R. K. Narayan shortened from
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
: ) (was an Indian author whose works of
fictionFiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
include a series of books about people and their interactions in an imagined town in India called Malgudi. He is one of three leading figures of early
Indian literatureIndian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Republic of India has 22 officially recognized languages....
in English, along with
Mulk Raj AnandMulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, together with R.K...
and
Raja RaoRaja Rao was an Indian writer of English language novels and short stories, whose works are deeply rooted in Hinduism. Raja Rao's semi-autobiographical novel, The Serpent and the Rope , is a story of a search for spiritual truth in Europe and India...
. He is credited with bringing Indian literature in English to the rest of the world, and is regarded as one of India's greatest
English languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
novelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ists.
Narayan broke through with the help of his mentor and friend,
Graham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, who was instrumental in getting publishers for Narayan’s first four books, including the semi-autobiographical trilogy of
Swami and FriendsSwami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R. K. Narayan, a celebrated English language novelist from India. The novel, which is also Narayan's first, is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town called Malgudi...
,
The Bachelor of Arts and
The English TeacherThe English Teacher is a 1945 novel written by R. K. Narayan. This is the third and final part in the series, preceded by Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts ....
. Narayan’s works also include
The Financial ExpertThe Financial Expert is a 1952 novel by R. K. Narayan. It takes place, as do many other novels and short stories by this author, in the town of Malgudi. The central character in this book is the financial expert Margayya, who offers advice to his fellow townspeople from under his position at the...
, hailed as one of the most original works of 1951, and
Sahitya Akademi AwardSahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
winner
The GuideThe Guide is a 1958 novel written in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like most of his works the novel is based in Malgudi, the fictional town in South India...
, which was adapted for films in
HindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and English languages, and for
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
The setting for most of Narayan's stories is the fictional town of
MalgudiMalgudi 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...
, first introduced in
Swami and Friends. His narratives highlight social context and provide a feel for his characters through everyday life. He has been compared to
William FaulknerWilliam Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, who also created a fictional town that stood for reality, brought out the humour and energy of ordinary life, and displayed compassionate
humanismHumanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
in his writing. Narayan's short story writing style has been compared to that of
Guy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
, as they both have an ability to compress the narrative without losing out on elements of the story. Narayan has also come in for criticism for being too simple in his prose and diction.
In a writing career that spanned over sixty years, Narayan received many awards and honours. These include the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature and the
Padma VibhushanThe Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan...
, India's second-highest civilian award. He was also nominated to the
Rajya SabhaThe Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
, the upper house of the Indian parliament.
Early years
R. K. Narayan was born in Madras (now known as Chennai),
Madras PresidencyThe Madras Presidency , officially the Presidency of Fort St. George and also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision of British India...
, British India. His father was a school headmaster, and Narayan did some of his studies at his father's school. As his father's job required frequent moves, Narayan spent part of his childhood under the care of his maternal grandmother, Parvati. During this time his best friends and playmates were a peacock and a mischievous monkey.
His grandmother gave him the nickname of
Kunjappa, a name that stuck to him in family circles. She taught him arithmetic, mythology, classical Indian music and
SanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. According to his youngest brother
R. K. LaxmanRasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman is an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He is widely regarded as India's greatest-ever cartoonist and is best known for his creation The Common Man....
, the family mostly conversed in English, and grammatical errors on the part of Narayan and his siblings were frowned upon. While living with his grandmother, Narayan studied at a succession of schools in Madras, including the Lutheran Mission School in
PurasawalkamPurasawakkam , also known as Purasaiwakkam or Purasai, is a residential area and shopping district in Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is close to the Chennai Central and Egmore railway stations. Purasawalkam is considered a perfect mixture of commercial and residential hub. The name...
, C.R.C. High School, and the
Christian College High SchoolM C C Higher Secondary School is located in Chetpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The school was started as the Madras Christian College and became a separate entity when the college moved to a new location.The school is part of an exchange program by the United States Department of State.-Notable...
. Narayan was an avid reader, and his early literary diet included
DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
,
WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
,
Arthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
and
Thomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
. When he was twelve years old, Narayan participated in a pro-independence march, for which he was reprimanded by his uncle; the family was apolitical and considered all governments wicked.
Narayan moved to
Mysore to live with his family when his father was transferred to the Maharajah's Collegiate High School. The well-stocked library at the school, as well as his father's own, fed his reading habit, and he started writing as well. After completing high school, Narayan failed the university entrance examination and spent a year at home reading and writing; he subsequently passed the examination in 1926 and joined
Maharaja College of Mysore-History & Evolution:It was one of the constituent colleges of Madras University and transferred to Mysore University in 1916. It is one of the oldest colleges of South India. It is the first college for higher studies built by an Indian king at the time of British rule. Former President of India...
. It took Narayan four years to obtain his Bachelor's degree, a year longer than usual. After being persuaded by a friend that taking a Master's degree (M.A.) would kill his interest in literature, he briefly held a job as a school teacher; however, he quit in protest when the headmaster of the school asked him to substitute for the physical training master. The experience made Narayan realise that the only career for him was in writing, and he decided to stay at home and write novels. His first published work was a book review of
Development of Maritime Laws of 17th-Century England.
Subsequently, he started writing the occasional local interest story for
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
newspapers and magazines. Although the writing did not pay much (his income for the first year was nine rupees and twelve annas), he had a regular life and few needs, and his family and friends respected and supported his unorthodox choice of career. In 1930, Narayan wrote his first novel,
Swami and FriendsSwami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R. K. Narayan, a celebrated English language novelist from India. The novel, which is also Narayan's first, is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town called Malgudi...
,
an effort ridiculed by his uncle and rejected by a string of publishers. With this book, Narayan created
MalgudiMalgudi 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...
