in may 2001, narayan was hospitalised. a few hours before he was to be put on a ventilator, he was planning on writing his next novel, a story about a grandfather. as he was always very selective about his choice of notebooks, he asked n. ram to get him one. however, narayan did not get better and never started the novel. he died on 13 may 2001, in chennai at the age of 94.