R.K. Narayan is not only a novelist whose fourteen novels span the last fifty years of India’s history; he is a humanist who draws the best possible picture of contemporary Indian middle class families. This work deals with Narayan’s approach to his own Indian civilization which he describes as threatened from within (a slumbering routine seems to have overtaken every activity), and from without (the West increasingly makes its way into the country). Narayan’s unique use of English and his treatment of the novel as a form of art are analyzed, along with the author’s evolution, as he describes the problems of Indian individuals faced with an uncertain future in a fast changing society.