, a town that creatively reproduced the social sphere of the country; while it ignored the limits imposed by colonial rule, it also grew with the various socio-political changes of British and post-independence India.
Turning point
While vacationing at his sister's house in
CoimbatoreCoimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....
, in 1933, Narayan met and fell in love with Rajam, a 15-year old girl who lived nearby. Despite many astrological and financial obstacles, Narayan managed to gain permission from the girl's father and married her. Following his marriage, Narayan became a reporter for a Madras based paper called
The Justice, dedicated to the rights of non-Brahmins. The publishers were thrilled to have a
Brahmin IyerIyer is the title given to the caste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara...
in Narayan espousing their cause. The job brought him in contact with a wide variety of people and issues. Earlier, Narayan had sent the manuscript of
Swami and FriendsSwami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R. K. Narayan, a celebrated English language novelist from India. The novel, which is also Narayan's first, is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town called Malgudi...
to a friend at
OxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, and about this time, the friend showed the manuscript to
Graham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
. Greene recommended the book to his publisher, and it was finally published in 1935.
Greene also counseled Narayan on shortening his name to become more familiar to the English-speaking audience. The book was semi-autobiographical and built upon many incidents from his own childhood. Reviews were favourable but sales were few. Narayan's next novel
The Bachelor of Arts (1937), was inspired in part by his experiences at college, and dealt with the theme of a rebellious adolescent transitioning to a rather well-adjusted adult; it was published by a different publisher, again at the recommendation of Greene. His third novel,
The Dark Room (1938) was about domestic disharmony, showcasing the man as the oppressor and the woman as the victim within a marriage, and was published by yet another publisher; this book also received good reviews. In 1937, Narayan's father died, and Narayan was forced to accept a commission from the government of
MysoreThe Kingdom of Mysore was one of the three largest princely states within the erstwhile British Empire of India. Upon India gaining its independence in 1947, the Maharaja of Mysore merged his realm with the Union of India...
as he was not making any money.
In his first three books, Narayan highlights the problems with certain socially accepted practices. The first book has Narayan focusing on the plight of students, punishments of caning in the classroom, and the associated shame. The concept of horoscope-matching in Hindu marriages and the emotional toll it levies on the bride and groom is covered in the second book. In the third book, Narayan addresses the concept of a wife putting up with her husband's antics and attitudes.
Rajam died of typhoid in 1939. Her death affected Narayan deeply and he remained distressed for a long time; he was also concerned for their daughter Hema, who was only three years old. The bereavement brought about a significant change in his life and was the inspiration behind his next novel,
The English TeacherThe English Teacher is a 1945 novel written by R. K. Narayan. This is the third and final part in the series, preceded by Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts ....
.
This book, like his first two books, is autobiographical, but more so, and completes an unintentional thematic trilogy following
Swami and Friends and
The Bachelor of Arts. In subsequent interviews, Narayan acknowledges that
The English Teacher was almost entirely an autobiography, albeit with different names for the characters and the change of setting in Malgudi; he also explains that the emotions detailed in the book reflected his own at the time of Rajam's death.
Bolstered by some of his successes, in 1940 Narayan tried his hand at a journal,
Indian Thought. With the help of his uncle, a car salesman, Narayan managed to get more than a thousand subscribers in Madras city alone. However, the venture did not last long due to Narayan's inability to manage it, and it ceased publication within a year. His first collection of short stories,
Malgudi DaysMalgudi 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....
, was published in November 1942, followed by
The English TeacherThe English Teacher is a 1945 novel written by R. K. Narayan. This is the third and final part in the series, preceded by Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts ....
in 1945. In between, being cut off from
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
due to the war, Narayan started his own publishing company, naming it (again)
Indian Thought PublicationsIndian 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...
; the publishing company was a success and is still active, now managed by his granddaughter. Soon, with a devoted readership stretching from New York to Moscow, Narayan's books started selling well and in 1948 he started building his own house on the outskirts of Mysore; the house was completed in 1953.
The busy years
After
The English Teacher, Narayan's writings took a more imaginative and creative external style compared to the semi-autobiographical tone of the earlier novels. His next effort,
Mr. Sampath, was the first book exhibiting this modified approach. However, it still draws from some of his own experiences, particularly the aspect of starting his own journal; he also makes a marked movement away from his earlier novels by intermixing biographical events. Soon after, he published
The Financial ExpertThe Financial Expert is a 1952 novel by R. K. Narayan. It takes place, as do many other novels and short stories by this author, in the town of Malgudi. The central character in this book is the financial expert Margayya, who offers advice to his fellow townspeople from under his position at the...
, considered to be his masterpiece and hailed as one of the most original works of fiction in 1951. The inspiration for the novel was a true story about a financial genius,
Margayya, related to him by his brother. The next novel,
Waiting for the MahatmaWaiting for the Mahatma is a 1955 novel by R. K. Narayan.-Plot Summary:Sriram is a high school graduate who lives with his grandmother in Malgudi, the fictional Southern Indian town in which much of Narayan's fiction takes place. Sriram is attracted to Bharati, a girl his age who is active in...
, loosely based on a fictional visit to Malgudi by
Mahatma GandhiMohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
, deals with the protagonist's romantic feelings for a woman, when he attends the discourses of the visiting Mahatma. The woman, named Bharti, is a loose parody of
BharatiBhārat Mātā , Mother India, or Bhāratāmbā is the national personification of India as a mother goddess...
, the personification of India and the focus of Gandhi's discourses. While the novel includes significant references to the
Indian independence movementThe term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
, the focus is on the life of the ordinary individual, narrated with Narayan's usual dose of irony.
