SaleOmnibus Box Set
In Feast or Famine: A Novel
₹563
Save: 25%
R. K. Narayan (Set Of 18 Books)
Publisher:
Indian Thought
| Author:
R. K. Narayan
| Language:
English
| Format:
Omnibus/Box Set (Paperback)
₹3,203
Save: 25%
In stock
Ships within:
1-4 Days
14
People watching this product now!
In stock
ISBN:
Page Extent:
3320
- Grandmothers Tale :- ‘Grandmother’s Tale’ was published in 1992 by the Grand Old Man of Malgudi, R.K. Narayan. ‘Grandmother’s Tale’ is part biography and part fictional account of the life of R.K. Narayan’s maternal great-grandmother, who had a rather extraordinary life compared to the other women matriarchs in Narayan’s family. Single-handedly, Bala, the great-grandmother in question, managed to search the whole of the Southern region of India during the time of the British East India Company days for her absconding husband and does indeed manage to find him and then start life afresh. When this story was written, Viswa, age 10, and Bala, age 7, were deemed fit to be married by their parents, and the ceremonies were conducted. Bala became the child-bride of Viswa, and though the couple were curious about each other, they were still not allowed to interact. ‘Grandmother’s Tale’, however, centers on the disappearance of Viswa from his South Indian village and the adventure Bala experienced in the process. The fictional biography is one of the shortest books penned by R.K. Narayan. The Indian Thought Publication edition of this book contains suitable and pleasing illustrations of the whole story by R.K. Narayan’s famous and illustrious political cartoonist brother, R.K. Laxman. The story of Bala is a tale of orthodoxy, intrigue, and adventure and takes up the favorite theme of most of Narayan’s fiction, which is that of the sanyasi mindset.
- The Guide :- Formerly Indias most corrupt tourist guide, Raju-just released from prison- seeks refuge in an abandoned temple. Mistaken for a holy man, he plays the part and succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Rajus newfound sanctity to the test. Narayans most celebrated novel, The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his countrys highest Formerly Indias most corrupt tourist guide, Raju-just released from prison- seeks refuge in an abandoned temple. Mistaken for a holy man, he plays the part and succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Rajus newfound sanctity to the test. Narayans most celebrated novel, The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his countrys highest literary honor. About The Author: R. K. Narayan (1906-2001), born and educated in India, was the author of fourteen novels, numerous short stories and essays, a memoir, and three retold myths. His work, championed by Graham Greene, who became a close friend, was often compared to that of Dickens, Chekhov, Faulkner, and Flannery OConnor, among others. October 10, 2006, is the centennial of Narayans birth. Pankaj Mishra , author of An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World , is an award-winning novelist and frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books , Granta , and other publications. Monica Ali , one of Granta s Best of Young British Novelists, is the author of Brick Lane , finalist for the Man Booker Prize. Jhumpa Lahiri won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies , and is the author of The Namesake . Michael Gorra is a professor of English at Smith College. His books include The Bells in Their Silence: Travels Through Germany and After Empire: Scott, Naipaul, Rushdie .
- The Bachelor of Arts : –Offering rare insight into the complexities of Indian middle-class society, R. K. Narayan traces life in the fictional town of Malgudi. The Dark Room is a searching look at a difficult marriage and a woman who eventually rebels against the demands of being a good and obedient wife. In Mr. Sampath, a newspaper man tries to keep his paper afloat in the face of social and eco Offering rare insight into the complexities of Indian middle-class society, R. K. Narayan traces life in the fictional town of Malgudi. The Dark Room is a searching look at a difficult marriage and a woman who eventually rebels against the demands of being a good and obedient wife. In Mr. Sampath, a newspaper man tries to keep his paper afloat in the face of social and economic changes sweeping India. Narayan writes of youth and young adulthood in the semiautobiographical Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts. Although the ordinary tensions of maturing are heightened by the particular circumstances of pre-partition India, Narayan provides a universal vision of childhood, early love and grief.
- The English Teacher :- While Krishna teaches at the Albert Mission College his wife and daughter live some distance away with his parents-in-law. But a move to a small rented house soon permits the couple to enjoy a life of marital bliss. Yet paradise is short-lived… Never has the magical storyteller of imaginary Malgudi woven tragedy and humour so deftly together. Paperback , 184 pages Published 2005 by Indian Thought Publications (first published October 1st 1980)
- The Vendor of Sweets :- The apple of his eye is his son Mali, for whom he feels a deep but absurdly embarrassed affection, which appears to go unrequited. When Mali coolly announces that he is abandoning school to go to America to become a writer, Jagan’s fatherly feelings are thrown into still greater confusion. And when, a year or two later, Mali returns with a half-Korean, half-American wife and a grandiose scheme for marketing a novel-writing machine, Jagan is utterly at sea. He is confronted by the new world shockingly personified – a world where his cherished notions of marriage and morals seem to count for nothing. The tragicomic clash of the generations deepens with every chapter. Jagan’s final escape from the galling chains of paternal love comes as unexpectedly as every other twist in this delicious story.
