rajam died of typhoid in 1939. her death affected narayan deeply and he remained depressed for a long time. he never remarried in his life; he was also concerned for their daughter hema, who was only three years old. the bereavement brought about a significant change in his life and was the inspiration behind his next novel, "the english teacher". this book, like his first two books, is autobiographical, but more so, and completes an unintentional thematic trilogy following "swami and friends" and "the bachelor of arts". in subsequent interviews, narayan acknowledges that "the english teacher" was almost entirely an autobiography, albeit with different names for the characters and the change of setting in malgudi; he also explains that the emotions detailed in the book reflected his own at the time of rajam's death.