Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part B (2025)

R.K. Narayan wrote from 1930 to 1990, covering a long period of sixty years. Many contemporary writers have contributed to the world of literature and many young artists have added more to the art of writing but no one could remove Narayan, as his works are read, enjoyed and turned into cinema and T.V. serials and have become a part of our life. They have a universal tinge, which makes them powerful reading. His characters are one of us - alive and around us and give us (the readers) such a unique experience as an individual is unique in oneself, that we find him unforgettable and are sure that he would be remembered for times to come.

He reminds us of Dickens, the great Victorian novelist, very popular among children. Thus like Dickens, Narayan is also popular among children. His Swami and Friends is a great school-boy classic in which Narayan gives us not only admirable pictures of school life but also displays a penetrating insight into child psychology by depicting the world from the point of view of a school boy.

Of all the Indo-Anglian novelists, Narayan alone has the distinction of being a pure artist, one who writes for art's sake. He in each one of his novels presents a slice of life as he sees it. His perfect objectivity is to be contrasted with the partiality of Mulk Raj Anand for the underdog of society. whose propagandist and spokesman he is in each one of his novels. That is why his novels have grown outdated while those of Narayan have a perennial freshness about them. They have universal appeal of all great art.