- Swami And Friends :– With the gentle humor which is perhaps the author’s gift, R.K. Narayan’s first novel tells of the growing up of ten-year-old Swami, who lives in the town of Malgudi. Narayan evokes for us the universal experiences of childhood while capturing the particular flavor of what that experience was like in 1930 amid the first stirrings of India’s struggle for independence.
- The World Of Nagaraj :- Nagarajs world is quite and comfortable. Living in his familys spacious house with only his wife Sita for company, he fills his day writing letters, drinking coffee, doing some leisurely book keeping for his friend Coomars Boeing Sari Company, and sitting on his veranda watching the world and planning the book he intends to write about the life of the great sage Narada. Nagarajs world is quite and comfortable. Living in his familys spacious house with only his wife Sita for company, he fills his day writing letters, drinking coffee, doing some leisurely book keeping for his friend Coomars Boeing Sari Company, and sitting on his veranda watching the world and planning the book he intends to write about the life of the great sage Narada. But everything is disturbed when Tim, the son of his ambitious landowing brother Gopu, decides to leave home and come to live with Nagaraj. Forced to take responsibility for the boy, puzzled by his secret late-night activities and by the strong smell of sprits which lingers behind him, Nagaraj finds his days, suddenly filled with unwelcome complication and turbulence, which threaten to alter for ever the contented tranquility of his world. The latest of R.K.Narayans magnificent Malgudi books, The World of Nagaraj is beautifully written, funny and haunting , evoking in marvelously rich detail the atmosphere of a small town in southern India and creating a magical world into which the reader is instantly drawn.
- Waiting For The Mahatma :- Sriram is twenty. As a mark of his coming of age his grandmother allows his the pass-book to his savigns in the local bank, but Sriram is growing up in other ways, too, and an enchanting and unpredictable girl leads him into the entourage of Mahatma Gandhi. These are the opening events in R K Narayans novel. It is the finest thing he has yet achieved, and his story of the Sriram is twenty. As a mark of his coming of age his grandmother allows his the pass-book to his savigns in the local bank, but Sriram is growing up in other ways, too, and an enchanting and unpredictable girl leads him into the entourage of Mahatma Gandhi. These are the opening events in R K Narayans novel. It is the finest thing he has yet achieved, and his story of the triumphs and tragedies of a raw young zealot in the service of Gandhi is distinguished for its warmth, its humour, its lack of sentimentality and the stamp of absolute truth. Srirams evolution into manhood is, for him, strange and bewildering process. Bharati, the girl he worship, is witty, infuriating, capable and, wonder of wonders, condescending to the moonstruck Sriram. Her first loyalty though, is to the Mahatma, a saint blessed with disconcerting common sense, a man whose tragedy is tat he is so much greater than his followers. Most of them accept his ideas enthusiastically, and without realizing it, pervert them to suit their coarser personalities. Sriram is inspired by Gandhi, but he is too easily influenced by glamorous patriots of the type of Jagadish, a terrorist. It is a tale of remarkable insight into the upsrge of Indian nationalism as witnessed through the eyes and hearts of Sriram and Bharati, and told with the all genius and compassion we have come to expect from R K Narayan.
- The Painter Of Signs :- The Painter of Signs tells us the story Raman, a young painter of signboards, a bachelor who glories in his old-fashioned independence, whose work takes him all over Malgudi, and requires him to do business with some of the citys most important, as well as its most absurd, tradesmen. Raman is polite and businesslike with everyone – but underneath the small talk he conduct The Painter of Signs tells us the story Raman, a young painter of signboards, a bachelor who glories in his old-fashioned independence, whose work takes him all over Malgudi, and requires him to do business with some of the citys most important, as well as its most absurd, tradesmen. Raman is polite and businesslike with everyone – but underneath the small talk he conducts a quizzical dialogue with himself about his fellow humans and the meaning of their lives. Enter Daisy – an unlikely name for the ruthless but very attractive young woman who commissions Raman, on behalf of the population clinic she runs, to paint signs advocating two-child families. Together they travel around the neighboring country villages where Daisy preaches birth control. Raman is appalled by the hard-edged zeal she brings to her work, just as he is enthralled by her beauty and mysterious independence of spirit. They are obviously made for each other. Or are they? In this sardonic bittersweet tale of love in modern India, R. K. Narayan has created two of fictions most endearing and unique young lovers, and an unsetting story about India at its best and worst.
