Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Narayan, R. K. (Rasipuram Krishnaswami Narayan) nərīˈyän [key], 1906–2001, Indian novelist, b. Madras (now Chennai). Narayan, who wrote in English, published his first novel, Swami and Friends, ...

(Encyclopedia) Narayan, Jaya Prakash, 1902–79. Indian political leader. He was a founder (1934) of the Congress Socialist party and later (1952) the Indian Socialist party. He was an opponent of Indira Gandhi and ...

(Encyclopedia) Narayanan, K. R. (Raman Kocheril Narayanan) näräyänänˈ [key], 1921–2005, Indian government official. An “untouchable” or Dalit (see Harijans), he nonetheless graduated from the Univ. of Tra...

(Encyclopedia) Mittal, Lakshmi Narayan, 1950–, Indian steel tycoon. He worked at his father's small Kolkata (Calcutta) steel mill before he bought (1976) a mill in Indonesia and began to build his steel empire. He...

(Encyclopedia) Rao, Raja rou [key], 1909–2006, Indian novelist, b. Hassan, Mysore (now Karnataka), as Raja. Rao took his surname as an adult, and was educated in India and France and for many years divided his ti...

(Encyclopedia) Indian literature. Oral literature in the vernacular languages of India is of great antiquity, but it was not until about the 16th cent. that an extensive written literature appeared. Chief factors in...

(Encyclopedia) Dick, Philip K. (Philip Kindred Dick), 1928–82, American science-fiction writer, b. Chicago. Dick often wrote of the psychological states of individuals caught in altered realities where the everyda...

(Encyclopedia) Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) tälˈkēn, tōlˈ– [key], 1892–1973, British novelist, b. South Africa. A fantasy writer and Oxford don, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit (1937), adapted fro...

(Encyclopedia) Ammons, A. R. (Archie Randolph Ammons), 1926–2001, American poet, b. Whiteville, N.C., grad. Wake Forest College (1949). He began writing poetry while serving in the Navy during World War II, and, a...

(Encyclopedia) Laing, R. D. (Ronald David Laing) lăng [key], 1927–89, British psychiatrist. After studying at Univ. of Glasgow (M.D., 1951), he taught there (1953–56), later moving to the Tavistock Clinic and I...