The Guru Of Love: A Novel

Upadhyay's debut novel " The Guru of Love" encompasses the unrest resided in the lives of the characters that he has presented in his book and also depicts the inevitable human drives to love and lust . However, some of the consequences presented seem to be somehow different and unbelievable in context of the Nepali society. Apart from some instances, it unravels the existing Nepali society entangled with varied troubles; political and personal .
Ramchandra whirled in hand-to-mouth problem residing in a small thatched rented room with his lovable wife Goma and two children Sanu and Rakesh, is a mathematics teacher and has been tutoring some other students at his room to belittle the economical problems. Goma 'being a true wife of the protagonist,has given up all the luxuries of her mother's home and is determined to have devoted whole of her life asuaging the wounds of family as well as extra marital problems and living with relish in extreme poverty. Ramchandra develops his affair with his tutee Malati, an unmarried teenage mother deserted by her beloved taxi driver. It no longer remains secret and Goma knows all about it. Being shocked with the news, she leaves for her mother's home. Later, Goma insists her husband to allow Malati to live with them in the rented home and manages the bedroom for Malati and Ramchandra. She shifts to her children's room. The pandeys, in-laws, pass away. Malati gets back her husband. They come back from the Pandeys. They settle in Kirtipur in two rooms with the money they get from selling their inherited house from in-laws.
The novel reveals the middle class family problems, it also unravels the varied cultural aspects of the Nepali society, anti goverment riots taking place in the 90s. A facinating novel showing middle class nuclear family entangled with problems clashing with high class in-laws despite some unbelievable peculiarities as such Goma's insistence to allow Malati to reside in their home and share bed with her husband, which Nepali woman shows such open minded attitude. She is such a great guru of love, not Ramchandra.