- Malgudi Days :- Four Gems, With New Introductions, Mark Acclaimed Indian Writer R. K. Narayans Centennial Introducing This Collection Of Stories, R. K. Narayan Describes How In India The Writer Has Only To Look Out Of The Window To Pick Up A Character And Thereby A Story. Powerful, Magical Portraits Of All Kinds Of People, And Comprising Stories Written Over Almost Forty Years, Malgudi Four Gems, With New Introductions, Mark Acclaimed Indian Writer R. K. Narayans Centennial Introducing This Collection Of Stories, R. K. Narayan Describes How In India The Writer Has Only To Look Out Of The Window To Pick Up A Character And Thereby A Story. Powerful, Magical Portraits Of All Kinds Of People, And Comprising Stories Written Over Almost Forty Years, Malgudi Days Presents Narayans Imaginary City In Full Color, Revealing The Essence Of India And Of Human Experience. An Astrologers Day The Missing Mail The Doctors Word Gatemans Gift The Blind Dog Fellow-feeling The Tigers Claw Iswaran Such Perfection Fathers Help The Snake-song Engine Trouble Forty-five A Month Out Of Business Attila The Axe Lawley Road Trail Of The Green Blazer The Martyrs Corner Wifes Holiday A Shadow A Willing Slave Leelas Friend Mother And Son Naga Selvi Second Opinion Cat Within The Edge God And The Cobbler Hungry Child Emden
- The Financial Expert :- Margayya is a complex and entrancing character with a flair for those fabulously involved minor financial transactions which are an integral part of Indian life. We first meet him sitting in the shade of a banyan tree, advising the people of Malgudi how to extract loans from the Co-operative Bank. A brush with the Secretary of the Bank, and an accident in which his spoilt son Balu throws his account book down a drain, cut short his career as a financier; but after a series of amusing incidents Margayya grows rich and reverts to financial wizardry.
- My Days :- Narayan was born on October 10, 1906 in Madras. This is a commemorative publication issued to mark the Birth Centenary of the author. Rare photograph of Narayan and brilliant sketches by his brother R K Laxman, the famous cartoonist, are notable features of this collector’s edition. Narayan, the creator of Malgudi, in his simple lucid style speaks of his life in My Days. The book is in three sections – in the first, he describes his life as a lonely child growing up in his grandmother’s house in Madras with a monkey, a peacock and a parrot for companions! He goes to describe his first school, the fear of the teacher and the anxiety to remain unnoticed, being a player in the local football team ‘Jumping Stars’; his move to Mysore and admission to a school, where his father is the Headmaster. The second section deals with the obstacles he encountered as a young writer, how the manuscript of his first book Swami and Friends caught the attention of Graham Greene; their life long friendship; his falling in love and marriage to Rajam, the birth of their daughter and the poignant tale of his wife’s untimely death that left his devastated and his coming to terms with it, and his experiments with psychics. In the last section, he gives a detailed account of his overcoming the writer’s block, and the writing of the The English Teacher.He continues describing his literary journey and his evolution as a fine writer. He writes about how he worked on his novel and short stories. About his visit to the U.S.A at the invitation of the Rockefeller Foundation, how he stayed on for a couple of months at Berkeley and wrote The Guide. In the last few chapters we see an established, contented, writer known worldwide for his characteristic simple, lucid style and gentle irony…
- Talkativen Man :– In this masterpiece, Indias preeminent novelist introduces a character not unlike himself, a compulsively engaging, raconteur – They call me Talkative Man, Some affectionately shorten it to TM: I have earned this title, I suppose, because, I cannot contain myself. My impulse to share an experience with others is irresistible. The Talkative Man tells the story of a myster In this masterpiece, Indias preeminent novelist introduces a character not unlike himself, a compulsively engaging, raconteur – They call me Talkative Man, Some affectionately shorten it to TM: I have earned this title, I suppose, because, I cannot contain myself. My impulse to share an experience with others is irresistible. The Talkative Man tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at the Malgudi train station to pursue a purported U.N. project. The stranger winds up staying at Talkative Mans home, where he begins to seduce the librarians daughter.
