Editing R. K. Narayan (section)

===The later years===
Narayan was commissioned by the government of [[Karnataka]] to write a book to promote tourism in the state. The work was published as part of a larger government publication in the late 1970s{{Sfn|Sundaram|1988|p=132}} He thought it deserved better, and republished it as ''[[The Emerald Route]]'' (Indian Thought Publications, 1980).{{Sfn|Kain|1993|p=193}} The book contains his personal perspective on the local history and heritage, but being bereft of his characters and creations, it misses his enjoyable narrative.{{Sfn|Rao|2004|p=48}} The same year, he was elected as an honorary member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]] and won the [[AC Benson Medal]] from the [[Royal Society of Literature]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-44707292.html|title=Storyteller Narayan Gone, But Malgudi Lives On|date=24 May 2001|publisher=Inter Press|access-date=8 September 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105215143/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-44707292.html|archive-date=5 November 2012}}</ref> Around the same time, Narayan's works were translated to Chinese for the first time.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/13/stories/2006101304331500.htm|title=R. K. Narayan resonates across cultures|date=13 October 2006|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=8 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207200305/http://www.hindu.com/2006/10/13/stories/2006101304331500.htm|archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref>

In 1983, Narayan published his next novel, ''[[A Tiger for Malgudi]]'', about a tiger and its relationship with humans.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/oct/09/tvandradio.radio|title=Pick of the day|date=9 October 2006|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=8 September 2009|location=London|first=Phil|last=Daoust|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926021220/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/oct/09/tvandradio.radio|archive-date=26 September 2014}}</ref> His next novel, ''[[Talkative Man]]'', published in 1986, was the tale of an aspiring journalist from Malgudi.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2008610146_internationalside11.html|title=More worlds in words|date=11 January 2009|newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]]|access-date=8 September 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604114823/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2008610146_internationalside11.html|archive-date=4 June 2011}}</ref> During this time, he also published two collections of short stories: ''Malgudi Days'' (1982), a revised edition including the original book and some other stories, and ''[[Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories]]'', a new collection.{{Sfn|Rao|2004|pp=50, 120}} In 1987, he completed ''[[A Writer's Nightmare]]'', another collection of essays about topics as diverse as the caste system, Nobel prize winners, love, and monkeys. The collection included essays he had written for newspapers and magazines since 1958.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/103392863.html?dids=103392863:103392863&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+23%2C+1989&author=By+John+Gabree&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=PAPERBACKS+Artists+of+the+Essay&pqatl=google|title=PAPERBACKS Artists of the Essay|last=Gabree|first=John|date=23 July 1989|newspaper=[[Newsday]]|access-date=28 August 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022102205/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/103392863.html?dids=103392863:103392863&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+23,+1989&author=By+John+Gabree&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=PAPERBACKS+Artists+of+the+Essay&pqatl=google|archive-date=22 October 2012}}</ref>{{Sfn|Thieme|2007|p=215}}

Living alone in Mysore, Narayan developed an interest in agriculture. He bought an acre of agricultural land and tried his hand at farming.{{Sfn|Rao|2004|p=24}} He was also prone to walking to the market every afternoon, not so much for buying things, but to interact with the people. In a typical afternoon stroll, he would stop every few steps to greet and converse with shopkeepers and others, most likely gathering material for his next book.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?211789|title=Blue Hawaii Yoghurt|last=[[Khushwant Singh]]|date=28 May 2001|magazine=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]|access-date=8 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101026134942/http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?211789|archive-date=26 October 2010}}</ref>

In 1980, Narayan was nominated to the [[Rajya Sabha]], the upper house of the Indian Parliament, for his contributions to literature.<ref name="Storyteller Narayan Gone" /> During his entire six-year term, he was focused on one issue—the plight of school children, especially the heavy load of school books and the negative effect of the system on a child's creativity, which was something that he first highlighted in his debut novel, ''Swami and Friends''. His inaugural speech was focused on this particular problem, and resulted in the formation of a committee chaired by [[Yash Pal|Prof. Yash Pal]], to recommend changes to the school educational system.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1120557.cms|title=Leave Those Kids Alone: Committee recommends school curriculum reform|date=24 May 2005|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=8 September 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523184835/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1120557.cms|archive-date=23 May 2006}}</ref>

In 1990, he published his next novel, ''[[The World of Nagaraj]]'', also set in Malgudi. Narayan's age shows in this work as he appears to skip narrative details that he would have included if this were written earlier in his career.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/7841887.html?dids=7841887:7841887&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+15%2C+1990&author=Seibold%2C+Douglas&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=A+Dithering+Hero+Slows+a+Novel&pqatl=google|title=A Dithering Hero Slows a Novel|date=15 June 1990|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=8 September 2009|first=Douglas|last=Seibold|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106142442/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/7841887.html?dids=7841887:7841887&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jun+15,+1990&author=Seibold,+Douglas&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=A+Dithering+Hero+Slows+a+Novel&pqatl=google|archive-date=6 November 2012}}</ref> Soon after he finished the novel, Narayan fell ill and moved to Madras to be close to his daughter's family.{{Sfn|Rao|2004|p=24}} A few years after his move, in 1994, his daughter died of cancer and his granddaughter Bhuvaneswari (Minnie) started taking care of him in addition to managing ''Indian Thought Publications''.<ref name="Telegraph-obituary" /><ref name="Reluctant centenarian" /> Narayan then published his final book, ''[[Grandmother's Tale]]''. The book is an autobiographical novella, about his great-grandmother who travelled far and wide to find her husband, who ran away shortly after their marriage. The story was narrated to him by his grandmother, when he was a child.<ref name="Independent, book review">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/book-review--long-short-and-beautifully-formed-afternoon-raag--amit-chaudhuri-heinemann-1399-pounds-the-grandmothers-tale--r-k-narayan-heinemann-999-pounds-1484192.html|title=BOOK REVIEW: The Grandmother's Tale' – R K Narayan: Heinemann, 9.99 pounds|date=11 July 1993|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|access-date=30 August 2009|location=London|first=Karl|last=Miller|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110171524/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/book-review--long-short-and-beautifully-formed-afternoon-raag--amit-chaudhuri-heinemann-1399-pounds-the-grandmothers-tale--r-k-narayan-heinemann-999-pounds-1484192.html|archive-date=10 November 2012}}</ref>

During his final years, Narayan, ever fond of conversation, would spend almost every evening with [[N. Ram]], the publisher of ''[[The Hindu]]'', drinking coffee and talking about various topics until well past midnight.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/06/01/stories/2008060150140500.htm|title=Memories of Malgudi Man|date=1 June 2008|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=8 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081104075835/http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/06/01/stories/2008060150140500.htm|archive-date=4 November 2008}}</ref> Despite his fondness of meeting and talking to people, he stopped giving interviews. The apathy towards interviews was the result of an interview with ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', after which Narayan had to spend a few days in the hospital, as he was dragged around the city to take photographs that were never used in the article.<ref name="Yeah2006" />

In May 2001, Narayan was hospitalised. A few hours before he was to be put on a ventilator, he was planning on writing his next novel, a story about a grandfather. As he was always very selective about his choice of notebooks, he asked N. Ram to get him one. However, Narayan did not get better and never started the novel. He died a few days later on 13 May 2001, in [[Chennai]] at the age of 94.<ref name="Priyadarshan's tribute to R K Narayan" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/15spec.htm|title=I'm giving you a lot of trouble|last=[[N. Ram]]|date=15 May 2001|work=[[Rediff.com]]|access-date=8 September 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004034951/http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/15spec.htm|archive-date=4 October 2009}}</ref>