Editing R. K. Narayan (section)

===The busy years===
After ''The English Teacher'', Narayan's writings took a more imaginative and creative external style compared to the semi-autobiographical tone of the earlier novels. His next effort was the first book exhibiting this modified approach. However, it still draws from some of his own experiences, particularly the aspect of starting his own journal; he also makes a marked movement from his earlier novels by intermixing biographical events.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|p=62}} Soon after, he published ''[[The Financial Expert]]'', considered to be his masterpiece and hailed as one of the most original works of fiction in 1951.{{Sfn|Ramtake|1998|p=39}}{{Sfn|Sundaram|1973|p=74}} The inspiration for the novel was a true story about a financial genius, ''Margayya'', related to him by his brother.{{Sfn|Pousse|1995|p=76}} The next novel, ''[[Waiting for the Mahatma]]'', loosely based on a fictional visit to Malgudi by [[Mahatma Gandhi]], deals with the protagonist's romantic feelings for a woman, when he attends the discourses of the visiting Mahatma. The woman, named Bharti, is a loose parody of [[Bharat Mata|Bharati]], the personification of India and the focus of Gandhi's discourses. While the novel includes significant references to the [[Indian independence movement]], the focus is on the life of the ordinary individual, narrated with Narayan's usual dose of irony.{{Sfn|Ramtake|1998|pp=47–48}}

[[File:RKNarayan-AnthonyWest-LyleBlair.gif|left|thumb|alt=Three men standing and having a conversation. All three men are wearing suits.|Lyle Blair of [[Michigan State University Press]] (Narayan's U.S. publisher), Narayan and [[Anthony West (author)|Anthony West]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'']]
In 1953, his works were published in the United States for the first time, by [[Michigan State University Press]], who later (in 1958), relinquished the rights to [[Viking Press]].<ref name="A Man Called Vasu">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/02/12/archives/a-man-called-vasu-the-maneater-of-malgudi-by-rk-narayan-250-pp-new.html|title=A Man Called Vasu; THE MAN-EATER OF MALGUDI|date=12 February 1961|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=26 August 2009|first=Donald|last=Barr|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106161435/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00711FC3F5D1B728DDDAB0994DA405B818AF1D3|archive-date=6 November 2012}}</ref> While Narayan's writings often bring out the anomalies in social structures and views, he was himself a traditionalist; in February 1956, Narayan arranged his daughter's wedding following all orthodox [[Hinduism|Hindu]] rituals.{{Sfn|Ramtake|1998|p=128}} After the wedding, Narayan began travelling occasionally, continuing to write at least 1500 words a day even while on the road.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|p=24}} ''[[The Guide]]'' was written while he was visiting the United States in 1956 on the Rockefeller Fellowship. While in the U.S., Narayan maintained a daily journal that was to later serve as the foundation for his book ''[[My Dateless Diary]]''.{{Sfn|Iyengar|1973|p=359}} Around this time, on a visit to England, Narayan met his friend and mentor Graham Greene for the first and only time.<ref name="A man-reader in Malgudi" /> On his return to India, ''The Guide'' was published; the book is the most representative of Narayan's writing skills and elements, ambivalent in expression, coupled with a riddle-like conclusion.{{Sfn|Mathur|1993|p=91}} The book won him the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] in 1960.<ref name="sahitya-akademi.gov.in">{{citation|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp#ENGLISH|title=Sahitya Akademi Award List by the Indian Government|access-date=20 May 2021|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403104944/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/awards/akademi%20samman_suchi.jsp#ENGLISH|url-status=live}}</ref>

Occasionally, Narayan was known to give form to his thoughts by way of essays, some published in newspapers and journals, others not. ''[[Next Sunday]]'' (1960), was a collection of such conversational essays, and his first work to be published as a book.{{Sfn|Ramtake|1998|p=xiii}} Soon after that, ''[[My Dateless Diary]]'', describing experiences from his 1956 visit to the United States, was published. Also included in this collection was an essay about the writing of ''The Guide''.{{Sfn|Iyengar|1973|p=359}}{{Sfn|Rao|2004|p=48}}

