Eco - Cultural Consciousness in R.K. Narayan's Writings (Paper)

Eco- Cultural Consciousness in R.K.
Narayan’s Writings
K.M.Kamalakkannan, Asst. Professor in English, Erode Arts and Science College, Erode.
[email protected] Mobile: 9443213386
Nature and literature have always shared a close relationship as is evidenced in the works
of poets and other writers down the ages in almost all cultures of the world. Today the intimate
relationship between the natural and social world is being analyzed and emphasized in all
departments of knowledge and development.
The literary critic tries to study how this close relationship between nature and society
has been textualized by the writers in their works. In this context two terms have become very
important today – ecology and ecocriticism.
Ecology explains the interconnectedness of man and the natural environment and
therefore to study ecology and to study literature, it is essential to concentrate on the processes
and relationships which govern the interacting of ideas, creatures, and environment. Ecocriticism
is the study of representations of nature in literary works and of the relationship between
literature and the environment. It redirects us from ego-consciousness to eco-consciousness and
draws our attention towards an alarming environmental problem.
The development of the field of cultural studies in the last few decades has provided a
number of theoretical and analytical tools useful in understanding the ways "culture" in its many
forms is implicated within the perpetuation and contestation of relations of power.
The emancipatory focus within cultural studies regarding questions of class, race, gender,
identity and difference, is extended, within an "ecocultural studies", to include examination of
the power exercised by humans over their extra-human environments, and to encompass
questions of "ecocultural identity and difference" -- that is, relations between different modes of
human interaction or "immersion" with(in) nonhuman nature (via productive labour, leisure,
scientific research, religion and myth, etc.) and the politics within which these are imposed,
resisted, legitimized and/or marginalized.
Eco-cultural studies see culture as the "battleground" or terrain within which different
ideas about nature and the environment, human-environment relations, and environmental
politics and action, are articulated and contested. This paper tries to make an attempt on the Eco-
Cultural Consciousness in the writings of R.K. Narayan, thus providing emphasis to “Malgudi”.
Malgudi, a small south Indian town provides the setting for almost all of R.K Narayan’s novels
and short stories. Malgudi of course, does not exist. It is for R.K Narayan, just as Wessex is for
Thomas Hardy or Yokanapatawpha for William Faulkner, an imaginary landscape inhabited by
the unique characters of his stories.
R.K.Narayan regarded as one of the “Big three” among the Indian novelists in English
has been admired for his remarkable gift for telling stories, portraying memorable people of
small oddities and eccentricities, and for his humour. Narayan’s fiction rarely addresses political
issues or high philosophy. He writes with grace and humor, about a fictional town Malgudi and
its inhabitants and their little lives. Narayan’s tales has an enduring appeal springs from his
canvas where common men and women of all times and places are joined in their commonalty.
Malgudi is a fictitious town in India created by R.K. Narayan in his novels and short
stories. It forms the setting for most of Narayan's works. Starting with his first novel, Swami and
Friends, all but one of his fifteen novels and most of his short stories take place here. Narayan
has successfully portrayed Malgudi as a microcosm of India.

Narayan has often asserted that Malgudi is a fictional town. However, this has never
deterred fans from speculating about its actual location. It is certain that it is located in South
India, for Narayan himself says in an interview:
"I must be absolutely certain about the psychology of the character I am writing about,
and I must be equally sure of the background. I know the Tamil and Kannada speaking
people most. I know their background. I know how their minds work and almost as if it is
happening to me, I know exactly what will happen to them in certain circumstances. And
I know how they will react."
The exact location, however, is a matter of speculation. Many are of the opinion that it
may be Coimbatore, with a river on one side, forest on the other, and many similar buildings and
lanes as Malgudi like Lawley road, Variety Hall, Bombay Anand Bhavan, etc. It is also
speculated that it may be Lalgudi on the river Kaveri, or Yadavgiri in the erstwhile state of
Mysore. But as per one of the writings in Narayan’s book, he loved Malleshwaram and
Basavanagudi, two prominent and old areas of Bangalore and used the first few letters from
Malleshwaram (Mal) and last few letters of Basavanagudi (gudi) to create Malgudi.
While describing how he conceptualised Malgudi, Narayan says,
"Malgudi was an earth-shaking discovery for me, because I had no mind for facts and
things like that, which would be necessary in writing about Malgudi or any real place. I
first pictured not my town but just the railway station, which was a small platform with a
banyan tree, a station master, and two trains a day, one coming and one going. On
Vijayadasami I sat down and wrote the first sentence about my town: The train had just
arrived in Malgudi Station."