- Tiger For Malgudi :- R. K. Narayan’s magnificent new novel is about a tigerpossessed of the soul of an enlightened human being who tells us the story ofhis life. Raja leaves his home in the Mempi hills only to find he is capturedand made to perform in a circus and on a film set. Eventually he escapes, onlyto be recaptured – but this time voluntarily – by a guru. The two of them leaveMalgudi and return to the hills where they pass their days in sweetphilosophical discourse until old age overtakes Raja and he is forced to give uphis freedom for ever. A haunting tale, A Tiger For Malgudi uniquelycombines the elusive timeless quality of Hindu legend with the comic vision ofNarayan’s earlier Malgudi novels. Everyone, young and old, will enjoy the verysimplicity of this compelling fable, but some will want to explore with Raja thepathway to true enlightenment.
- Under the Banyan Tree & Other Stories :- A delightful collection from India’s foremost storyteller, Under the Banyan Tree adds twenty-eight tales of the rich and colorful heritage of R K Narayan’s fictional south Indian city, Malgudi. Narayan’s characters, observed with a wry and compassionate eye, come from every area of Indian society – merchants, beggars, herdsmen, hermits, teachers, rogues – and represent in miniature a wealth of human experience. A rebellious young man refuses to honour a vow made by his parents in an ancestral temple long ago in Nitya. A shopkeeper is made bankrupt by a charming stranger in A Career. In other tales, a schoolteacher indulges for one traumatic day in the luxury of telling the truth; a nervous small boy, forced to sleep alone to prove his courage, catches a burglar; a browbeaten clerk triumphs over his stars, and a ghost is laid to rest. Outstanding in this superb book is the masterpiece A Horse and Two Goats, drawn from a collection now no longer available, and the marvelous title story, about the divine gift of storytelling itself. Like the storyteller in Under the Banyan Tree, R K Narayan is an enchanter, a weaver of words who keeps his audience spellbound with the rhythms and haunting images of his tales. Drawn from the market-place, the mountainside, the dusty street, the river bank, these gentle, ironic, finely observed stories of village and city life demonstrate the power of fiction at its best.
- The Dark Room :- The Dark Room is another marvelous novel written by R. K. Narayan where rigid traditional values are upheld and held staunchly. There is irony and humour through the poignant pains of the leading female character Savitri. Malgudi, a fabricated town, somewhere in South India, is where the story develops and molds. Here Savitri is a submissive wife who listens to all the harsh abuses sent out to her by her husband Ramani. Ramani works for the elite Engladia Insurance Company and will do anything to satisfy his bosses.Savitri has three children Kamala, Babu and Sumati. Savitri would flee to her dark room when she could not tolerate the pangs of intolerance and maltreatment meted out to her unfairly. She discovers sadly that her husband is having an affair with another woman. Her husband even takes her favorite bench so that he can use it to decorate the other woman’s house. Her husband seems more interested in flattering and pleasing the other woman. A simpleton like Savitri has nowhere to go. She tries to drown herself but unfortunately she gets saved. She works as a temple custodian. She can fend for herself but she has her past life also. She cannot forget the bleak look on her children’s faces when she abandoned them, much to their shock.The Dark Room by R.K.Narayan has acute sympathetic descriptions of the characters. It is a touching story highlighting the bare truths of life of a woman who was totally dependent on her husband. This book was published Indian Thought Publication in 2007 and in paperback.
- The Man Eater Of Malgudi :- This is the story of Nataraj, who earns his living as a printer in the enchanted world of Malgudi, that slumbering Southern Indian village whose peace has been often amusingly and outrageously disturbed by Narayan. Nataraj and his close friends, a poet and a journalist, find their congenial days disturbed when Vasu, a powerful taxidermist; moves in with his stuffed hyenas and pythons, and brings his dancing women up the printer’s private stairs. When Vasu, in search of larger game, threatens the life of a temple elephant that Nataraj has befriended, complications ensue that are both comic and calamitous.
- Mr. Sampath: The Printer Of Malgudi :-Weekly publications of The Banner is entirely due to two dedicated Malgudi inhabitations: Srinivas edits the newspaper, while Mr. Sampath prints it. They work night and day to satisfy the increasing demands of their clamouring public. In rare moments of relaxation, Srinivas occupies his mind puzzling over the futility of human existence, while Mr. Sampath good-naturedly shoulders all the financial burdens. Without warming, The Banner suddenly folds. Never a character to be foiled for long, Mr. Sampath becomes involved with Sunrise Productions and ropes in Srinivas to write the film scripts. Unfortunately the glamorous life goes to Mr. Sampath’s head and chaos ensues. At times amusing, unfailingly perspicacious, R K Narayan has written a story of great distinction and charm.
