'Malgudi Schooldays' out in illustrated re-edition

Author RK Narayan's widely-loved masterpiece containing classic stories about the escapades of schooboy Swami and his friends, is now out in an illustrated re-edition. Malgudi Schooldays an abridged edition of Narayan's celebrated novel "Swami and Friends" has now been brought out with illustration by Lavanya Naidu.

"A delightfully funny account of a harum-scarum schoolboy by one of the greatest writers of our time, Malgudi Schooldays enchants and exhilarates all those who step into its world," said publishers Puffin Books India, a children's imprint of Penguin.

Swami's days are full of action. When he is not creating a ruckus in the classroom, or blundering through his exams, he's adventuring down the streets of Malgudi; befuddling his grandmother; or stoning the school windows, inspired by a swadeshi demonstration.

However, the greatest exploit of Swami and his friends lies in putting together a cricket team the Malgudi Cricket Club and challenging the Young men's union to a match. 

Born on October 10, in 1906 in Madras, R K Narayan began his writing career with "Swami and Friends" in 1935. The book like most of his work is set in the fictional town of Malgudi, which captures everything Indian while having a unique identity of its own.

A true master of humour, irony, realism, romance and artistry, Narayan's writing style was marked by simplicity and subtle humour. He told stories of ordinary people trying to live their simple lives in a changing world.

Meanwhile Lavanya Naidu is an animator and illustrator from Kolkata.