R K Narayan was a famous Indian writer. He is famous for his novels like- The Guide, Swami and Friends, The English Teacher etc.
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| R K Narayan (1906-2001) |
- He was born on 10 October, 1906 in Chennai. His full name is Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami. His family members used to call him Kunjappa.
- His father was school headmaster. He spent his childhood with maternal grandmother Parvati. He married to Rajam. They had a daughter Hema. His brother was R K Laxman.
- He studied at Lutheran Mission School and CRC High School. He obtained hid bachelors degree from the University of Mysore.
- From childhood, he had interest in reading books. He used to read a lot of books and gradually started writing.
- He started his career as a school teacher. Later, he left the job to become a writer.
- His first novel was Swami and Friends. In this novel he created the famous town “Malgudi”. His many writings are based in this town. Initially, he had to face problems in publishing novels. In 1935, his novel Swami and Friends was published with the help of Graham Greene. In the subsequent years, The Bachelor of Arts, The Dark Room novels were published.
- In 1939, his wife Rajam died of typhoid. Her dead left a deep affect on R K Narayan. During this time he wrote the novel- The English Teacher.
- He also started his own publishing company- Indian Thought Publications. He was successful with this publication.
- R K Narayan’s some of the novels are-Mr. Sampath, The Financial Expert, Waiting for the Mahatma, The Guide, My Dateless Diary, The Man Eater of Malgudi, Gods Demons and Others, The Vendor of Sweets, The Ramayana, The painter of Signs, The Mahabharata, Grandmothers Tale. His many of the books content are taken from his own life.
- He won many awards such as- Sahitya Academy Award, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and A C Bensen Medal. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1989.
- He died on 13 May, 2001.