Essay --

R.K. Narayans initial works drew inspiration from his own childhood and school days. In his first few contains, he tries to precede Malgudi and its characters to his readers. This had helped in creating a strong base among his readers about the settings of his books. As in seen in his initial four books, starting from Swami And Friends to The English Teacher , the characters are limit to Malgudi and most of the story takes place in that town. Swami and Friends, R.K. Narayans first book was described by The Guardian,in 2011, as one of the best novels ever written by an Indian author. Undeniably, an average Indian always thinks of Swami and Friends and The Guide as Narayans best work. The novel follows the life and adventures of Swami, a schoolboy in British India. The characters in this book are very typical of an Indian village a dominating father, a submissive mother, a religious grandmother who mollycoddles her grandchildren, a stern schoolmaster and of course, the playful Swam i. After having been dismissed from Albert Mission School, Swami is made to join Board High School. While his close friends, Rajam and Mani from his previous school decides to form a play team called Malgudi Cricket Club (MCC), Swami has little choice but to skip his Drill classes and go for daily evening practice. Problems ensue when he decides to leave Malgudi afterward being reprimanded by his Headmaster. After a series of dramatic events, Swami misses the much anticipated and much prepared for match, against Young Mens Union, a team from Chennai, to Rajams ire. The novel ends with Rajam leaving for Trichinopoly, while Swami and Mani bids him farewell at the Malgudi Railway Station.As with a lot of his other novels, Narayan leaves the ... ...is wife to return home, assuming that it was incisively another tantrum that she throws. Though the novel ends on a negative note in regard to women rights, it makes a successful attempt in at least bringing the issue to the forefront.Wit h The Dark Room, Narayan tries to bring to the attention of his readers the plight of women at that time. While Savithris house is symbolic for the conservative and Jewish-Orthodox customs, practices and beliefs in Malgudi, the dark means in her house where she seeks refuge from her husbands tantrums represents the space where a woman is separated from the rest of the world. The dark room is just a temporary retreat for women struggling to survive in an old-fashioned world. The author, in all probability gained inspiration for this work from the womens attempt that gained strength in the 1930s along with the nationalist movement in India.