R. K. Narayan (born 1906) is one of the best-known of the Indo-English writers.

He created the imaginary town of Malgudi, where realistic characters in a typically Indian setting lived amid unpredictable events.

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayanswami, who preferred the shortened name R.K. Narayan, was born in Madras, India, on Oct. 10, 1906. His father, an educator, travelled frequently, and his mother was frail, so Narayan was raised in Madras by his grandmother and an uncle. His grandmother inspired in young Narayan a passion for language and for people. He attended the Christian Mission School, where, he said, he learned to love the Hindu gods simply because the Christian chaplain ridiculed them. Narayan graduated from Maharaja's College in Mysore in 1930. In 1934 he was married, but his wife, Rajam, died of typhoid in 1939. He had one daughter, Hema. He never remarried. Creating a Small-Town World Narayan wrote his first novel, Swami and Friends, in 1935, after short, uninspiring stints as a teacher, an editorial assistant, and a newspaperman. In it, he invented the small south Indian city of Malgudi, a literary

microcosm that critics later compared to William Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County. More than a dozen novels and many short stories that followed were set in Malgudi.

Narayan's second novel, Bachelor of Arts (1939), marked the beginning of his reputation in England, where the novelist Graham Greene was largely responsible for getting it published. Greene has called Narayan "the novelist I most admire in the English language." His fourth novel, The English Teacher, published in 1945, was partly autobiographical, concerning a teacher's struggle to cope with the death of his wife. In 1953, Michigan State University published it under the title Grateful to Life and Death, along with his novel The Financial Expert; they were Narayan's first books published in the United States.

Subsequent publications of his novels, especially Mr. Sampath, Waiting for the Mahatma, The Guide, The Man-eater of Malgudi, and The Vendor of Sweets, established Narayan's reputation in the West. Many critics consider The Guide (1958) to be Narayan's masterpiece. Told in a complex series of flashbacks, it concerns a tourist guide who seduces the

wife of a client, prospers, and ends up in jail. The novel won India's highest literary honor, and it was adapted for the off-Broadway stage in 1968.

At least two of Narayan's novels, Mr. Sampath (1949) and The Guide (1958), were adapted for the movies. Narayan usually wrote for an hour or two a day, composing fast, often writing as many as 2,000 words and seldom correcting or rewriting.

Making the Mundane Extraordinary

Narayan's stories begin with realistic settings and everyday happenings in the lives of a cross-section of Indian society, with characters of all classes. Gradually fate or chance, oversight or blunder, transforms mundane events to preposterous happenings. Unexpected disasters befall the hero as easily as unforeseen good fortune. The characters accept their fates with an equanimity that suggests the faith that things will somehow turn out happily, whatever their own motivations or actions. Progress, in the form of Western-imported goods and attitudes, combined with bureaucratic

institutions, meets in Malgudi with long-held conventions, beliefs, and ways of doing things. The modern world can never win a clear-cut victory because Malgudi accepts only what it wants, according to its own private logic.

Reviewing Narayan's 1976 novel The Painter of Signs, Anthony Thwaite of the New York Times said Narayan created "a world as richly human and volatile as that of Dickens." His next novel, A Tiger for Malgudi (1983), is narrated by a tiger whose holy master is trying to lead him to enlightenment. It and his fourteenth novel Talkative Man (1987) received mixed reviews.

In his 80s, Narayan continued to have books published. He returned to his original inspiration, his grandmother, with the 1994 book Grandmother's Tale and Other Stories, which Publishers Weekly called "an exemplary collection from one of India's most distinguished men of letters." Donna Seaman of Booklist hailed the collection of short stories that spanned over 50 years of Narayan's writing as "an excellent sampling of his short fiction, generally considered his best work" from "one of the world's finest

storytellers." Narayan once noted: "Novels may bore me, but never people." Writing style Narayan's writing style was simple and unpretentious with a natural element of humour about it.[72] It focused on ordinary people, reminding the reader of next-door neighbours, cousins and the like, thereby providing a greater ability to relate to the topic.[73] Unlike his national contemporaries, he was able to write about the intricacies of Indian society without having to modify his characteristic simplicity to conform to trends and fashions in fiction writing.[74] He also employed the use of nuanced dialogic prose with gentle Tamil overtones based on the nature of his characters.[75] Critics have considered Narayan to be the Indian Chekhov, due to the similarities in their writings, the simplicity and the gentle beauty and humour in tragic situations.[76] Greene considered Narayan to be more similar to Chekhov than any Indian writer.[1] Anthony West of The New Yorker considered Narayan's writings to be of the realism variety of Nikolai Gogol.[77] According to Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, Narayan's short stories have the same captivating feeling as his novels, with most of them less than ten pages long, and taking about as many minutes to read. She adds

that between the title sentence and the end, Narayan provides the reader something novelists struggle to achieve in hundreds more pages: a complete insight to the lives of his characters. These characteristics and abilities led Lahiri to classify him as belonging to the pantheon of shortstory geniuses that include O. Henry, Frank O'Connor and Flannery O'Connor. Lahiri also compares him to Guy de Maupassant for their ability to compress the narrative without losing the story, and the common themes of middle-class life written with an unyielding and unpitying vision.[11] Critics have noted that Narayan's writings tend to be more descriptive and less analytical; the objective style, rooted in a detached spirit, providing for a more authentic and realistic narration.[78] His attitude, coupled with his perception of life, provided a unique ability to fuse characters and actions,[79] and an ability to use ordinary events to create a connection in the mind of the reader.[80] A significant contributor to his writing style was his creation of Malgudi, a stereotypical small town, where the standard norms of superstition and tradition apply.[81] Narayan's writing style was often compared to that of William Faulkner since both their works brought out the humour and energy of ordinary life while displaying compassionate humanism.[82] The similarities also

extended to their juxtaposing of the demands of society against the confusions of individuality.[83] Although their approach to subjects was similar, their methods were different; Faulkner was rhetorical and illustrated his points with immense prose while Narayan was very simple and realistic, capturing the elements all the same.[84] [edit]Malgudi Main article: Malgudi Malgudi is a fictional, semi-urban town in southern India, conjured by Narayan.[85] He created the town in September 1930, on Vijayadashami, an auspicious day to start new efforts and thus chosen for him by his grandmother.[86] As he mentioned in a later interview to his biographers Susan and N. Ram, in his mind, he first saw a railway station, and slowly the name Malgudi came to him.[87] The town was created with an impeccable historical record, dating to the Ramayana days when it was noted that Lord Rama passed through; it was also said that the Buddha visited the town during his travels.[88] While Narayan never provided strict physical constraints for the town, he allowed it to form shape with events in the various stories, becoming a reference point for the future.[89] Dr James M. Fennelly, a scholar of Narayan's works, created a map of

