Thursday, June 21, 2007

R.K. Narayan

R.K. Narayan, one of the most celebrated Indo-English writers, was born in 1906 in Madras. He graduated from Maharaja College, Mysore in 1930. His father was a humble school teacher and had a large family to support, so Narayan had to contribute to the family income soon after his graduation. He tried several jobs but his ambition was to become a writer.
After about a month he left the job and devoted his time totallyto writing. He created the imaginary town of Malgudi, where realistic characters in a typically Indian setting lived amid unpredictable events.
He married in 1935 but his marital bliss was short-lived. His beloved wife died of typhoid fever in 1939, after barely four years of marriage. After this incident he achieved inner enlightenment which increased his knowledge of life. He did not write a novel for six years after this personal loss. His earlier novels were: 'Swami and Friends' (1935), 'The Bachelor of Arts' (1937), and 'The Dark Room' (1938).
After the death of his wife, his first novel published in 1945 was 'The English Teacher'.Among his other famous novels are: 'The Financial Expert'(1952), 'Waiting for the Mahatma'(1955), 'The Guide'(1958), 'The Vendor of Sweets'(1967).



P.S. Next post will be about his characters.

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