The Boys Who Created Malgudi : R.K.Narayan, R.K.Laxman
by Lavanya Karthik
“The Boys Who Created Malgudi : R.K.Narayan, R.K.Laxman” by Lavanya Karthik. Published by Duckbill. A delightfully illustrated short biography of the two immensely talented brothers who created the immortal town of Malgudi through their stories and drawings which is loved by so many readers across the world.
Narayan and Laxman (fondly called Doodu) were two brothers growing up in the city of Mysore. While Narayan aspired to be a writer, Doodu had interest only in drawing cartoons everywhere all the time. Becoming a writer has its own challenges and needs loads of time, patience and efforts as most of us know. It was no different for Narayan. While Narayan sometimes wondered if he had it in him to be a writer, Doodu was firm that he would be a cartoonist.
Narayan found Doodu’s confidence quite amazing and motivating. He did quite a bit of thinking and the immortal fictional town of Malgudi with its timeless characters of Swami and friends started coming to life. Read the book to know how one of India’s foremost English writers and one of India’s greatest cartoonists brought out the most popular stories from Malgudi.
My eight year old and I loved reading the book recently. It was amazing to know about the two brothers and how they pursued their dreams. Their passion, determination and perseverance were awe-inspiring for my son who loves true stories. Now he is after me to get him the evergreen “Swami and Friends”. Coming back to this book, the illustrations are fabulous and inspired by the art of R.K.Laxman. Given our connection to Mysore (I grew up there), the story brought back pleasant memories. The book is part of the “Dreamers Series” from Duckbill. We have enjoyed reading some of the other books from this series such as the ones on Teejan Bai and Satyajit Ray.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 6+.
Reasons to Read
The book serves as a perfect means of introducing the talented brother duo of R.K.Narayan and R.K.Laxman to children before they can read their books.
Where to buy from?
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.