Malgudi based on the fictional descriptors of the town from the many books and stories.[11] Malgudi evolved with the changing political landscape of India. In the 1980s, when the nationalistic fervor in India dictated the changing of British names of towns and localities and removal of British landmarks, Malgudi's mayor and city council removed the long standing statue of Frederick Lawley, one of Malgudi's early residents. However, when the Historical Societies showed proof that Lawley was strong in his support of the Indian independence movement, the council was forced to undo all their earlier actions.[90] A good comparison to Malgudi, a place that Greene characterised as "more familiar than Battersea or Euston Road", is Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County.[82] Also, like Faulkner's, when one looks at Narayan's works, the town gets a better definition through the many different novels and stories.[91] Critical reception Narayan first broke through with the help of Graham Greene who, upon reading Swaminathan and Tate, took it upon himself to work as Narayan's agent for the book. He was also instrumental in changing the title to the more appropriate Swami and Friends, and in finding publishers for Narayan's next few books. While Narayan's early works were not

commercial successes, other authors of the time began to notice him. Somerset Maugham, on a trip to Mysore in 1938, had asked to meet Narayan, but not enough people had heard of him to actually effect the meeting. Maugham subsequently read Narayan's The Dark Room, and wrote to him expressing his admiration.[92][93] Another contemporary writer who took a liking to Narayan's early works was E. M. Forster,[94] an author who shared his dry and humorous narrative, so much so that Narayan was labeled the "South Indian E. M. Forster" by critics.[95] Despite his popularity with the reading public and fellow writers, Narayan's work has not received the same amount of critical exploration accorded to other writers of his stature.[96] Narayan's success in the United States came a little later, when Michigan State University Press started publishing his books. His first visit to the country was on a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation, and he lectured at various universities including Michigan State University and the University of California, Berkeley. Around this time, John Updike noticed his work and compared Narayan to Charles Dickens. In a review of Narayan's works published in The New Yorker, Updike called him a writer of a vanishing breedthe writer as a citizen; one who identifies completely with his subjects and with a belief in the significance of humanity.[97]

Having published many novels, essays and short stories, Narayan is credited with bringing Indian writing to the rest of the world. While he has been regarded as one of India's greatest writers of the twentieth century, critics have also described his writings with adjectives such as charming, harmless and benign.[98] Narayan has also come in for criticism from later writers, particularly of Indian origin, who have classed his writings as having a pedestrian style with a shallow vocabulary and a narrow vision.[13] According to Shashi Tharoor, Narayan's subjects are similar to those of Jane Austen as they both deal with a very small section of society. However, he adds that while Austen's prose was able to take those subjects beyond ordinariness, Narayan's was not.[99] A similar opinion is held by Shashi Deshpande who characterizes Narayan's writings as pedestrian and naive because of the simplicity of his language and diction, combined with the lack of any complexity in the emotions and behaviours of his characters.[100] A general perception on Narayan was that he did not involve himself or his writings with the politics or problems of India, as mentioned by V. S. Naipaul in one of his columns. However, according to Wyatt Mason of The New Yorker, although Narayan's writings seem simple and display a lack of interest in politics, he delivers his narrative with an artful and deceptive technique when dealing with such subjects and does not entirely

avoid them, rather letting the words play in the reader's mind.[98] Srinivasa Iyengar, former vice-chancellor of Andhra University, says that Narayan wrote about political topics only in the context of his subjects, quite unlike his compatriot Mulk Raj Anand who dealt with the political structures and problems of the time.[101] Paul Brians, in his book Modern South Asian Literature in English, says that the fact that Narayan completely ignored British rule and focused on the private lives of his characters is a political statement on its own, declaring his independence from the influence of colonialism.[96] In the west, Narayan's simplicity of writing was well received. One of his biographers, William Walsh, wrote of his narrative as a comedic art with an inclusive vision informed by the transience and illusion of human action. Multiple Booker nominee Anita Desai classes his writings as "compassionate realism" where the cardinal sins are unkindness and immodesty.[102] According to Wyatt Mason, in Narayan's works, the individual is not a private entity, but rather a public one and this concept is an innovation that can be called his own. In addition to his early works being among the most important English-language fiction from India, with this innovation, he provided his western readers the first works in English to be infused with an eastern and Hindu existential perspective. Mason also holds the view that Edmund Wilson's assessment of Walt Whitman,

"He does not write editorials on events but describes his actual feelings", applies equally to Narayan.[98] Awards and honours

Narayan won numerous awards during the course of his literary career.[103] His first major award was in 1958, the Sahitya Akademi Award for The Guide.[104] When the book was made into a film, he received the Filmfare Award for the best story. In 1964, he received the Padma Bhushan during the Republic Day honours.[105] In 1980, he was awarded the AC Benson Medal by the (British) Royal Society of Literature, of which he was an honorary member.[106] In 1982 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.[74] He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times, but never won the honour.[107] Recognition also came in the form of honorary doctorates by the University of Leeds (1967),[108] the University of Mysore (1976)[109] and Delhi University (1973).[110] Towards the end of his career, Narayan was nominated to the upper house of the Indian Parliament for a six-year term starting in 1989, for his contributions to Indian literature.[66] A year

before his death, in 2001, he was awarded India's second-highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan.[111] [edit]Legacy