In 1953, his works were published in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the first time, by
Michigan State University PressMichigan State University Press, founded in 1947, is the scholarly publishing arm of Michigan State University. During the past six decades it has become a vital part of the institution's land-grant mission and is a catalyst for positive intellectual, social, and technological change through the...
, who later (in 1958), relinquished the rights to
Viking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
. While Narayan's writings often bring out the anomalies in social structures and views, he was himself a traditionalist; in February 1956, Narayan arranged his daughter's wedding following all orthodox
HinduHinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
rituals. After the wedding, Narayan began travelling occasionally, continuing to write at least 1500 words a day even while on the road.
The GuideThe Guide is a 1958 novel written in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like most of his works the novel is based in Malgudi, the fictional town in South India...
was written while he was visiting the United States in 1956 on the Rockefeller Fellowship. While in the U.S., Narayan maintained a daily journal that was to later serve as the foundation for his book
My Dateless DiaryMy Dateless Diary is a collection of autobiographical essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1960. The book was the output of a daily journal that he maintained during his visit to the United States on a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1956. While on this visit, Narayan also completed The Guide, the...
. Around this time, on a visit to
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Narayan met his friend and mentor Graham Greene for the first time. On his return to India,
The Guide was published; the book is the most representative of Narayan's writing skills and elements, ambivalent in expression, coupled with a riddle-like conclusion. The book won him the
Sahitya Akademi AwardSahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
in 1958.
Occasionally, Narayan was known to give form to his thoughts by way of essays, some published in newspapers and journals, others not.
Next SundayNext Sunday is a collection of weekly essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1960. The book provides insights into Narayan's writings and perspectives and the protagonists of his works - the middle class common man. The book also includes his reflections on the themes of and actions in his novels and...
(1960), was a collection of such conversational essays, and his first work to be published as a book. Soon after that,
My Dateless DiaryMy Dateless Diary is a collection of autobiographical essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1960. The book was the output of a daily journal that he maintained during his visit to the United States on a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1956. While on this visit, Narayan also completed The Guide, the...
, describing experiences from his 1956 visit to the United States, was published. Also included in this collection was an essay about the writing of
The Guide.
Narayan's next novel,
The Man-Eater of MalgudiThe Man-Eater of Malgudi is a 1961 Indian novel, written by R. K. Narayan.-Characters in the Novel:*Nataraj, a printing press owner*Sen - a poet and journalist, friend of Nataraj*Sastri - employee and friend of Nataraj...
, was published in 1961. The book was reviewed as having a narrative that is a classical art form of comedy, with delicate control. After the launch of this book, the restless Narayan once again took to travelling, and visited the U.S. and Australia. He spent three weeks in
AdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
,
SydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
giving lectures on Indian literature. The trip was funded by a fellowship from the Australian Writers' Group. By this time Narayan had also achieved significant success, both literary and financial. He had a large house in Mysore, and wrote in a study with no fewer than eight windows; he drove a new
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, a luxury in India at that time, to visit his daughter who had moved to
CoimbatoreCoimbatore , also known as Kovai , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a major commercial centre in Tamil Nadu and is known as the "Manchester of South India"....
after her marriage. With his success, both within India and abroad, Narayan started writing columns for magazines and newspapers including
The HinduThe Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
and
The Atlantic.
In 1964, Narayan published his first mythological work,
Gods, Demons and Others__FORCETOC__Gods, Demons and Others is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan adapted from Indian history and mythology, including epics like The Ramayana and The Mahabharatha...
, a collection of rewritten and translated short stories from
HinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
epics. Like many of his other works, this book was illustrated by his younger brother
R. K. LaxmanRasipuram Krishnaswamy Iyer Laxman is an Indian cartoonist, illustrator, and humorist. He is widely regarded as India's greatest-ever cartoonist and is best known for his creation The Common Man....
. The stories included were a selective list, chosen on the basis of powerful protagonists, so that the impact would be lasting, irrespective of the reader's contextual knowledge. Once again, after the book launch, Narayan took to travelling abroad. In an earlier essay, he had written about the Americans wanting to understand spirituality from him, and during this visit, Swedish-American actress
Greta GarboGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
accosted him on the topic, despite his denial of any knowledge.
Narayan's next published work was the 1967 novel,
The Vendor of SweetsThe Vendor of Sweets is a 1967 English novel by R. K. Narayan.-Plot summary:R.K Narayan’s The Vendor of Sweets like his other books is composed in simple, lucid English that can be read and undestood without turning and returning the pages after a single read...
. It was inspired in part by his American visits and consists of extreme characterizations of both the Indian and American stereotypes, drawing on the many cultural differences. However, while it displays his characteristic comedy and narrative, the book was reviewed as lacking in depth. This year, Narayan travelled to England, where he received the first of his honorary doctorates from the
University of LeedsThe University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
. The next few years were a quiet period for him. He published his next book, a collection of short stories,
A Horse and Two Goats, in 1970. Meanwhile, Narayan remembered a promise made to his dying uncle in 1938, and started translating the Kamba Ramayanam to English.
The RamayanaThe Ramayana is a mythological book by R. K. Narayan. It was first published by Chatto and Windus, London in 1973. The book is a shortened, prose adaptation of the Tamil Kamba Ramayanam...
was published in 1973, after five years of work. Almost immediately after publishing
The Ramayana, Narayan started working on a condensed translation of the Sanskrit epic, the
MahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. While he was researching and writing the epic, he also published another book,
The Painter of SignsThe Painter of Signs is a 1976 novel by R. K. Narayan.-Plot:This bittersweet novel is as fresh and charming today as it was when originally published...
(1977).
