Volume : 2 | Issue : 4 | April 2013 ISSN - 2250-1991

Research Paper Literature

Contribution of R. K. Narayan to the World of

Indian English Novel

* Kanika Kachroo
* English literature from Mahatma Gandhi University, Meghalaya

Keywords :
INTRODUCTION. a green gate, my uncle promised that I would in due course
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan- find myself there. I did not welcome the idea. It was a gaunt
swami Iyer or R.K.Narayan is con- looking building with a crucifix on its roof, and I hated it at
sidered to be one of the founding first sight.”3 He was an avid observer of life around him, loved
fathers of Indian English Novel his pets, and enjoyed playing and hated school and studies.
along with Raja Rao and Mulk Raj He has beautifully pictured his childhood memories in his first
Anand. The first Indian English novel Swami and Friends published in the year 1935, Swami
Novel was written by Bankim Chan- ,the protagonist in the novel is a small child and we see the
dra Chatterjee in 1904 (Rajmohan’s world through his eyes, while reading the novel it seems as
Wife),not much significant develop- we have revisited our childhood years. Narayan after college
ment took place for some time in tried his hands at many things but writing suited him the best
this genre, the output consisted of and against the wishes of his family he decided to take writing
historical or romantic novels, the appearance of Mahatma full time. Following lines from his Memoir show the discon-
Gandhi on the scene shifted the focus of fiction to his works tentment of his family, “My father occasionally enamored of
and thinking, but it was actually in the period of 1930-1970 me, ‘what are you attempting on that road roller?’(My type-
when writers like Raja Rao, R.K.Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, writer).He gently suggested that ‘I should not waste time.’ ”4
Kamala Markandeya, Anita Desai, Bhabani Bhattacharya,
Khushwant Singh and Nirad.C.Chaudhari and many others
arrived, and tried their hands at various themes and evolution
in this field began. The current group consists of writers like
Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, V.S.Naipaul, Amitav Ghosh,
Arundhati Roy, Shobha De ,Chetan Bhagat and Amish Trip-
athi and many others , their themes and styles are experimen-
tal and have earned them name and fame.

This paper is about R.K.Narayan and his contribution to In-

dian English novel (IEN) so I will discuss here, his life and
works, sense and style of writing, comparison with immediate
contemporaries, relevance of his work in today’s world and
his impressions on his readers.

LIFE AND WORKS.

“There are writers- Tolstoy and Henry James to name two-
whom we held in awe, writers- Turgenev and Chekhov- for
whom we feel a personal affection, other writers whom we
respect- Conrad for example- but who hold us at a long arm’s
length with their ‘courtly foreign grace.’ Narayan (whom I don’t
hesitate to name in such a context) more than any of them
wakes in me a spring of gratitude, for he has offered me a Initial years of his career were full of struggle, nobody in In-
second home. Without him I could never have known what it dia could understand his writing genius, he was making ends
is like to be Indian.”2 These words by Graham Greene give us meet by writing small time in magazines and newspapers .His
significant idea about Narayan’s work, he wrote on the sim- first break was given by Graham Greene who was shown the
plest of subjects, about day to day life yet he makes it so inter- manuscript of his novel by an old friend of Narayan ,’Purna’.
esting that we are held in his fictional world and impressions Thus began his career as a novelist. His next novel was The
remain long in our head. Graham Greene, an English author Bachelor of Arts (1937) which is of semi autobiographical con-
and critic was responsible for publishing R.K.Narayan’s first tent, the third in line was The Dark Room (1938), Narayan
few novels. He was his mentor and friend and this friendship is known for his light heartedness and comic writing but this
continued life long, he also gets credit for shortening Naray- novel was an exception as it depicted the plight of an Indian
an’s name and making it reader friendly. women who has to resign to her circumstances, it is depress-
ing but a very realistic novel. Narayan was unconventional in
Narayan was born on 10th October 1906 at Chennai. His fam- his thinking and satirized the old age superstitions and evils
ily consisted of his parents and five siblings along with him. in society in his novels and short stories; he has in detail de-
Narayan spent initial years of his life with his grandmother scribed their irrelevance and damage towards life. He had a
and these years left a lasting impression on him. In his Mem- love marriage in 1934 and enjoyed his marital life, till destiny
oir (My Days) he gives a beautiful description of his early life. played its evil game and Rajam, his wife died in 1939.This
“When we passed an orange coloured school building with shattered him and he stopped writing and started living life