Narayan's greatest achievement was making India accessible to the outside world through his literature. He is regarded as one of the three leading English language Indian fiction writers, along with Raja Rao and Mulk Raj Anand. He gave his readers something to look forward to with Malgudi and its residents[100][112] and is considered to be one of the best novelists India has ever produced. He brought small-town India to his audience in a manner that was both believable and experiential. Malgudi was not just a fictional town in India, but one teeming with characters, each with their own idiosyncrasies and attitudes, making the situation as familiar to the reader as if it were their own backyard.[82][113] "Whom next shall I meet in Malgudi? That is the thought that comes to me when I close a novel of Mr Narayan's. I do not wait for another novel. I wait to go out of my door into those loved and shabby streets and see with excitement and a certainty of pleasure a stranger approaching, past the bank, the cinema, the haircutting saloon, a stranger who will greet me I

know with some unexpected and revealing phrase that will open a door on to yet another human existence." Graham Greene[114]

The Guide, by R.K.Narayan is set in a fictional town in South India. The novel is one of Narayans most interesting and popular works and is told in a series of flashbacks. The author agrees to the fact that the incident of the reluctant holy man is based on the real life event that he read in a newspaper. Narayan won the Sahitya Akademi award for this novel which was written in 1958. The story begins with Raju, the hero of the novel, who grows up near a railway station, turns into a shopkeeper on reaching adulthood, but finally changes his profession to become a tourist guide as he feels that being a resourceful and talkative person, he can become a successful tourist guide. During this time, Raju comes into contact with Rosie, the young and beautiful wife of an anthropologist and scholar, Marco, who is more interested in his research than his wife or her needs, desires, wishes. The couple lands in this small town for Marcos research into and study of some cave paintings. They engage Raju as a tourist guide

for sightseeing. The couple is constantly fighting with each other and this rift in their relationship brings Rosie closer to Raju. Both fall in love with each other and Marco abandons Rosie when he comes to know of their love affair and leaves for Madras. Rajus obsession with Rosie grows to such an extent that he loses his job, shop, gets into heavy debt, and falls in his mothers eyes too. She leaves him and the house as she cannot tolerate his living with a married woman who has been left by her husband. As Rosie is a trained classical dancer and always had an inner craving to make a mark for herself as a dancer, Raju encourages her to start dancing again-something that Marco always hated and never allowed her to do. Rosie resumes her dancing and Raju becomes her manager, thus helping launch a successful dancing career for her. Both start getting a lot of offers for dance performances all over the country and Rosie becomes popular. But Raju starts spending the earned money recklessly and also gets imprisoned for forging Rosies signature for a package of her jewels that he gets greedy to acquire. He is sent to jail for two years for this crime. After he gets released from prison, he stops near an old temple just to relax and rest for sometime. A local villager by the name Velan mistakes him for a saint. Raju does not reveal his true identity to the villager and starts accepting the offerings of food and other things from the innocent

villagers. He decides to stay in the village as going back to his native place would only bring back disgrace to him.

Slowly and gradually, he becomes the spiritual guide of the villagers who come to get all sorts of issues resolved by him. They start to trust and listen to him and soon he earns their respect and turns into a guru or god like person for them. Everything is running smoothly till the time the village is afflicted by a major drought and one of the villagers mistakes Rajus comments to be a vow to keep a fast for 12 days in order to please the rain gods. Raju has no other option but to comply by his vow. The role that he took unhappily and forcibly in the beginning becomes very dear to him as time passes. He starts believing in his role and feels that for the first time in his life he is doing something for the people, selflessly, out of humanity and not lust for money or any other material goods. The news of his fasting spreads throughout the country like wildfire and a huge crowd of curious onlookers from other places starts gathering round him. As he can no longer take the fasting, his legs give away, he collapses dreaming or visualizing the rain drops somewhere in the hills. The novels ends with a question still unanswered whether he dies and whether the rain actually comes. The title of the novel is very apt as it shows Rajus career and life

as a guide for the tourists and then later on for the villagers. The novel shows his progression and transformation from aa selfish tourist guide to a selfless holy guide who wants to keep the faith of the innocent villagers. From an unruly, undisciplined, and selfish man, he turns into a thoughtful, selfless, and disciplined person. The major theme of transmigration of the human soul from the clutches of maya or ordinary desires to attain nirvana or self realization is amply demonstrated by the author in the novel. Raju begins his journey of life as a selfish man who is smitten and trapped in the world of maya or illusion, but finally is able to achieve the path of self realization in the end when he turns into a selfless guru or spiritual guide, doing his dharma, or moral duty assigned to him by God, and worshipping the Almighty. The Guide as Guru

From all the evidence presented so far, we should be prepared, as I suggested earlier, to see The Guide as a novel about the rather serious issue of what constitutes a Guruthis, at any rate, is one of its major themes. Furthermore, the novel not only asks if Raju is a real Guru but also if Gurus are for real. At an even more complex level, the novel engages with the whole question of Indian modernity. Did modernity in

India really refashion Indian society as it did in Europe? Or is it something that exists, as Mishra suggests, side by side with tradition, but unable to comprehend it? Or is it a superficial facade, a veneer that hides but not erases the force of tradition? Our interpretation of Rajus journey has bearings on such questions. We can see at once that it is not easy definitively to answer these questions. That is not only because the questions themselves are overlapping but because the possible answers need not be mutually exclusive. There can be, within the same text, more than one way of resolving them. In addition, in a novel such as The Guide, the narrative technique adds to the ambiguity of the issue. I think it is significant that at the end of Rajus narration, we are back in the third person narrative. We have been placed in Velans shoes, so to speak, having to decide for ourselves whether we still wish to regard Raju as a holy man or not, knowing so clearly that he is an imposter. As the text tell us: Raju had mentioned without a single omission every detail from his birth to his emergence from the gates of the prison. He imagined that Velan would rise with disgust and swear, And we took you for such a noble soul all along! If one like you does penance, itll drive off even the little rain that we may hope for. Begone, you before we feel tempted to throw you

