Essay --

By now, R.K Narayan took a turn from his usual way of writing. Moving away from writing books, which were more than or less auto-biographical, his exposure to foreign lands would hurl inspired him to move beyond his world and hone his creativity. Starting right from Mr. Sampath (1948) to The Vendor of Sweets (1967), this trend was seen in all books written in this period. The Guide and The anthropophagite of Malgudi is analyzed here, in this context. The Guide is R.K. Narayans best and almost famous work. A 1958 novel, it won the SahityaAkademi Award for English in 1960. It was made even more famous and popular by the on-screen immortalization by DevAnand and WaheedaRahman in the 1965 movie of the same name. Tracing the story of Raju, commonly called Railway Raju, the novel delineates his transformation from being a railway shopkeepers son to a sought after number guide to later on become the countrys most famous saint. Raju, who took over his fathers shop after his death reali zed that taking people around the city of Malgudi as a tour guide is his forte. His life witnesses an upheaval when he is attracted to one of his customers, Rosie, a married woman who is neglected by her workaholic husband, Marco. Rosies potential to become a happy dancer, which is overlooked and ignored by her husband is spotted by Raju who encourages her to dance more. Following this, Rosie separates from her husband and rises to fame as a Bharatnatyam dancer with Rajus help. A fault by Raju, later on earns him a two-year prison sentence. On his release from prison, Raju is misinterpreted to be a saint. Following a series of interest events, Raju takes on himself a 12 day hunger-fast to pray for rains in the drought-stricken area. The story ends ... ...t manner in The Man-Eater of Malgudi. The underlying essence of the novel is based on the age-old saying which says that a mans deed leads him to his destination. Inspiration from the Bhasmasuras myth is also seen in the book. V asu is compared to being a rakshas (demon) who causes his own declension himself. The 1954 KumbhMela stampede, which killed about 800 people seems to have affected Narayan as he mentions deaths due to stampedes in his book. While Nataraj is attempting to persuade Vasu not to create a ruckus during the procession, Vasu duologue about how melas are held to manage the population of the nation and to keep it under control. Population explosion of the 1950s and 1960s would have been the source of inspiration for this mention, which is taken up again in The Painter of Signs where the female lead works on the issue of population control.