Essay --

R.K. Narayan’s initial works drew inspiration from his own childhood and school days. In his first few books, he tries to introduce Malgudi and its characters to his readers. This had helped in creating a strong base among his readers about the settings of his books. As in seen in his initial four books, starting from ‘Swami And Friends’ to ‘The English Teacher’ , the characters are confined to Malgudi and most of the story takes place in that town. ‘Swami and Friends’, R.K. Narayan’s first book was described by The Guardian,in 2011, as one of the best novels ever written by an Indian author. Undeniably, an average Indian always thinks of ‘Swami and Friends’ and ‘The Guide’ as Narayan’s best work. The novel follows the life and adventures of Swami, a schoolboy in British India. The characters in this book are very typical of an Indian village: a dominating father, a submissive mother, a religious grandmother who mollycoddles her grandchildren, a stern headmaster and of course, the playful Swami. After having been dismissed from Albert Mission School, Swami is made to join Board High School. While his close friends, Rajam and Mani from his previous school decides to form a cricket team called Malgudi Cricket Club (MCC), Swami has little choice but to skip his Drill classes and go for daily evening practice. Problems ensue when he decides to leave Malgudi after being reprimanded by his Headmaster. After a series of dramatic events, Swami misses the much anticipated and much prepared for match, against Young Men’s Union, a team from Chennai, to Rajam’s ire. The novel ends with Rajam leaving for Trichinopoly, while Swami and Mani bids him farewell at the Malgudi Rail way Station. As with a lot of his other novels, Narayan leaves the ... ...is wife to return home, assuming that it was just another tantrum that she throws. Though the novel ends on a negative note in regard to women rights, it makes a successful attempt in at least bringing the issue to the forefront. With ‘The Dark Room’, Narayan tries to bring to the attention of his readers the plight of women at that time. While Savithri’s house is symbolic for the conservative and orthodox customs, practices and beliefs in Malgudi, the dark room in her house where she seeks refuge from her husband’s tantrums represents the space where a woman is separated from the rest of the world. The dark room is just a temporary retreat for women struggling to survive in an old-fashioned world. The author, in all probability gained inspiration for this work from the women’s movement that gained strength in the 1930’s along with the nationalist movement in India.