A STUDY OF JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN’S AND L.K.ADVANI’S PRISON DIARIES

Among many genres of life-writing, the study of diary has been a recent phenomenon. It is basically a study of the identity of the self and its exploration. Diary as a genre is variously defined by critics owing to its interdisciplinary nature. In the first half, this paper examines the origin, growth, and nature of diary writing in the world and analyses especially the tradition of writing a diary in prisons. In the second part, the article explores two prison diaries of political prisoners of India during the Emergency (1975). These are Prison Diary by Jayaprakash Narayan and A Prisoner's Scrap-Book by L.K.Advani. The diary of JP, pregnant with fiery words, points out the lacunae in the contemporary democratic system and stresses the need to restore the receding values in the minds of the law enforcing authority and calls for a total revolution. The diary of Advani chronicles of unflinching dedication towards achieving the vision of an ideal nation and his passionate effort to restore democracy in India through his writing. Writing diaries is a form of political action to both these writers.