out. You have fooled us. Raju waited for these words as if for words of reprieve. He looked on Velans silence with anxiety and suspense, as if he waited on a judges verdict again, a second time. (208) What is remarkable about this passage is that not just Rajuor Velan but we the readers are also on trial. As we judge Raju, so shall we be judged; our judgments will reveal what our own values and intellectual make-up are like. Can we believe that a human being even more susceptible to temptation and selfish than some of us can be transformed into an authentic holy man? Can wedo webelieve in holy men (and women) at all? Or are we hardened skeptics who have no use for such categories? To go back to the novel, Velans verdict, despite his still and stern demeanor, is clear: I dont know why you tell me all this, Swami. Its very kind of you to address, at such length, your humble servant (208). Now, Raju is really worried, Every respectful word that this man employed pierced Raju like a shaft. He will not leave me alone, Raju thought with resignation. This man will finish me before I know where I am (209). Mary Beatina Rayen makes the interesting observation that at this point in the novel, there is a role reversal: While the villagers

believe that Raju is their guru, Raju is their disciple. Their faith and piety impel Raju to transform himself (71). Indeed, the novel clearly tells us: For the first time in his life he was making an earnest effort, for the first time he was learning the thrill of full application, outside money and love: for the first time he was doing a thing in which he was not personally interested. (213).

What Narayan shows, therefore, is that the process of guidance and transformation that the institution of the Guru implies is neither unidirectional nor simplistic. The Guru is neither a person nor a unilateral event of giving; instead, it is a process that is mutually transforming and alchemical. In this case, the real Guru is the faith that the villagers bestow on Raju: Raju is thus the villagers disciple until he is obliged to convert himself into their Guru by the intensity of their demand of the Guru function from him. Yet, the question of Rajus transformation is left unresolved till the end of the novel. As the very last paragraph of the novel states: He went down to the steps of the river, halting for breath on each step, and finally reached his basin of water. He stepped into it, shut his eyes and turned towards the mountain, his lips muttering the prayer. Velan and

another held him each by an arm. The morning sun was out by now; a great shaft of light illuminated the surroundings. It was difficult to hold Raju to his feet, as he had a tendency to flop down. They held him as if he were a baby. Raju opened his eyes, looked about, and said, Velan, its raining in the hills. I can feel it coming up under my feet, up my legs-- and with that he sagged down. (221)

Again, we are invited into what seems a terrain of endless indeterminacy: does it really rain? Does Raju survive to see the miracle? Or does he die with the delusion that his sacrifice has paid off? Again, while the novel offers us no conclusive evidence to answer these questions satisfactorily, it definitely compels us to examine our own wishes and hopes for Raju and the villagers. Are we people of faith, those who believe that the sacrifice of a well-intentioned individual can solve social problems, even change the course of natural events? Or are we modern, scientific people who refuse to yield to such superstitions? To frame the choices offered by the novel in an even more complex manner, do we want to believe even though we might be unable to?

While the ending is uncertain, it need not over-determine how we read the entire novel. Whether it rains or not is only one of the things which will

help us decide if Raju is a genuine Guru. As we saw from an earlier quotation, Rajus effort in keeping the fast has at last become wholehearted and pure-intentioned. Even if Raju is someone on whom Gurudom has been thrust, he does seem to grow in stature to fit its mantle. This is the story of an eager, even enthusiastic guide turned into a reluctant Guru. Some are born Gurus; some acquire Guruhood; and some, indeed, have Gurudom thrust upon them. But the question still remains if the last are genuineare they really Gurus or are they fakes? Flashback Technique in R.K Narayan's The Guide The Guide is narrated through a series of the protagonist Rajus flashbacks/ memory. R K Narayan, like another Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh, masterfully handled the complex flow of time through the flashbacks/ memory. The novel unfolds through flashbacks, then progresses occasionally in the present. His use of the flashbacks, which present the past events during the present events, bridge the gap between the past and present. In this way the flashbacks provide the background for the current narration. Moreover, from this back and forth movement of the plot the readers get an insight into the protagonists motivation and personality. This makes the narration of the novel captivating to the reader. In this regard his The Guide can only be compared with Amitav

Ghoshs The Shadow Lines, which was also narrated through a series of flashbacks/ from memory.

The setting of R.K. Narayans novel, The Guide, as most of his novel, is Malgudi, a fictional town in southern India. The novel is told in a series of flashback.

The noble opens in the present with the Protagonist Rajus release from prison, when he stops to rest near an abandoned shrine. Here he meets an ignorant villager named Velan, who mistakes him for a holy man and mentions his problems to him. His problem relates to his half-sister who has run away from home on the day fixed for her marriage. Raju asks the man to bring his sister to him. The next day the man does so and also brings food and other offerings for Raju. The girl is so much impressed by Rajus personality that she apologizes to her elders for her misdeeds and agrees to the marriage arranged by them. This establishes Rajus fame as a Holyman and Velan becomes his devoted disciple. Since Raju does not want to return in disgrace to his friend in Malgudi he reluctantly decides to play the part of a holyman. He is happy to accept the daily offerings of

food which the villagers bring for him. Gradually he accepts the role which has been thrust upon him and he act as spiritual adviser to the village community

Though Raju is living in the company of the villagers, he frequently remembers his past life.

Through this first flashback we come to know about Rajus early life. Raju frequently remembers his childhood when he has just released from prison and stops to rest near an abandoned shrine. He remembers that his father ran a shop in a village where he also uses to help him sometimes every day. A crowd of peasants and drivers of bullock wagons always gather in front of his shop. Every afternoon his father has asked him to take charge of the shop and has given him all necessary instructions. Sitting at the shop and selling peppermints would be no trouble for Raju, but he did not like his fathers habit of waking him up with the crowing of the cock and then teaching him alphabets and arithmetic. Sometimes, his father would take him to the town when he went there to make his purchase. Raju

would be fascinated by the changing scene, men, women, children and carts moving around him, till he would feel drowsy and go to sleep.

