By the afternoon, when Narayanan did not come to his Kasturba Gandhi Marg office, the journalistic community was in a tizzy. By the next evening, it was pretty clear that the last had not been heard on one of the most stunning stories in the minuscule world of Delhi newspapers. Narayanan, who has been sequestered at home since the story broke, says only that it is a mistake for which he is ready to pay ``the ultimate price of quitting journalism. I have offered my resignation to The Hindustan Times and now I am waiting for their decision''.

The Editor, Printer and Publisher of The Pioneer, Chandan Mitra,who as the incestuous ways of Delhi dailydom would have it, worked as Executive Editor under Narayanan, says it was a tough call: ``The media is supposed to act as a watchdog and it's only fair that we turn the mirror on ourselves. But I was a bit concerned about the damage it would cause to The Hindustan Times where I worked for four years and of which I have fond memories.''

Even Narayanan does not harbour any bitterness against The Pioneer. ``The days of dog not eating dog are over. And in any case, I have always been very critical of journalists so I have no complaints.'' At this point, he says he is too distressed to explain why it happened, ``but I can only say that I am going to choose an appropriate time to explain my action to all of you''.

As far as the Editor's Guild is concerned, its president Ajit Bhattacharjea says he would rather not comment on ``such a sensitive issue. It's a terrible experience''.

The facts of the experience are as follows: of the 12 paragraphs Narayananwrote in the September 12 edition of his popular column Musings, 10 were replicated from Appleyard's article of February 28. B N Uniyal of The Pioneer even counted the number of words in the article, 1,263, of which only 243 were his own.

A collection of his Musings was published as a book by Sterling in 1997, under the title I Muse, Therefore I Am. But this isn't the first time Narayanan has been accused of plagiarism. When he was Editor of The Tribune, the matter was even taken to the Press Council.