REFLECTION OF THE SELF THROUGH PORTRAYAL OF CHILDREN IN THE SHORT STORIES OF R.K. NARAYAN

R K Narayan is one of the best Indian writers in English sharing this status with Raja Rao and Mulkh Raj Anand. A highly acclaimed writer, master story teller, his characters and his portrayal of ‘Malgudi' with coruscating virtuosity are testament to his enduring appeal to the readers and critics alike. He is one of the very few, writing in those times, who delved deep in the world of children to find his own childhood in them. His stories containing the child characters firmly establish his status as a writer with rare insight into child psychology. This insight, however, is rooted in Narayan's own experiences as a child. His ouvre can be read as an autobiography of the author himself. Although the autobiographical strain invests all his writings, the present article is an attempt to study his short stories as reflection of his own personal experiences, particularly with reference to his childhood. Reading his stories give the readers a peep into his own life as a child taking into consideration the adult world as viewed by the innocent eyes of a child. The present paper also focuses on the plight of the children which generally goes unnoticed by the so called wise adult world and how the pure uncorrupt mind has to face harshness on the part of the elders in order to carve out a gentleman out of them