R.K. Narayan is one of the India’s great novelists of pre and post independence era.

He is one of
the most popular literary figures along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao. These three Indian
novelists has the credit of bringing Indian English Literature into world’s notice. Art of
characterization is one of the most significant aspect of his writings. He has established himself
as a master of characterization by depicting middle class families in his novels. His novels deal
with the life of average middle class men and women of south Indian society. The journey of
studies starts from Swami and Friends and ends on The Grandsmothers Tale. The women
characters are all the more insipid and uninspiring when considered individuall y .
Grandmothers make the atmosphere lively by their glib tongue and practical wisdom, affection
and understanding. Mothers are always given a secondar y place and do not have any say in the
running of the household.

According to the situation he creates characters like Bharati, who ignores her personal life just
for the sake of the mother country. Fallen women like
Shanti of Mr. Sampath and Rangi of The Man Easter of Malgudi add spice to the novels of
Narayan. They represent the types that one comes across in the
society. There are suppressed, sensible and sensuous females who
pervade the Malgudi atmosphere. They are colourful in their joys
and fantasies and tearful in their sorrows and defeats. Britta
Olinder describes the various women members that Narayan has
created:

“They fall into three main groups: first,

dominating, powerful women; second, powerless
frustrated, oppressed women; and third, women
accepting the system - in this case, the Indian
society of strong masculine dominance - but at the
same time finding ways and means to informal,
indirect control of their situations. ("The Power
of Women" 97)

Rangi in The Man-Eater of Malgudi represents a cruder type, for she is a professional prostitute,
neither ashamed of her profession, nor trying to conceal it. Rangi is a notorious character of
Malgudi. She lives in the shadows of Abu lane. She is the daughter of Padma, an old dancer,
attached to the temple of God Krishna. One day she met Nataraj in the early hours of morning
and told about Vasu’s plan to shoot Kumar and asked to save the elephant. Then Nataraj
whispered, “Are you in your senses or have you been taking opium or something of that kind?”
(p.156) She glared at Nataraj angrily and says, “Sir I am a public woman, following what is my
dharma. I may be a sinner to you, but I do nothing worse than what some of the so-called
family women are doing. I observe our rules. Whatever I may do, I don’t take opium’. Thus
Rangi told Nataraj of Vasu’s plan of shooting the animal. She provides the information to
Nataraj at a great risk to herself. This brings out her religious sense and dedication. She may be
a woman of loose character but there is much good in her. But her visit and Nataraj’s whispered
conversation with her make Nataraj’s wife jealous of her. Thus, their domestic peace and
harmony is disturbed for the time being. It is Rangi, who throws light on the mystery
surrounding Vasu’s unexpected death. So Nataraj’s reputation is restored. Thus Rangi is a
woman of courage and determination though of loose morals.

The wife of Nataraj is typical Pativrata, a Hindu wife, loving, affectionate, dutiful and helpful.
But she is a passive, weak and colourless personality. That’s why the novelist has given her no
name and refers to her merely as the wife of Nataraj or the mother of Babu. However, she
shares the joys and sorrows of her husband and takes affectionate care of him. When he is ill
and delirious, she takes him home from the temple and pampers him. As Nataraj himself tells
us, “she unrolled a mat, spread a soft pillow and insisted upon my lying down to rest, turning a
deaf ear to all my pleading that I was in perfectly normal condition”. (p.184) She went in to
make coffee and nourishment for me. On return she grumbled, “Not eating properly, not
sleeping, and not resting. God knows why you wear yourself out in this way”. When so many
visitors come to enquire about his health, like a good house wife she serves coffee to all of them.
She does not at all mind the trouble to which she is put.

Only once in the novel does she assert herself. The whispered conversation which her husband
has with Rangi makes her jealous. She goes away with Babu to see the procession, leaving
Nataraj all alone in the home. However her anger is short-lived and she is again all solicitude
for her husband when he is suspected of having murdered Vasu. As the novelist puts it, “they
shake hands over the dead body of Vasu and are one, once again”. In the opinion of Rajeev
Taranath “in The Man-Eater of Malgudi Nataraj, the printer and Vasu, Taxidermist, correspond
to Srinivas and Sampath. There is again reassertion of the average over the extra-ordinary. Its
artistic failure is due to the fact that the power average theme in the novel is handled in
somewhat exaggerated terms”.

