a general perception on narayan was that he did not involve himself or his writings with the politics or problems of india, as mentioned by v. s. naipaul in one of his columns. however, according to wyatt mason of "the new yorker", although narayan's writings seem simple and display a lack of interest in politics, he delivers his narrative with an artful and deceptive technique when dealing with such subjects and does not entirely avoid them, rather letting the words play in the reader's mind. srinivasa iyengar, former vice-chancellor of andhra university, says that narayan wrote about political topics only in the context of his subjects, quite unlike his compatriot mulk raj anand who dealt with the political structures and problems of the time. paul brians, in his book "modern south asian literature in english", says that the fact that narayan completely ignored british rule and focused on the private lives of his characters is a political statement on its own, declaring his independence from the influence of colonialism.