Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks us to arrange four Indian writers in chronological order of their birth, from earliest to latest.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let's identify the birth years of each writer:
\[\begin{array}{rl} \bullet & \text{(A) Toru Dutt: Born in 1856, a pioneer in Indian English literature.} \\ \bullet & \text{(C) R.K. Narayan: Born in 1906, a foundational figure in Indian English fiction.} \\ \bullet & \text{(D) Anita Desai: Born in 1937, a celebrated contemporary novelist.} \\ \bullet & \text{(B) Jhumpa Lahiri: Born in 1967, a prominent contemporary diasporic writer.} \\ \end{array}\]Arranging them by birth year from earliest to latest, we get: Toru Dutt (1856), R.K. Narayan (1906), Anita Desai (1937), Jhumpa Lahiri (1967).
This order corresponds to the sequence (A), (C), (D), (B).
Step 3: Final Answer:
The correct answer is (A).