Raju also remembers the time when railway track and a railway train are to be built. There is a great excitement and the main question being asked is the time it would take for the railway to arrive at Malgudi. The red earth is brought in a number of trucks, and soon a small mountain is raised in front of Rajus house. Raju would spend most of his time playing, listening to the gossip of the laborers working on the truck, laughing at their jokes, and picking up their coarse vulgar abuses which they freely hurl at each other. One day, as he plays on the mound of earth, a boy, who is rearing his cows nearby, also comes there to play. Raju asks him to go away and shouts vulgar abuses. The boy complains his father and repeats the exact words Raju has used. Rajus father becomes angry, and decides that he must go to school from the very next day.

Raju recalls his school days. He is sent not to the Albert mission School, for his father believes that boys are converted to Christianity there, but to another school called Pyol School. All the classes have been held there at

the same time and Raju belongs to the youngest and most elementary set. He has learnt the alphabets and numbers. But the teacher, an old man is a very abusive man. The boys make a lot of noises. Once they even have entered the masters kitchen and have made fun of him. They have been forbidden to enter his house again. The old teacher has been paid one rupee per month for each boy. However, the boys frequently have been bringing some eatables for him, and in this way he has been able to make his both ends meet. Raju has proved himself to be an intelligent student after a year at this school; he makes sufficient progress to be admitted to the local Board High School. The old teacher himself leaves him there and blesses him. This act of his teacher surprises Raju.

Through flash black, Raju continues with the story of his past. The laying of the railway track finally completes and a railway station is established at Malgudi. The coming of the Railway train to Malgudi has been a turning point in Rajus career. Rajus father has been given a shop on the platform and Raju has been asked to run this shop. After his fathers sudden death, the burden of managing both the shops falls on Rajus shoulders. Raju comes into contact with the passengers, chair with them

learn things from them, give them information and helps them. Gradually he becomes a famous tourist guide. The shop is then entrusted to a boy as Raju cannot spare enough time for the shop. Raju becomes very popular as a guide and soon comes to be known as Railway Raju. Travelers visiting Malgudi would straightway ask for him as he is shrewd enough to give the right type of help to each tourist.

Now Raju remembers his first meeting with Rosie. She was not very glamorous, but she had a beautiful figure, beautifully fashioned eyes that sparkled, a complexion not white, but dusky. Raju nicknamed her husband Marco because the man dresses in thick jacket and helmet as if undertaking an expedition like Marco Polo. Marco is a man of academic interest and he is deeply interested in research relating to the history of art and culture. Marco, who is more interested in his research than his wife or her needs, desires, wishes. Raju gets the opportunity of spending considerable time in the company of Rosie and excites her liking. Later, he pleases her by appreciating her beauty and her skill as a dancer. Raju comes into close contact with Rosie.

Now Raju reminisces how he changes from a skilful tourist guide to an adept lover. Both fall in love with each other. Raju and Rosie fully enjoy the beauty ad surroundings of Malgudi. They amuse each other; entertain each other and their days passes very smoothly. They pass together one night in the hotel and Rosie becomes Rajus mistress.

Raju once again starts thinking about his past life. Rajus encouragement motivates Rosie to discuss her dance performance with Marco. Rosie goes to Marco to seek permission for dancing and unconsciously confesses to Marco her relationship with Raju. Marco abandons Rosie and leaves for Madras.

Raju recollects the evening when Rosie comes back to Raju. He becomes very happy getting Rosie back. Rajus obsession with Rosie grows to such an extent that he loses his job, shop, gets into heavy debt, and falls in his

mothers eyes too. She leaves him and the house as she cannot tolerate his living with a married woman who has been left by her husband.

Raju once again starts thinking about his past life. As Rosie is a trained classical dancer and always had an inner craving to make a mark for herself as a dancer. Raju encourages her to start dancing again-something that Marco always hated and never allowed her to do. Rosie resumes her dancing and Raju becomes her manager, thus helping launch a successful dancing career for her. Both start getting a lot of offers for dance performances all over the country and Rosie becomes popular. But Raju starts spending the earned money recklessly. In order to keep control over Rosie, and out of greed, he even forges her signature. Marco has sent some documents for Rosies signature. After signing the document, Rosie would be able to get a jewelry box which Marco has deposited in a bank. Raju forges the document and posts it back but does not tell Rosie about the document because he is afraid that she may be disturbed by Marcos thoughtfulness and would form a high opinion about her husbands honesty. But, unfortunately, for him Marco discovers the fraud, reports the

matter to the police and Raju is arrested. He is sent to jail for two years for this crime.

The reminiscence of Raju makes the novel realistic as well as suspenseful. The flashback technique arouses the curiosity and the interest of the reader. The readers never get bored and are always on the lookout about what comes next. It also proves Narayans skill as a born story teller.

Sex, Symbolism, Illusion and Reality in R K Narayan's The Guide Reality exists only through experience, and it must be personal experience. (Gao Xingjian. Soul Mountain) [1] R K Narayan propagates Oriental philosophy in all his novels and The Guide [2] is no exception. In Hindu philosophy realisation of the truth comes after going through the acid test of illusion or 'maya'.* I would add that the ability to perceive 'reality' is the end product of experience. Followers of Lord Krishna regard humans as souls composed of Krishna's highest energy, with bodies of 'maya,' his lowest, material, and illusory

energy. This belief also entails taboos against gambling, using intoxicants, eating meat, and engaging in illicit sex. Performing God's work with no thought of reward will result in the purification of the illusory 'maya'.

The illusion in Raju's life is Rosie, who entices him away from the daily grind of normal life. When Raju sees her for the first time, he describes her, complexion not white, but dusky, which made her only half visible, as if you saw her through a film of tender coconut juice. Much later, in Chapter 9, again she is described thus, Her face was partially illuminated by a shaft of gaslight from a lamp hanging from a tree. Thus Raju never views Rosie in the real world but almost in a dream, and Rosie becomes the 'mohini'* of the novel. Her meeting Raju on the railway platform is significant since until then the railway has been his life, but with Rosie's entrance his familiar world will be disrupted. He will be tempted to discard his attachment to the railway for a far greater and passionate attachment.