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like in a cocoon, his only focus being the upbringing of his depicts our moral values, religious beliefs and relationships,
daughter. But a spiritual experience changed his attitude to- in a way, he gives us an observation of Indian way of life. He
wards life and then his pen never stopped but just kept giving has created a world of his own which comes to life as we open
us pearls of wisdom till he was alive. The English Teacher any of his work, the art of detailing and the character portrayal
(1945), is a very special novel, about it he says, “The English make it very real.
Teacher is autobiographical in content, very little part of it be-
ing fiction. The English Teacher of the novel, Krishna, is a His most beautiful creation is the imaginary town of Malgudi, it
fictional character in the fictional city of Malgudi; but he goes is like any small town in South India with beautiful landscape,
through the same experience I had gone through, and he simple people, some recognizable buildings and life of people
calls his wife Susila, and the child is Leela instead of Hema.”6 there is intertwined with each other, they enjoy sitting under
trees and discussing about each other’s life, womenfolk like
In his lifetime he has given us a number of novels, short celebrating their rituals together and children like playing in
stories, and non fictional work. His novels include Swami natural environs. Everyone knows everybody else; any new
and Friends(1935, Hamish Hamilton),The Bachelor of Arts entrant is easily recognizable. Malgudi shows growth and de-
(1937, Thomas Nelson),The Dark Room (1938, Eyre),The velopment with time, British bring their impressions to it and
English Teacher (1945, Eyre),Mr. Sampath (1948, Eyre),The the new India brings its own symbols to it. Malgudi is the set-
Financial Expert (1952, Methuen),Waiting for the Mahatma ting of most of his novels and though he made it world famous
(1955, Methuen),The Guide (1958, Methuen),The Man- as a synonym with small town life of India but actually it is
Eater of Malgudi (1961, Viking),The Vendor of Sweets nowhere to be found on the map of India. In his own words,
(1967, The Bodley Head),The Painter of Signs (1977, “I really can’t explain its (Malgudi) persistence, you know.
Heinemann),A Tiger for Malgudi (1983, Heinemann),Talkative Because it was just a casual idea. It’s not a fixation, a fixed
Man (1986, Heinemann),The World of Nagaraj (1990, geography. It has grown, developed. I think it has very elas-
Heinemann),Grandmother’s Tale (1992, Indian Thought Pub- tic borders, elastic frontiers, elastic everything – with a few
lications); non-fiction- Next Sunday (1960, Indian Thought fixed points, that’s all…. Instead of listening to a temple piper,
Publications),My Dateless Diary (1960, Indian Thought people probably have a transistor radio. And then, instead of
Publications),My Days (1974, Viking),Reluctant Guru (1974, a transistor they may have a three-in-one recorder and play
Orient Paperbacks),The Emerald Route (1980, Indian cassettes. You can watch villagers playing cassettes in the
Thought Publications),A Writer’s Nightmare (1988, Pen- fields nowadays. But people have not changed. Human types
guin Books);Mythology-Gods, Demons and Others (1964, have remained the same. So they remain my characters. At
Viking),The Ramayana (1973, Chatto & Windus),The Ma- least in Malgudi there can’t be.”9
habharata (1978, Heinemann),Short story collections-
Malgudi Days (1942, Indian Thought Publications),An As- Narayan has been unusual with his style, while as others
trologer’s Day and Other Stories (1947, Indian Thought were busy writing about Indian freedom struggle and Gandhi,
Publications),Lawley Road and Other Stories (1956, Indian Narayan was busy revealing the secrets of common man’s
Thought Publications),A Horse and Two Goats (1970),Under life, in his own style and language, for him English was a way
the Banyan Tree and Other Stories (1985),The Grandmoth- of expressing, he never tried to emulate his western idols but
er’s Tale and Selected Stories (1994, Viking). wrote and created form of his own, his English was Indian
in feel and appeal. Though initially he was criticized for his
Narayan managed a decent writing career ,was able to buy choice of subjects and simplicity of writing but later it was this
property, take care of his family and daughter and roam around sense and trademark style of writing that made him an icon.
the world, carry on with his interests and above all write. “The “For anyone, like Greene, seeking to understand India, R.K.
Guide won him the The Sahitya Academy Award in 1960. He Narayan is more accessible than Salman Rushdie and less
was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1964.University of Leeds cumbersome than Vikram Seth. In 15 novels and numerous
conferred on him Honor of D.Litt in 1967, Delhi University fol- short stories written in a spare style, and rarely more than
lowed it in 1973.He was a visiting lecturer at Michigan State 200 pages long, he illuminates the lives of small-town people.
university in 1958 and lectured at many reputed institutions of Gradually the reader comes to view the world through Indian
America , such as University of California, Kansas University, rather than western eyes.”10
Yale University and Yassar College. Many of his stories have
been broadcasted by B.B.C. Malgudi Days a tele-serial was R.K.Narayan was a master of characterization. His creations
made on his short stories. He won the A.C.Benson medal by have become immortal. Swami, one of the earliest of his char-
Royal Society of Literature in 1980.He was made the Honor- acters is the best of the lot. This small boy has a world of his
ary member of American Academy and Institute of Arts and own, he wants to eat, play, sleep and enjoy in the safe con-
Letters in 1982.During 1986-1991, was nominated Member of fines of his home, for him this means the world, he belongs to
Rajya Sabha. He was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan a typical South Indian Brahmin family, the description of his
in 2000.”7 Narayan died on 13th may 2001, leaving behind a home, family and the town Malgudi (first introduction to this
treasure of knowledge. imaginary town) give us a feel of South India. Swami is like
any of us in our childhood, full of mischief and curiosity, his
friends, adventures and outlook towards life is described in
the brand Narayan style. A few lines from the novel – “It was a
perfect Monday morning. Swaminathan was reluctant to open
his eyes. He considered Monday especially unpleasant in the
calendar. After the delicious freedom of Saturday and Sun-
day, it was difficult to get into the Monday mood of work and
discipline. He shuddered at the very thought of school: that
dismal yellow building; the fire eyed Vedangayagam, his class
teacher; the headmaster with his thin long cane…”11