The Painter of Signs is a bit longer than a novella and makes a marked change from Narayan's other works, as he deals with hitherto unaddressed subjects such as sex, although the development of the protagonist's character is very similar to his earlier creations.
The MahabharataThe Mahabharata is a mythological book by R. K. Narayan. It is a modernised, shortened and translated retelling of The Mahabharata. It was first published by Heinemann, London in 1978...
was published in 1978.
The later years
Narayan was commissioned by the government of
KarnatakaKarnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
to write a book to promote tourism in the state. The work was published as part of a larger government publication in the late 1970s. He thought it deserved better, and republished it as
The Emerald RouteThe Emerald Route is a travelogue by R. K. Narayan. It was published by Indian Thought Publications in 1980. It is a pseudo-travel guide for Karnataka, India. The book was commissioned by the Government of Karnataka, and the initial non-commercial version was published in 1977 as part of a...
(Indian Thought Publications, 1980). The book contains his personal perspective on the local history and heritage, but being bereft of his characters and creations, it misses his enjoyable narrative. The same year, he was elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and won the AC Benson Medal from the
Royal Society of LiteratureThe Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
. Around the same time, Narayan's works were translated to
ChineseThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
for the first time.
In 1983, Narayan published his next novel,
A Tiger for MalgudiA Tiger for Malgudi is a 1983 novel by R. K. Narayan told by a tiger in the first person. Deeply moving is the attachment of the tiger to the monk and the monk's care for the tiger.-Plot summary:...
, about a tiger and its relationship with humans. His next novel,
Talkative ManTalkative Man is a novel by R. K. Narayan first published in 1986 by Heinemann. The book is Narayan's 13th novel. Like his earlier novels, this one is also set in the fictional town of Malgudi...
, published in 1986, was the tale of an aspiring journalist from Malgudi. During this time, he also published two collections of short stories:
Malgudi Days (1982), a revised edition including the original book and some other stories, and
Under the Banyan Tree and Other StoriesUnder the Banyan Tree and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan, set in and around the fictitious town of Malgudi in South India. The stories range from the humorous to the serious and all are filled with Narayan's acute observations of human nature...
, a new collection. In 1987, he completed
A Writer's NightmareA Writer's Nightmare is a collection of essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1988, published by Penguin Books. The essays included in the book are about topics as diverse as the caste system, love, Nobel prize winners and monkeys; the book provides readers a unique view of Indian life...
, another collection of essays about topics as diverse as the caste system, Nobel prize winners, love, and monkeys. The collection included essays he had written for newspapers and magazines since 1958.
Living alone in Mysore, Narayan developed an interest in agriculture. He bought an acre of agricultural land and tried his hand at farming. He was also prone to walking to the market every afternoon, not so much for buying things, but to interact with the people. In a typical afternoon stroll, he would stop every few steps to greet and converse with shopkeepers and others, most likely gathering material for his next book.
In 1980, Narayan was nominated to the
Rajya SabhaThe Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, for his contributions to literature. During his entire six-year term, he was focused on one issue—the plight of school children, especially the heavy load of school books and the negative effect of the system on a child's creativity, which was something that he first highlighted in his debut novel,
Swami and Friends. His inaugural speech was focused on this particular problem, and resulted in the formation of a committee chaired by
Prof. Yash PalYash Pal is an Indian scientist and educator. He was raised in Pai, Kaithal, Haryana , graduated with a degree in physics from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1949 and gained a PhD degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958.Yash Pal has held many positions within...
, to recommend changes to the school educational system.
In 1990, he published his next novel,
The World of NagarajThe World of Nagaraj is a classic piece of literature by R. K. Narayan. It is based in the fictional town of Malgudi, a small town in South India.-Plot summary:Nagaraj's world is quiet and comfortable...
, also set in Malgudi. Narayan's age shows in this work as he appears to skip narrative details that he would have included if this were written earlier in his career. Soon after he finished the novel, Narayan fell ill and moved to Madras to be close to his daughter's family. A few years after his move, in 1994, his daughter died of cancer and his granddaughter Bhuvaneswari (Minnie) started taking care of him in addition to managing
Indian Thought Publications. Narayan then published his final book,
Grandmother's TaleGrandmother's Tale is a novella by R. K. Narayan with illustrations by his brother R. K. Laxman published in 1992 by Indian Thought Publications. It was subsequently released outside India as The Grandmother's Tale by Heinemann in 1993. This book, more than any others, exhibits Narayan's...
. The book is an autobiographical novella, about his great-grandmother who travelled far and wide to find her husband, who ran away shortly after their marriage. The story was narrated to him by his grandmother, when he was a child.
During his final years, Narayan, ever fond of conversation, would spend almost every evening with
N. RamNarasimhan Ram is an Indian journalist. Ram has been the Managing-Director of The Hindu since 1977 and its Editor-in-Chief since June 27, 2003. Ram also heads the other publications of The Hindu Group such as Frontline, The Hindu Business Line and Sportstar, and has been awarded the Padma Bhushan...
, the publisher of
The HinduThe Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
, drinking coffee and talking about various topics until well past midnight. Despite his fondness of meeting and talking to people, he stopped giving interviews. The apathy towards interviews was the result of an interview with
TimeTime is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, after which Narayan had to spend a few days in the hospital, as he was dragged around the city to take photographs that were never used in the article.
In May 2001, Narayan was hospitalised. A few hours before he was to be put on a ventilator, he was planning on writing his next novel, a story about a grandfather. As he was always very selective about his choice of notebooks, he asked N. Ram to get him one. However, Narayan did not get better and never started the novel. He died on May 13, 2001, in
ChennaiChennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
at the age of 94.
