Editing R. K. Narayan (section)

===Early life===
[[File:R. K.  Narayan circa 1925-26.jpg|thumb|upright|left|R. K. Narayan, {{Circa|1925–26}}]]
R. K. Narayan was born in a [[Tamil language|Tamil]] [[Hindu]] family<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-10-10|title=A pioneer of Indian literature, R.K.Narayan was a talent beyond Swami and Friends|url=https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/pioneer-indian-literature-rk-narayan-talent-beyond-swami-and-friends/303238/|access-date=2022-01-22|website=ThePrint|language=en-US|archive-date=1 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101105329/https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/pioneer-indian-literature-rk-narayan-talent-beyond-swami-and-friends/303238/|url-status=live}}</ref> on 10 October 1906 in [[Madras]] (now Chennai, [[Tamil Nadu]]), [[British India]].<ref name="NYT Obit">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/14/books/r-k-narayan-india-s-prolific-storyteller-dies-at-94.html|title=R. K. Narayan, India's Prolific Storyteller, Dies at 94|last=Crossette|first=Barbara|date=14 May 2001|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=9 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326022300/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/14/books/r-k-narayan-india-s-prolific-storyteller-dies-at-94.html|archive-date=26 March 2012}}</ref> He was one of eight children; six sons and two daughters. Narayan was second among the sons; his younger brother Ramachandran later became an [[Film editing|editor]] at [[Gemini Studios]], and the youngest brother [[R. K. Laxman|Laxman]] became a cartoonist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sangam.org/tribute-rasipuram-krishnaswamy-r-k-laxman/ |title=Tribute to Rasipuram Krishnaswamy (R. K.) Laxman |last=Sri Kantha |first=Sachi |author-link=Sachi Sri Kantha |date=2 February 2015 |website=[[Ilankai Tamil Sangam]] |access-date=26 July 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807113908/http://sangam.org/tribute-rasipuram-krishnaswamy-r-k-laxman/ |archive-date=7 August 2017 }}</ref><ref name="A flood of fond memories" /> His father was a school headmaster, and Narayan did some of his studies at his father's school. As his father's job entailed frequent transfers, Narayan spent a part of his childhood under the care of his maternal grandmother, Parvati.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79277966.html|title=Gentle chronicler of the essence of small-town India|last=Sen|first=Sunrita|date=25 May 2001|newspaper=India Abroad|access-date=12 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105215057/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-79277966.html|archive-date=5 November 2012}}</ref> During this time, his best friends and playmates were a peacock and a mischievous [[monkey]].<ref name="Telegraph-obituary">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1330139/R-K-Narayan.html|title=R K Narayan|date=14 May 2001|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=25 July 2009|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726233514/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1330139/R-K-Narayan.html|archive-date=26 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/12/archives/a-monkey-and-a-peacock-books-of-the-times-ahead-of-his-time-in-the.html|title=A Monkey and a Peacock; Books of The Times|date=12 June 1974|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=20 October 2009|first=Anatole|last=Broyard|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106161428/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40D14FC3959127A93C0A8178DD85F408785F9|archive-date=6 November 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/yw/2005/07/08/stories/2005070803580200.htm|title=Remembering a writer par excellence|date=8 July 2005|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=20 October 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109062738/http://www.hindu.com/yw/2005/07/08/stories/2005070803580200.htm|archive-date=9 November 2012}}</ref>

His grandmother gave him the nickname of ''Kunjappa'', a name that stuck to him in family circles.{{Sfn|Rao|2004|p=13}} She taught him arithmetic, mythology, classical Indian music and [[Sanskrit]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/mar/18/featuresreviews.guardianreview24|title=The god of small things|last=[[Alexander McCall Smith]]|date=18 March 2006|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=10 July 2009|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219005917/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/mar/18/featuresreviews.guardianreview24|archive-date=19 February 2014}}</ref> According to Laxman, the family mostly conversed in English, and grammatical errors on the part of Narayan and his siblings were frowned upon.<ref name="Peopling of Malgudi">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=160137&sectioncode=21|title=The peopling of Malgudi|last=Robinson|first=Andrew|date=2 May 1997|magazine=Times Higher Education|access-date=10 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923151256/http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=160137&sectioncode=21|archive-date=23 September 2012}}</ref> While living with his grandmother, Narayan studied at a succession of schools in Madras, including the Lutheran Mission School in [[Purasawalkam]],<ref name="A flood of fond memories">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2001/07/26/stories/13261282.htm|title=A flood of fond memories|last=Guy|first=Randor|date=26 July 2001|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=12 July 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611071411/http://www.hindu.com/2001/07/26/stories/13261282.htm|archive-date=11 June 2012}}</ref> C.R.C. High School, and the [[M. C. C. Higher Secondary School|Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School]].<ref name="Priyadarshan's tribute to R K Narayan">{{cite web|url=http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1141433462|title=Priyadarshan's tribute to R K Narayan|date=3 March 2006|publisher=Televisionpoint.com|access-date=12 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322125632/http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2006/newsfullstory.php?id=1141433462|archive-date=22 March 2012}}</ref> Narayan was an avid reader, and his early literary diet included [[Charles Dickens|Dickens]], [[P. G. Wodehouse|Wodehouse]], [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] and [[Thomas Hardy]].<ref name="Narayan days - Lahiri">{{cite magazine|url=http://bostonreview.net/BR31.4/lahiri.php|last=[[Jhumpa Lahiri]]|date=July–August 2006|title=Narayan Days: Rereading the master|magazine=[[Boston Review]]|issn=0734-2306|access-date=22 August 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120055428/http://bostonreview.net/BR31.4/lahiri.php|archive-date=20 November 2008}}</ref> When he was twelve years old, Narayan participated in a pro-independence march, for which he was reprimanded by his uncle; the family was apolitical and considered all governments wicked.<ref name="Master of small things">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,128162,00.html|title=The Master of Small Things|last=[[V. S. Naipaul]]|date=28 May 2001|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=22 July 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206170109/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,128162,00.html|archive-date=6 February 2009}}</ref>

