SSC
'Malgudi Days' is a collection of short stories by:
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Answer: Option A — R. K. Narayan
Detailed Solution
- Narayan. "Malgudi Days" is a collection of short stories by R. K. Narayan, first published in 1943. A larger collection with the same title was published in 1982.
About Malgudi Days:
- The stories are set in Malgudi, a fictional small town in south India that Narayan created and used in almost all his novels and stories.
- They show the everyday lives of ordinary people, such as shopkeepers, astrologers, clerks, schoolboys and beggars, with gentle humour and deep sympathy.
- Famous stories include "An Astrologer's Day", "The Missing Mail", "Lawley Road" and "Leela's Friend".
In 1986, it was made into a popular television series on Doordarshan, directed by the actor-director Shankar Nag, with music by L. Vaidyanathan. The series was filmed mainly in Agumbe, Karnataka.
The books were illustrated by R. K. Laxman, Narayan's younger brother and famous cartoonist, creator of "The Common Man".
About R. K. Narayan (1906-2001):
His full name was Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami. He was born in Madras (Chennai) and lived most of his life in Mysuru.
He is one of the "founding trio" of Indian English fiction, along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.
The English writer Graham Greene helped him publish his first novel, "Swami and Friends" (1935), and remained his friend.
His other works include "The Bachelor of Arts", "The English Teacher", "The Financial Expert", "The Guide" (Sahitya Akademi Award, 1960), "The Man-Eater of Malgudi" and "A Tiger for Malgudi".
"The Guide" was made into the Hindi film "Guide" (1965) with Dev Anand.
He received the Padma Bhushan (1964) and Padma Vibhushan (2000) and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Other short story writers:
- Ruskin Bond: "The Room on the Roof", "The Blue Umbrella", "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra".
- Rabindranath Tagore: "Galpaguchchha" (Bengali short stories).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Ruskin Bond writes about the hills of Mussoorie and Dehradun.
- ✗Raja Rao wrote "Kanthapura".
- ✗Mulk Raj Anand wrote "Untouchable" and "Coolie".
Quick tip
Remember: "Malgudi Days" = R. K. Narayan (1943; TV series 1986 by Shankar Nag; illustrated by R. K. Laxman); fictional town Malgudi; "The Guide" = Sahitya Akademi 1960.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.