In the obituaries of R.K. Narayan (1906-2001), written by the 'talkative men' of modern India who once knew the writer slightly or quite well, there were one or two remarks about his habit of walking around without any apparent purpose. Here, for instance, is the novelist and journalist Khushwant Singh on a visit to Mysore forty years ago: 'Being with Narayan on his afternoon stroll was an experience. He did not go to a park but preferred walking up the bazaars . . . He would stop briefly at shops to exchange namaskaras with the owners, introduce me and exchange gossip with them in Kannada or Tamil.'

LRB 9 August 2001 | PDF Download