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Mysore with R.K. Narayan
Portraying India
R. K. Narayan was a man of simplicity and humility, walking Mysore’s bazaars with an unopened umbrella and a tiny Kodak film box filled with betel nuts as his constant companion. This ordinary act contradicted the extraordinary power of his observation, as he made the nuances of daily life his literary playground. His love for a perfect cup of South Indian filter coffee and his fondness for curd rice were small yet defining details of a writer deeply rooted in his culture.
Turning everyday moments into art, R. K. Narayan’s writing sidestepped grand drama in favour of compassionate realism. His prose is marked by its simplicity and warmth, making readers feel at home within the lanes and living rooms of Malgudi. Across more than sixty years of writing, R. K. Narayan earned honours and admiration, yet never lost sight of the heart of his stories: the lives of ordinary people navigating an ever-changing world.
Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, better known to the world as R. K. Narayan, was born in 1906 in Madras (now Chennai) into a Tamil Brahmin family. His father’s career as a school headmaster meant frequent moves, so he spent much of his childhood with his maternal grandmother, Parvati, whose storytelling fostered his love of narrative. Under her guidance, he learned about mythology, classical music, and Sanskrit, absorbing the richness of Indian tradition and folklore.
He attended a succession of schools in Madras and later moved with his family to Mysore. After a year spent reading and writing following initial examination setbacks, R. K. Narayan enrolled at Maharaja’s College, Mysore, where he completed his English literature degree by 1930. Early exposure to English classics, especially Dickens, Conan Doyle, and Wodehouse, along with local mythic tales, helped him develop his unique perspective, which is reflected in his writings.
R. K. Narayan’s prolific output spans novels, several short story collections, travelogues, and English translations of Indian epics. Notable works include The Bachelor of Arts, The English Teacher, The Financial Expert, Waiting for the Mahatma, The Guide, and Malgudi Days. His stories spring from the streets, markets, and households he observed in Madras and later in Mysore, furnishing his imagination with vivid details of middle-class Indian life. These personal experiences of failure, resilience, and ordinary joys gave his writing its distinctly human and relatable quality. He found inspiration in the subtleties of daily existence: a shopkeeper’s worry, a teacher’s authority, a child’s innocence.
When R. K. Narayan completed his first novel, Swami and Friends, in 1934, he struggled to find a publisher in India. On a friend’s advice, he sent the manuscript to England, where it eventually reached the hands of Graham Greene. Impressed by his storytelling, Graham Greene helped publish the novel in 1935. He praised the freshness of R. K. Narayan’s voice but also became a lifelong supporter, ensuring that his subsequent works found recognition abroad.
Published in 1958, The Guide is often regarded as R. K. Narayan’s most accomplished novel. It tells the story of Raju, a railway guide in Malgudi who drifts from a life of small hustles into managing the career of Rosie, a dancer caught between personal desire and societal disapproval. Raju falls from grace as his ambitions turn into deceit, and his eventual transformation into a reluctant spiritual figure forces readers to question whether redemption can come through chance or choice.
The Guide was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1960, making R. K. Narayan the first English-language writer to receive India’s highest literary recognition. In 1965, it was adapted into a Bollywood film of the same name, directed by Vijay Anand and starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. While the film took creative liberties, it became a landmark in Indian cinema for its music and performances.
“The faint aroma of gum and calico that hangs about a library is as the fragrance of incense to me. I think the most beautiful sight is the gilt-edged backs of a row of books on a shelf. The alley between two well-stocked shelves in a hall fills me with the same delight as passing through a silent avenue of trees. The colour of a binding cloth and its smooth texture give me the same pleasure as touching a flower on its stalk.”
R. K. Narayan’s work shaped perceptions of Indian life not only for foreign readers but also for Indians themselves. For generations, Malgudi became synonymous with an India that was intimate, humorous, and humane. In 1960, he founded Indian Thought Publications to retain control over his works’ publishing in India, a pioneering move at the time. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan (1964) and the Padma Vibhushan (2000) and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
R. K. Narayan’s critics sometimes found this simplicity “pedestrian,” yet writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and Graham Greene saw profundity in his restraint and precision:
- Jhumpa Lahiri praised his short stories for providing complete insight into characters’ lives in “just a few pages,” classifying him among great short-story writers like O. Henry and Guy de Maupassant.
As his friend and biographer Sasha remarks, R. K. Narayan’s simplicity was his strength, and his stories remain an affectionate mirror held up to everyday India.
Mysore, once the capital of a powerful princely state, earned its grace through centuries of royal patronage and cultural flourishing. The Wodeyar dynasty transformed it into a prosperous kingdom known for its arts, architecture, and learning. The magnificent Mysore Palace, built under their rule, stands as a symbol of this rich heritage. The city is also defined by its vibrant festivals, especially the grand ‘Dasara’ celebrations, which bring the streets alive with processions and music. Yet, beyond the palace gates lies a world of markets selling silk, sandalwood, and spices. Nearby, artisans carve rosewood patterns, and children race alongside temple walls. It is a city of small moments, none too grand or striking on their own, but together shaping a place that carries its own kind of charm.
Recommendations for Further Exploration
To Watch
Malgudi Days: 1986 Television Series
R. K. Narayan: A documentary film by Sahitya Akademi, directed by M. P. Sukumaran Nair
To Listen
English in India by R. K. Narayan
To Read
Swami and Friends
Malgudi Days (short stories)
The Guide
The English Teacher
At Tushita, we marvel at India with you. After 45 years of travelling the country, we’re still enamoured by its beauty every day. From Ladakh, where Tushita was anointed by a Buddhist monk in 1977, to Tamil Nadu, where we worked with locals to showcase one of the oldest cultures in the world, we are partners in your journey to discover our part of the world.
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