In S&W, Swami’s grandmother was a short and fat and a slightly bent woman. She was a
notably a religious woman. She had inner beauty intact with her rather than physical. She was
not an attractive woman as she herself says she wasn’t pretty. Swami lived with her in his
childhood days. He describes her as a good friend of his. She used to wake him up during the
school days and prepare breakfast for him. After the breakfast is being done his grandmother
hand over the pen, wooden slate, and earthen ink-pot to him. While Swami attended school his
grandmother would study the scriptures in the temple which his nearby his school.

Later when he shifted to the city he never went to school with her; instead, he went on the
school bus. He himself agrees that his relationship with his grandmother has changed a lot
during these times as she no longer assisted him in doing his homework. Besides, Swami got
some advanced subjects which are beyond the experience and expertise of the grandmother.
Swami’s grandmother became distanced from him and other people. Unlike before she spent
most of her time spinning, feeding the sparrows which falls on the garden and since she was a
religious person she kept herself busy with praying. When Swaminathan went abroad for his
further studies, his grandma didn’t speak to him. She kissed him on the forehead before they
got separated.

Five years later when Swami came back home, his Grandma welcomed him home. Her actions
showed her great love towards her grandson. For Swami, she will still beautiful because she
continued to love him. After her death, Swami notes that his grandma never stopped loving
him. Granny in (Swami and Friends) installs her protypes in Narayan's later novels. One
encounters Sriram's granny in (Waiting for the Mahatma).

Sriram’s Granny is a very tender hearted towards her grandson. She takes responsibility of
bringing him up after his father’s death in war in Mesopotamia. She feels moved at the sight of
the brown cover addressed to her. This envelope contains the military pension of her dead son.
She accumulates the amount in a Local bank called Fund Office. The welfare of her grandson is
always in her heart. She teaches him many things. Sriram’s Granny is highly disturbed by
Sriram’s mixing with the Gandhian flock. She fears all sorts of trouble from such activities. She
advises him to keep away and to many a girl who is a distant relative in a village. Sriram’s
granny is religious minded and credulous. The interesting incident of her revival into life at the
cremation ground is consistent with her traditional belief. Narayan’s old grannies are alike.
They are all known by their characteristics such as religiousness, superstitious beliefs,
tenderness, worldly wisdom and faith in traditions and customs.

R.K. Narayan in his novels Waiting for the Mahatma defines the concept of new women. His
women are against the orthodox roles and dominate over their male counterparts. They are
ambitious and aspire to carve out an independent economic entity according to their talent.
Bharati is the main character in the novel Waiting for the Mahatma. She is entirely different
from other female characters of Narayan’s earlier novels. Bharati is a modem and educated
woman, a tme disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. She is an orphan having lost her father in the 1920
movement. Narayan presents Bharati as a newly emerging, regenerated and conscious woman
of India who is under the influence of great Indian leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru. In the words of K.R. Srinivas Iyengar. “Bharati herself is a masterful young
heroine, a Malgudi Portia rich only in her natural endowments.” Bharati is a very confident girl.
She handles the mob with her authoritative tone. She is a committed follower of Mahatmaji.
Bharati is an idealistic woman. She leads a simple life.
She is an intelligent and conscious woman and when she introduces Sriram to Mahatmaji, he
addresses her as the ‘Guru’ of Sriram. Bharati possesses self-control. She follows Gandhian
principles which show her straightforwardness and frankness. Bharati is a devoted patriot. She
is ready to do anything for her nation. She takes charge of thirty orphan children at New Delhi.
These children have been brought from the areas badly affected by communal riots. At the end
of the novel she marries Sriram with the additional responsibility of thirty orphans.

The characters of R.K. Narayan’s novels are clearly more important than the situations. His
delineation of women characters has been one of the unfailing considerations. His all women
characters are from Malgudi but, they are much different from each-other. All these female
characters are different individuals with merits and demerits of character. Thus, Narayan has
successfully presented the whole milieu of the Indian middle class society.