There are many Indian authors in
English literature. Several of their books sell hundreds of thousands of copies
within weeks of publication. However, the one who seems the most distinctive
among them is R.K. Narayan. I can't say I've read a lot of literature, let
alone English literature. How could I, when I need to flip through an
English-to-Bengali dictionary several times just to get through a single page!
Even so, somehow, I’ve managed to read some of R.K. Narayan’s books.
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| R. K. Narayan |
From October 10, 1906, to May 13,
2001—a nearly 95-year-long life—R.K. Narayan lived an extraordinary journey.
His full name is very long - Rashipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami. He was
born in Madras, the son of a headmaster. However, his childhood was spent with
his maternal grandmother, Parvati.
In 1930, at the age of 24, he
wrote his first novel, Swami and Friends. It was in this book that he
created the fictional town of Malgudi, which would go on to become the central
setting for all his subsequent novels. His final book, Grandmother's Tale,
was published in 1993. Spanning from 1930 to 1993, his literary career lasted
an impressive 63 years.
Interestingly, no publisher was
willing to publish his first book initially. The manuscript, sent to a friend
in England to convince publishers, faced multiple rejections. Frustrated,
Narayan once asked his friend to tie the manuscript to a stone and throw it
into the Thames River. Fortunately, that didn't happen. Eventually, Swami
and Friends was published, marking the beginning of a prolific career that
saw the publication of numerous novels and short stories.
It is said that R.K. Narayan's
name was proposed several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. However, the
list of Nobel Prize nominations published up to 1970 does not include his name.
While he never received the Nobel Prize, his works once enjoyed immense
popularity among readers.
One of the defining
characteristics of his stories and novels is that love and romance are never
the central themes. Toward the end of his life, he wrote about the grandmother
with whom he spent his childhood—this became the subject of his very last story.
Today, I’ll share that story with you.
(a) First Story: The
Grandmother's Tale
In this story, R.K. Narayan
narrates some incidents from the lives of his grandmother's parents, as told by
his grandmother. This is the same grandmother with whom Narayan spent his
childhood. When Narayan was just three years old, he began living with his
grandmother in Madras, as his mother was busy in Bangalore with his younger
siblings.
His grandmother's mother was
named Bala. Bala was married at the age of eight to Viswanath, who was thirteen
at the time. According to the customs of that era, the bride would remain at
her parents’ home until she reached adulthood. During this time, Bala and
Viswanath barely got to know each other. Viswanath would sometimes try to
secretly meet Bala but couldn’t make much of an impression.
One day, without informing
anyone, Viswanath suddenly disappeared. No one could find him anywhere. Rumours
began to spread in the village, and people started saying that Bala had become
a widow.
Years passed, and Bala grew into
a young woman. The rumours in the village intensified. Finally, one day, Bala
decided to set out on her own to search for her husband. She travelled far and
wide, spending years on the road. Eventually, her journey led her to Pune,
where she finally found Viswanath.
By then, Viswanath had
established himself as a successful diamond merchant in Pune. He was also
married to a woman named Surma. Despite these circumstances, Bala used various
means to persuade Viswanath to return to their village with her.
Nearly fifteen years after his
disappearance, Viswanath returned to the village with Bala. However, upon their
arrival, they discovered that even their ancestral home had been lost.
A new chapter began for Viswanath
and Bala. In another city, they started a new business and gradually rebuilt
their lives. Over time, they had a family—two daughters and a son. (One of the
daughters would later become the grandmother of the author.)
Their son became a doctor and
lived independently, achieving considerable success. He married into a wealthy
family, and Bala passed away peacefully after witnessing her son's prosperity.
However, after her death, Viswanath was left alone with no one to care for him.
Eventually, his son took him to live in his own home.
Initially, the son tried to make
his father happy by handing him some money from his earnings. This made
Viswanath very pleased, and he would proudly call his daughter-in-law to give
her the money with his own hands, feeling a sense of importance.
However, as time went on, things
began to change. The son's responsibilities and workload grew, and the
arrangement shifted—now the son's earnings went directly to his wife. This
deeply hurt Viswanath, making him feel unwanted and unnecessary.
One day, without informing
anyone, Viswanath quietly left his son's home and returned to their ancestral
village.