Description
- Grandmothers Tale :- ‘Grandmother’s Tale’ was published in 1992 by the Grand Old Man of Malgudi, R.K. Narayan. ‘Grandmother’s Tale’ is part biography and part fictional account of the life of R.K. Narayan’s maternal great-grandmother, who had a rather extraordinary life compared to the other women matriarchs in Narayan’s family. Single-handedly, Bala, the great-grandmother in question, managed to search the whole of the Southern region of India during the time of the British East India Company days for her absconding husband and does indeed manage to find him and then start life afresh. When this story was written, Viswa, age 10, and Bala, age 7, were deemed fit to be married by their parents, and the ceremonies were conducted. Bala became the child-bride of Viswa, and though the couple were curious about each other, they were still not allowed to interact. ‘Grandmother’s Tale’, however, centers on the disappearance of Viswa from his South Indian village and the adventure Bala experienced in the process. The fictional biography is one of the shortest books penned by R.K. Narayan. The Indian Thought Publication edition of this book contains suitable and pleasing illustrations of the whole story by R.K. Narayan’s famous and illustrious political cartoonist brother, R.K. Laxman. The story of Bala is a tale of orthodoxy, intrigue, and adventure and takes up the favorite theme of most of Narayan’s fiction, which is that of the sanyasi mindset.
- The Guide :- Formerly Indias most corrupt tourist guide, Raju-just released from prison- seeks refuge in an abandoned temple. Mistaken for a holy man, he plays the part and succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Rajus newfound sanctity to the test. Narayans most celebrated novel, The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his countrys highest Formerly Indias most corrupt tourist guide, Raju-just released from prison- seeks refuge in an abandoned temple. Mistaken for a holy man, he plays the part and succeeds so well that God himself intervenes to put Rajus newfound sanctity to the test. Narayans most celebrated novel, The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his countrys highest literary honor. About The Author: R. K. Narayan (1906-2001), born and educated in India, was the author of fourteen novels, numerous short stories and essays, a memoir, and three retold myths. His work, championed by Graham Greene, who became a close friend, was often compared to that of Dickens, Chekhov, Faulkner, and Flannery OConnor, among others. October 10, 2006, is the centennial of Narayans birth. Pankaj Mishra , author of An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World , is an award-winning novelist and frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books , Granta , and other publications. Monica Ali , one of Granta s Best of Young British Novelists, is the author of Brick Lane , finalist for the Man Booker Prize. Jhumpa Lahiri won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her debut collection of stories, Interpreter of Maladies , and is the author of The Namesake . Michael Gorra is a professor of English at Smith College. His books include The Bells in Their Silence: Travels Through Germany and After Empire: Scott, Naipaul, Rushdie .
- The Bachelor of Arts : –Offering rare insight into the complexities of Indian middle-class society, R. K. Narayan traces life in the fictional town of Malgudi. The Dark Room is a searching look at a difficult marriage and a woman who eventually rebels against the demands of being a good and obedient wife. In Mr. Sampath, a newspaper man tries to keep his paper afloat in the face of social and eco Offering rare insight into the complexities of Indian middle-class society, R. K. Narayan traces life in the fictional town of Malgudi. The Dark Room is a searching look at a difficult marriage and a woman who eventually rebels against the demands of being a good and obedient wife. In Mr. Sampath, a newspaper man tries to keep his paper afloat in the face of social and economic changes sweeping India. Narayan writes of youth and young adulthood in the semiautobiographical Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts. Although the ordinary tensions of maturing are heightened by the particular circumstances of pre-partition India, Narayan provides a universal vision of childhood, early love and grief.
- The English Teacher :- While Krishna teaches at the Albert Mission College his wife and daughter live some distance away with his parents-in-law. But a move to a small rented house soon permits the couple to enjoy a life of marital bliss. Yet paradise is short-lived… Never has the magical storyteller of imaginary Malgudi woven tragedy and humour so deftly together. Paperback , 184 pages Published 2005 by Indian Thought Publications (first published October 1st 1980)
- The Vendor of Sweets :- The apple of his eye is his son Mali, for whom he feels a deep but absurdly embarrassed affection, which appears to go unrequited. When Mali coolly announces that he is abandoning school to go to America to become a writer, Jagan’s fatherly feelings are thrown into still greater confusion. And when, a year or two later, Mali returns with a half-Korean, half-American wife and a grandiose scheme for marketing a novel-writing machine, Jagan is utterly at sea. He is confronted by the new world shockingly personified – a world where his cherished notions of marriage and morals seem to count for nothing. The tragicomic clash of the generations deepens with every chapter. Jagan’s final escape from the galling chains of paternal love comes as unexpectedly as every other twist in this delicious story.