Writing style
Narayan's writing style was simple and unpretentious with a natural element of humour about it. It focused on ordinary people, reminding the reader of next-door neighbours, cousins and the like, thereby providing a greater ability to relate to the topic. Unlike his national contemporaries, he was able to write about the intricacies of Indian society without having to modify his characteristic simplicity to conform to trends and fashions in fiction writing. He also employed the use of nuanced dialogic prose with gentle
TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
overtones based on the nature of his characters. Critics have considered Narayan to be the
Indian ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, due to the similarities in their writings, the simplicity and the gentle beauty and humour in tragic situations. Greene considered Narayan to be more similar to Chekhov than any Indian writer. Anthony West of
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
considered Narayan's writings to be of the realism variety of
Nikolai GogolNikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
.
According to
Pulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner
Jhumpa LahiriJhumpa Lahiri is a Bengali American author. Lahiri's debut short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies , won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and her first novel, The Namesake , was adapted into the popular film of the same name. She was born Nilanjana Sudeshna, which she says are both...
, Narayan's
short storiesA 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...
have the same captivating feeling as his novels, with most of them less than ten pages long, and taking about as many minutes to read. She adds that between the title sentence and the end, Narayan provides the reader something novelists struggle to achieve in hundreds more pages: a complete insight to the lives of his characters. These characteristics and abilities led Lahiri to classify him as belonging to the pantheon of short-story geniuses that include
O. HenryO. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter . O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.-Early life:...
,
Frank O'ConnorFrank O’Connor was an Irish author of over 150 works, best known for his short stories and memoirs.-Early life:...
and
Flannery O'ConnorMary Flannery O'Connor was an American novelist, short-story writer and essayist. An important voice in American literature, O'Connor wrote two novels and 32 short stories, as well as a number of reviews and commentaries...
. Lahiri also compares him to
Guy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
for their ability to compress the narrative without losing the story, and the common themes of middle-class life written with an unyielding and unpitying vision.
Critics have noted that Narayan's writings tend to be more descriptive and less analytical; the objective style, rooted in a detached spirit, providing for a more authentic and realistic narration. His attitude, coupled with his perception of life, provided a unique ability to fuse characters and actions, and an ability to use ordinary events to create a connection in the mind of the reader. A significant contributor to his writing style was his creation of
MalgudiMalgudi 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...
, a stereotypical small town, where the standard norms of superstition and tradition apply.
Narayan's writing style was often compared to that of
William FaulknerWilliam Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
since both their works brought out the humour and energy of ordinary life while diplaying compassionate humanism. The similarities also extended to their juxtaposing of the demands of society against the confusions of individuality. Although their approach to subjects was similar, their methods were different; Faulkner was rhetorical and illustrated his points with immense prose while Narayan was very simple and realistic, capturing the elements all the same.
Malgudi
Malgudi is a fictional, semi-urban town in southern India, conjured by Narayan. He created the town in September 1930, on
VijayadashamiVijayadashami also known as Dasara, is one of the most important festivals celebrated in various forms, across India, Nepal and Bangladesh...
, an auspicious day to start new efforts and thus chosen for him by his grandmother. As he mentioned in a later interview to his biographers Susan and N. Ram, in his mind, he first saw a railway station, and slowly the name
Malgudi came to him. The town was created with an impeccable historical record, dating to the
RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
days when it was noted that Lord Rama passed through; it was also said that the
BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
visited the town during his travels. While Narayan never provided strict physical constraints for the town, he allowed it to form shape with events in the various stories, becoming a reference point for the future.
Dr James M. FennellyRev. Dr. James M. Fennelly was Chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Professor of History of Religions at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. For a number of years prior to his death, Dr. Fennelly was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Maywood, New Jersey.Dr...
, a scholar of Narayan's works, created a map of Malgudi based on the fictional descriptors of the town from the many books and stories.
Malgudi evolved with the changing political landscape of India. In the 1980s, when the nationalistic fervor in India dictated the changing of British names of towns and localities and removal of British landmarks, Malgudi's mayor and city council removed the long standing statue of Frederick Lawley, one of Malgudi's early residents. However, when the Historical Societies showed proof that Lawley was strong in his support of the
Indian independence movementThe term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
, the council was forced to undo all their earlier actions. A good comparison to Malgudi, a place that Greene characterised as "more familiar than
BatterseaBattersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
or
Euston RoadEuston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England, and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756...
", is Faulkner's
Yoknapatawpha CountyYoknapatawpha County is a fictional county created by the American author William Faulkner, based upon and inspired by Lafayette County, Mississippi and its county seat of Oxford, Mississippi...
. Also, like Faulkner's, when one looks at Narayan's works, the town gets a better definition through the many different novels and stories.
Critical reception
Narayan first broke through with the help of
Graham GreeneHenry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
who, upon reading
Swaminathan and Tate, took it upon himself to work as Narayan's agent for the book. He was also instrumental in changing the title to the more appropriate
Swami and Friends, and in finding publishers for Narayan's next few books. While Narayan's early works were not exactly commercial successes, other authors of the time began to notice him. Somerset Maugham, on a trip to Mysore in 1938, had asked to meet Narayan, but not enough people had heard of him to actually effect the meeting. Maugham subsequently read Narayan's
The Dark Room, and wrote to him expressing his admiration. Another contemporary writer who took a liking to Narayan's early works was
E. M. ForsterEdward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
, an author who shared his dry and humorous narrative, so much so that Narayan was labeled the "South Indian E. M. Forster" by critics. Despite his popularity with the reading public and fellow writers, Narayan's work has not received the same amount of critical exploration accorded to other writers of his stature.