Narayan moved to [[Mysore]] to live with his family when his father was transferred to the Maharaja's College High School. The well-stocked library at the school and his father's own fed his reading habit, and he started writing as well. After completing high school, Narayan failed the university entrance examination and spent a year at home reading and writing; he subsequently passed the examination in 1926 and joined [[Maharaja College of Mysore]]. It took Narayan four years to obtain his bachelor's degree, a year longer than usual. After being persuaded by a friend that taking a master's degree (M.A.) would kill his interest in literature, he briefly held a job as a school teacher; however, he quit in protest when the headmaster of the school asked him to substitute for the physical training master.<ref name="A flood of fond memories"/> The experience made Narayan realise that the only career for him was in writing, and he decided to stay at home and write novels.<ref name="Reluctant centenarian">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/10/08/stories/2006100800050100.htm|title=Reluctant centenarian|date=8 October 2006|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=23 August 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708112249/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2006/10/08/stories/2006100800050100.htm|archive-date=8 July 2009}}</ref>{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|pp=13–16}} His first published work was a book review of ''Development of Maritime Laws of 17th-Century England''.{{Sfn|Datta|2007}} Subsequently, he started writing the occasional local interest story for English newspapers and magazines. Although the writing did not pay much (his income for the first year was nine rupees and twelve annas), he had a regular life and few needs, and his family and friends respected and supported his unorthodox choice of career.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|p=18}} In 1930, Narayan wrote his first novel, ''[[Swami and Friends]]'',{{Sfn|Datta|2007}} an effort ridiculed by his uncle{{Sfn|Mehrotra|2003|p=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780231128100/page/196 196]}} and rejected by a string of publishers.<ref name="Peopling of Malgudi" /> With this book, Narayan created [[Malgudi]], a town that creatively reproduced the social sphere of the country; while it ignored the limits imposed by colonial rule, it also grew with the various socio-political changes of British and post-independence India.<ref>{{cite journal|last=George, R. M. |date=July 2003|title=Of Fictional Cities and "Diasporic" Aesthetics |journal=Antipode|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|volume=35|issue=3|pages=559–579|issn=0066-4812|doi=10.1111/1467-8330.00339|doi-access=free|bibcode=2003Antip..35..559G }}</ref>

[[File:RK Narayan and his wife Rajam.jpg|thumb|right|R. K. Narayan with his wife Rajam, {{circa|1935}}]]
While vacationing at his sister's house in [[Coimbatore]], in 1933, Narayan met and fell in love with Rajam, a 15-year-old girl who lived nearby. Despite many astrological and financial obstacles, Narayan managed to gain permission from the girl's father and married her.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Narasimhan|first=C. V.|date=26 May 2001|title=Remembering R. K. Narayan|journal=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]|publisher=[[The Hindu Group]]|location=[[Chennai]]|volume=18|issue=11|issn=0970-1710|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1811/18111330.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091120064622/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1811/18111330.htm|archive-date=20 November 2009}}</ref> Following his marriage, Narayan became a reporter for a Madras-based paper called ''The Justice'', dedicated to the rights of non-Brahmins. The publishers were thrilled to have a [[Iyer|Brahmin Iyer]] in Narayan espousing their cause. The job brought him in contact with a wide variety of people and issues.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|p=20}} Earlier, Narayan had sent the manuscript of ''[[Swami and Friends]]'' to a friend at [[Oxford]], and about this time, the friend showed the manuscript to [[Graham Greene]]. Greene recommended the book to his publisher, and it was finally published in 1935.<ref name="Telegraph-obituary" /> Greene also counselled Narayan on shortening his name to become more familiar to the English-speaking audience.<ref name="Economist obituary">{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-75020386.html|title=R. K. Narayan.(Obituary)|date=26 May 2001|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|access-date=10 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105215109/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-75020386.html|archive-date=5 November 2012}}</ref> The book was semi-autobiographical and built upon many incidents from his own childhood.{{Sfn|O'Neil|2004|p=1051}} Reviews were favourable but sales were few. Narayan's next novel ''[[The Bachelor of Arts]]'' (1937), was inspired in part by his experiences at college,<ref name="In memory of the Malgudy Man">{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061008/spectrum/book6.htm|title=In memory of the Malgudi Man|last=Wattas|first=Rajnish|date=8 October 2006|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|access-date=27 July 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107054308/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061008/spectrum/book6.htm|archive-date=7 November 2006}}</ref> and dealt with the theme of a rebellious adolescent transitioning to a rather well-adjusted adult;{{Sfn|Afzal-Khan|1993|p=[https://archive.org/details/culturalimperial00afza/page/29 29]}} it was published by a different publisher, again at the recommendation of Greene. His third novel, ''[[The Dark Room (Narayan novel)|The Dark Room]]'' (1938) was about domestic disharmony,{{Sfn|Prasad|2003|p=49}} showcasing the man as the oppressor and the woman as the victim within a marriage, and was published by yet another publisher; this book also received good reviews. In 1937, Narayan's father died, and Narayan was forced to accept a commission from the government of [[Mysore State|Mysore]] as he was not making any money.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|pp=18–23}}

