Author RK Narayan best known for Swami and Friends

Author RK Narayan best known for Swami and Friends

RK Narayan, better known as Swami and Friends, was born on October 10, 1906. He was born in ancient Madras and present-day Chennai. His father was a school principal and he moved around a lot; that is why he was raised by his grandmother Parvathi. She nicknamed him Kunjappa and his family members popularly called him by this nickname. He went to study at various schools and spent most of his time reading Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, PG Wodehouse, and Thomas Hardy. He got into trouble when he participated in an independence march; his family was neutral on the politics and independence of India.

RK Narayan moved to Mysore to meet his parents, where he began to write. He studied at the Maharaja College of Mysore and accepted a job as a school teacher. He left it to realize that he would write for the rest of his life. His first published writing was entitled “Development of the Maritime Laws of 17th Century England”. He wrote for English newspapers and magazines. Although he lived on a miserable income, his friends and family respected him and he published his first novel: Swami and Friends. Thus was born the fictional city of Malgudi. This book was rejected by various publishers until Narayan sent it to his friend and popular author Graham Greene. Other books such as The Bachelor of Arts, The English Teacher, The Financial Expert, Waiting for the Mahatma and The Guide were published. The financial expert was recognized as one of the most original works in 1951 while winning the Sahitya Akademi award for The Guide. The Guide was also made into a movie and played on Broadway. He was compared to William Faulkner for his depiction of real life characters in everyday life, while he was also compared to Guy de Maupassant in regards to his narrative style when presenting short stories. He was conferred the AC Benson Medal of the Royal Society of Literature and the Padma Vibhushan. He was also appointed a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Narayan fell in love with Rajam and married her despite financial and zodiac obstacles. Shortly after the marriage, she worked for a newspaper called The Justice. He wrote about the shame of being spanked in class, the emotional drain on girlfriends and boyfriends with the coincidence of the horoscope, and the subjugation of women in marriages. The death of his wife affected him immensely and his daughter became the center of his attention. Pain served as the inspiration for her book, The English Teacher. He also worked on a magazine, Indian Thought. He then started his own publishing company, Indian Thought Publications, which earned him a voracious audience from New York to Moscow. His writings were first published in the United States by the Michigan State University Press.

In 1961 The Man Eater of Malgudi was published. It earned him many accolades and traveled through Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. After the publication of The Vendor of Sweets, he obtained his first honorary doctorate from the University of Leeds. He lived the last of his days involved in agriculture and interacting with people. He wrote The World of Nagraj and The Grandmother’s Tale, the last of his books. He took his last breath on May 13, 2001 in Chennai.

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