R.K Narayan, HIS LIFE AND Style OF Writing PDF

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The storey is divided into two parts. The third-person narrative begins with Raju's release from prison. Raju tells Velan about his past life in the first person narrative. The plot of the novel The Guide combines myth and reality. Raju's life closely resembles the concept of Chaturasham. Rajus Bram...

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R.K NARAYAN, HIS LIFE AND STYLE OF WRITING INTRODUCTION

The storey is divided into two parts. The third-person narrative begins with Raju's release from prison. Raju tells Velan about his past life in the first person narrative. The plot of the novel The Guide combines myth and reality. Raju's life closely resembles the concept of Chaturasham. Rajus Bramhacharya's life at Malgudi station is depicted in these four stages. The beginning of his Grahasthya is his relationship with Rosie. When he is imprisoned, his Banaprastha begins. Raju's ultimate Sannyas is when he becomes Mongal's spiritual leader. Rosie's character is also built on the basis of myth and reality. She eventually matures into an independent woman, though she retains many of the characteristics of an Indian wife. Similarly, Raju undergoes a transformation similar to Ratnakar's storey. Mongal and Malgudi, respectively, represent Indianness and Westerness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, R.K. NARAYAN Krishnaswami of Rasipuram Iyer Narayanaswami (10 October 1906 – 13 May 2001) was an Indian author best known for his works set in the fictional town of Malgudi in southern India. Along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao, he was a leading author of early Indian literature in English. Graham Greene, Narayan's mentor and friend, was instrumental in getting Narayan's first four books published, including the semi-autobiographical Swami and Friends trilogy, The Bachelor of Arts, and The English Teacher. Swami and Friends introduced the fictional town of Malgudi for the first time. The Financial Expert, a novel by Narayan, was hailed as one of the most innovative works of 1951, and The Guide, a Sahitya Academy Award winner, was adapted for film (winning a Filmfare Award for Best Film) and Broadway. Narayan emphasises his characters' social context and day-to-day lives. He's been compared to William Faulkner, who created a similar fictional town and explored the energy of everyday life with humour and compassion. Because of his ability to

compress a narrative, Narayan's short stories have been compared to those of Guy de Maupassant. Narayan received numerous awards and honours during his sixty-year career, including the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan, India's second and third highest civilian awards, respectively. He was also elected to the Rajya Sabha, India's parliament's upper house.

R.K. NARAYAN’S EARLY LIFE

R. K. Narayan was born in British India's Madras (now Chennai, Tamil Nadu). [3] He was the youngest of eight children, with six brothers and two sisters. Narayan was the second son; his younger brother Ramachandran went on to work as an editor at Gemini Studios, and his younger brother Laxman went on to work as a cartoonist. His father was a school principal, and Narayan attended some of his father's classes. Narayan spent part of his childhood with his maternal grandmother, Parvati, because his father's job required frequent transfers. A peacock and a mischievous monkey were his best friends and playmates at the time. Kunjappa was his grandmother's nickname, and it stuck with him in family circles. She instructed him in arithmetic, mythology, Indian classical music, and Sanskrit. According to Laxman, the family spoke in English most of the time, and grammatical mistakes by Narayan and his siblings were frowned upon. Narayan attended a number of Madras schools while living with his grandmother, including the Lutheran Mission School in Purasawalkam, C.R.C. High School, and Christian College High School. Narayan was a voracious reader who grew up on Dickens, Wodehouse, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Thomas Hardy. Narayan took part in a proindependence march when he was twelve years old, for which his uncle chastised him; the family was apolitical and considered all governments to be wicked. When his father was transferred to the Maharajah's College High School, Narayan moved to Mysore to live with his family. His reading habit was fueled by the school's well-stocked library, as well as his father's, and he began writing as well. After failing the university entrance examination after graduating from high school,

