Recollecting the Malgudi Maker's 'Coimbatore Days'

Remembering the popular Indian English writer R.K. Narayan is a pride to the lovers of literature in Coimbatore. Because, it was here the prolific story teller fell in love with a girl!

Narayan felt the experience of 'Love at first sight', when he came across a young girl drawing water from a public tap at Ram Nagar, in Coimbatore in 1933. As seen in many Tamil movies, the young writer, who was staying at his sister's home in Ram Nagar, cultivated a friendship with the girl's father Nageshwara Iyer and disclosed him one day that he wanted to marry his daughter ! And the marriage was held here in 1934.

But, the girl Rajam, who became Narayan's wife, could live with her lovable husband only for about the next five years, as she became a victim of typhoid and breathed her last in 1939. It was also a puzzle why R.K. Narayan named a boy's character in his first novel Swami and Friends as 'Rajam'

In order to share such anecdotes from the life of R.K.Narayan and interact the pleasures of reading his short stories and novels, the Coimbatore Book Club organized a meeting here on Sunday with Shobana Kumar, a city-based Indian English poet, as the guest speaker.

Comparing the similar ideas found in R.K. Narayan's short story Selvi and his famous novel The Guide, Shobana pointed out:

“ In many aspects, Narayan's short story Selvi and his novel The Guide are similar to each other, though they were published in different periods”

The short story centres round the character Selvi, who is a proponent of Carnatic music from a lower class family in Malgudi, a fictional town in the works of R.K.Narayan. With Mohan, a former Gandhian freedom fighter, becoming Selvi's husband and impresario, the story later takes a turn in Selvi's decision to leave Mohan and renounce the world of fame and glamor after her poor mother's death .

Similarly, the novel The Guide is about Rosie, a Bharatha Natyam dancer and the tourist guide 'Railway' Raju, who is her lover and manager. Resembling the plot of Selvi, Rosie too leaves Raju, but for the reason that Raju loses interest in her art and becomes much interested in making money through her dance performances.

Highlighting the characterization of women in the works of R.K.Narayan, Shobana said:

“ In the two important works Selvi and The Guide, Narayan attempted to explore the psyche of women, who were under exploitation of men” said Shobana,

But, Chithra Sreenivasan, a member of the audience, chipped in:

“ R.K. Narayan wrote his works at a time, when the concept of women's emancipation was hardly popular. Nevertheless, his objective was to elevate a commoner to the level of a saint, as seen in the character Raju, who finally becomes an ascetic in the novel The Guide”

Coimbatore Book Club' s president M.Vaniya and secretary Jayashree Murthy were among those present in the meeting

Link to my article in The New Indian Express:http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/2977495