Waiting for Malgudi Express

Waiting for Malgudi Express
RKN Memories: Guv Asks Lalu To Rename Chennai-Mysore Train
The Times of India

Bangalore: A small platform with a banyan tree, a station master, and two trains a day, one coming and one going: the Malgudi station immortalised by R K Narayan.

Now, Karnataka governor T N Chaturvedi has set the wheels in motion to make Malgudi train chug. If his eloquent letter to railway minister Lalu Prasad is translated into action, we will soon have Malgudi Express — a tribute to the creator of the fictional Malgudi. Bibliophile Chaturvedi has written to Lalu Prasad on considering naming the existing Chennai-Mysore Express as Malgudi Express in recognition of the late prolific writer, who gave the world such masterpieces as
Swami And Friends, Malgudi Days, The Guide, Waiting for Mahatma.

The governor, whose house apparently has more books than a library can contain, is supposed to be a diehard fan of RKN. In his letter he reminds the minister that 2006 is the birth centenary year of Narayan. To impress upon Lalu the importance of the move, Chaturvedi has written: “This gesture would go a long way in furthering cordial relations between long-time adversaries Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. I invite you to personally flag off the train.’’

Invoking Bollywood, he has drawn Lalu’s attention to Guide. “The celebrated film Guide is based on R K Narayan’s book of the same name. Malgudi is a fictional town that resembles Mysore.’’

Incidentally, RKN, a Tamilian, lived in both states, Karnataka (Mysore) and TN (Chennai), but most of his writings and characters emanated from Mysore. It was only recently that Mysore denizens and bibliophiles realised there was no cenotaph for the great writer.

The exercise has been galvanised by bloggers and RKN-philes congregating online and pushing for some form of concrete tribute. A group of enthused citizens, including historian Ramachandra Guha, writer Sunaad Raghuram and photographer T S Satyan, amalgamated the suggestions that poured in and submitted a memorandum to Chaturvedi. While some have suggested naming the path around Kukkarahalli tank as ‘Narayan Walkway’ (the writer used to take walks there for decades), some others have sought a Chair in Mysore University. The most popular request was to name a road/street/avenue after him.

If Malgudi Express rolls on, thank the governor.