lankesh is a renowned filmmaker and director in the Kannada cinema industry.Lankesh is the younger daughter of well known Kannada writer and journalist P. Lankesh. Kavitha holds a Masters in English Literature from the Bangalore University and a diploma in advertising.Kavitha started her...

 replacing the late Shankar Nag as director. The new series was telecast from April 26, 2006 on Doordarshan

DoorDarshan

Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...

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Chapters

• 'An Astrologer's Day : A short story in which an astrologer meets his rival which he thought was long dead.

• The Missing Mail: A story about Thannappa, a postman who doesn't deliver a letter because of celebrations in a house.

• The Doctor's Word: A story about Dr Raman, a doctor who believes in "good words can save lives". He tells a lie to his friend about his bad health condition.

• The Blind Dog: A story about a blind beggar who catches a dog to guide him through the streets.

• Fellow Feeling: A story about Rajam Iyer, a Tamil Brahmin who is travelling in a train compartment and gets accused by a fellow passenger for eating fish.