Narayan spent a year at home reading and writing before passing the exam in 1926 and enrolling in Maharaja College of Mysore. Narayan took four years to complete his bachelor's degree, which was a year longer than usual. He briefly worked as a school teacher after being persuaded by a friend that getting a master's degree (M.A.) would kill his interest in literature; however, he quit in protest when the headmaster of the school asked him to substitute for the physical training master. The experience convinced Narayan that writing was his only option, and he decided to stay at home and write novels. His first piece of writing was a review of the book Development of Maritime Laws in 17th-Century England. He began writing occasional local interest stories for English newspapers and magazines as a result. Despite the fact that writing did not pay well (his first year's income was nine rupees and twelve annas), he lived a normal life with few needs, and his family and friends respected and supported his unconventional career choice. Swami and Friends, Narayan's first novel, was mocked by his uncle and rejected by a number of publishers in 1930. With this book, Narayan created Malgudi, a town that creatively reproduced the social sphere of the country, ignoring the constraints imposed by colonial rule while also growing in tandem with the various socio-political changes that occurred in British and post-independence India. Narayan met and fell in love with Rajam, a 15-year-old girl who lived nearby, while on vacation at his sister's house in Coimbatore in 1933. Despite numerous astrological and financial obstacles, Narayan was able to obtain the girl's father's permission and marry her. Following his marriage, Narayan worked as a reporter for The Justice, a Madras-based publication dedicated to non-Brahmins' rights. The publishers were ecstatic to have a Brahmin Iyer championing their cause in Narayan. He came into contact with a wide range of people and issues as a result of his job. Narayan had previously sent the manuscript of Swami and Friends to an Oxford friend, who had shown the manuscript to Graham Greene around the same time. The book was finally published in 1935 after Greene recommended it to his publisher. Greene also advised Narayan to shorten his name so that it would be more familiar to an English-speaking audience. The book was based on many incidents from his own childhood and was semi-autobiographical. Although the reviews were positive, sales were low. The Bachelor of Arts (1937), Narayan's next novel, was

inspired in part by his college experiences and dealt with the theme of a rebellious adolescent transitioning to a relatively well-adjusted adult; it was published by a different publisher, again on Greene's recommendation. His third novel, The Dark Room (1938), was about domestic discord, portraying the man as the oppressor and the woman as the victim within a marriage, and was published by a different publisher; it received positive reviews as well. When Narayan's father died in 1937, he was forced to accept a commission from the Mysore government because he was out of work. Narayan's first three books focus on the flaws in certain socially accepted practises. In the first book, Narayan focuses on the plight of students, classroom caning punishments, and the shame that comes with it. The second book delves into the concept of horoscope matching in Hindu marriages and the emotional toll it takes on the bride and groom. Narayan addresses the concept of a wife putting up with her husband's antics and attitudes in the third book. In 1939, Rajam died of typhoid. Narayan was deeply affected by her death, and he was depressed for a long time. He never married again in his life, and he was worried about their three-year-old daughter Hema. The English Teacher, his next novel, was inspired by his bereavement, which had a significant impact on his life. This book is autobiographical, as are his first two, but it is more so, and it completes an unintentional thematic trilogy that began with Swami and Friends and ended with The Bachelor of Arts. In later interviews, Narayan admits that The English Teacher was almost entirely an autobiography, albeit with different names for the characters and a different setting in Malgudi; he also explains that the emotions depicted in the book mirrored his own at the time of Rajam's death. Narayan tried his hand at a journal, Indian Thought, in 1940, buoyed by some of his successes. Narayan managed to get over a thousand subscribers in Madras city alone with the help of his uncle, a car salesman. However, due to Narayan's inability to manage the venture, it only lasted a year before ceasing publication. Malgudi Days, his first collection of short stories, was published in November 1942, and The English Teacher, in 1945. In the interim, Narayan established his own publishing company, renaming it (again) Indian Thought Publications, and it was a success; the publishing company is still active, now managed by his granddaughter. [15] Soon

after, Narayan's books began to sell well, and in 1948, he began construction on his own house on the outskirts of Mysore, which he completed in 1953. Around this time, Narayan wrote the screenplay for the Gemini Studios film Miss Malini (1947), which was the only storey he ever completed for the screen.

