A Narrative Inquiry: Author as a Narrator as Well as a Character in Ruskin Bond's Maharani

Abstract

Maharani is one of the most different and partly autobiographical work of Ruskin Bond. It is different because the author himself is performing a double role of Narrator as well as a character of his own. The opening lines of this novella "I think I am dying Ruskin, said by Neena Her- Highness , remains ambiguous . These words reveal the close relationship of author as a character with Neena , central character of the novel. "Maharani”, published in 2012 by Ruskin Bond introduced a special narrative contingency that is different from his previous narrative styles, which is ethically directing him in a relation between self and other characters in the novel and thus, he loses his singularity as a narrator. This novel is special in the sense that he himself is playing a character of Ruskin bond and thus exterminating his position as a narrator but developing himself as a character. This paper is an attempt to investigate the technique of narration used by Bond and its effectiveness.

The novel "Maharani” explores the vibrant but gloomy world of Neena H.H (her -highness) who is a spoilt, self obsessed, glamorous widow of the Maharaja of Mastipur. The novel is full of charm as the author writes about love, death, and explores friendship of melancholic Maharani with her old friend Ruskin. Playing a character himself is a considerable challenge to the self's singularity to accommodate an attractive narration throughout on his authors cost.

But this kind of narrative is different from the typical narrative practices made by his contemporary and may be assumed as a radical challenge in existing narrative trends.