In 1962, Bollywood superstar Dev Anand was looking for the theme for a new movie that could capture the changing times for the first generation post-1947 youth. Dev Anand had read the 1957 novel, Guide , by R.K. Narayan and felt the story of Raju, a tour guide in a fictional town who becomes a spiritual guru, was appropriate.
After several failed attempts to get in touch with the author, Dev Anand finally landed in New York and presented his plan to the author for turning the successful novel into a Bollywood film, starring himself and Waheeda Rahman. One of the first persons who was told about the meeting between the Bollywood star and the writer was former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh, who was then posted in the Permanent Mission of India.
In a brief letter written in the summer of 1962, Narayan broke the news to Mr. Singh and said, “It was awfully good of you to have given my address to Dev Anand, who wrote to me and then met me and we have arrived at a very satisfactory arrangement for the production of the GUIDE , both in Hindi and English.”
This letter and 18 others are now in the safe custody of Mr. Singh, who has meticulously maintained all the letters he exchanged with several celebrities from India and abroad.
Mr. Singh was introduced to R.K. Narayan’s works by his Cambridge teachers and travelled to Mysuru in 1955 to start a friendship that lasted till RK passed away in 2001.
Hidden treasures The letters are especially significant as they indicate that a vast number of documents and letters from the well-known author remain in private collections, even as his house had been turned into a museum.
The letters, written between 1961 till the 1990s, show the author’s widespread social network as well as the daily problems he often found exasperating.
After a gap of five years, during which Mr. Singh served in China and Delhi, he was posted in New York in the early 1960s. The timing was right for reviving the friendship as Narayan was also in New York working on his literary projects. In between, he sought the help of his friend in the Permanent Mission of India — even on refrigerators.
Narayan had bought a Corvette refrigerator, which was a portable model with four legs. However, installing the refrigerator was a problem as the supplier had not provided the manual with instructions. Narayan had difficulty in fixing the interior of the refrigerator and was unable to fix the legs to the base. In a letter, he rather hesitantly seeks Mr. Singh’s help. Mr. Singh quickly set to work and Narayan got his manual, and the refrigerator was soon fixed.
Bargain between friends Mr. Singh’s friendship in New York helped the author in his creative pursuits also. Even as Narayan was working on his projects, his Remington typewriter broke down and he had to buy a new one. But he found buying a new typewriter difficult; so he asked if he could purchase Mr. Singh’s. After a bit of friendly bargaining, the diplomat parted with his own typewriter for $60.
The letters reveal an eccentric side to the author as well. In February 1966, Indira Gandhi came to Washington D.C. for her first visit to the United States. In less than three months after that, Natwar Singh was back in Delhi and in the Prime Minister’s new secretariat on May 1. On August 6 1966, Narayan wrote to Mr. Singh congratulating him.
But he remembered to tell his friend that the air service from Delhi to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) was “erratic” and that he had fought with Indian Airlines. Writing to Mr. Singh, Narayan said he would get the money back from the airline in September of 1966. In the same letter he communicated the good news that The Hindu had asked him to write every week but he was able to produce articles only once a month. “It is nice to think that The Hindu is read beyond the South too,” Narayan wrote.
In 1975, Narayan wrote his autobiography and gifted a signed copy of the book to Mr Singh, who was then serving as the Deputy High Commissioner in London. At home, Mr Singh asked why he did not mention his meeting with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961 which was important for the Prime Minister as he had had a photograph taken with the author to mark the meeting. In answer, the author said the meeting with the leader of post-colonial India was not part of the narrative of his autobiography and therefore, he had left it out!
Amidst his hectic schedule of travel and writing, Mr Narayan also kept alive his love for classical music and films. In 1983, he wrote to his friend about appearing in a TV programme but said he would like to keep some time free during the music season in Madras (now Chennai).
As someone who spent his life in literary and creative pursuits, Narayan rarely asked for a favour of any kind. But soon after his meeting with Prime Minister Nehru, he wrote to Mr. Singh asking for a copy of the photograph taken in the Prime Minister’s residence at Teen Murty Bhavan. “I want some more copies of the photo with the PM, preferably some that include Indira,” he asked his friend — a request that was promptly complied with .
The last of the letters in the collection is from 1977 and talking about his many pending projects, Narayan says it is nearly time for a “graceful retirement”.