THE BUSY YEARS OF RK NARAYAN

In contrast to the semi-autobiographical tone of the earlier novels, Narayan's writings after The English Teacher took on a more imaginative and creative external style. Mr. Sampath, his next book, was the first to use this modified approach. It does, however, draw on some of his own experiences, particularly the aspect of starting his own journal; he also departs from his previous novels by intermixing biographical events. In 1951, he published The Financial Expert, which was hailed as one of the most original works of fiction and considered his masterpiece. The novel was inspired by a true storey about a financial genius named Margayya, which was told to him by his brother. Waiting for the Mahatma, a novel loosely based on Mahatma Gandhi's fictional visit to Malgudi, deals with the protagonist's romantic feelings for a woman while attending the visiting Mahatma's discourses. Bharti, the woman, is a loose parody of Bharati, Gandhi's personification of India and the subject of his discourses. While there are several references to the Indian independence movement in the novel, the focus is on the ordinary person's life, which is told with Narayan's trademark irony. His works were first published in the United States in 1953 by Michigan State University Press, which later relinquished the rights to Viking Press in 1958. While Narayan's writings frequently highlight inconsistencies in social structures and viewpoints, he was a traditionalist himself, planning his daughter's wedding in February 1956 according to all orthodox Hindu rituals. Following the wedding, Narayan began travelling on a more regular basis, writing at least 1500 words per day while on the road. The Guide was written while he was on a Rockefeller Fellowship in the United States in 1956. While in the United States, Narayan kept a daily journal, which later became the basis for his book My Dateless Diary. Narayan met his friend and mentor Graham Greene for the first time during a visit to England

around this time. The Guide was published after Narayan's return to India; it is the most representative of Narayan's writing skills and elements, ambivalent in expression and ending with a riddle-like conclusion. In 1958, the book earned him the Sahitya Akademi Award. Narayan was known to write essays on occasion, some of which were published in newspapers and journals and others which were not. Next Sunday (1960) was a collection of these type of conversational essays, and it was his first book. My Dateless Diary, describing his experiences during his 1956 visit to the United States, was published soon after. An essay about the writing of The Guide was also included in this collection. The Man-Eater of Malgudi, Narayan's next novel, was published in 1961. According to reviews, the book has a narrative that is a classic comedy art form with delicate control. Following the publication of this book, the restless Narayan embarked on another round of travel, this time to the United States and Australia. He lectured on Indian literature for three weeks in Adelaide, Sydney, and Melbourne. The trip was made possible by an Australian Writers' Group fellowship. Narayan had also achieved significant literary and financial success by this time. He lived in a large house in Mysore and wrote in a study with eight windows; he drove a new Mercedes-Benz, a luxury in India at the time, to see his daughter, who had married and moved to Coimbatore. Narayan began writing columns for magazines and newspapers such as The Hindu and The Atlantic as a result of his success both in India and abroad. Gods, Demons, and Others, a collection of rewritten and translated short stories from Hindu epics, was Narayan's first mythological work, published in 1964. R. K. Laxman, his younger brother, illustrated this book, as he did many of his other works. The stories chosen were a select group, chosen for their powerful protagonists and long-lasting impact, regardless of the reader's contextual knowledge. Following the book launch, Narayan travelled abroad once more. He had written in an earlier essay about Americans wanting to learn about spirituality from him, and during this visit, Swedish-American actress Greta Garbo approached him about it, despite his denials.

The Vendor of Sweets, a novel written by Narayan in 1967, was his next published work. It was influenced by his visits to the United States and features extreme portrayals of both Indian and American stereotypes, highlighting the many cultural differences. However, despite displaying his trademark wit and narrative, the book was panned for its lack of depth. Narayan visited England this year to receive the first of his honorary doctorates from the University of Leeds. He had a quiet period for the next few years. A Horse and Two Goats, a collection of short stories, was his next book, released in 1970. Meanwhile, Narayan remembered a promise he made to his dying uncle in 1938 and began working on an English translation of the Kamba Ramayanam. After five years of work, the Ramayana was published in 1973. Narayan began work on a condensed translation of the Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, almost immediately after publishing The Ramayana. He also published another book, The Painter of Signs, while researching and writing the epic (1977). Although the protagonist's character development is very similar to that of Narayan's earlier creations, The Painter of Signs is a bit longer than a novella and marks a significant departure from Narayan's other works in that it deals with previously unaddressed subjects such as sex. In 1978, the Mahabharata was published.

