NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
By our correspondent
In the death of Rasipuram Krishnaswami Aiyar Narayanaswami, better known as R K Narayan, Mysore has lost its most famous ambassador. The city has produced sociologists (M N Srinivas), scientists (Raja Ramanna), musicians (Veena Doreswamy Iyengar), journalists (H Y Sharada Prasad), even cricketers (Javagal Srinath). But, none spread the quaint charm, mystique and simplicity of small-town Mysore further -- and better -- than Narayan and his younger brother and cartoonist, R K Laxman. Which is why, in the passing away of Narayan in the city of his birth, Madras, early on Sunday morning, it is almost as if Mysore has lost an umbilical link to its proud and great past. The loss is English literature's, more particularly, Mysore's.
In an age when two-bit authors make it to literature's Hall of Fame not for what they write but for the multi-million dollar advance they receive from foreign publishers, it is difficult to explain the significance of Narayan. Here was a humble school teacher, an alumni of the Maharaja's College, blazing his way across the seven seas not for some gimmicky new genre, or for his superior command of the foreign language. Far from it, home-grown Narayan set off no new trails in English fiction. But, as literacy critics have remarked all over the world, "he conveyed a sense of the land he knew so well" through simple, elegantly-crafted stories of everyday people and everyday life, laced with a trademark Mysore humour. In doing so, Narayan has been rightly compared to William Faulkner. That's his greatness.
Through his innumerable works centred around Malgudi -- and through Shankar Nag's delightful television adaptation of Malgudi Days -- Narayan managed to lend a near-mythical quality to Mysore, for which this city has to be forever grateful. Fans and followers can, of course, continue to debate the geographical location of Malgudi till the cows come home. For some, Malgudi is Mysore, but there are some who believe that it is a town between Bangalore and Madras, near Tambaram. Although, it can be assumed that Narayan drew Malgudi from his early childhood experiences, it would be futile to argue against the role Mysore played in sculpting his make-believe town. Till ill-health prompted him to shift, Narayan lived long years here, walked its streets and savoured its smells and sights.
Besides his enormous body of literature, which speaks for itself, Narayan's story is a great tale of the marriage between the East and the West. It was author Graham Greene who prompted him to adopt the shorter 'R K Narayan' as his by-line. It was also Greene who ensured the publication of Swami and Friends. The first English writer to win the Sahitya Akademi award, a Padma Bhushan in 1964, an honorary doctorate from the Mysore University, Narayan was also a member of the Rajya Sabha for six years from 1989. In his debut speech in Parliament, Narayan pleaded for the burden of school bags on the shoulders of children to be reduced. It takes a special knack to articulate the concerns of ordinary people in simple words. Narayan had that special knack. Rest in peace.
ALSO SEE: Celebrated author R K Narayan passes away at 95 'Narayan put English writing up on a pedestal' 'He said he hoped to write till his fingers came off'
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
