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Unit 11: Next Sunday by R K Narayan

umbrella is a highly prized possession to anyone. It should be carried carefully without leaving Notes
it at any point of the journey.
The Later Essays are longer than the other two. R K Narayan wrote on the topics that were
significant to him. One such essay is ‘A Writer’s Nightmare’ (1988). This essay sums up a critical
observation on censorship of writings and writers by the government parameters. It reveals
R K Narayan’s keen observation on the situation of writing in India. The essay is also a virtue of
simplicity, precision, clarity and readability. Here, Narayan uses the minimum of words to
achieve his purpose, and vocabulary has a modest usage. It is a sweet ‘anecdote of dream’ like
qualities.

Through a dream like quality, Narayan observes the nightmare of a writer where he is pathetically
subjugated and minimized by narrow restrictions of governmental dictation. In the world of
‘Xingu’, the kingdom of fantasy, the author dreams of and appointment of an officer called-
‘Controller of Stories’. The controller of stories has the functionality of monitoring, regulating
and reprimanding the bad stories altogether.
The purpose of such measurements is enhancing the ‘writing skill and the content of the story’.
Finally, what the government says is an object misery that if the procedures fail in achieving its
goals, they should take the writing for themselves. At this stage, the dream shatters.
Narayan’s observation is pivotal to that criticism of government censorship and parliamentary
debates. Through bunter and situational laughter, he criticizes the tendency of curving of
spontaneity of a writer by the governmental mechanism. ‘Writing- be’ it a story or any other
literary piece must be a will of the author’s powerful ambition through subjectivity or objectivity.
A government should not regulate writers notably, Narayan’s comic is very clear as he has
hinted the hoax of parliamentary procedure through a questionnaire. “The Writer’s Nightmare”
is typically Narayan’s social critique.
The other essays are on the topics like ‘Love’, ‘Noble Prize Winners’, ‘English in India’ and
‘The Problem of the Indian Writer’. This group of essays includes a significant essay, “Misguided
Guide”, expressing Narayan’s displeasure with the film ‘Guide’, based on his book, “The Guide”.

Conclusion

Thus, all personal essays of R K Narayan are authentic descriptions of his life. They are drenched
with wit, humour and with irony here and there.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Critics called Narayan the Indian Chekhov because of the similarities in their writings, the
simplicity and the gentle beauty and humour in tragic situations.
2. My Dateless Dairy is the autobiography of Narayan.
3. Swami and Friends is the first of a trilogy of novels written by R K Narayan.
4. Rabindranath Tagore won the first Indian Sahitya Akademi Award.

5. The Newspaper Habit is a funny essay about the reading habits of a newspaper.

11.6 Summary

R K Narayan wrote non-fictional pieces/essays. They were written at various times, which
indicated his growth of mind as a writer like William Wordsworth.

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