Malgudi is Narayan's greatest invention wherein he could put in real people, real places
in one harmony of day-to-day existence and eccentricity. Every minor and major character of
Narayan's stories fascinates, even the only villain to figure in all his writings, Vasu, the man-
eater of Malgudi. Narayan is that supreme alchemist who discovered that the ordinary is the most
extra-ordinary aspect of civilized living. The navarasa of human life is not to be seen in
cinematic exaggerations or in the blood and gore of modern novels, but in good, clean portrayal
of life around you.
The Memphi Hills and the River Sarayu symbolize the continuity of the universe and the
definitions of fate. The Sarayu is hardly if ever absent from the novels of Narayan. In The Guide
it is present not only in Malgudi but also in Mangala village where Raju goes to live during the
last phase of his life. In the Bachelor of Arts, chandran experiences the crisis of conscience on
the bank of the Sarayu. In the Dark Room Savitiri jumps into the Sarayu to end her life, but is
saved by a blacksmith. In The English Teacher Sarayu is a symbol of purity and beauty. In
Waiting for the Mahatma, Mahatma Gandhi preaches the message of non-violence on the banks
of Sarayu. Like Ganga it is also the symbol of purity and eterenity.
There are also references to tea-estates on Memphi Hills. We hear of ruined temples and
of half a dozen jungle tribes on the top of of the Hills. Marco in The Guide takes rooms in
Memphi Peak House on the topmost cliff. “… there was a glass wall covering the north
veranda, through which you could view the horizon a hundred miles away. Below us the jungle
stretched away down to the valley, and on a clear day you might see the Sarayu sparkling in the
sun and pursuing its own course far away. This was like heaven to those who loved wild
surroundings...” In The Guide Marco explores the caves with their carved doorways and wall-
paintings, and discovers musical notations on the walls.

Narayan created personae and places where the reader is involuntarily dragged into a
living experience with those in print. Behind all their unpretentious simplicity and ordinariness,
Narayan's novels conveyed a sublime philosophy of life. Lives of ordinary people, like that of
Swami, are ''full of incident without accomplishment'' but they are still full of happiness,
elevating and instructive. His novels subtly mirror the changing social, political and cultural
influences animating Indian life. Though, Malgudi is a fictional town, it breathes with life.
For every R.K. Narayan fan, the characters of the imaginary, quaint village Malgudi
came so intimately alive that it seemed like they had met each of them, seen them somewhere,
some time. As critic V.N. Narayan in his essay Malgudi Magic describes "the whole place
pulsating with human activity of the kind that is memorable for its ordinariness." And this
memorable ordinariness has cast a spell on people across generations.
At last, conclude with the words of K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar,
Malgudi is Narayan’s ‘Casterbridge’ but the inhabitants of Malgudi-although they may have
their recognizable local trappings- are essentially human, and hence, have their kinship with all
humanity. In this sense, ‘Malgudi’ is everywhere. All ecological criticism points to the fact that
“human culture is connected to the physical world, affecting it and affected by it”.
Works Cited
Raizada, Harish .R.K.Narayan: A Critical Study of His Works. New Delhi: Young Asia
Publications, 1969.
Naik, M. K. The Ironic Vision: A Study of the Fiction of R. K. Narayan. New Delhi:
Sterling Publishers, 1983.

K.M.Kamalakkannan
Asst. Professor in English,
Erode Arts and Science College, Erode.
E-mail:[email protected]
Mobile: 9443213386

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Eco- Cultural Consciousness in R.K.

departments of knowledge and development.

important today – ecology and ecocriticism.

literature and the environment. It redirects us from ego-consciousness to eco-consciousness and

draws our attention towards an alarming environmental problem.

forms is implicated within the perpetuation and contestation of relations of power.

identity and difference, is extended, within an "ecocultural studies", to include examination of

resisted, legitimized and/or marginalized.

Thomas Hardy or Yokanapatawpha for William Faulkner, an imaginary landscape inhabited by

the unique characters of his stories.

has successfully portrayed Malgudi as a microcosm of India.

India, for Narayan himself says in an interview:

I know how they will react."

While describing how he conceptualised Malgudi, Narayan says,

arrived in Malgudi Station."

of life around you.

of Sarayu. Like Ganga it is also the symbol of purity and eterenity.

paintings, and discovers musical notations on the walls.

memorable ordinariness has cast a spell on people across generations.

At last, conclude with the words of K.R.Srinivasa Iyengar,

Naik, M. K. The Ironic Vision: A Study of the Fiction of R. K. Narayan. New Delhi:

Sterling Publishers, 1983.

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