|
''The Insider'' is a ''roman à clef'' by P. V. Narasimha Rao, former Prime Minister of India, that was first published in 1998. It was Rao's first novel and created a storm when excerpts from the original manuscript were published in the launch issue of the ''Outlook'' magazine in 1995. == History == P. V. Narasimha Rao had a long association with the literary world beginning with his founding of the Telugu magazine ''Kakatiya'', dating back to his years of political activism against the Nizam's rule in Hyderabad. A polyglot, writer and translator in six Indian languages, Rao is credited with translating Thomas Gray’s ''Elegy'' and the Constitution of India into Telugu. Rao has also translated the Telugu Jnanapith awardee Viswanatha Satyanarayana’s ''Veyipadagalu'' into Hindi, and Hari Narayan Apte's Marathi novel ''Pan Lakshat Kon gheto'' into Telugu. He also wrote a short story in English titled "The Blue Silk Saree". When Rao began writing his novel, it was titled ''The Other Half''. It told the story of Niranjan, a member of the Indian National Congress party who goes on to become the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. It was as much a novel as also a series of essays on independent India's history. Rao sent the completed manuscript to Nikhil Chakravartty, editor of ''Mainstream'' weekly. Rao was a long-time contributor to the weekly, writing under the pseudonym "Insider". Rao also contacted Mallika Sarabhai, who ran Mapin publishing house, and the New York literary agent Lyn Franklin who asked him to complete the novel for publication. Rao initially planned to end his novel with the end of Niranjan's term as chief minister. Rao, who had by this time served as a Union minister under Indira and Rajiv Gandhi was looking to retire politically, and had intended to complete ''The Other Half'' by 1991. However, he was called upon to become the Prime Minister of India. Rao then informed Franklin that he would keep the novel's publication in abeyance during his term in office. When ''Outlook'' magazine was launched in 1995 it was given the manuscript of ''The Other Half'' by Nikhil Chakravartty as a major scoop for the inaugural issue. ''Outlook'', however, focused on the book's amorous passages, which infuriated Franklin and Rao. After the Congress comprehensively lost the elections the next year, Rao's resigned as Prime Minister and finally found time to complete his novel.〔〔 Rao was paid a 1,00,000 advance by David Davidar of Penguin India for publication rights. The manuscript was edited to exclude much of the sexual content and Anand substituted Niranjan as the central character.〔〔 It has been noted that the book draws on material from ''The Reshuffle'', a satirical political skit by Rao that was published by ''Mainstream'' in 1984.〔 The book was renamed ''The Insider'', the new title suggested by Kalyani Shankar, political editor at ''The Hindustan Times''.〔 ''The Insider'' was released in 1998 by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at a function in Delhi that had two former prime ministers and a president in attendance. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Insider (Rao novel)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|