R.K. Narayan

Following article is dedicated to the
Late Thiru. R.K.Narayan, my favorite child-hood
writer.

By R.K. Narayan.

When an Indian professional becomes a 'Non-
Resident Indian' in the United States, he soon
starts suffering from a strange disease. The
symptoms are a fixture of restlessness, anxiety,
hope and nostalgia. The virus is a deep inner
need to get back home. Like Shakespeare said, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is
weak." The medical world has not coined a word
for this malady. Strange as it is, it could go by
a stranger name, the "X + 1" syndrome.

To understand this disease better, consider the background. Typically middle-class, the would be
migrant's sole ambition through school is to secure admission into one of those heavily
government subsidized institutions - the IITs.
With the full backing of a doting family and a
good deal of effort, he acheives his goal.
Looking for fresh worlds to conquer, his sights
rest on the new world. Like lemmings to the sea,
hordes of IIT graduates descend on the four US
consulates to seek the holiest of holy grails -
the F-1 (student) stamp on the passport.

After crossing the visa hurdle and tearful
farewell, our hero departs for the Mecca of
higher learning, promising himself and his family
that he will return some day - soon!

The family proudly informs their relatives of
each milestone - his G.P.A., his first car
(twenty years old), his trip to Niagara Falls
(photographs), his first winter (parkas,gloves).
The two years roll by and he graduates at the top
of his class. Now begins the 'great hunt' for a
company that will not only give him a job but
also sponsor him for that 3" X 3" gray plastic,
otherwise known as the Green Card. A US company
sensing a good bargain offers him a job.
Naturally, with all the excitement of seeing his
first pay check in four digit dollars, thoughts
of returning to India are far away. His immediate
objective of getting the Green Card is reached
within a year.

Meanwhile, his family back home worry about the
strange American influences (and more articularly,
AIDS). Through contacts they line up a list of
eligible girls from eligible families and wait
for the great one's first trip home. Return
he does, at the first available opportunity, with
gifts for the family and mouth-watering tales of
prosperity beyond imagination. After interviewing
the girls, he picks the most likely (lucky) one
to be Americanized. Since the major reason for
the alliance is his long-term stay abroad, the
question of his immediate return does not arise.
Any doubts are set aside by the 'backwardness' of
working life, long train travel, lack of phones,
inadequate opportunities for someone with
hi-tech qualifications, and so on.

The newly-weds return to America with the groom
having to explain the system of arranged marriages to the Americans. Most of them regard it as barbaric and on the same lines as communism. The tongue-tied bride is cajoled into
explaining the bindi and saree. Looking for
something homely, the couple plunges into
the frenetic expatriate week-end social scene
compromising dinners, videos of Indian/regional
films, shopping at Indian stores, and bhajans.

Initially, the wife misses the warmth of her
family, but the presence of washing machines,
vacuum cleaners, daytime soap operas and the
absence of a domineering mother-in-law helps.
Bits of news filtering through from India, mostly
from returning Indians, is eagerly lapped up.

In discussions with friends, the topic of
returning to India arises frequently but is
brushed aside by the lord and master who is now
rising in the corporate world and has fast moved
into a two garage home - thus fulfilling the
great American Dream. The impending arrival of
the first born fulfills the great Indian Dream.

The mother-in-law arrives in time: after all, no
right thinking parent would want their off-spring
to be born in India if offered the American
alternative.

With all material comforts that money can bring,
begins the first signs of un-easiness - a feeling
that somehow things are not what they should be.
The craze for exotic electronic goods, cars and
vacations have been satiated. The week-end
gatherings are becoming routine.

Faced with a mid-life crisis, the upwardly mobile
Indian's career graph plateau's out. Younger and
more aggressive Americans are promoted. With one
of the periodic mini recessions in the economy
and the threat of a hostile take-over, the job
itself seems far from secure.

Unable or unwilling to socialize with the
Americans, the Indian retreats into a cocoon. At
the home front, the children have grown up and
along with American accents have imbibed American
habits (cartoons, hamburgers) and values(dating).
They respond to their parents' exhortation of
leading a clean Indian way of life by asking
endless questions.

