Reluctant Guru

The World of Nagaraj

“…In his essay "Reluctant Guru" Narayan asserts that "a novel is about an individual living his life in a world imagined by the author, performing a set of actions […] contrived by the author". 8 Narayan is, then, a self-confessed author/narrator/storyteller here (clearly indicating that the text is an artefact), who tells the story of Nagaraj, an individual who intends to write the story of the life of the celestial storyteller Narada. In fact TM also suggests that Nagaraj could write as if he was Narada telling a story: "'Start with the story on hand: I am Narada bringing you a gossip item, which may develop into a family incident'" (WN, p. 114) -yet another self-reflexive tactic.…”