Narayan's success in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
came a little later, when Michigan State University Press started publishing his books. His first visit to the country was on a fellowship from the
Rockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, and he lectured at various universities including
Michigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
and
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Around this time,
John UpdikeJohn Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
noticed his work and compared Narayan to
Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
. In a review of Narayan's works published in
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Updike called him a writer of a vanishing breed—the writer as a citizen; one who identifies completely with his subjects and with a belief in the significance of humanity.
Having published many novels, essays and short stories, Narayan is credited with bringing Indian writing to the rest of the world. While he has been regarded as one of India's greatest writers of the twentieth century, critics have also described his writings with adjectives such as charming, harmless and benign. Narayan has also come in for criticism from later writers, particularly of Indian origin, who have classed his writings as having a pedestrian style with a shallow vocabulary and a narrow vision. According to
Shashi TharoorShashi Tharoor is an Indian politician and a Member of Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala...
, Narayan's subjects are similar to those of
Jane AustenJane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
as they both deal with a very small section of society. However, he adds that while Austen's prose was able to take those subjects beyond ordinariness, Narayan's was not. A similar opinion is held by
Shashi DeshpandeShashi Deshpande , is an award-winning Indian novelist. She is the second daughter of famous Kannada dramatist and writer Sriranga. She was born in Karnataka and educated in Bombay and Bangalore. Deshpande has degrees in Economics and Law...
who characterizes Narayan's writings as pedestrian and naive because of the simplicity of his language and diction, combined with the lack of any complexity in the emotions and behaviours of his characters.
A general perception on Narayan was that he did not involve himself or his writings with the politics or problems of India, as mentioned by
V. S. NaipaulSir Vidiadhar Surajprasad "V. S." Naipaul, TC is a Nobel prize-winning Indo-Trinidadian-British writer who is known for his novels focusing on the legacy of the British Empire's colonialism...
in one of his columns. However, according to
Wyatt Mason-Background and education:Mason was raised in Manhattan. He attended The Fieldston School in New York, the University of Pennsylvania, and also studied literature at Columbia University and the University of Paris.-Career:...
of
The New Yorker, although Narayan's writings seem simple and display a lack of interest in politics, he delivers his narrative with an artful and deceptive technique when dealing with such subjects and does not entirely avoid them, rather letting the words play in the reader's mind.
Srinivasa IyengarKodaganallur Ramaswami Srinivasa Iyengar popularly known as K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar M.A., D.Litt. was Indian writer in English, former Vice Chancellor of Andhra University. He was a multifaceted literary genius with Aurobindian knowledge and ideas of Indian culture and renaissance...
, former vice-chancellor of
Andhra UniversityAndhra University or Andhra Viswa Kala Parishad , located in Visakhapatnam, north east coastal Andhra Pradesh, is one of the older premier universities in India with a broad focus...
, says that Narayan wrote about political topics only in the context of his subjects, quite unlike his compatriot
Mulk Raj AnandMulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, together with R.K...
who dealt with the political structures and problems of the time. Paul Brians, in his book
Modern South Asian Literature in English, says that the fact that Narayan completely ignored British rule and focused on the private lives of his characters is a political statement on its own, declaring his independence from the influence of colonialism.
In the west, Narayan's simplicity of writing was well received. One of his biographers,
William WalshWilliam Walsh was a professor of Education at the University of Leeds and its acting Vice-Chancellor from 1981 to 1983....
, wrote of his narrative as a comedic art with an inclusive vision informed by the transience and illusion of human action. Multiple Booker nominee
Anita DesaiAnita Mazumdar Desai is an Indian novelist and Emeritus John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
classes his writings as "compassionate realism" where the cardinal sins are unkindness and immodesty. According to Wyatt Mason, in Narayan's works, the individual is not a private entity, but rather a public one and this concept is an innovation that can be called his own. In addition to his early works being among the most important English-language fiction from India, with this innovation, he provided his western readers the first works in English to be infused with an eastern and Hindu existential perspective. Mason also holds the view that
Edmund WilsonEdmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...
's assessment of
Walt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, "He does not write editorials on events but describes his actual feelings", applies equally to Narayan.
Awards and honours
Narayan won numerous awards during the course of his literary career. His first major award was in 1958, the
Sahitya Akademi AwardSahitya Akademi Award is a literary honor in India which Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of outstanding works in one of the following twenty-four major Indian languagesAssamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri,...
for
The Guide. When the book was made into a film, he received the
Filmfare Award for the best storyThe Filmfare Award for Best Story is an given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a writer who wrote a film's story.-1950s:* 1955 Mukhram Sharma - Aulad...
. In 1964, he received the
Padma BhushanThe Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
during the
Republic DayThe Republic Day of India commemorates the date on which the Constitution of India came into force replacing the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India on 26 January 1950....
honours. In 1980, he was awarded the AC Benson Medal by the (British)
Royal Society of LiteratureThe Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
, of which he was an honorary member. In 1982 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was nominated for the
Nobel Prize in LiteratureSince 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
multiple times, but never won the honour.
Recognition also came in the form of honorary doctorates by the
University of LeedsThe University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
(1967), the
University of MysoreThe University of Mysore , is a public university in India. The University founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore, and was conceptualized on the basis of a report on educational progress in the United States and Australia, submitted by Messrs Thomas Denham and...
(1976) and
Delhi UniversityThe University of Delhi is a central university situated in Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate level. Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the Chancellor of the university...
(1973). Towards the end of his career, Narayan was nominated to the
upper house of the Indian ParliamentThe Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
for a six-year term starting in 1989, for his contributions to Indian literature. A year before his death, in 2001, he was awarded India's second-highest civilian honour, the
Padma VibhushanThe Padma Vibhushan is the second highest civilian award in the Republic of India. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India. It was established on 2 January 1954. It ranks behind the Bharat Ratna and comes before the Padma Bhushan...
.
