How does Desai portray the poet- protagonist in 'In Custody'?

Deven, the protagonist, is a disillusioned Hindi professor in his thirties. Much of his life disappoints him, as he is unhappily married, loves Urdu but has to teach in the Hindi department, and has not achieved the literary fame he had always hoped for. His negative character traits include whininess, lack of self-confidence mixed with the occasional desire to overinflate his ego and lie to himself and others about his capabilities, pettiness, a proclivity for judging others unfairly, and shortsightedness. When he is asked to interview Nur, he believes his fortunes have changed, but the aforementioned shortcomings, coupled with bad luck and other obstacles, mean that this is a tedious process and an ultimate failure.