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Questions tagged [r-k-narayan]

Questions about the works of the Indian novelist and short story author R. K. Narayan (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, 1906 – 2001) and his life as a writer. Narayan wrote many novels and stories situated in or around the fictional town of Malgudi, starting with hist first novel 'Swami and Friends' (1935).

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Reading The Guide in light of Narayan's My Dateless Diary

R K Narayan's My Dateless Diary (1960) is a journal of sorts written during a long sojourn in the United States. Since this is his first visit to the US, Narayan often alludes to being shown the ...
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In what issue of Life magazine was "Misguided 'Guide'" first published?

R K Narayan's A Writer's Nightmare: Selected Essays 1958–1998 (New Delhi: Penguin, 1988) reprints "Misguided 'Guide'" on pp. 206–217. The essay recounts his experiences during the making of ...
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Examining the parallels between R.K. Narayan's "Selvi" and "The Guide" - Why was it done? What did it achieve?

That there are several parallels between R.K. Narayan's novel The Guide (1958) and his short story "Selvi" (1982) is no secret, and I found many results (too many to sift through) that ...
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6 votes
1 answer
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Why does the Talkative Man's master say that one ought not to play the raga 'punnaga varali' at night?

In the short story The Snake-Song (a part of the collection titled Malgudi Days), the Talkative Man describes an event in his youth that led to him having to abandon his music: the Talkative Man had ...
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1 answer
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Were there really such camps in India as attempts to prevent overpopulation?

Content warning: the story, and this question, concern implied mutilation. In R. K. Narayan's short story "The Edge", which I read as part of his 1982 collection Malgudi Days, the knife sharpener ...
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3 votes
2 answers
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Where can I find R. K. Narayan's maiden speech to the Indian parliament?

In 1980 R. K. Narayan was appointed to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. In his maiden speech to the Rajya Sabha, the author spoke of children having so much ...
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Is artists leaving their art forever a significant theme in R. K. Narayan's writing?

While reading the 1982 collection Malgudi Days of R. K. Narayan short stories, I noticed a common theme appearing in several of them, namely that of an artist who leaves their creative work behind ...
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6 votes
1 answer
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Is Daisy's Gorilla game based on a real game?

In Part Two of R. K. Narayan's novel The Painter of Signs, Raman and Daisy visit a remote village, after which they return to Malgudi. Due to unforeseen circumstances, they need to spend a night on ...
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4 votes
1 answer
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Was the Ayah paid partly in clothes, and was this standard practice?

In R. K. Narayan's short story "A Willing Slave" (which I read as part of his 1982 collection Malgudi Days), the old lady known simply as "the Ayah" takes care of many responsibilities, but her main ...
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4 votes
1 answer
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What does Daisy's proverb about being married to the devil mean?

In the second part of R. K. Narayan's novel The Painter of Signs, Raman and Daisy are on their way back from a remote village. They have spent a night on the road, Raman sleeping under a bullock cart ...
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Is this a real Indian fairy tale about a monkey who changes colour and marries a princess?

In R. K. Narayan's short story "A Willing Slave" (which I read as part of his 1982 collection Malgudi Days), the nanny Ayah tells a story to the young girl Radha: The Ayah squatted below the cot ...
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In what way is Daisy's reply about the temple courageous and subtle?

In Part Two R. K. Narayan's novel The Painter of Signs, Daisy, who works for the Indian government's Family Planning Program, and Raman, the painter of signs from the book's title, visit a remote ...
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Was Frederick Lawley based on a real figure in British India?

The fictional character of Frederick Lawley, a prominent British figure in colonial India, is the main object of R. K. Narayan's "Lawley Road" (a short story first published in 1956 in the eponymous ...
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4 votes
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When were the short stories of Malgudi Days published?

Malgudi Days is a short story collection by R. K. Narayan. According to Wikipedia: Malgudi Days is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan published in 1943 by Indian Thought Publications. ...
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Who is R. K. Narayan's "Talkative Man"?

While reading online R. K. Narayan's 1943 collection of short stories Malgudi Days, I've noticed the character of "the Talkative Man" appear several times so far in apparently unrelated stories. In "...
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