1. R. K. Narayan
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Not to be confused with K. R. Narayanan.
R. K. Narayan
October 10, 1906
Born Madras, British India (now
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)
May 13, 2001 (aged 94)
Died
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation Writer
Nationality Indian
Fiction, Mythology, and Non-
Genres
fiction
Padma Vibhushan, Sahitya
Notable
Akademi Award, AC Benson
award(s)
Medal, Padma Bhushan
Influenced[show]
R. K. Narayan (October 10, 1906 – May 13, 2001), shortened from Rasipuram
Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (Tamil:
) was an Indian author whose works of fiction include a series of
books about people and their interactions in an imagined town in India. He is one of
three leading figures of early Indian literature in English, along with Mulk Raj Anand and
Raja Rao. He is credited with bringing Indian literature in English to the rest of the world,
and is regarded as one of India's greatest English language novelists.
Narayan broke through with the help of his mentor and friend, Graham Greene, who
was instrumental in getting publishers for Narayan’s first four books, including the semi-

2. autobiographical trilogy of Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts and The English
Teacher. Narayan’s works also include The Financial Expert, hailed as one of the most
original works of 1951, and Sahitya Akademi Award winner The Guide, which was
adapted for films in Hindi and English languages, and for Broadway.
The setting for most of Narayan's stories is the fictional town of Malgudi, first introduced
in Swami and Friends. His narratives highlight social context and provide a feel for his
characters through everyday life. He has been compared to William Faulkner, who also
created a fictional town that stood for reality, brought out the humour and energy of
ordinary life, and displayed compassionate humanism in his writing. Narayan's short
story writing style has been compared to that of Guy de Maupassant, as they both have
an ability to compress the narrative without losing out on elements of the story. Narayan
has also come in for criticism for being too simple in his prose and diction.
In a writing career that spanned over sixty years, Narayan received many awards and
honours. These include the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature and
the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award. He was also nominated to
the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament.
List of works
Novels
1. Swami and Friends (1935, Hamish Hamilton)
2. The Bachelor of Arts (1937, Thomas Nelson)
3. The Dark Room (1938, Eyre)
4. The English Teacher (1945, Eyre)
5. Mr. Sampath (1948, Eyre)
6. The Financial Expert (1952, Methuen)
7. Waiting for the Mahatma (1955, Methuen)
8. The Guide (1958, Methuen)
9. The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961, Viking)
10. The Vendor of Sweets (1967, The Bodley Head)
11. The Painter of Signs (1977, Heinemann)
12. A Tiger for Malgudi (1983, Heinemann)
13. Talkative Man (1986, Heinemann)
14. The World of Nagaraj (1990, Heinemann)
15. Grandmother's Tale (1992, Indian Thought Publications)
Non-fiction
1. Next Sunday (1960, Indian Thought Publications)
2. My Dateless Diary (1960, Indian Thought Publications)

3. 3. My Days (1974, Viking)
4. Reluctant Guru (1974, Orient Paperbacks)
5. The Emerald Route (1980, Indian Thought Publications)
6. A Writer's Nightmare (1988, Penguin Books)
Mythology
1. Gods, Demons and Others (1964, Viking)
2. The Ramayana (1973, Chatto & Windus)
3. The Mahabharata (1978, Heinemann)
Short story collections
1. Malgudi Days (1942, Indian Thought Publications)
2. An Astrologer's Day and Other Stories (1947, Indian Thought Publications)
3. Lawley Road and Other Stories (1956, Indian Thought Publications)
4. A Horse and Two Goats (1970)
5. Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories (1985)
6. The Grandmother's Tale and Selected Stories (1994, Viking)
The Dark Room is the story of Ramani, the Branch Manager of the Engladia Insurance
Company, his wife Savitri and his mistress Shanta Bai, the probationary insurance
assistant. The story revolves around these three characters. Ramani and Savitri have a
happy married life with three children Babu, Kamala and Sumati. Life is moving on
smoothly with the occasional agitations and angers. Savitri gets upset at times by
Ramani’s behavior and sulks in the dark room, ―a musty unlit store-room‖1 next to the
kitchen. But life is still pleasant and happy. One day Shanta Bai joins Ramani’s office
and soon they develop a relationship. Savitri comes to know about the affair and tries to
stop Ramani. He refuses, so Savitri leaves the house to end her life. However, this
could not happen as she is saved by a low caste blacksmith Mari. He and his wife Ponni
take care of Savitri but after a few days of hardship and loneliness she returns to her
home and children.
Narayan’s novels have many a female character but most of them are traditional Indian
women who live a life within the confines of their home. The character of Savitri in the
first half of The Dark Room is an apt example. Despite the rude nature of her husband,
Savitri performs the duties of a mother and wife uncomplainingly. She takes the
frequent harshness with indifference. She behaves or talks only after judging his mood.
She is the quintessential mother, wife and homemaker. She is the humble, patient, loyal