In the village, 75-year-old
Viswanath shocked everyone by marrying the young daughter of a servant. In his
mind, this was a way of teaching his son and daughter-in-law a lesson. However,
his satisfaction was short-lived.
Viswanath’s new wife and her
mother soon began pressuring him to transfer all his assets to their names. But
Viswanath refused to sign any such documents. Frustrated, his mother-in-law
secretly obtained poison from a village healer and mixed it into his food.
Viswanath was poisoned, and his death was announced as natural. The
mother-in-law even sent word to Viswanath’s son, claiming that he had passed
away peacefully.
And with this, the grandmother's
story comes to an end. A simple, familiar tale, yet it feels profoundly real
because it is drawn straight from life itself.
(b) Second Story: The Guru
This is the story of Gurumurthy,
a selfish and miserly man. From a young age, he struggled his way into securing
a job as a revenue officer (tahsildar). He considered taking bribes to be his
moral duty and performed this duty with unwavering dedication.
Gurumurthy had two daughters, and
his primary concern was how to marry them off without incurring any expenses.
Using flowery words and false promises, he managed to get them married but
never fulfilled any of the promises afterward. Instead, he preached lofty
ideals about opposing dowries. When it came time to see his elder daughter off
at the station, he shed many tears but slyly made her pay for his return
ticket.
In the name of cutting costs,
Gurumurthy gradually stopped serving tea, coffee, and even sugar at home.
However, his life took a sharp turn when he lost his job due to corruption
charges. With no source of income, he lamented not having a son whose earnings
he could live off. To remedy this, he adopted his brother's son, hoping to
secure a caretaker for his old age.
This decision annoyed
Gurumurthy’s wife so much that she left to live with their daughters.
Gurumurthy felt relieved at her departure. Soon after, the adopted son, fed up
with Gurumurthy’s ways, returned to his biological parents, which delighted
Gurumurthy even more.
However, one day, Gurumurthy
discovered that all his property would legally go to the adopted son after his
death. This revelation upset him greatly. The thought of someone else enjoying
the fruits of his hard-earned wealth was unbearable to him. Determined to
thwart this outcome, Gurumurthy devised a peculiar plan—he resolved never to
let anyone know about his death.
Once again, this story feels like
a reflection of familiar characters from real life. It is satire in its purest
form, highlighting human folly, selfishness, and the absurdity of misplaced
priorities with humour and irony.
(c) Third Story: Salt and
Dust
Swami and Beena were a married
couple, childless but genuinely kind-hearted. Beena was highly educated,
holding a degree in English, while Swami was not as well-versed in academics.
This created a unique dynamic where Swami both feared and respected Beena,
while also deeply loving her.
Beena, however, was utterly
clueless about household chores, including cooking. Apart from reading and
writing, she could not manage anything else. As a result, Swami took care of
everything—from cooking to clerical tasks at home.
Beena harboured a dream of
becoming a writer and began working on a novel. After writing a portion, she
would read it aloud to Swami.
The protagonist of her novel was
a dentist who fell in love with one of his patients—a woman with no teeth. The
dentist became enamoured with the sight of her gaping mouth.
Swami, with his strong sense of
practicality, couldn’t hold back and commented, “That’s impossible. Why would a
dentist fall in love with someone who has no teeth?”
Beena was furious at this remark.
“What if I had no teeth? Wouldn’t you love me then? Is your love only about
teeth?” she sobbed dramatically. Swami consoled her patiently, calming her
down.
Despite her far-fetched
imagination, Swami supported Beena wholeheartedly. He helped her refine her
story, contributing suggestions to make it more grounded. Finally, Beena
completed her novel.
When the time came to publish it,
a particular scene describing the wedding feast of the protagonists caught the
attention of a publisher. Swami had expanded this section, adding elaborate
details of the dishes and their recipes to make it realistic.
The publisher agreed to publish
Beena’s work—not as a novel, but as a cookbook, omitting the story entirely.
Unexpectedly, the cookbook became a massive success, and Beena gained fame as
“Chef Beena,” a celebrated cookbook author.
This delightful story humorously
illustrates the unpredictability of success and the quirks of ambition,
blending irony and affection in equal measure.
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Bangla Version of this Article: আর কে নারায়ণ-এর 'দিদিমার গল্প এবং অন্যান্য'
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