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1
M.E.G.-7
Indian English Literature
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Attempt all questions. All questions carry equal marks.

Q. 1. Write short note on:
(a) Forms of Prose
Ans. Forms of English Prose: There are different literary forms of prose. We shall devote our attention to the main non-
fictional forms : The essay, biography, autobiography and travelogue.
Essay: The word “Essay” is derived from the French word meaning “attempt”. “An essay is a prose composition of the
moderate length devoted to some particular topic.” Again, essays can be divided into formal essays and non-formal essays.
Formal essays are also referred to as articles. A formal essay discuss the topic concerned in an objective and impersonal
manner. Its primary aim is to impart knowledge. On the other hand, a personal essay seeks to entertain the readers. The style of
essay is often conversational, it can be anecdotal and generally reveals the personality of the author. In English literature, “The
Essays of Charles Lamb” or “Elia”, are famous specimens of the personal essays.
Biography: A biography is the story of the life of a person. A biography tries to protect the personality of the subject. It
helps the readers to share the person concerned’s hopes, fears, likes, dislikes, facts and fancies. In case of an autobiography, the
writer is himself/herself his/her biographer. In this way, it tends to be more subjective.
Events are seen, felt and understood through consciousness of the author himself/herself. It is another thing that with the
passage of time, it may give much objectivity to the recollection. Again, in an autobiography and biography, there is a big
difference, whereas an autobiography is more selective in the incidents it describes, a biography covers the whole life of the
subject from the birth to death and even discuss his/her reputation after his/her death. An autobiography is no doubt incomplete,
at the same time it is or in advantageous position of presenting events at first hand. The author/authress is in a position to write
what he/she has experienced himself/herself.
A Travelogue is a description of the author’s travels. It is a sort of autobiographical account wherein the focus is on the
places and people he/she has met in his/her travels and not on incidents in the writer’s personal life or his/her personality. There
is a very strong tradition of writing travelogues in the English writing. Addison, who is known to be the father of the periodical
essay, wrote a travelogue. There are a lot of travelogue written in English literature by Indians. The first Indian writer of English
literature Dean Mahomet also wrote a travelogue, “The Travels of Dean Mahomet through Several Parts of India” (1974).

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Varieties of Prose
Uptil now, we have discussed the forms of non-fiction prose. Now, we shall concentrate on varieties of prose written by
authors. There are three varieties of prose namely descriptive, narrative and expository. There can be no hairline distinction.
An author is independent to use one, two or all the three forms of prose in a single passage. Narrative prose describes incidents
and events. It deals with what happens with the passage of time. In the narrative prose, the attention is absorbed in the action.
So far as narration is concerned, it can be slow or fast. The narration may be colourful, exciting and heightened or factual and
matter of fact. Narrative prose can be both highly imaginative and thoroughly objective. A narrative prose can deal with
external happenings or interpersonal relationships. The author is at liberty to narrate the changing feelings.
Emotions and Internal Events: Non-fiction prose-forms like travelogues, autobiographies and biographies deal with the
narratives based on facts, whereas short stories and novels are the product of author’s imagination, but no hard and fast line can
be drawn between non-fiction and fiction prose. One can find a great deal of historical facts in good historical novels. At the
same time autobiographies can be full of imagination and the facts may not be so important. Fiction based on factual events can
be seen. Such novels are called a “faction” (fact + fiction) or non-fiction novel. In “Cold Blood” (1966) by Truman Capotes
novel, the basis of treatment is that of crime and punishment in Kansas. It is based on the interviews by the accused. “The
Executioner’s Song” (1979) by Norman Mailer the term ‘true life novel’ has been used as the novel chronicles the life and death
of Gray Gilmore, a murder, who demanded his own execution in Utah. Whereas, short stories and novels, have a big narrative
voices, the narrative prose also finds an important place in the non-fiction also.
Expository Prose: The use of expository prose is done to explain or define a subject under consideration. Works of
scholarship religion, philosophy, science, technology, economics, history, commerce, political science. Expository prose presents
details logically, clearly, concretely and in sequence. It is the objective of the author to present facts and ideas and narrate a
story to describe something. Dynamic authors use a number of devices to make their subject-matter effective, for that, they use
examples to illustrate their point of view, vary their tone from one of public rhetoric to one of personal conversation present
analogies in support of their view point, narrate lucid anecdotes and use figurative language, such as personification, metaphor
and similes. A lot of non-fiction prose is explicatory. Nevertheless, it means that expository prose has no scope in fiction.