- Swami And Friends :– With the gentle humor which is perhaps the author’s gift, R.K. Narayan’s first novel tells of the growing up of ten-year-old Swami, who lives in the town of Malgudi. Narayan evokes for us the universal experiences of childhood while capturing the particular flavor of what that experience was like in 1930 amid the first stirrings of India’s struggle for independence.
- The World Of Nagaraj :- Nagarajs world is quite and comfortable. Living in his familys spacious house with only his wife Sita for company, he fills his day writing letters, drinking coffee, doing some leisurely book keeping for his friend Coomars Boeing Sari Company, and sitting on his veranda watching the world and planning the book he intends to write about the life of the great sage Narada. Nagarajs world is quite and comfortable. Living in his familys spacious house with only his wife Sita for company, he fills his day writing letters, drinking coffee, doing some leisurely book keeping for his friend Coomars Boeing Sari Company, and sitting on his veranda watching the world and planning the book he intends to write about the life of the great sage Narada. But everything is disturbed when Tim, the son of his ambitious landowing brother Gopu, decides to leave home and come to live with Nagaraj. Forced to take responsibility for the boy, puzzled by his secret late-night activities and by the strong smell of sprits which lingers behind him, Nagaraj finds his days, suddenly filled with unwelcome complication and turbulence, which threaten to alter for ever the contented tranquility of his world. The latest of R.K.Narayans magnificent Malgudi books, The World of Nagaraj is beautifully written, funny and haunting , evoking in marvelously rich detail the atmosphere of a small town in southern India and creating a magical world into which the reader is instantly drawn.
- Waiting For The Mahatma :- Sriram is twenty. As a mark of his coming of age his grandmother allows his the pass-book to his savigns in the local bank, but Sriram is growing up in other ways, too, and an enchanting and unpredictable girl leads him into the entourage of Mahatma Gandhi. These are the opening events in R K Narayans novel. It is the finest thing he has yet achieved, and his story of the Sriram is twenty. As a mark of his coming of age his grandmother allows his the pass-book to his savigns in the local bank, but Sriram is growing up in other ways, too, and an enchanting and unpredictable girl leads him into the entourage of Mahatma Gandhi. These are the opening events in R K Narayans novel. It is the finest thing he has yet achieved, and his story of the triumphs and tragedies of a raw young zealot in the service of Gandhi is distinguished for its warmth, its humour, its lack of sentimentality and the stamp of absolute truth. Srirams evolution into manhood is, for him, strange and bewildering process. Bharati, the girl he worship, is witty, infuriating, capable and, wonder of wonders, condescending to the moonstruck Sriram. Her first loyalty though, is to the Mahatma, a saint blessed with disconcerting common sense, a man whose tragedy is tat he is so much greater than his followers. Most of them accept his ideas enthusiastically, and without realizing it, pervert them to suit their coarser personalities. Sriram is inspired by Gandhi, but he is too easily influenced by glamorous patriots of the type of Jagadish, a terrorist. It is a tale of remarkable insight into the upsrge of Indian nationalism as witnessed through the eyes and hearts of Sriram and Bharati, and told with the all genius and compassion we have come to expect from R K Narayan.
- The Painter Of Signs :- The Painter of Signs tells us the story Raman, a young painter of signboards, a bachelor who glories in his old-fashioned independence, whose work takes him all over Malgudi, and requires him to do business with some of the citys most important, as well as its most absurd, tradesmen. Raman is polite and businesslike with everyone – but underneath the small talk he conduct The Painter of Signs tells us the story Raman, a young painter of signboards, a bachelor who glories in his old-fashioned independence, whose work takes him all over Malgudi, and requires him to do business with some of the citys most important, as well as its most absurd, tradesmen. Raman is polite and businesslike with everyone – but underneath the small talk he conducts a quizzical dialogue with himself about his fellow humans and the meaning of their lives. Enter Daisy – an unlikely name for the ruthless but very attractive young woman who commissions Raman, on behalf of the population clinic she runs, to paint signs advocating two-child families. Together they travel around the neighboring country villages where Daisy preaches birth control. Raman is appalled by the hard-edged zeal she brings to her work, just as he is enthralled by her beauty and mysterious independence of spirit. They are obviously made for each other. Or are they? In this sardonic bittersweet tale of love in modern India, R. K. Narayan has created two of fictions most endearing and unique young lovers, and an unsetting story about India at its best and worst.
