A blog of my poetry, my travels, my culinary adventures and all things that I love
R K Narayan’s Spirits
This is a tale of an author, Indian.
R K Narayan, whose Malgudi tales are superlative fun.
One night he sat up late musing,
When he heard on the window pane,
some distinctive knocking.
Well past midnight, the clock on the wall displayed.
The sound to him at that moment didn’t make sense.
Morning came with the news
about death of an old aunt;
She had died past midnight,
around the time,
the knocking on the window had been heard.
The author, in his autobiography
talks of this experience and explains-
The sound was that of a spirit, his aunt’s,
trying to establish connection
Before moving on.
This is my attempt to convert into verse, what the famous Indian author R K Narayan has described in his autobiography-"My Days". I have been quite intrigued ever since I read this. Not sure if this is true but since he has mentioned it in his autobiography, I wonder if there isn't an element of truth in his words? Leave it to everyone's interpretation.
Born in the year 1968, my childhood was spent amidst the beautiful scenic landscape of a small town in India, Ranchi. Though an engineer by qualification, reading, writing and cooking are my passions. Another thing that I am passionate about is my country, India. As they say, a lifetime is probably not enough to explore the whole of India. Currently based in Kolkata, I can be reached at gdutta17@gmail.com.
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12 thoughts on “R K Narayan’s Spirits”
This is very intriguing and I’m glad you shared the backstory furnishing your thought process in penning your piece. Superb take on the prompt.
Thank you so much. Yes….the matter has intrigued me ever since I had read it. The writer had lost his wife, whom he loved very dearly and had begun to invoke her spirits once in a while, for his peace of mind. He talks about this process at length and then goes on to add this anecdote about a familiar spirit trying to establish contact.
Surely intriguing !!
I have heard some more stories like this. Have heard that the soul might show up to someone really close before leaving this place – so the story can be true 😀
Yes….another friend of mine had a similar experience. We will only get to know about these once we become spirits. But I am a great fan of R K Narayan. Would recommend you to read his autobiography if you can. 😊
Engaging in some lyrical athletics whilst painting pictures with words and pounding the pavement. I run; blog; write poetry; chase after my kids & drink coffee.
Straight From My Heart 
This is very intriguing and I’m glad you shared the backstory furnishing your thought process in penning your piece. Superb take on the prompt.
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Thank you so much. Yes….the matter has intrigued me ever since I had read it. The writer had lost his wife, whom he loved very dearly and had begun to invoke her spirits once in a while, for his peace of mind. He talks about this process at length and then goes on to add this anecdote about a familiar spirit trying to establish contact.
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You’re welcome!
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Well done! Bravo!
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Thank you so much. 😊
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Most welcome 🙂
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Surely intriguing !!
I have heard some more stories like this. Have heard that the soul might show up to someone really close before leaving this place – so the story can be true 😀
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Yes….another friend of mine had a similar experience. We will only get to know about these once we become spirits. But I am a great fan of R K Narayan. Would recommend you to read his autobiography if you can. 😊
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Ohh yes 🙂
And I will surely try to read the book 😀
Thank you for the suggestion 🙂
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🙏😊
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