In celebrating one of India’s greatest storytellers, Bhaskar invites us to revisit the quiet, everyday worlds that Narayan once brought alive, and to see how those worlds still linger in our collective memory.
Through Rukmini Aunty and her band of book-loving neighbours, we rediscover the power of community, the endurance of good storytelling, and the timeless appeal of a writer who made everyday India immortal.
Rukmini Aunty’s newly built house in Mysore is near a dilapidated relic with its roof caved in, marring the view from her carefully designed Zen-like meditation nook. She abhors the house that reeks of litigation and lawsuits, until she discovers it once belonged to the illustrious writer R.K. Narayan. When city authorities intervene to declare it a Heritage building, its fate hangs between the builder’s scalpel and the limited coffers of the city, while they scramble for funds to buy it from his heirs at the prevailing market rate. Only Rukmini aunty and the ‘R.K. Narayan Fan Club’ ladies group in her neighbourhood can now save the house and with it, a piece of literary history.
Why it matters:
At its heart, Rukmini Aunty and the R.K. Narayan Fan Club is not just a tribute, it’s a mirror held up to the India of today, asking how we remember the voices that shaped us. In Rukmini Aunty and the neighbourhood women, readers will find humour, heart, and the quiet heroism of women who refuse to let history be forgotten.
About The Author
Sita Bhaskar is the author of three books: Tara and Sandy: Slow Dance of Infinite Stars (with co-author Sabarna Roy) – an epistolary novel, Flirting With Trouble – a novella and interlinked short stories, and Shielding Her Modesty – a cross-cultural short story collection. She is a contributor to The Oldest Love Story – A Motherhood Anthology, and also to In the Silence of this Room. Her short stories have been published in several literary magazines. Sita Bhaskar spends her time between Madison and Mysuru, India.