- Malgudi Days :- Four Gems, With New Introductions, Mark Acclaimed Indian Writer R. K. Narayans Centennial Introducing This Collection Of Stories, R. K. Narayan Describes How In India The Writer Has Only To Look Out Of The Window To Pick Up A Character And Thereby A Story. Powerful, Magical Portraits Of All Kinds Of People, And Comprising Stories Written Over Almost Forty Years, Malgudi Four Gems, With New Introductions, Mark Acclaimed Indian Writer R. K. Narayans Centennial Introducing This Collection Of Stories, R. K. Narayan Describes How In India The Writer Has Only To Look Out Of The Window To Pick Up A Character And Thereby A Story. Powerful, Magical Portraits Of All Kinds Of People, And Comprising Stories Written Over Almost Forty Years, Malgudi Days Presents Narayans Imaginary City In Full Color, Revealing The Essence Of India And Of Human Experience. An Astrologers Day The Missing Mail The Doctors Word Gatemans Gift The Blind Dog Fellow-feeling The Tigers Claw Iswaran Such Perfection Fathers Help The Snake-song Engine Trouble Forty-five A Month Out Of Business Attila The Axe Lawley Road Trail Of The Green Blazer The Martyrs Corner Wifes Holiday A Shadow A Willing Slave Leelas Friend Mother And Son Naga Selvi Second Opinion Cat Within The Edge God And The Cobbler Hungry Child Emden
- The Financial Expert :- Margayya is a complex and entrancing character with a flair for those fabulously involved minor financial transactions which are an integral part of Indian life. We first meet him sitting in the shade of a banyan tree, advising the people of Malgudi how to extract loans from the Co-operative Bank. A brush with the Secretary of the Bank, and an accident in which his spoilt son Balu throws his account book down a drain, cut short his career as a financier; but after a series of amusing incidents Margayya grows rich and reverts to financial wizardry.
- My Days :- Narayan was born on October 10, 1906 in Madras. This is a commemorative publication issued to mark the Birth Centenary of the author. Rare photograph of Narayan and brilliant sketches by his brother R K Laxman, the famous cartoonist, are notable features of this collector’s edition. Narayan, the creator of Malgudi, in his simple lucid style speaks of his life in My Days. The book is in three sections – in the first, he describes his life as a lonely child growing up in his grandmother’s house in Madras with a monkey, a peacock and a parrot for companions! He goes to describe his first school, the fear of the teacher and the anxiety to remain unnoticed, being a player in the local football team ‘Jumping Stars’; his move to Mysore and admission to a school, where his father is the Headmaster. The second section deals with the obstacles he encountered as a young writer, how the manuscript of his first book Swami and Friends caught the attention of Graham Greene; their life long friendship; his falling in love and marriage to Rajam, the birth of their daughter and the poignant tale of his wife’s untimely death that left his devastated and his coming to terms with it, and his experiments with psychics. In the last section, he gives a detailed account of his overcoming the writer’s block, and the writing of the The English Teacher.He continues describing his literary journey and his evolution as a fine writer. He writes about how he worked on his novel and short stories. About his visit to the U.S.A at the invitation of the Rockefeller Foundation, how he stayed on for a couple of months at Berkeley and wrote The Guide. In the last few chapters we see an established, contented, writer known worldwide for his characteristic simple, lucid style and gentle irony…
- Talkativen Man :– In this masterpiece, Indias preeminent novelist introduces a character not unlike himself, a compulsively engaging, raconteur – They call me Talkative Man, Some affectionately shorten it to TM: I have earned this title, I suppose, because, I cannot contain myself. My impulse to share an experience with others is irresistible. The Talkative Man tells the story of a myster In this masterpiece, Indias preeminent novelist introduces a character not unlike himself, a compulsively engaging, raconteur – They call me Talkative Man, Some affectionately shorten it to TM: I have earned this title, I suppose, because, I cannot contain myself. My impulse to share an experience with others is irresistible. The Talkative Man tells the story of a mysterious stranger who arrives at the Malgudi train station to pursue a purported U.N. project. The stranger winds up staying at Talkative Mans home, where he begins to seduce the librarians daughter.
- Tiger For Malgudi :- R. K. Narayan’s magnificent new novel is about a tigerpossessed of the soul of an enlightened human being who tells us the story ofhis life. Raja leaves his home in the Mempi hills only to find he is capturedand made to perform in a circus and on a film set. Eventually he escapes, onlyto be recaptured – but this time voluntarily – by a guru. The two of them leaveMalgudi and return to the hills where they pass their days in sweetphilosophical discourse until old age overtakes Raja and he is forced to give uphis freedom for ever. A haunting tale, A Tiger For Malgudi uniquelycombines the elusive timeless quality of Hindu legend with the comic vision ofNarayan’s earlier Malgudi novels. Everyone, young and old, will enjoy the verysimplicity of this compelling fable, but some will want to explore with Raja thepathway to true enlightenment.
