In speaking about the origins of Rukmini Aunty and the R.K. Narayan Fan Club, Sita Bhaskar recalls that the beginning goes very far back, when a reviewer for the first book that she wrote as a newbie mentioned, ‘Shades of R.K. Narayan? Perhaps,’ about one of her stories. Needless to say, she thought she had died and gone to heaven. Fast forward several years later, when she moved to Mysore and found she lived fairly close to his house, now a museum. She stumbled upon articles about the fight to preserve his house as a museum and the ensuing battle to buy the property and restore it. At the same time, she happened to be reading Natalie Jenner’s book, The Jane Austen Society which is a novel about Jane Austen’s final home in Chawton, and the idea for Rukmini Aunty and the R.K. Narayan Fan Club clicked into place. ‘Actually, it started as a tiny flicker that smouldered and spread at its own pace, like many of R.K. Narayan’s own stories.’ she shares.
Since the book is an ode to him, did R.K. Narayan’s writing shape the tone of your novel?
Yes, it did. Besides his style, I tried very hard to follow in his footsteps; his way of looking at the nitty gritty minutiae of daily life, his ironic sense of humour, and his attention to detail. He is a hard act to follow, and I don’t pretend to presume that I came anywhere close to the way his creative brain worked. One can only try…
The novel revolves around a community of readers. For you, what is the importance of communal reading?
Earlier I was a ‘loner’ reader - in that, I didn’t feel the need to discuss the books I read with anyone else. And then, I was exposed to Spoken Word Poetry in Madison, Wisconsin, and was captivated by it. I started attending poetry slams. I got hooked onto political slam poetry which is deeply and intensely personal but yet performed before an audience. That is when I realized the importance of sharing books through communal reading. It opens up your mind to different perspectives of the same writing, and there is a lot one can learn and grow from that process.
What is your relationship with writing? Why do you write?
Always a voracious reader, I came to writing late in life. Once I started, it was as if the demands and expectations of the external world ceased to exist for me. Only my love for the written word seemed to matter. I reorganized my life around writing. A friend, who obviously knows me very well, gave me this colourful little hanging that says, ‘I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.’ I think it is a quote by James Michener. That sums it up for me – the reason why I write.
Are there particular R.K. Narayan works or characters that carry significance in your life?
Strangely enough, it is R.K. Narayan himself who carries that significance. His biography, My Days, takes centre stage in my fascination for him and his life, especially his childhood with his grandmother, and later being the lackadaisical son of the school headmaster. What a glorious time to be alive. But if I must name a book, at the risk of sounding cliched, I would say it is Swami and Friends.
What do you hope for readers to take away from the story?
My generation grew up on R.K. Narayan’s books. The generation after mine grew up on the delightful television series Malgudi Days which rekindled the interest in his stories in a visual form. But public interest is a fickle thing and is constantly looking for newer genres to devour. It thinks that R.K. Narayan’s books belong in a distant point in time in the past. By this modern retelling of R.K. Narayan’s stories, I am hoping that readers will realize that his writing is timeless and every story of his belongs in the chaotic world we live in, albeit in an altered form.
I also hope that readers will make the R.K. Narayan Museum a must-see spot in Mysuru when they visit.
What’s next, what’s the future looking like?
Like every other writer, I am always working on a book. But I wish I wasn’t such a cheater – I cheat on one book with another. My wandering mind grasps a different passing idea and I’m off in another direction. So, they never get finished. I always say I have about 500 pages written, except that they are distributed across 5 different unfinished books. Eventually (and hopefully) I’ll get them finished one by one.
Words Neeraja Srinivasan
Date 25-11-2025