Rosie's role as the 'mohini' in Raju's life is confirmed by her obsession with snakes. The animal imagery has been well used by Narayan. The role of snake-women as enchantresses is common in the Indian mind-frame. Moreover, we have the conversation between Rosie and Raju's mother, (a traditional Indian woman steeped in religious and folk beliefs), to reinforce this notion: Everything was so good and quiet - until you came in like a viper. . . . On the very day I heard him mention the 'serpent girl' my heart sank. There is something strongly sensuous about Rosie. She exudes sensuality since she has been involved in a marriage that does not satisfy her physical needs. There is enough evidence in the text to suggest that there is no sexual communion between the married couple. In chapter 5, we have Raju's own words to back this theory: Next morning I found the atmosphere once again black and tense - all the vivacity of the previous evening was gone. When their room opened, only he came out, fully dressed and ready . . . I poured him a cup of coffee.

'Joseph has brought tiffin. Will you not taste it?'

'No; let us be going. I'm keen on reaching the caves.'

'What about the lady?' I asked.

'Leave her alone,' he said petulantly. 'I can't afford to be fooling around, wasting my time.' In the same condition as yesterday! This seemed to be the spirit of their morning every day. How cordially he had come over and sat beside her last night on the veranda! How cordially they had gone into the hotel on that night! What exactly happened at night that made them want to tear at each other in the morning? . . . I wanted to cry out, 'Oh, monster, what do you do to her that makes her sulk like this on rising?' In Chapter 9 the point is finally driven home: 'He wouldn't even touch you.'

'Should you taunt me with that?' she asked with sudden submissiveness. The artist in Rosie needs stimulus, both intellectual and physical. Marco provides the first type to a small extent while providing absolutely nothing of the second. The almost animal-like passion lurking within Rosie and Raju is symbolically projected when they are waiting in Peak House on the veranda to watch the animals come out. Narayan is very subtle in his use of language, allowing us the freedom to read beyond the text:

On the way she said to me (Raju), 'Have you documents to see too?'

'No, no,' I said, hesitating midway between my room and hers.

'Come along then. Surely you aren't going to leave me to the mercy of prowling beasts?'

...

'I'm prepared to spend the whole night here, she said. 'He will, of course, be glad to be left alone. Here at least we have silence and darkness, welcome things, and something to wait for out of that darkness.'

I couldn't find anything to say in reply. I was overwhelmed by her perfume. The stars beyond the glass shone in the sky.

...

Bright eyes shone amidst the foliage. She pulled my sleeve and whispered excitedly, 'Something - what can it be?'

'Probably a panther,' I said to keep up the conversation. Oh, the whispers, the stars, and the darkness - I began to breathe heavily with excitement. This part of the conversation almost sounds like lovemaking. It is interesting to note that Marco too, joins them immediately after but leaves within a very short time. I personally believe that his leaving is primarily because he cannot respond to that animal lust since he is sexually impotent.

Now we must consider a very important question which many readers of The Guide have probably asked, 'Who is seducing whom?' My earlier suggestion that Rosie is a 'mohini' should not be taken to mean that she is playing the role of the mythological seductress consciously. 'Mohini' is another aspect of the 'maya' that Raju is steeped in; she can be also called a living embodiment of the illusion in Raju's life. Here I would like to quote again from Soul Mountain: 'Do you believe that sensuality is devoid of evil?' I ask.

'All women are sensual but they always give a sense of goodness, and this is essential to art,' he says.

'Then don't you believe in the existence of beauty which is not devoid of evil?'

'That's just man deceiving himself,' he says curtly. It has been pointed out that Rosie does encourage Raju in certain areas. When Raju goes to plead with her to come out and join him and Marco on their trip to Peak House, the conversation does seem to show a certain degree of attraction on Rosie's part towards Raju: 'Why do you want me to go out with him? Leave me in peace,' she said, opening her eyes wide, which gave another opportunity to whisper close to her face, 'Because life is so blank without your presence.'

She could have pushed my face back, crying 'How dare you talk like this!' and shut the door on me. But she didn't. She merely said, 'I never knew you would be such a troublesome man.' Later in the same chapter we find this motif being reinforced: 'So you have no mother-in-law!' I said.

'I'd have preferred any kind of mother-in-law, if it had meant one real, live

husband,' she said. I looked up at her to divine her meaning, but she lowered her eyes. I could only guess. It would be erroneous to call this 'seduction', or subtle encouragement. This is the frank and free speech of a woman who desperately needs the warmth of company. The desire is within her but she never uses seduction to satisfy it. Raju acts like a professional lover, knowing exactly how to draw her in into the tangled web of lust. The question still remains as to why Rosie allowed Raju to have sex with her. The main motivation was not lust, but something described by Raju before he enters her room: I knew I had placed her in my debt. The debt is for his giving her the attention and care she needs, and she has to redeem it. Moreover the entire affair would have been over had not Raju very intelligently kept on reminding her of a future career in dancing with his active support. Raju desperately needs to hang on this 'maya', and when he enters her bedroom he also, locked the door on the world. His absorption into the world of illusion is now complete. That Raju is seduced by the charm of the illusion is suggested by Narayan's use of language. For example:

Everything disappeared into a sweet, dark haze, as under chloroform. (ch.5)

I was obsessed (ch.7)

I viewed her as pure abstraction. (ch.7)

It was a natural obsession. (ch.7)

I got used to a glamorous, romantic existence. (ch.7)

Are you in this world or in paradise? (ch.8)

I was slipping into a fool's paradise. (ch.8) If Raju can provide Rosie with the physical stimulation she needs then why does their union become incompatible? The reason is clear. Raju, with his lack of proper education can never provide Rosie with the creative stimulation she needs. He bluffs left right and centre about his appreciation of her talent because it is that loose string by which their relationship survives. Raju may have given her a 'new lease of life' but as

she reminds us through the rendition of the Tamil song, for her 'Lover means always God.' As Rosie gets absorbed in her own world, Raju is slowly pushed out since he is fundamentally incapable of being a part of that sphere of pure creativity. The growing tension in their relationship is seen, for example, in these passages: Whenever I watched her sway her figure, if there was no one about I constantly interrupted her performance although I was supposed to watch her from an art critic's point of view. She pushed me away with, 'What has come over you?' She was a devoted artist; her passion for physical love was falling into place and had ceased to be a primary obsession with her.