The generation gap combines with the cultural
chasm. Not surprisingly, the first serious
thoughts of returning to India occur at this
stage. Taking advantage of his vacation time, the
Indian returns home to 'explore' possibilities.
Ignoring the underpaid and beaurocratic
government sector, he is bewildered by
the 'primitive' state of the private sector.
Clearly overqualified even to be a managing
director/chairman he stumbles upon the idea of
being an entrepreneur.

In the seventies, his search for an arena to
display his business skills normally ended in
poultry farming. In the eighties, electronics is
the name of the game. Undaunted by horror
stories about government red tape and corruption
he is determined to overcome the odds - with one
catch.

He has a few things to settle in the United
States. After all, you can't just throw away a
lifetime's work. And there are things like
taxation and customs regulations to be taken note
of. Pressed for a firm date, he says confidently 'next year' and therein
lies our story. The next years come and go but
there is no sign of our McCarthian friend.

About 40 years later our, by now, an old friend
dies of a scheduled heart-attack and it so
happens that his last wish was that he be laid to
rest in the city he was born in India.
So our friend at last returns to India for
good. But by now the people who were so looking
forward to see him return to his homeland are no
more.

In other words if 'X' is the current year, then
the objective is to return in the 'X + 1' year.
Since 'X' is a changing variable, the objective
is never reached. Unable to truly melt in the 'Great Melting Pot', chained to his cultural
moorings and haunted by an abject fear of giving
up an accustomed standard of living, the
Non-Resident Indian vacillates and oscillates
between two worlds in a twilight zone. Strangely,
this malady appears to affect only the Indians -
all of our Asian brethren from Japan, Korea and
even Pakistan - seem immune to it.

Another interesting article:

http://www.zatang.com/locals/cityc/cspeaks13.htm

Famousworks of R.K.Narayan.
Though he is in the Holy abode of Heaven, we will always keep him in our hearts.

1935: Swami and His Friends
1937: Bachelor of Arts
1938: The Dark Room
1945: The English Teacher
1947: An Astrologer's Day, and other stories
1949: Mr. Sampath - The Printer of Malgudi
1952: The Financial Expert
1955: Waiting for the Mahatma
1958: The Guide
1961: The Man-Eater of Malgudi
1964: My Dateless Diary: An American Journey
1967: The Vendor of Sweets
1970: A Horse and two Goats, stories
1972: The Ramayana; a shortened modern prose version
1974: My Days
1974: Reluctant Guru
1976: The Painter of Signs
1978: The Mahabharata: a shortened modern prose version
1980: The Emerald Route
1982: Malgudi Days
1983: A Tiger for Malgudi
1985: Under the Banyan Tree and other stories
1986: Talkative Man
1988: A Writer's Nightmare : selected essays
1989: A Story-Teller's World: Stories, Essays, Sketches
1990: The World of Nagaraj
1992: Malgudi Landscapes: the best of R.K. Narayan
1993: The Grandmother's Tale: three novels
1993: Salt & Sawdust : stories and table talk

I like R.K. Narayan's Like the Sun. It is, what seems to me to be what would realy happen in that sort of situation! Granted people should still tell the truth!

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/m...2001210200.htm

I like R K Narayan's Malgudi Day's most.It seems
that we have to go back to days of 'Malgudi' to
revire our humanity and enlighten our heart with
love and care for all.

I want details of birth, death, schooling, qualifications, prizes, personal life, time book english teacher was written

Yeah, a great writer and a marvelous story teller
please check out his novel "the guide"..its very original and dont go by the stupid hindi movie ,read the novel...

I am a great lover of R.K Narayan's writing and specially of the feature MALGUDI DAYS.But as Iam from Karahi,Pakistan it is very hard to find books on this great auther.I wil be very glad indeed if any body could please send me R.K Narayan's collection I am willing to pay or could tell me where i could find Narayan's books from my country.

I am a great lover of R.K Narayan's writing and specially of the feature MALGUDI DAYS.But as Iam from Karahi,Pakistan it is very hard to find books on this great auther.I wil be very glad indeed if any body could please send me R.K Narayan's collection I am willing to pay or could tell me where i could find Narayan's books from my country.