My Days

Narayan was born on October 10, 1906 in Madras. This is a commemorative publication issued to mark the Birth Centenary of the author. Rare photograph of Narayan and brilliant sketches by his brother R K Laxman, the famous cartoonist, are notable features of this collector's edition. Narayan, the creator of Malgudi, in his simple lucid style speaks of his life in My Days. The book is in three sections - in the first, he describes his life as a lonely child growing up in his grandmother's house in Madras with a monkey, a peacock and a parrot for companions! He goes to describe his first school, the fear of the teacher and the anxiety to remain unnoticed, being a player in the local football team 'Jumping Stars'; his move to Mysore and admission to a school, where his father is the Headmaster. The second section deals with the obstacles he encountered as a young writer, how the manuscript of his first book Swami and Friends caught the attention of Graham Greene; their life long friendship; his falling in love and marriage to Rajam, the birth of their daughter and the poignant tale of his wife's untimely death that left his devastated and his coming to terms with it, and his experiments with psychics. In the last section, he gives a detailed account of his overcoming the writer's block, and the writing of the The English Teacher.He continues describing his literary journey and his evolution as a fine writer. He writes about how he worked on his novel and short stories. About his visit to the U.S.A at the invitation of the Rockefeller Foundation, how he stayed on for a couple of months at Berkeley and wrote The Guide. In the last few chapters we see an established, contented, writer known worldwide for his characteristic simple, lucid style and gentle irony...