- Under the Banyan Tree & Other Stories :- A delightful collection from India’s foremost storyteller, Under the Banyan Tree adds twenty-eight tales of the rich and colorful heritage of R K Narayan’s fictional south Indian city, Malgudi. Narayan’s characters, observed with a wry and compassionate eye, come from every area of Indian society – merchants, beggars, herdsmen, hermits, teachers, rogues – and represent in miniature a wealth of human experience. A rebellious young man refuses to honour a vow made by his parents in an ancestral temple long ago in Nitya. A shopkeeper is made bankrupt by a charming stranger in A Career. In other tales, a schoolteacher indulges for one traumatic day in the luxury of telling the truth; a nervous small boy, forced to sleep alone to prove his courage, catches a burglar; a browbeaten clerk triumphs over his stars, and a ghost is laid to rest. Outstanding in this superb book is the masterpiece A Horse and Two Goats, drawn from a collection now no longer available, and the marvelous title story, about the divine gift of storytelling itself. Like the storyteller in Under the Banyan Tree, R K Narayan is an enchanter, a weaver of words who keeps his audience spellbound with the rhythms and haunting images of his tales. Drawn from the market-place, the mountainside, the dusty street, the river bank, these gentle, ironic, finely observed stories of village and city life demonstrate the power of fiction at its best.
- The Dark Room :- The Dark Room is another marvelous novel written by R. K. Narayan where rigid traditional values are upheld and held staunchly. There is irony and humour through the poignant pains of the leading female character Savitri. Malgudi, a fabricated town, somewhere in South India, is where the story develops and molds. Here Savitri is a submissive wife who listens to all the harsh abuses sent out to her by her husband Ramani. Ramani works for the elite Engladia Insurance Company and will do anything to satisfy his bosses.Savitri has three children Kamala, Babu and Sumati. Savitri would flee to her dark room when she could not tolerate the pangs of intolerance and maltreatment meted out to her unfairly. She discovers sadly that her husband is having an affair with another woman. Her husband even takes her favorite bench so that he can use it to decorate the other woman’s house. Her husband seems more interested in flattering and pleasing the other woman. A simpleton like Savitri has nowhere to go. She tries to drown herself but unfortunately she gets saved. She works as a temple custodian. She can fend for herself but she has her past life also. She cannot forget the bleak look on her children’s faces when she abandoned them, much to their shock.The Dark Room by R.K.Narayan has acute sympathetic descriptions of the characters. It is a touching story highlighting the bare truths of life of a woman who was totally dependent on her husband. This book was published Indian Thought Publication in 2007 and in paperback.
- The Man Eater Of Malgudi :- This is the story of Nataraj, who earns his living as a printer in the enchanted world of Malgudi, that slumbering Southern Indian village whose peace has been often amusingly and outrageously disturbed by Narayan. Nataraj and his close friends, a poet and a journalist, find their congenial days disturbed when Vasu, a powerful taxidermist; moves in with his stuffed hyenas and pythons, and brings his dancing women up the printer’s private stairs. When Vasu, in search of larger game, threatens the life of a temple elephant that Nataraj has befriended, complications ensue that are both comic and calamitous.
- Mr. Sampath: The Printer Of Malgudi :-Weekly publications of The Banner is entirely due to two dedicated Malgudi inhabitations: Srinivas edits the newspaper, while Mr. Sampath prints it. They work night and day to satisfy the increasing demands of their clamouring public. In rare moments of relaxation, Srinivas occupies his mind puzzling over the futility of human existence, while Mr. Sampath good-naturedly shoulders all the financial burdens. Without warming, The Banner suddenly folds. Never a character to be foiled for long, Mr. Sampath becomes involved with Sunrise Productions and ropes in Srinivas to write the film scripts. Unfortunately the glamorous life goes to Mr. Sampath’s head and chaos ensues. At times amusing, unfailingly perspicacious, R K Narayan has written a story of great distinction and charm.
About Author
R.K. Narayan is one of the most prominent Indian novelists of the twentieth century. Born in 1906, Narayan was the recipient of the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, India's highest literary honor. His numerous works Mr. Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi, Swami and Friends, Waiting for Mahatma and Gods, Demons and Others, all published by the University of Chicago Press.
Reviews
Clear filtersThere are no reviews yet.
Reviews
Clear filtersThere are no reviews yet.