The characters from his pen kept growing over the years and
STYLE AND SENSE OF WRITING. became memorable, they could be anyone from a doting
R.K.Narayan was a voracious reader and a sharp observer, mother, to a college student, a school boy, married man, a
he could mimic life brilliantly and his characters remind us of tortured wife, an unhappy son, a sad father or our very own
people and life around us. He gives us what we know but from village postman; all of them had their own peculiarities and
a detached point of view, he satirizes our superstitions and characteristics, beautifully sketched and inspired from life.
social evils, empathizes with the plight of women, and gives For eg- Chandan from The Bachelor of Arts is like any repre-
a peek into British India, shows us the simplicity and culture sentative youth of his times, influenced by western thinking.
and traditions of rural and small town India, very beautifully He is a good student and wants to live life on his own terms,

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falls in love faces rejection from society, becomes an ascetic idioms. Along with Munshi Premchand (1880-1936), Anand
and at last comes back to normal Indian family life, we don’t was responsible for forming Dalit literature of India. He be-
hate or love him but just empathize as he is like any of us came a part of the Indian National Congress and joined the
rebel at heart but a firm believer of Indian family values. Raju, freedom struggle.
from The Guide is the journey of a common man from com-
monness to esoteric levels, he is like a landmark character in Raja Rao started his career with Kanthapura. It is the story of
Narayan creations, and the growth of this character is brilliant. a south Indian village during freedom struggle and the influ-
Some of his women characters are avant-garde and symbol ence of Gandhi phenomenon on the village people. The story
of the changing trends in our country, Savitri from The Dark is being narrated by an old woman in a typical Indian style
Room doesn’t take unfaithfulness from her husband easily, which is racy, spontaneous and poetic.
and Rosie from The Guide breaks her marriage and lives life
on her own terms. Though most of his women characters Rao was influenced by Gandhism and wrote about it again in
imbibe the loving, caring and sacrificing characteristics but the short story collection The Cow of the Barricades (1947).
they give an impression of not to be taken granted and given In 1998 he published Gandhi’s biography Great Indian Way:
a space of their own. Some of his characters like Margayya A Life of Mahatma Gandhi. He has written only five novels
(The Financial Expert) and Talkative Man show the universal- Kanthapura, The Serpent and the Rope, The Cat and Shake-
ity of his characters. RK.Narayan is a common man’s writer, speare, Comrade Kirillov and The Chessmaster and His
his works are loved alike by young, old and children .His Moves. His works are deeply influenced by Hindu tradition
works have a worldwide appeal. and spiritualism. The Serpent and The Rope won him Sahitya
Academy Award in 1964. This novel illustrates the conflicts
12 between east and west, it is the story of Ramaswamy, his
psychological introspection and his journey towards spiritual
evolution. He is a young Brahmin studying in France who
marries a French college teacher, while he is managing his
family commitments and life with his partner; she decides to
renounce the world. Cat and Shakespeare (1965) is a met-
aphysical comedy where the Hindu notion of Karma is dis-
cussed. Comrade Kirillov (1976) satirizes communism, The
Chessmaster and His Moves (1988) is about people seeking
their identities.

