RK Narayan (1966-2001) was an Indian writer and novelist. He is one of the famous writers of early Indian English literature, such as Raja Rao and Mulk Raj Anand. He is also a short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, memoirist, and editor. He writes primarily fiction, non-fiction and mythology. His first published work was a review of The Development of Admiralty Law in England during the Seventeenth Century. His first novel was “Swami and Friends” (1935) and his last work was “Grandmother’s Story” (1923). His books include topics such as mythology, tradition and modernity, ancient India, and the place of women in society. RK Narayan passed away on May 13, 2001.
Wiki/Biography
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami was born on Wednesday, October 10, 1906 in Madras, British India (now India Chennai) at the age of 94. RK Narayan attended several schools in Madras such as Lutheran School, CRC High School and Christian College High School in Prasavakam while living with his grandmother. After graduating from high school, Narayan failed the college entrance examination and had to study and write at home for a year. In 1926, he successfully passed the examination and entered the Maharaja’s College of Mysore to study for a bachelor’s degree in English. It took him four years to complete his bachelor’s degree. After his father’s death in 1937, he briefly worked as a school teacher. He realized the value of education and criticized the education system promoted by colonialism. In his novel “The English Teacher” he talks about the education system and says:
This education reduces us to a nation of idiots; we are aliens to our own culture and camp followers of another culture, feeding on scraps and garbage. . . What about our own roots? . . . I am against the system, the whole education system, the methods and approaches that make us idiots, cultural idiots, but efficient clerks in all your business and administrative offices. “
family
RK Narayan was born into a Tamil Brahmin family.
Parents and siblings
His father was a school principal and due to his heavy workload, RK Narayan was sent to his maternal grandmother Parvati, who taught him arithmetic, mythology and Sanskrit. His grandmother used to call him “Kunjappa”. In 1937, RK Narayan’s father died. RK Narayan is the third child in a family of eight children. His youngest brother Laxman became a cartoonist and his younger brother Ramachandran became the editor of Gemini Studios.
RK Narayan and his family
wife and children
RK Narayan fell in love with a 15-year-old girl, Rajam, during a visit to his sister’s house in Coimbatore. Narayan married her in 1934. In 1939, Rajam died of typhoid fever. RK Narayan and Rajam have a daughter named Hema.
RK Narayan and his wife
RK Narayan with wife and daughter
RK Narayan and his daughter
Signature/Autograph
Profession
In 1934, RK Narayan became a reporter for Justice, a Madras newspaper dedicated to the rights of non-Brahmins. RK Narayan’s next novel was The Bachelor of Arts (1937). His third novel, The Dark Room (1938), dealt with the theme of family disharmony. His perspective on the world is unique. He once said in his book “Guide” –
In a world where we’re used to competing for possession, power and boundaries, where people clash over issues of “ours” or “mine, not yours”, it’s rather strange to find two people arguing over whose kingdom doesn’t belong to whom. , and asserted: “It’s yours, not mine.”
RK Narayan writes in his book Malgudi Days:
In these pages he gently reminds us that we are a flawed, weak species, and his focus is clear and unemotional on those who have low self-esteem and are unscrupulous. We care about these often pitiable characters because they, like most of us, are strivers, driven by the hope of a slightly better life. “
novel
- Swami and Friends (1935, Hamish Hamilton)
- Bachelor of Arts (1937, Thomas Nelson)
- Darkroom (1938, Ayr)
- English teacher(1945, Ayr)
- Mr. Sampath (1948, Ayr)
- Financial expert(1952, Methuen)
- Waiting for the Mahatma (1955, Methuen)
- Guide (1958, Methuen)
- Malgudi Cannibal (1961, Vikings)
- The Candy Vendor (1967, Bodley Head)
- “The Sign Painter” (1977, Heinemann)
- Tigers for Malgudi (1983, Heinemann)
- The Talkative Man (1986, Heinemann)
- The World of Nagaraj (1990, Heinemann)
- Grandmother’s Story (1992, Indian Thought Press)
non-fiction books
- Next Sunday (1960, Indian Thought Publications)
- My Undated Diary (1960, Indian Thought Press)
- The Reluctant Master (1974, Oriental paperback)
- The Emerald Path (1980, Indian Thought Press)
- A Writer’s Nightmare (1988, Penguin)
- The World of Storytelling (1989, Penguin)
- The Life of a Writer (2001, Penguin India)
- Mysore (1944, 2nd ed., Indian Thought Publishers)
mythology books
- Gods, Demons and Others (1964, Vikings)
- Ramayana (1972, Chatto and Windus)
- Mahabharata (1978, Heinemann)
short story collection
- Malgudi Day (1942, Indian Thought Publications)
- 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 (1985)
- Grandma’s Tales and Collection of Tales (1994, Vikings)
Awards
- In 1960, RK Narayan received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his book “Guide” (1958). The book was later adapted into a film of the same name starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rahman, for which RK Narayan won the Filmfare Award for Best Story.
- In 1964, RK Narayan was awarded the Padma Shri on the occasion of Republic Day.
- In 1980, he received the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature.
- In 1986, RK Narayan was honored by the Rajyotsava Prashasti, Government of Karnataka.
- In 2000, he was awarded the Padma Shri.
RK Narayan and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
die
He died of cardiopulmonary failure in Chennai on May 13, 2001 at the age of 94.
Facts/Trivia
- In 1982, RK Narayan was elected an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
- In 2014, on the occasion of RK Narayan’s 108th birthday, Google showcased RK Narayan’s doodles in his book Malgudi Days.
Google celebrates RK Narayan’s 108th birthday with a doodle.
- The house built by RK Narayan in 1952 at Yadavagiri, Mysore, was converted into a museum in his honor in 2016.
RK Narayan’s former residence (now a museum)
- In 1980, RK Narayan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
- In 1986, the Indian TV series “Malgudi Days” was broadcast on Doordarshan; it was shot in English (13 episodes) and Hindi (54 episodes). The TV show is adapted from RK Narayan’s 1943 short story collection of the same name.
- His short stories have often been compared to those of Guy de Maupassant and William Faulkner for his use of fictional towns, humor, and compassion to illustrate ordinary life.
- Graham Greene, RK Narayan’s mentor and friend, was instrumental in finding publishers for Narayan’s first four books.
- Miss Malini (1947) is the only film with a story written by RK Narayan. Sampat (1952) is an Indian satirical film based on the novel Mr. Sampat (1949) by RK Narayan.
- The National Award-winning Kannada film “The Banker Magya” (1983) was adapted from RK Narayan’s novel “The Financial Expert” (1952).
- In an interview, when asked how he conceived of his work as a writer, he said:
The actual writing of a book may not take much time, but its subject matter and scope take time to grow and get used to. Of course you don’t see the story or the characters individually, only as a whole, if I may use that somewhat grandiose word”.
- In 1968, his book “The Guide” was adapted into a Broadway play and performed at the Hudson Theater. He was dissatisfied with the movie “Guide” and wrote a column in Life magazine titled “The Misguided Guide.”
- The BBC has selected Swami and Friends, the first in a trilogy of novels by RK Narayan (1906-2001), as one of the 100 novels that shaped our world.
- RK Narayan’s first income from writing was nine rupees and twelve annas.
- His first novel, Swami and Friends, written in 1930, was rejected by several publishers.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education