Abstract :
Literature brings to fore the reality of life that is represented in various genres. It has been known as a mirror of social life. The need to acknowledge literary works becomes inevitable as they reflect the unheard segments of the society. Especially in the case of RK Narayan, his work intends to explore the various dimensions of everyday lives in the Indian society. By using Reader response theory the study intends to examine R.K Narayan’s The Vendor of Sweets as a novel which has contemporary relevance in the present era and as a text which is open for multiple interpretations.

Keywords :
Literature, mirror of social life, contemporary relevance