I have always maintained that RK Narayan is one of my favourite authors and when Priya (of Numbskulls) tagged me to write my experiences with the Malgudi man, I can't refuse, can I? I know it has been a while since you posted that Priya, and I am sorry that I haven't been more regular to my blog. But better late than never.
Since everyone has written about Swami and friends, English teacher and Maneater of Malgudi rather extensively, I'll stay clear of it all. I'd better write about my favourite RKN novel: "Waiting for the Mahatma". Though much of WFTM happens outside Malgudi, I'd still vote it my favourite Malgudi novel. SriRam, the spoilt youngster from Malgudi, who lives with his grandmother gets transformed into a Gandhian, then a revolutionary and finally into what we hope a responsible adult. It was an amazing coming-of-age story interspered with a heart-warming romance and I cannot for the life of me imagine, why it was not made into a movie.
Similarly, I enjoyed the lesser popular collection of short stories, 'A Horse and two goats' and 'Lawley Road and other stories' and there were one or two very 'Malgudi'-ish stories in it.
Though I am as disappointed as all RKN fans that he did not receive many laurels (notable of which was the Nobel prize for Literature), I am sure the adulation of many readers spanning three-four generations was his greatest reward.
Oh! did you know his unfinished works, a collection of short stories is going to be published as Malgudi-O-Palooza.
No.... I was just kidding. I am suuposed to add Malgudi-O-Palloza to my post to help the aliens keep track of me.
Update: Gifted a collection of RKN's novels to two of my nephews. May the next generation live with the Malgudi man the way we did.
Time whizzes by and I, I write of glimpses I steal
5 comments:
darn! i'd forgotten about Waiting for the Mahatma.... it's really a good novel, and its simplicity and lucidity were only emphasized by the way i read it... sandwiched between mr. sampath and The Financial Expert, the latter of which depresses me beyond most other novels.
i liked the Lawley Road stories too.. wasn't the title story about renaming of areas into desi-er names?
nice post, btw
BTW, wat s WFTM?
google results:
Windowed Fourier Transform Method, Workflow Template Maintenance, World's Fastest Test Market.
is it the first one?
Waiting For The Mahatma. Wat else??
I thought being fed a staple of DDLJ, KANK, K3G and the like, it wouldn't require google to find wtf WFTM meant.
priya!
thanks for the kind comments. sorry once again for the delay in posting. how r u enjoying the hols? i can see u r blogging a lot more frequently.
I thought WTFM is What The Fuck Mode, which your blog entails, by the way =D
Dostoevsky is *way* better.
Grow up, kid. :P
And refer to me as DM. Only. If you've previously yexposed my name, delete the comment and compose a new one.
Post a Comment