Google celebrates RKN's 108th birthday with a doodle

Google celebrated writer R K Narayan’s 108th birthday with a doodle on Friday. One of the early writers of Indian English, R K Narayan (RKN)  was born on 10th October, 1906.

He started his career as a journalist, and made his debut as a novelist in 1935 with ‘Swami and Friends’.

’Swami and Friends’ also introduced his fictional town of Malgudi, which was to host several of his celebrated stories.

Over a writing career spanning six decades, RKN went on to write several acclaimed novels such as ‘The Bachelor of Arts’, ‘The English Teacher’, ‘The Financial Expert’ and ‘The Guide’.

The doodle shows a man reading a book titled ‘Malgudi Days’. The cover also shows a hut drawn in a style similar to R K Laxman’s cartoon. R K Laxman, an equally illustrious brother of R K Narayan, is considered India’s finest cartoonist by many.

On the doodle, the man’s bald head is placed where the second O in Google should be. The back cover of the book has a black-and-white portrait of RK Narayan.

He died of heart failure at the age of 94 on May 12, 2001.