THE LATER YEARS OF R.K. NARAYAN The Karnataka government commissioned Narayan to write a book to promote tourism in the state. In the late 1970s, the work was included in a larger government publication. He republished it as The Emerald Route because he thought it deserved more (Indian Thought Publications, 1980). The book contains his personal perspective on local history and heritage, but it lacks his engaging narrative due to the absence of his characters and creations. In the same year, he was named an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received the Royal Society of Literature's AC Benson Medal. Narayan's works were translated into Chinese for the first time around the same time. A Tiger for Malgudi, Narayan's next novel, was published in 1983 and is about a tiger and its relationship with humans.

[61] His next novel, Talkative Man, was published in 1986 and told the storey of a Malgudi-based aspiring journalist. He also published two collections of short stories during this time: Malgudi Days (1982), a revised edition that included the original book as well as some additional stories, and Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories, a new collection. In 1987, he published A Writer's Nightmare, a collection of essays about the caste system, Nobel Prize winners, love, and monkeys, among other topics. Since 1958, he had written essays for newspapers and magazines, which were included in the collection. Narayan developed an interest in agriculture while living alone in Mysore. He purchased an acre of agricultural land and began farming. He would also walk to the market every afternoon, not so much to buy things as to socialise with the locals. He would stop every few steps on a typical afternoon stroll to greet and converse with shopkeepers and others, most likely gathering material for his next book. For his contributions to literature, Narayan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the Indian Parliament's upper house, in 1980. Throughout his entire six-year term, he was focused on one issue: the plight of schoolchildren, particularly the heavy burden of school books and the system's negative impact on a child's creativity, which he first addressed in his debut novel, Swami and Friends. His inaugural address focused on this issue, leading to the formation of a committee chaired by Prof. Yash Pal to make recommendations for changes to the school educational system. His next novel, The World of Nagaraj, was published in 1990 and is also set in Malgudi. Narayan's age is evident in this work, as he appears to skip narrative details that he would have included earlier in his career. Narayan fell ill shortly after finishing the novel and relocated to Madras to be closer to his daughter's family. His daughter died of cancer a few years after he moved, and his granddaughter Bhuvaneswari (Minnie) began caring for him in addition to managing Indian Thought Publications. [1] [15] Grandmother's Tale, Narayan's final book, was then published. The book is an autobiographical novella about his great-search grandmother's for her husband, who had run away soon after their marriage. When he was a child, his grandmother told him about the storey.

Narayan, who loved to talk, would spend almost every evening with N. Ram, the publisher of The Hindu, drinking coffee and talking about various topics until well past midnight during his final years. Despite his love of meeting new people and conversing with them, he stopped giving interviews. An interview with Time resulted in Narayan spending a few days in the hospital after he was dragged around the city to take photographs that were never used in the article, resulting in his apathy toward interviews. Narayan was admitted to the hospital in May 2001. He was planning on writing his next novel, a storey about a grandfather, just hours before he was to be put on a ventilator. He asked N. Ram to get him a notebook because he was always picky about notebooks. Narayan, on the other hand, did not improve and never began the novel. At the age of 94, he died in Chennai on May 13, 2001.

WRITING STYLE OF RK NARAYAN

Narayan's writing style was straightforward, with a natural sense of humour. It focused on ordinary people, reminding the reader of next-door neighbours, cousins, and other relatives, making the topic more relatable. Unlike his national contemporaries, he was able to write about the complexities of Indian society without having to compromise his trademark simplicity in order to conform to fiction writing trends and fashions. Based on the nature of his characters, he also used nuanced dialogic prose with gentle Tamil overtones. Because of the similarities in their writings, the gentle beauty and humour in tragic situations, critics have dubbed Narayan the Indian Chekhov. Greene compared Narayan to Chekhov more than any other Indian author. The New Yorker's Anthony West considered Narayan's writings to be of the Nikolai Gogol realism variety. Narayan's short stories, according...