Traditional Book Pack

Get this wonderful book pack of 4 x 200g of Traditional Malgudi Days coffees (Ground for Indian Filter) and any one of R. K. Narayan's classic books, Malgudi Days, The English Teacher, The Mahabharata or Ramayana. Includes FREE Shipping to AU and NZ.

Malgudi Days

R. K. Narayan describes how in India 'the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story.' Malgudi Days is the marvellous result. Here Narayan portrays an astrologer, a snake-charmer, a postman, a vendor of pies and chapatis - all kinds of people, drawn in full colour and endearing domestic detail. And under his magician's touch the whole imaginary city of Malgudi springs to life, revealing the essence of India and of human experience.

The English Teacher

Krishna, an English teacher in the town of Malgudi, nagged by the feeling he's doing the wrong work, is nonetheless delighted by his domestic life, where his wife and young daughter wait for him outside the house every afternoon. Devastated by the death of his wife, Krishna comes to realise what he really wants to do, and makes a decision that will change his life forever.

The Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is some 3,500 years old and is the longest poem in any language. It is one of the founding epics of Indian culture and, with its mixture of cosmic drama and profound philosophy (one small section forms the Bhagavad Gita) it holds a unique place in world literature. In this drastically shortened prose rendering, Narayan uses all his extraordinary talents to convey to a modern reader why this is such a great story. Filled with vivid characters, obsessed with the rise and fall of gods, empires and heroes, Narayan's Mahabharata is an enormously enjoyable experience and the perfect introduction to the otherwise bewildering Indian cosmology.

The Ramayana

The Ramayana is the greatest of the Indian epics - and one of the world's supreme masterpieces of storytelling. 'Almost every individual living in India,' writes R. K. Narayan in the introduction to this new interpretation, 'is aware of the story of The Ramayana. Everyone of whatever age, outlook, education or station in life knows the essential part of the epic and adores the main figures in it - Rama and Sita. Every child is told the story at bedtime . . . The Ramayana pervades our cultural life.' Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki, probably around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless variant versions in different languages. Here, drawing his inspiration from the work of an eleventh-century Tamil poet called Kamban, Narayan has used the talents of a master novelist to recreate the excitement and joy he has found in the original. It can be enjoyed and appreciated, he suggests, for its psychological insight, its spiritual depth and its practical wisdom - or just as a thrilling tale of abduction, battle and courtship played out in a universe thronged with heroes, deities and demons.