Legacy
Narayan's greatest achievement was making India accessible to the outside world through his literature. He is regarded as one of the three leading English language Indian fiction writers, along with
Raja RaoRaja Rao was an Indian writer of English language novels and short stories, whose works are deeply rooted in Hinduism. Raja Rao's semi-autobiographical novel, The Serpent and the Rope , is a story of a search for spiritual truth in Europe and India...
and
Mulk Raj AnandMulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, together with R.K...
. He gave his readers something to look forward to with Malgudi and its residents and is considered to be one of the best novelists India has ever produced. He brought small-town India to his audience in a manner that was both believable and experiential. Malgudi was not just a fictional town in India, but one teeming with characters, each with their own idiosyncrasies and attitudes, making the situation as familiar to the reader as if it were their own backyard.
List of works
Novels
- Swami and Friends
Swami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R. K. Narayan, a celebrated English language novelist from India. The novel, which is also Narayan's first, is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town called Malgudi...
(1935, Hamish HamiltonHamish Hamilton Limited was a British book publishing house, founded in 1931 eponymously by the half-Scot half-American Jamie Hamilton . Confusingly, Jamie Hamilton was often referred to as Hamish Hamilton...
)
- The Bachelor of Arts (1937, Thomas Nelson
Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in Scotland in 1798 as the namesake of its founder. Its former US division is currently the sixth largest American trade publisher and the world's largest Christian publisher. It is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company...
)
- The Dark Room (1938, Eyre)
- The English Teacher
The English Teacher is a 1945 novel written by R. K. Narayan. This is the third and final part in the series, preceded by Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts ....
(1945, Eyre)
- Mr. Sampath
Mr. Sampath – The Printer of Malgudi is a 1949 novel by R. K. Narayan. It was adapted into the films "Mr Sampath" and Miss Malini in 1947. The films were the only collaborative film script of his novels that R. K...
(1948, Eyre)
- The Financial Expert
The Financial Expert is a 1952 novel by R. K. Narayan. It takes place, as do many other novels and short stories by this author, in the town of Malgudi. The central character in this book is the financial expert Margayya, who offers advice to his fellow townspeople from under his position at the...
(1952, Methuen)
- Waiting for the Mahatma
Waiting for the Mahatma is a 1955 novel by R. K. Narayan.-Plot Summary:Sriram is a high school graduate who lives with his grandmother in Malgudi, the fictional Southern Indian town in which much of Narayan's fiction takes place. Sriram is attracted to Bharati, a girl his age who is active in...
(1955, Methuen)
- The Guide
The Guide is a 1958 novel written in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like most of his works the novel is based in Malgudi, the fictional town in South India...
(1958, Methuen)
- The Man-Eater of Malgudi
The Man-Eater of Malgudi is a 1961 Indian novel, written by R. K. Narayan.-Characters in the Novel:*Nataraj, a printing press owner*Sen - a poet and journalist, friend of Nataraj*Sastri - employee and friend of Nataraj...
(1961, VikingViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
)
- The Vendor of Sweets
The Vendor of Sweets is a 1967 English novel by R. K. Narayan.-Plot summary:R.K Narayan’s The Vendor of Sweets like his other books is composed in simple, lucid English that can be read and undestood without turning and returning the pages after a single read...
(1967, The Bodley HeadThe Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name has been used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books since 1987...
)
- The Painter of Signs
The Painter of Signs is a 1976 novel by R. K. Narayan.-Plot:This bittersweet novel is as fresh and charming today as it was when originally published...
(1977, HeinemannHeinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...
)
- A Tiger for Malgudi
A Tiger for Malgudi is a 1983 novel by R. K. Narayan told by a tiger in the first person. Deeply moving is the attachment of the tiger to the monk and the monk's care for the tiger.-Plot summary:...
(1983, Heinemann)
- Talkative Man
Talkative Man is a novel by R. K. Narayan first published in 1986 by Heinemann. The book is Narayan's 13th novel. Like his earlier novels, this one is also set in the fictional town of Malgudi...
(1986, Heinemann)
- The World of Nagaraj
The World of Nagaraj is a classic piece of literature by R. K. Narayan. It is based in the fictional town of Malgudi, a small town in South India.-Plot summary:Nagaraj's world is quiet and comfortable...
(1990, Heinemann)
- Grandmother's Tale
Grandmother's Tale is a novella by R. K. Narayan with illustrations by his brother R. K. Laxman published in 1992 by Indian Thought Publications. It was subsequently released outside India as The Grandmother's Tale by Heinemann in 1993. This book, more than any others, exhibits Narayan's...
(1992, Indian Thought Publications)
Non-fiction
- Next Sunday
Next Sunday is a collection of weekly essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1960. The book provides insights into Narayan's writings and perspectives and the protagonists of his works - the middle class common man. The book also includes his reflections on the themes of and actions in his novels and...
(1960, Indian Thought Publications)
- My Dateless Diary
My Dateless Diary is a collection of autobiographical essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1960. The book was the output of a daily journal that he maintained during his visit to the United States on a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1956. While on this visit, Narayan also completed The Guide, the...
(1960, Indian Thought Publications)
- My Days
My Days is an autobiography of R. K. Narayan....
(1974, Viking)
- Reluctant Guru
Reluctant Guru is a book by R. K. Narayan published in 1974 by Orient Paperbacks. The book consists entirely of discursive essays, some of which were his weekly contributions to The Hindu...
(1974, Orient PaperbacksOrient Blackswan , is an Indian publishing house headquartered in Andhra Pradesh....
)
- The Emerald Route
The Emerald Route is a travelogue by R. K. Narayan. It was published by Indian Thought Publications in 1980. It is a pseudo-travel guide for Karnataka, India. The book was commissioned by the Government of Karnataka, and the initial non-commercial version was published in 1977 as part of a...
