Houses pay tribute R K Narayan, legislators

bangalore: both houses of the state legislature on monday paid tributes to former legislators and noted writer r.k. narayan who passed away recently. the members recalled the services of gopinath sandra, a.b. jakanur, c. narayana reddy, e.m. shedsal, maruthi gangappa gaveri, b.m. horakeri, v.r. naidu, chandrasekhar gurupadappa gatchinmath, vijaya desai, d.poosalingam and h.k. shivarudrappa. the members observed one minute's silence as a mark of respect for the departed leaders. in the council, house leader h.k. patil, paying tributes to the departed members, referred to writer r.k. narayan as a litterateur of international reputation who immortalised karnataka. ``his death has created a void in the world of literature which cannot be filled.'' opposition leader k.h. srinivas recalled his meeting with the noted writer 22 years ago when he was information and publicity minister. ``i requested him to write a small booklet on karnataka and we had many interactions over this. finally, the booklet itself was circulated everywhere and met with praise. his ability to write in english for the common man is commendable. he and his brother r.k. laxman are like two literary giants of the country,'' he noted.