Narayan's next novel, ''[[The Man-Eater of Malgudi]]'', was published in 1961. The book was reviewed as having a narrative that is a classical art form of comedy, with delicate control.<ref name="A Man Called Vasu" /> After the launch of this book, the restless Narayan once again took to travelling, and visited the U.S.<ref name="Reluctant centenarian" /> and Australia. He spent three weeks in [[Adelaide]], Sydney and [[Melbourne]] giving lectures on Indian literature. The trip was funded by a fellowship from the Australian Writers' Group.{{Sfn|Sales-Pontes|1983}} By this time Narayan had also achieved significant success, both literary and financial. He had a large house in Mysore, and wrote in a study with no fewer than eight windows; he drove a new [[Mercedes-Benz]], a luxury in India at that time, to visit his daughter who had moved to [[Coimbatore]] after her marriage. With his success, both within India and abroad, Narayan started writing columns for magazines and newspapers including ''[[The Hindu]]'' and ''[[The Atlantic]]''.{{Sfn|Rao|2004|pp=22–23}}

In 1964, Narayan published his first mythological work, ''[[Gods, Demons and Others]]'', a collection of rewritten and translated short stories from [[Hindu]] epics. Like many of his other works, this book was illustrated by his younger brother [[R. K. Laxman]]. The stories included were a selective list, chosen on the basis of powerful protagonists, so that the impact would be lasting, irrespective of the reader's contextual knowledge.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0816FD355F147A93CAA9178AD95F408685F9|title=It's All in the Telling; Gods, Demons and Others|date=8 November 1964|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2 September 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021144602/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0816FD355F147A93CAA9178AD95F408685F9|archive-date=21 October 2012}}</ref> Once again, after the book launch, Narayan took to travelling abroad. In an earlier essay, he had written about the Americans wanting to understand spirituality from him, and during this visit, Swedish-American actress [[Greta Garbo]] accosted him on the topic, despite his denial of any knowledge.<ref name="Telegraph-obituary" />

Narayan's next published work was the 1967 novel, ''[[The Vendor of Sweets]]''. It was inspired in part by his American visits and consists of extreme characterizations of both the Indian and American stereotypes, drawing on the many cultural differences. However, while it displays his characteristic comedy and narrative, the book was reviewed as lacking in depth.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C12FD345C14738DDDAD0994DD405B878AF1D3|title=Jagan's Surrender|date=14 May 1967|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2 September 2009|first=Robin |last=White|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605080117/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0C12FD345C14738DDDAD0994DD405B878AF1D3|archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> This year, Narayan travelled to England, where he received the first of his honorary doctorates from the [[University of Leeds]].{{Sfn|Badal|1976|p=3}} The next few years were a quiet period for him. He published his next book, a collection of short stories, ''[[A Horse and Two Goats]]'', in 1970.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|pp=97–99, 172}} Meanwhile, Narayan remembered a promise made to his dying uncle in 1938, and started translating the [[Kamba Ramayanam]] to English. ''[[The Ramayana (R. K. Narayan)|The Ramayana]]'' was published in 1973, after five years of work.{{Sfn|Sundaram|1988|p=126}} Almost immediately after publishing ''The Ramayana'', Narayan started working on a condensed translation of the Sanskrit epic, the [[Mahabharata]]. While he was researching and writing the epic, he also published another book, ''[[The Painter of Signs]]'' (1977). ''The Painter of Signs'' is a bit longer than a novella and makes a marked change from Narayan's other works, as he deals with hitherto unaddressed subjects such as sex, although the development of the protagonist's character is very similar to his earlier creations. ''[[The Mahabharata (R. K. Narayan)|The Mahabharata]]'' was published in 1978.{{Sfn|Walsh|1982|pp=43, 153–154}}