Narayan, R.K.

▪ 2002

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanswami 

      Indian novelist, short-story writer, and essayist (b. Oct. 10, 1906, Madras [now Chennai], India—d. May 13, 2001, Chennai), was a spellbinding storyteller whose fictional creation, the small town of Malgudi, enchanted readers around the world with its dusty milieu and endearingly eccentric inhabitants; his gentle prose and wry humour brought small-town India alive. Narayan, the third of eight children born into a liberal Tamil family, spent an idyllic childhood in his grandmother's Madras house. He was schooled at Maharaja's College, Mysore, and after graduation (1930) briefly worked as a schoolteacher and a newspaper reporter before turning to writing full time. In September 1935 Malgudi, a town bearing the palimpsests of both Mysore and Madras but smaller than either, debuted in Swami and Friends. Narayan's first novel suffered several rejections before Graham Greene recommended it to Hamish Hamilton, who published the work. Greene also shortened Narayanswami's last name to Narayan. (Their correspondence lasted until Greene's death in 1991, and they met once, in 1956.) Narayan's next books, The Bachelor of Arts (1937) and The Dark Room (1938), also won critical praise. Disregarding the tradition of arranged matches, Narayan fell in love with and married Rajam in 1933. Her death in 1939 plunged him into desolate literary sterility, broken by the autobiographical The English Teacher (1945). Narayan never remarried, and he raised his daughter, Hema, alone. Mr. Sampath (1949), The Financial Expert (1952), and Waiting for the Mahatma (1955) were followed by his finest work, The Guide (1958). The latter—about a conman turned swami who discovers sanctity through self-sacrifice—was filmed in Hindi. The Vendor of Sweets (1967), The Painter of Signs (1976), and A Tiger for Malgudi (1983) also visited Malgudi and its characters. Besides 15 novels, Narayan published the short-story collections Lawley Road (1956) and Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories (1985), as well as a 1974 memoir, My Days. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan and membership to the upper house of Parliament, and he was also short-listed twice for the Nobel Prize. Later novels included Talkative Man (1986), The World of Nagaraj (1990), and Grandmother's Tale (1992), his last and the only one not set in Malgudi. His works were widely translated.

* * *

▪ Indian author

in full  Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan,  original name  Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanswami  

born October 10, 1906, Madras [Chennai], India

died May 13, 2001, Madras

      one of the finest Indian authors of his generation writing in English.

      Reared by his grandmother, Narayan completed his education in 1930 and briefly worked as a teacher before deciding to devote himself to writing. His first novel, Swami and Friends (1935), is an episodic narrative recounting the adventures of a group of schoolboys. That book and much of Narayan's later works are set in the fictitious South Indian town of Malgudi. Narayan typically portrays the peculiarities of human relationships and the ironies of Indian daily life, in which modern urban existence clashes with ancient tradition. His style is graceful, marked by genial humour, elegance, and simplicity.

      Among the best-received of Narayan's 34 novels are The English Teacher (1945), Waiting for the Mahatma (1955), The Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961), The Vendor of Sweets (1967), and A Tiger for Malgudi (1983). Narayan also wrote a number of short stories; collections include Lawley Road (1956), A Horse and Two Goats and Other Stories (1970), Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories (1985), and The Grandmother's Tale (1993). In addition to works of nonfiction (chiefly memoirs), he also published shortened modern prose versions of two Indian epics, The Ramayana (1972) and The Mahabharata (1978).

* * *