R. K. Narayan was an Indian author who wrote many short stories about the town “Malgudi”, a fictional South Indian town. His stories, while fictional, give insight into everyday Indian life during his the period of time that he was alive. Click the button to the right to learn more about R. K. Narayan.
One of his most famous books, Swami and Friends, is available on The Pennsylvania State University Libraries database (full text). Click the button to the right to read the story.
Swami and Friends has many interesting undertones about growing up in India during the 1930’s. The button on the right of this text has a journal article that explains some of those undertones as they pertain to childhood.
- Narayan, R. K. (1954). Swami and friends: A novel of malgudi. East Lansing: Michigan State College Press.
- Rashmi, H. (2018). A subtle representation of child life in R. K. Narayan’s swami and friends. Language in India, 18(2), 341.
- Augustyn, A., The editors of Encyclopedia Brittanica (n.d.). R. K. Narayan: Indian author. In Encyclopedia Brittanica.