Interesting Prose: There is one thing very clear lhat prose should be read as interestingly as verse. In analysing prose, the
fiction of author should be closely examined – whether it is range of vocabulary or the usage of words. The structure and syntax
of sentences must be given due attention, whether they are short or long? Does the author make simple senses or does he give
preference to complex ones using many clauses and qualifying parenthetical comments. The rhythm of sentences need be
closely examined, how the sentences flow. The style of the author is revealed by the use of punctuation marks and the structure
of paras. The meaning should be kept in mind while analysing the style of author. The literary meaning of a piece of expression
depends on the manner it is said. Apparent meaning does not constitute the full meaning of the text under consideration.
(b) Narrative technique in The Four Daughter
Ans. The story follows a straightforward narration. There is nothing extraordinary about the narration of the story. It is
simple and straight. It captures the life of Mini in a chronological order, starting with her birth followed by her upbringing and
ends with the expected acceptance of her by her parents, who at the time of her birth had neglected her as unwelcomed.
In spite of a simple narrative and conventional pattern, story seems to ask questions which are essentially unconventional in
nature. It highlights various unconventional possibilities and tries to draw the attention of readers towards it.
The story captures the childhood and adolescence of Mini in detail and highlights all the situations wherein reconciliation
between her and her parents could have been possible. These occasions not only highlights the possibility of reconciliation
between Mini and her parents but also draw contrast between Radha and Parvati by telling how Radha rejects Mini every time
and how Parvati accepts her every time she is rejected by Radha.
Towards the end of the story the narrative gains a little speed. We are informed about the death of the grandparents of Mini
and also about the death of Mini’s third sister. Grandparents were expected to die. Though, the death of both of them was not

3
required. But what is surprising is the death of Mini’s third sister, who being the third sister dies at a young age, of course. We are
not informed anything about her ailment, if she had any, or about how she died. The narrator disposes her off in just a sentence.
We are also not told about the effect of death on any of the member of the household including Mini. Well, to be frank her death
seems very forced and abrupt.
Similarly, the departure of his to his in-laws house seems also forced and abrupt only to establish the new relation that Mini
is going to have with her parents. If we stop a moment and think about the departure of the son, we may find it bit odd. The parents
of the son are rich enough and he is the only person to inherit all the wealth and therefore, his falling for someone else’s wealth
does not really fit the frame. He occupies a space in the family which must be emptied if Mini has to get what is due to her and
therefore, his departure is necessary and required. Another reason for his departure is that Mini’s parents must feel the guilt of
what they have done. They must realise that the son that they always longed for and aspired does not care for them a bit. But
Sengupta could have thought a way better way than what she did.
The ending of the story does not take us by surprise, as after the departure of the son from the household the story had
nowhere else to go than where it actually goes. The daughter who was abandoned by the parents comes to their rescue. The son
who was their darling abandons them without thinking twice, almost similarly as they had discarded Mini at the time of their
birth. The parents realize their fault and welcome Mini home with their arms wide open, which they should have a long time
back. We are left wondering if Mini would ever be able to recover from the trauma of being left alone by her parents.
The way the narrator describes the homecoming of Mini with her newborn son straight from the hospital echoes the earlier
description of the celebration during the time of brother’s birth. “There were garlands at the door, rangoli on the floor”. The
repetition suggests the wounded psyche of Mini.
But readers are left speculating that the celebration and the change of heart of the parents are for Mini or for her newborn
son. Sengupta does not answer the question.
(c) Vikram Seth’s Prose Style
Ans. Seth describes his preferred prose style in a manner that seems to implicitly contrast him with that of Rushdie: ‘the
kind of books I like reading are books where the authorial voice doesn’t intrude … [or] … pull you up with the brilliance of their
sentences’. Of course, such comparisons ultimately conceal more than they reveal: If Seth’s novel represents a move away from
self-conscious modernist experimentation then how are we to read the self-conscious epigraph with which it opens: ‘The secret
of being a bore is to say everything’ (Voltaire)?