Mulk Raj Anand ,Raja Rao and R.K.Narayan are contempo-

raries but their style of writing and subjects are contrasting,
while as Mulk Raj Anand was a social reformist writer who
tried to bring the dark sides of society to forefront and ques-
tioned them, Raja Rao was a philosopher, he wrote about the
Indian Mysticism, his perspectives in writing were spiritually
COMPARISON WITH CONTEMPORARIES. bent. R.K.Narayan was the lightest in his approach; he was
English entered India as a foreign language but slowly and an observer of life and portrayed it through his characters and
steadily has become a part of us and today much of our com- their day to day life with a sense of detachment.
munication happens to be in this medium. Indian English Lit-
erature had a humble beginning, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Hen- READERS IMPRESSION.
ry Derozio, Toru Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurbindo
gave it the initial impetus. After prose and poetry, the Great
Indian English Novel made its beginning with Rajmohan’s
Wife(Bankim Chandra Chatterjee).The output consisted of ro-
mantic novels, historical novels or works inspired by Gandhi-
an movement for some time, it was somewhere in the 1930’s
-1950’s that the actual development in this field happened,
writers experimented with diverse themes, Mulk Raj Anand
was busy with his social novels, Raja Rao had a spiritual bent
of mind, R.K.Narayan was busy weaving the common man’s
world, these three erupted as the giants of this genre, there
were others who wrote on politics, imperialism, caste system,
Indian culture and traditions, middle class India, western in- Social networking is a way of connecting with each other peo-
fluences and hypocrisy. Some of them include Khushwant ple thousands of miles away or even complete strangers can
Singh, Bhabhani Bhattacharya, Anita Desai, Kamala Mar- discuss about issues or people they strongly feel about. On
kandeya, Manohar Malgaonkar and Nirad.C.Chaudhari. Here one such site, I compared the popularity of R.K.Narayan with
we will mainly discuss R.K.Narayan and his immediate con- his immediate contemporaries and current sensation in Indian
temporaries Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. Anand was an ar- literature, the result shows that even after so many years his
dent supporter of poor and downtrodden, he felt for them and works are liked and read by people. Though the results can
wanted the society to recognize and uplift them. He showed vary, and this method is not up to the mark but it gives us
us the world through their eyes. Some of his novels with the fair idea about the immortality of Narayan’s works. His sub-
same theme are The Untouchables, Coolie, Two leaves and jects and characters are universal and this appeal has carried
a Bud and The Village. Untouchable (1935) was his first novel over years and continues because time and technology can
and a phenomenal success. The life of a scavenger, his prob- change but basic human nature remains the same and that is
lems, the attitude of society towards him, the evil caste sys- what Narayan captures the best.
tem, his helplessness and besides this volatile atmosphere, a
kindle of hope he had for his dreams and better life. The writer He is one of the most loved writers by children. We find many
shows us India, with its social deformities and seeks respect of his stories in schoolbooks .The Missing Mail and Swami’s
for the poor and helpless, after so many years the book is adventures are some of them. The tele-series ‘Malgudi Days’
still relevant to our society. Anand, through his writing wanted was a favourite with us during our childhood and even today
to bring a change in the society, humanity was the highest kids watch repeat telecasts or youtube versions. Its title song
practice for him. Mahatma Gandhi and Indian freedom strug- is a rage with kids. His popularity has surpassed many of his
gle had a great influence on him. Anand had a unique style contemporaries because of his simple language and world-
of writing English in which he used Punjabi and Hindustani wide appeal of plot and characters.

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People who don’t understand literature love reading his CONCLUSION.

works, he has brought this genre close to the common man. This write up summarizes the contribution of R.K.Narayan to
The Guide by him is considered to be a cult book; the story the genre of IEN. He continues to rule over the heart of his
was so loved and admired by the intelligentsia that it inspired readers. Simple yet extraordinary, that has been the appeal
the famous Chetan Anand movie ‘Guide’ starring Dev Anand of his works. India and its small town life have been his plots,
and Waheeda Rahman, the movie too has reached legend his character sketches are universal. Children love his works
status. His works have stood the test of time and still appeal and peculiar characters; truly he is a common man’s writer. In
to the readers; his works have kept his thinking alive even the words of Hillary Spurling, “A treat…he is an enchanter.”14
after so many years of his demise.

REFERENCES
Google.com | R.K.Narayan,The Bachelor Of Arts(Introduction By Graham Greene),Indian Thought Publication,1956 | R.K.Narayan,My Days,Picador,2001,P.34 |
R.K.Narayan, My Days :A Memoir,Picador,2001,P.76 | Google.Com | R.K.Narayan,My Days :A Memoir,Picador,2001,P.129 | J.M.Purohit, Major Novels Of R.K. Narayan,
Mark Publishers,2011,P.10 | Google.com | Frontlineonnet.Com | Economist.Com | R.K.Narayan: Swami And Friends, Mysore Indian Thought Publication, 1985,P.1 |
Google.Com | Facebook.com | Hillary Spurling, The Observer. |

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