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RK Narayan, better known as Swami and Friends, was born on October 10, 1906. He was born in old Madras and present-day Chennai. His father was a school principal and moved around a lot; therefore, he was brought up by his grandmother Parvathi. She nicknamed him Kunjappa and his family members popularly called him by this nickname. He went to study at various schools and spent most of his time reading Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, PG Wodehouse and Thomas Hardy. He got into trouble when he participated in a pro-independence march; his family was neutral on Indian politics and independence.

RK Narayan moved to Mysore to join his parents, where he started writing. He studied at the Maharaja College of Mysore and got a job as a school teacher. He left it to realize that he would write for the rest of his life. The first published writing of his was entitled ‘Development of the Maritime Laws of 17th Century England’. He wrote for English newspapers and magazines. Although he lived on a meager income, his friends and family respected him and he published his first novel, Swami and Friends. Thus the fictional city of Malgudi was born. This book was rejected by several publishers until Narayan sent it to his friend and popular author Graham Greene. Other books such as The Bachelor of Arts, The English Teacher, The Financial Expert, Waiting for the Mahatma and The Guide were published. The Financial Expert was recognized as one of the most original works in 1951 while winning the Sahitya Akademi award for The Guide. The Guide was also made into a movie and ran on Broadway. He was compared to William Faulkner for his depiction of real life characters in everyday life and also to Guy de Maupassant with regard to his narrative style in presenting short stories. He was conferred the AC Benson Medal of the Royal Society of Literature and the Padma Vibhushan. He was also nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Narayan fell in love with Rajam and married her despite financial and zodiacal obstacles. Shortly after the marriage, he worked for a newspaper called The Justice. He wrote about the shame of being spanked in class, the emotional drain on brides and grooms by matching horoscopes, and the subjugation of women in marriages. The death of his wife aggravated him immensely and his daughter became the center of his attention. The grievance served as the inspiration for his book, The English Teacher. He also worked at a magazine, Indian Thought. He then started his own publishing company, Indian Thought Publications, which earned him a voracious readership from New York to Moscow. His writings were first published in the United States by Michigan State University Press.

Malgudi’s The Man Eater was published in 1961. He earned much praise and toured Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. After The Vendor of Sweets was published, he was awarded his first honorary doctorate from the University of Leeds. He lived the last of his days dedicating himself to agriculture and interacting with people. He wrote The World of Nagraj and The Grandmother’s Tale, the last of his books. He breathed his last on May 13, 2001 in Chennai.