(1980, Indian Thought Publications)
- A Writer's Nightmare
A Writer's Nightmare is a collection of essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1988, published by Penguin Books. The essays included in the book are about topics as diverse as the caste system, love, Nobel prize winners and monkeys; the book provides readers a unique view of Indian life...
(1988, Penguin Books)
Mythology
- Gods, Demons and Others
__FORCETOC__Gods, Demons and Others is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan adapted from Indian history and mythology, including epics like The Ramayana and The Mahabharatha...
(1964, Viking)
- The Ramayana
The Ramayana is a mythological book by R. K. Narayan. It was first published by Chatto and Windus, London in 1973. The book is a shortened, prose adaptation of the Tamil Kamba Ramayanam...
(1973, Chatto & WindusChatto & Windus has been, since 1987, an imprint of Random House, publishers. It was originally an important publisher of books in London, founded in the Victorian era....
)
- The Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is a mythological book by R. K. Narayan. It is a modernised, shortened and translated retelling of The Mahabharata. It was first published by Heinemann, London in 1978...
(1978, Heinemann)
Short story collections
- Malgudi Days
Malgudi Days is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan published in 1943 by Indian Thought Publications.The book was republished outside India in 1982. The book includes 19 stories, all set in the fictional town of Malgudi, located in South India. Each of the stories portrays a facet of...
(1942, Indian Thought PublicationsIndian 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...
)
- An Astrologer's Day and Other Stories (1947, Indian Thought Publications)
- Lawley Road and Other Stories (1956, Indian Thought Publications)
- A Horse and Two Goats (1970)
- Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories
Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan, set in and around the fictitious town of Malgudi in South India. The stories range from the humorous to the serious and all are filled with Narayan's acute observations of human nature...
(1985)
- The Grandmother's Tale and Selected Stories
The Grandmother's Tale and Selected Stories is a book by R. K. Narayan with illustrations by his brother R. K. Laxman published in 1994 by Viking Press. The book includes a novella, Grandmother's Tale and some other stories in the characteristic Narayan style that captures suffering through comedic...
(1994, Viking)
Adaptations
Narayan's book
The GuideThe Guide is a 1958 novel written in English by the Indian author R. K. Narayan. Like most of his works the novel is based in Malgudi, the fictional town in South India...
was adapted to film as
GuideGuide is a 1965 Hindi film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. It was directed by Vijay Anand, who also contributed to the screenplay. The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan, and is widely considered to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian film...
, a Hindi movie directed by Vijay Anand. An English language version was also released. Narayan was not happy with the way the film was made and its deviation from the book; he wrote a column in
Life magazineLife generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
, "The Misguided Guide," criticising the film. The book was also adapted to a
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
play by
Harvey BreitHarvey Breit was an American poet, editor, and playwright. He was married to poet and playwright Patricia Rinehart. He co-wrote the play The Disenchanted with Budd Schulberg, an adaption from Schulberg's novel of the same name, about the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Breit adapted other novels for...
and
Patricia RinehartPatricia Rinehart was an American poet and playwright. With Harvey Breit, whom she had married in 1955, she adapted R. K. Narayan's novel The Guide for Broadway.-References:...
, and was staged at
Hudson TheatreThe Hudson Theatre is a former Broadway theater located at 141 West 44th Street, in midtown Manhattan, New York. Today the Hudson functions as a conference center and television studio. It is owned by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.-History:...
in 1968 with
Zia MohyeddinZia Mohyeddin is a Pakistani actor famed for his voice.He was born in Faisalabad, , British India in a Urdu Speaking Family. He passed his early life in Karachi. He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London from 1953-1956...
playing the lead role and a music score by
Ravi ShankarRavi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
.
His novel
Mr. Sampath was made into a Tamil film,
Miss Malini, starring
PushpavalliPentapadu Pushpavalli better known as Pushpavalli is a Tamil and Telugu film actress. She was married to Gemini Ganesan and is Rekha's mother. She starred in many films with Ganesan, mostly as his heroine. Her film work includes title roles in Miss Malini , an adaptation of R.K. Narayan's novel Mr...
and
Kothamangalam SubbuKothamangalam Subbu , a noted Padmashri-award winning poet, lyricist, writer, actor and director from Tamil Nadu who authored the cult classic of Tamil novelThillana Mohanambal, later made into an enchanted movie...
. A Hindi version with
PadminiPadmini was an Indian actress and trained Bharathanatyam dancer who has acted in over 250 Indian films. She has acted in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi language films...
and
Motilal- External links :* http://www.3to6.com/final_retro/legend-motilal.htm...
was also produced by
Gemini StudiosGemini Studios was launched when Thiruthuraipoondi Subramanian Srinivasan bought a film distribution concern at an auction and renamed it as Gemini Pictures also known as Gemini Studios. Gemini Studios served as a breeding ground for innumerable artists and technicians for the south Indian Film...
. Another novel,
The Financial Expert, was made into the Kannada movie
Banker Margayya.
Swami and FriendsSwami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R. K. Narayan, a celebrated English language novelist from India. The novel, which is also Narayan's first, is set in pre-independence days in India, in a fictional town called Malgudi...
,
The Vendor of SweetsThe Vendor of Sweets is a 1967 English novel by R. K. Narayan.-Plot summary:R.K Narayan’s The Vendor of Sweets like his other books is composed in simple, lucid English that can be read and undestood without turning and returning the pages after a single read...
and some of Narayan's short stories were adapted by actor-director
Shankar NagShankar 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...
into the television series
Malgudi DaysMalgudi 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....
. Narayan was happy with the adaptations and complimented the producers for sticking to the storyline in the books.
Further reading