...

I made love to her constantly and was steeped in an all-absorbing romanticism, until I woke up to the fact that she was really getting tired of it all. Finally Raju admits his shortcomings in Chapter 9 where he fails to fall into place with the musicians and actors who come to visit Rosie/Nalini. He admits to,

feeling that I was an interloper in that artistic group. This is where we suddenly realise why Rosie has a tremendous amount of respect for Marco, even after she has left him permanently. The two are similar in nature since both prefer being captivated by their individual work. Both are artists wrapped up in their art. Raju may say of Marco that, dead and decaying things seemed to unloosen his tongue and fire his imagination But there is not much difference between the absorption of Rosie/Nalini in her world of aesthetics and Raju in his world of lust and power. The conflict is in the fact that each world cannot accommodate the other, and hence we are left with three individuals at the end of the novel.

Does Raju finally manage to transform himself into a true 'swami'? Perhaps this passage suggests an answer: The sky was clear. Having nothing else to do, he started counting the stars. He said to himself, 'I shall be rewarded for this profound service to humanity. People will say,' there is the man who knows the exact number of stars in the sky. If you have any trouble on that account consult him. He will be your night guide for the skies.' He told himself, 'the thing to do is

to start from a corner and go on patch by patch. Never work from the top to the horizon, but always the other way.' He was evolving a theory. He started the count from above a fringe of the Palmyra trees on his left-hand side up the course of the river, over to the other side. 'One.... two.... fiftyfive....' He suddenly realised that if he looked deeper a new cluster of stars came into view; by the time he assimilated it into his reckoning, he realised he had lost sight of his starting point and found himself entangled in hopeless figures. He felt exhausted. This passage assumes a great deal of significance in showing the gradual stages of Raju's development from a normal everyday guide to a guide for the progress of the soul. The title of the novel assumes greater importance since its scope now becomes deeper. The novel is now seen to no longer simply narrate the story of a guide called 'Railway Raju', but also shows how the same guide assumes a role far greater in meaning.

In this passage lies the seed for the 'swami' Raju who will set an example of selflessness by guiding his fellow humans across the never-ending river of life. Moreover this passage denotes Raju's transition from the life active to the life contemplative - a transition from illusion to reality. This counting of the stars or measuring the immeasurable is a symbolic

portrayal of Raju trying to fathom the immensity of life. He gets exhausted easily since for the first time he is contemplating an aspect of the world which is not only bereft of personal gain but also has no material implication in his personal life. As Narayan tells us in the novel itself, His life had lost its personal limitations. This propels Raju to contemplate the limitless expanse of life, and to attempt the absorption of that limitlessness in him. It is almost a Herculean task and the effort drains him emotionally more than physically.

So, what is The Guide all about? In my view it is the story of one man's journey through life. It is his journey through a maze of illusions and the achievement of universal truth. Here we may use the concept of moksha,* or freedom, as stated by the Hindu philosopher and theologian Shankara, who said that existence is a struggle for 'Atman'* (the individual self) to become 'Brahman'* (the pure being) where the atman is prevented from reaching the ideal state of Brahman because of 'avidya' or ignorance, which drives us into the arms of maya (illusion) where we blindly seek our true self. Through the proper knowledge of Vedanta, however, the individual soul recognises the limitless reality forever existing behind the cosmic veil of maya, realises that its own true nature is identical with

Brahman, and through this self-realisation achieves moksha. Through Raju Narayan invites us to share the limitlessness of this freedom which unifies us with the cosmos.

The Use and Function of Humour in The Guide

In The Guide, R. K. Narayans abundant use of humour is a key feature that enriches the plot of the novel. Humour is deployed not only in the first-person autobiographical mode about Rajus past, but also in the third person omniscient narrative by the novelist himself, making it crucial in drawing the readers sympathies for Raju, who possesses the complex personality as both a sinner and a saint. The third person narrative, in its distinctively authorial voice, is leavened by Narayans use of humour. Here, the third person narrative strand deflates Rajus phony sagacity with gentle mockery. When Raju becomes more comfortable with his role as a fake Swami, the narrator uses humour to help unmask his compromises and hypocrisies, and also to place him on a moral platform where we can judge himfoul but not evil: he was hypnotized by his own voice; he felt himself growing in statureno one

was more impressed with the grandeur of the whole thing than Raju himself. The gentle humour and mockery contributes to the readers criticism of Raju, as he cynically exploits the gullibility of the villagers, dragging those innocent men deeper and deeper in the bog of unclear thoughts. Furthermore, Narayans use of humour in the third person narrative also juxtaposes incongruities in order to ridicule Rajus pretensionshe had created a giant with his puny self, a throne of authority with that slab of stone. At this stage of Rajus enforced sainthood, the readers may have already started to question Rajus nature as a basically good man. It is Narayans use of humour in those occasions that allows the readers to accept Rajus duplicity without dismissing him as simply an evil man: Did they expect him to starve for fifteenif he had known that it would be applied to him, he might probably have given a different formula: that all villages should combine to help him eat bonda for fifteen days without a break. Comically, the readers see how Rajus words backfire on himself, as the villagers manipulate them to force him into the ritual fast. A simultaneous sense of irony arises as Raju the guide is now guided by Velan, who, as a votary, dictates a script his master [Raju] has to follow. In this respect, Narayans anatomy of humour requires objectivity

Myth, Reality, and Characterization in the Guide

R. K. Narayan often creates characters with whom one can identify spontaneously. Swami, Krishna and Chandran and Ramani or Suseela and Savitri or the unassuming Sastri and the innumerable minor characters are easily recognizable, because they are based on real life models. However, there are some of Narayan's characters who are quite different. For example, Margayya, the ambitious financier in The Financial Expert, Raju, the ostentatious guide in The Guide or Vasu, the rogue taxidermist in The Man-Eater of Malgudi, are extraordinary characters and yet convincing. One reason that these extraordinary characters appear convincing relates to the prominent element of the esoteric in these novels. The use of tales from the Hindu mythology, the teachings of the Bhagavadgita, and the austere religious practices and beliefs there ordained add strength to the fictional art of R.K. Narayan. Further more, these kinds of mythic allusion help the reader with a better understanding of that particular character and a deeper insight into human nature. It is in this context that Narayan's skilful use of myth makes reality more easily comprehensible. As Ian Milligan rightly says, novelists like Narayan "continually add to the richness of our human experience; they bring before us new topics, new characters, new attitudes" (2).

