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Under The Banyan Tree & Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Narayan, which revolve around individuals from all walks of life, and is set in the fictional city of Malgudi. Summary Of The Book Under The Banyan Tree & Other Stories is a collection of twenty eight stories by the master story-teller of India, R. K. Narayan. These stories are set in Narayan’s famous fictional city in South India, Malgudi. The stories in this book range from being hilarious to serious and are packed with Narayan’s observation of nature. The short stories in this book are mostly 5-6 pages long and make for a quick read. Narayan introduces the readers to individuals from all walks of life in India, ranging from beggars to merchants. The main story of this book, Under The Banyan Tree, revolves around a village storyteller. The storyteller desires to stop speaking for the rest of his life, after he finishes his career. He believes that a storyteller must stop before another individual tells them to do so. One of the stories, Four Rupees, is based on Ranga, who earns his daily bread by doing odd jobs for the villagers. One day, he is requested to fetch an ancestry vessel that has accidently dropped into the backyard well. The vessel, which belongs to a rich family, needs to be fetched out as soon as possible. However, the task isn’t simple, as Ranga needs to reach the bottom of the well, which is 60 feet deep. Ranga is offered four rupees to execute this dangerous task. Does Ranga agree to undertake this risky job? Another Community is a short story that revolves around the tension between different communities in October, 1947. Narayan doesn’t refer to any particular religion or sect, but uses terms such as ‘One Community’ and ‘Another Community’ throughout the story. Flavour of Coconut is a light story that is based on a prisoner, who is responsible for causing heavy losses by puncturing clothes and biting important documents. About R. K. Narayan R. K. Narayan was a writer. Some of Narayan’s literary works include Waiting for the Mahatma, The Grandmother’s Tale and Selected Stories, and Lawley Road and Other Stories. Narayan was born on 10th October, 1906, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He finished his schooling from C.R.C. High School, the Christian College High School, and the Lutheran Mission School. Narayan finished his undergraduate degree from the Maharaja College of Mysore, which took him one year longer to complete. Following that, he began working as a school teacher. However, he quit shortly as the Principal made him substitute for the physical education teacher. He soon realized that writing was the best career option for him, which made him spend a great deal of time writing novels at home. Through the course of his six-decade long career, Narayan was presented with several awards, which include the Padma Bhushan, the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the AC Benson Medal. He passed away on 13th May, 2001.