Grandmother’s Tale

Grandmother’s Tale – is a novella by R.K. Narayan, first published in 1992, which recounts the true-life story of his courageous maternal great-grandmother, Bala, as narrated to him by his grandmother. The story is a fictionalized biography that provides a glimpse into South Indian life during the British East India Company era. The narrative centers on Bala, who is married at the tender age of seven to a ten-year-old boy named Viswa. They continue to live in their respective parental homes after the wedding, as was the custom at the time. One day, the young Viswa abruptly leaves the village with a group of pilgrims bound for Pandaripur and does not return.