The Guide, Narayan's magnum opus, is not only his most mature book but also one that won worldwide renown by being filmed and won the prestigious Sahitya Akademy Award in 1960. The theory of Karma is enunciated in the life of Raju the protagonist. According to Hinduism, it is a foregone conclusion that an individual lives and dies in accordance with his karma and vasanas (impressions the personality has gathered from its own thoughts and actions of the past or previous lives). Desires and thoughts which spring forth from one's vasanas make it appear inevitable. John Updike observed in The New Yorker, "As a Hindu Narayan believes in reincarnation -- a universe infinite rebirths. . . . He surveys his teeming scene from the perspective of this most ancient of practiced religions" (134).

Raju's career is rather complicated. He begins his adult life as a guide to tourists. A man who is a compulsive showman, Raju believes in appearances. He meets Marco, an archeologist, to whom "Dead and decaying things -- fire -- imagination rather than things that lived and moved and swung their limbs" (72). Rosie, his wife, is forbidden to dance because her husband forbids it. A strained relationship is further breached because Raju helps Rosie by being a sympathetic audience when she

performs in the privacy of the hotel room while Marco is away researching the caves in the Mempi forest. One thing leads to another, Rosie confides in Raju, and they become lovers. Marco finds out the liaison between the guide and his wife (in name only), and he deserts her cold-heartedly without giving her a chance to explain. Castigated by family and friends for what appears to be immoral behaviour, Raju the guide now becomes a manager for Rosie's commercial dance performances all over the country and comes into great affluence. Along with money come the attendant evils such as drink and gambling. Raju is also madly possessive of Rosie. ("She was my property . . . I like to keep her in a citadel") he is constantly in the grip of fear that he may lose her. This flaw in his character finally causes his downfall. He hides the Illustrated Weekly in which Marco's article on Mempi caves appears, fearing that Rosie may re-establish her links with her husband. It is this fear that prompts him to forge her signature on the document sent by Marco for the release of her jewelry. Raju, who is finally caught by the net of his own sins, is arrested by his former friend of prosperous times, the superintendent of police, in the middle of a dance performance by Rosie. When she learns of his arrest, she comments, "I felt all along you were not doing right things. This is karma" (193).

The fact that ironies of life never cease is realized in Raju's case when after serving time in prison, he inadvertently becomes a saint for the people of Mangala when he took refuge in an ancient temple on the outskirts. Velan becomes his protg and Raju out of necessity mixes motives and desires, and once again the conman in him takes over. He spoke to the villagers on various issues of topical importance. He not only gave them discourses on the Ramayana and the characters therein, but also advised them on matters of cleanliness and godliness. He even prescribed medicines and settled disputes and quarrels involving property. He encouraged the village schoolmaster to reopen the school in the premises of the temple. He plays the role of the Swamy to the best possible extent, but once again hr is overtaken by the inexplicable eventualities. Things take a dramatic turn when Velan's brother mistakenly reports that the swamy will not eat till rains come instead of 'till they stop fighting' over a matter of selling and buying. Events that followed were beyond Raju's thinking or control. He never once imagined that there would arrive a time when the fake sanyasi in him would become transformed into a genuine one. People expected him, as the holy one with spiritual power, to bring rain to the draught stricken land of theirs by his penance as it used to happen in ancient India. For sometime, Raju tried to evade this role. But fate is something inexorable and relentless. It is in times like this that one

realizes it is 'divinity that shapes our ends.' As said by Emerson in a memorable poem named Brahma, it is the 'One behind the many' that is responsible for one's life:

If the red slayer thinks he slays, Or if the slain think he is slain, They know not well the subtle ways I keep and pass and turn again.

The first four days of his enforced fast were sheer agony for Raju. The sight of food tormented him. He polished off the vessel containing the previous day's left over food. He cursed his first meeting with Velan who is responsible for the whole thing now. 'He felt sick of the whole thing' (210). He knew that the fact of his being a sanyasi is a myth just as the old crocodile in the pond is. But then the people of this land survive on myths. It gave them something to fall back upon in times of crisis. It enhanced their belief and religious faith. The transformation in Raju is gradual, natural, if also wonderful. First it is Velan, asleep at his feet tired and

perseverant, who stirred his conscience thus: "Why not give the poor devil a chance, Raju said to himself instead of hankering after food which one could not get anyway" (213).

The resolution to chase away the thoughts of food gives him 'a peculiar strength.' It further forged his thoughts towards genuine fast.

If by avoiding food I should help the trees bloom, and the grass grow, why not do it thoroughly? For the first time in his life he was making an earnest effort, for the first time he was learning the thrill of full application, outside money and love; for the first time he was doing something in which he was not personally interested. He felt suddenly so enthusiastic that it gave him a new strength to go through the ordeal. (213)

On the twelfth day of the 'swamy's' fast, he hears 'rain in the hills' and sags down. In a masterful stroke Narayan leaves the readers in a state of wondering as to what happened to Raju. But what matters is, that it is only after he stopped thinking about himself that he is free from attachment of

any kind. He does become the 'Guide', but of a superior mould in the final analysis.

When the mirror of understanding is cleansed of the dust of desire, the life of pure consciousness is reflected on it. When all seems lost, light from heaven breaks, enriching our human life more than words can tell. (36)

One cannot fail to appreciate 'the rainbow magnificence of life' in Narayan's novels. It is the 'miracle of faith' forged by the use of myth that is enacted in these novels. Despite the use of myth, it is the 'credible universe' charged with 'moral imagination' that comes to us in the above unforgettable novels of the 'grand old man of Malgudi.'