4. wife mentioned in the scriptures. Savitri is such a humble and down-to-earth person that
after hearing about her husband’s affair, she does not believe it. Later she feels Ramani
is not to be blamed. Perhaps, she is not beautiful anymore and hence Ramani got
attracted to Shanta Bai. In her innocence she starts paying attention to her looks. Once
again she dresses up not only to look good but in the manner in which Ramani likes. .
Narayan comments on the status of Savitri in her home where he says that she was so
impotent even after fifteen years of marriage. And, the progress of Savitri’s character
shows that she had the essence of feminism in her but it had been suppressed for all
these years. The mental torture that she has been going through draws out her inner
strength and that gives her the courage to talk back.
Besides Savitri, there is Shanta Bai, the educated, manipulative seductress who knows
how to use a woman’s charm to win the man. She is the cunning, clever type who
makes every right move to trap her prey. When he visits her home for the first time, her
style of talking is conspicuous of her intention of enticing him.
Another character, though a minor one but plays a major role in the turn of events in the
novel, is Ponni, Savitri’s saviour who is the dominating type. She does not talk to
Typically situated in Malgudi, RKN weaves the characters with such depth that leaves a
strong impact on us. His main protagonists —Ramani (working in senior position in
Engladia Insurance Company) and his wife Savitri shared a volatile relation with
respect to each other. This middle aged Tam Bram couple with 3 school going children-
Babu, Sumati & Kamala along with their cook and helper lead a very comfortable life in
Malgudi.
Ramani, the MCP, expected perfect order in the house. Right from seeing him to the
office to opening the motor shed when he returned back in his Chevrolet, the meek and
docileSavitri had to be there at his beck and call. Every morning, apart from doing the
daily chores, giving bath to Kamala, tying up daughter’s pigtails, packing them off to
school; she had to listen to the nasty comments Ramani passed on when his choice of
food was not served. Poor lady endured all and always had a sigh of relief the moment
he left. She had to wait in the afternoon to serve meals to her daughters when they
returned from school. Her only recreation was to go to her friends Gangu and elderly
Janamma’s house to share the day’s story.
Once when Ramani discovered that Savitri was not in the home to receive him when he
came early from the office, he burst at her. He immediately dragged her to watch old

5. Krishna movie ---“Kuchela‖ leaving the kids at home to fend for them. Savitri tried
helplessly to convince her husband to take the kids but he adamantly upheld his views!
Savitri, being very traditional and religious celebrated all the festivals in devout
manner. During one such Navaratri, wherein plenty of clay dolls of various Gods,
Goddesses, animals, people etc were arranged on steps made out of wooden planks,
the entire family except Ramani was enthusiastic in decoration. Babu with his half -
baked knowledge on electricity added some extra lightings to enhance the dolls. But in
the evening, as he put on the switch, the fuse blew away and the house was plunged in
darkness. When Ramani came to know about it, he thrashed Babu. Savitri could not see
her son mercilessly being slapped and she revolted. But being conservative, she could
not utter more, wept and threw herself to the DARK ROOM, next to the store.
This DARK roomepitomized Savitri’s revolt against her husband’s inhumane nature.
She would always sulk there, sometimes for days, with unkempt hair, not eat food or
take bath, brood at her fate, feel helpless at her sordid state, pity that she is being
treated like dirt by him.
As Savitri lay there, it did not move her husband at all. According to him, no one was
indispensible and ordered the cook to do the chores without bothering to cajole his wife.
He behaved extra nice with the kids and completely ignored Savitri’s tantrums and left
for office. The daughters were shocked that mother had not yet come out of the dark
room and ran to Janamma for help. Later after being convinced by her friend how men
are, Savitri came out of the dark room and returned to her chores.
Ramani’s office was hiring female probationers to canvass about their life insurance
polices meant for women. During one such interview, Ramani happened to meet
Mrs.Shanta Bai from Mangalore who had left her alcoholic husband. He was
immediately drawn to her beauty though she never showed any interest in him. Being
single, he didn’t want Shanta bai to stay in hotel. Instead, provided room in his office for
her to stay much to the amusement of the staff. He showered extra concern in taking
the spare cot, few vessels, a chair and the teakwood bench ---the only favorite piece of
furniture of Savitri from his house to have illicit affair with Shanta.
Savitri realized that,despite protesting he did not listen to her. Soon she started hearing
rumors about his infidelity.She became sulkier, cursed her fate and even started
dressing up well for him. But Ramani returned very late at nights and even did not have
time for the kids. Once when he did not come by night, Savitri grew more suspicious.
Later in the evening, she had a major argument with him about leaving this woman once
and for all. Ramani bounced back and in a fit of rage asked her to get out of the

6. house.
It was for the first time that she had stepped out in late night. She was so disappointed
that she enteredSarayu River to end her life. At that time, Mari—a blacksmith cum
robber saved her and took her to his village. His wife took care of Savitri. But Savitri
was adamant to be self-reliant and work for herself. Finally she got a job in a temple
to clean Gods idols at the mercy of an old priest for half measure rice and quarter coin a
day. Savitri was overjoyed with her own earnings for she no longer had to be dependent
on Ramani. That night when she had to stay alone in a small dingy room adjacent to the
temple, strange thoughts crept her. She couldn’t believe how she had revolted against
her husband in this manner. As any mother, she was feeling guilty in abandoning her
children. She worried how they would cope up and who would take care of them. Heart
of heart, she decided to gulp her husband’s insults and immediately, set off for Malgudi
to return back home….
Many would feel that RKN has made Savitri --a very weak character that finally
succumbs to the male dominated society. Instead of coping up with challenges in life &
succeeding it, RKN has given twist to the Savitri’s character in accepting that life is
meaningless without husband and kids. But on the other hand, Shanta bai seems to
portray the ―liberated woman‖ who lives life according to her terms without bothering
about the society. Whatever the author had in mind, this striking contrasts between both
the women is a reflection of the Indian society prevalent around 1938. This poignant tale
has plenty of drama and subtle humor that makes an interesting read…