In his first three books, Narayan highlights the problems with certain socially accepted practices. The first book has Narayan focusing on the plight of students, punishments of caning in the classroom, and the associated shame. The concept of horoscope-matching in [[Hindu marriage]]s and the emotional toll it levies on the bride and groom is covered in the second book. In the third book, Narayan addresses the concept of a wife putting up with her husband's antics and attitudes.{{Sfn|Prasad|2003|pp=50, 85}}

Rajam died because of [[typhoid]] in 1939.<ref name="A man-reader in Malgudi">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/books-a-manreader-in-malgudi-the-indian-writer-r-k-narayan-tells-tim-mcgirk-about-his-many-misadventures-1485412.html|title=Books: A man-reader in Malgudi|last=McGirk|first=Tim|date=17 July 1993|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=12 July 2009|location=London|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111065554/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/books-a-manreader-in-malgudi-the-indian-writer-r-k-narayan-tells-tim-mcgirk-about-his-many-misadventures-1485412.html|archive-date=11 November 2012}}</ref> Her death affected Narayan deeply and he remained depressed for a long time. He never remarried in his life; he was also concerned for their daughter Hema, who was only three years old. The bereavement brought about a significant change in his life and was the inspiration behind his next novel, ''[[The English Teacher]]''.{{Sfn|Datta|2007}} This book, like his first two books, is autobiographical, but more so, and completes an unintentional thematic trilogy following ''Swami and Friends'' and ''The Bachelor of Arts''.{{Sfn|Ramtake|1998|p=20}}<ref name="Flirting with adolescence">{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2003/03/14/stories/2003031400960300.htm |title=Flirting with adolescence |last=Sebastian |first=Pradeep |date=14 March 2003 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=2 August 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225190921/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2003/03/14/stories/2003031400960300.htm |archive-date=25 February 2008 }}</ref> In subsequent interviews, Narayan acknowledges that ''The English Teacher'' was almost entirely an autobiography, albeit with different names for the characters and the change of setting in Malgudi; he also explains that the emotions detailed in the book reflected his own at the time of Rajam's death.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|p=55}}

Bolstered by some of his successes, in 1940, Narayan tried his hand at a journal, ''Indian Thought''.<ref name="Yeah2006">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/lr/2006/12/03/stories/2006120300140300.htm|title=Meeting Mr. Narayan|last=O'Yeah|first=Zac|date=3 December 2006|access-date=26 August 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127165241/http://www.hindu.com/lr/2006/12/03/stories/2006120300140300.htm|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|archive-date=27 November 2007}}</ref> With the help of his uncle, a car salesman, Narayan managed to get more than a thousand subscribers in [[Madras]] city alone. However, the venture did not last long due to Narayan's inability to manage it, and it ceased publication within a year.{{Sfn|Narayan|1992|p=7}} His first collection of short stories, ''[[Malgudi Days (book)|Malgudi Days]]'', was published in November 1942, followed by ''[[The English Teacher]]'' in 1945. In between, being cut off from England due to the war, Narayan started his own publishing company, naming it (again) [[Indian Thought Publications]]; the publishing company was a success and is still active, now managed by his granddaughter.<ref name="Reluctant centenarian" /> Soon, with a devoted readership stretching from New York to Moscow, Narayan's books started selling well and, in 1948, he started building his own house on the outskirts of Mysore; the house was completed in 1953.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|p=24}} Around this period, Narayan wrote the story for the Gemini Studios film ''[[Miss Malini]]'' (1947), which remained the only story written by him for the screen that came to fruition.<ref name="A flood of fond memories" />