Reader Writes on RKN's "Painter of Signs"
Mr. HR Nagesha Rao was an ardent fan of RK Narayan. And ofcourse he has been reading Illustrated Weekly of India without fail. I had the privilege of bringing home the magazines like Weekly, Femina, Filmfare, Shankar’s Weekly, Blitz and Current from M/s. Nandana News Agency, Opp. To NMH in Vishveswarapura, a walkable distance from Journalists’ Colony. In addition to these magazines, I remember to have seen subscriber’s copies of Readers’ Digest, Mirror and Hi being received at home by post. He used to get the books of his choice written by Khushwant Singh, Manohar Mulgaonkar, RK Narayan etal through VPP. During 1976 he shoots an inland letter to the Editor of the Weekly about his disappointments after reading a serialized novel of RKN.
To
The Editor
“Illustrated Weekly of India”
“READERS’ WRITE”
Bombay –1
Dear Sir,
Re: PAINTER OF SIGNS
What an abrupt end to an absorbing, interesting and witty story by Sri R.K.Narayan? Were you not prepared to provide space for the serial for some more weeks or was the author afraid that if Raman and Daisy were made to live together, the heroine of family planning might herself end with a babe in her arms! Or they would have to seek merely divorce on account of their incompatible temperaments and possible encounters on their way, the “brave” Daisy turned out to be an escapist – infirm in her decisions and designs and an inhuman being quite unconcerned with the fate of the person who sacrificed his chastity and also has deserted his aunt for her sake. We should only hope that in her next escapade in Nilgiris, she will not entice some innocent hermit there and spoil his fruits of penance.
My heartfelt sympathies to the “Painter of Signs” who succumbed to the wiles of a slogan shooter and was finally left in a lurch – as “athO bhrashTa, tathO bhrashTa! This should not have happened to a novel penned by an illustrious Narayan!
HR Nagesha Rao
The Editor
“Illustrated Weekly of India”
“READERS’ WRITE”
Bombay –1
Dear Sir,
Re: PAINTER OF SIGNS
What an abrupt end to an absorbing, interesting and witty story by Sri R.K.Narayan? Were you not prepared to provide space for the serial for some more weeks or was the author afraid that if Raman and Daisy were made to live together, the heroine of family planning might herself end with a babe in her arms! Or they would have to seek merely divorce on account of their incompatible temperaments and possible encounters on their way, the “brave” Daisy turned out to be an escapist – infirm in her decisions and designs and an inhuman being quite unconcerned with the fate of the person who sacrificed his chastity and also has deserted his aunt for her sake. We should only hope that in her next escapade in Nilgiris, she will not entice some innocent hermit there and spoil his fruits of penance.
My heartfelt sympathies to the “Painter of Signs” who succumbed to the wiles of a slogan shooter and was finally left in a lurch – as “athO bhrashTa, tathO bhrashTa! This should not have happened to a novel penned by an illustrious Narayan!
HR Nagesha Rao
06/10/1976
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