Set in Brahmpur, A Suitable Boy uses the taboo relationship between a boy and girl as a metonym through which to explore
the post-Independence conflict in India between Hindus and Muslims. The novel centres on four families: The Kapoors, Mehras
and Chatterjis (Hindus) and the Khans (Muslim). Mrs Rupa Mehra is looking for a ‘suitable boy’ for her wayward daughter,
Lata. ‘Suitable’ here means Hindu, but Lata, it seems, has her eyes set on a Muslim boy. The repercussions of this relationship
consume one thousand three hundred and forty nine pages.
Seth’s novel, An Equal Music (1999, is another romantic novel, but this time minus the satire of A Suitable Boy and a
thousand or so pages. The book centres on two gifted musicians: Michael Holme and Julia McNicholl. As Michael works on a
Beethoven piece for the Maggiore Quartet, he grows increasingly preoccupied with recollections of his student days in Vienna
where he met Julia. When the two are reunited by chance in London, their relationship is rekindled. One of the most impressive
aspects of this novel is the way in which it manages to convey music through language. While Seth is modest about his musical
abilities, the fact that he was commissioned to write a libretto for the English National Opera in 1994 suggests he is no novice.
An Equal Music takes a conventional romantic plot and renders it compelling and novel through the seductive clarity and
precision of its prose.
(d) Social and Cultural situations in India during Derozio’s time
Ans. Impact of British rule in India had been widespread throughout the country and affected the cultural, technological,
religious, social, political and economic state of India. India had persistently tolerated the British rule for 200 prolonged years,
with their everlasting impression been forever etched upon the succeeding Indian citizens. Impact of British rule in India, in this

4
context, is one that had perhaps emerged forth right from the 16th century, when British missionaries had sailed to eastern soil to
spread christianity, much before the British East India Company. The negative impact of British rule in India was mostly visible
in the economic aspect which occurred as a result of deindustrialization and destruction of rural economy. Impact of British rule
upon India and Indians both constitutes superior and appalling elements that still in use in present times. British invasion on
India was not the first of its kind; India has prior to British arrival, been host to pellets of ruthless foreign invasions. The British,
in this regard, were the last to arrive in India. However, when it came to the power game, it undoubtedly was the British and the
British East India Company, who completely captured Indian power and people. They covertly and efficiently expanded their
empire with the competent aid of Indian soldiers. Indians had joined the East India Company army solely for the reason that they
received salary on the first day of every month, very much unlike the Indian emperors and their system of reign. As such, impact
of British rule in India already had begun to have its impact, with the very first Christian missionaries arriving to India, with the
intention to turn a majority of population into Christians. They tried to cast Christianity in the light of a better religion and with
economic inducements convinced the poor Indians into Christianity.
Influenced by the British Romantic poets, he composed the poems with a theme of love for Nature. The other themes which
are seen in his poetry are patriotism, love and transitionism of life. Though his inspiration is derived from the British Romantic
poets, his poetry is abundant of Indian myth, imagery and sentiment. A melancholic strain is also seen in his lines. His poetry is
selvedged with abundant Indian mythological references, often mingled with that of Greek mythology also. An improper fusion
of the both mythologies reflects in the incoherent unity. He wrote sonnets and short lyrics. His notable work is ‘The Fakir of
Jungheera’.
Q. 2. Common on the structure and techniques used by Anita Desai in Clear Light of the Day.
Ans. The Clear Light of Day tries to capture the life of Das family. There are four parts in the novel, which do not have any
titles. The first part of the novel is concerned with the present of Das Family. The second part takes us back in the summer of
1947. The third parts takes back even further and tells us about the childhood of Das’s children. The fourth of the novel brings
us back in the present but here we see things with a futuristic perspective. While talking about the structure of the novel, Desai
in an interview said that in this novel she attempted to write “A four dimensional piece on how a family’s life moves backwards
and forwards in a period of time.” Desai says that the fourth dimension is ‘time’. Desai has actually paralleled the four parts of
the novel with the Four Quartest of T.S. Eliot, who she admires greatly. In the Clear Light of Day the time is also destroyer and
preserver as it is in the Four Quartest. The theme that is at the very centre of the novel is about the paradox of change and
continuity. She makes use of time as a structural device in her novel. The action of the novel, shows its forms or outline at:
“three time levels – the past, the present and the vision of the timeless in which past, present and future fuse into a homogeneous
entity. About the time-structure of the novel, Briraj Singh states: The past is not at all in one lump and the present in another; the
two are so interfused that ne keep going back at different times in the present to the same event of the past.. . ..but always with
the knowledge that the intervening description of the present has given.”
Desai is able to present the reality in her novel from different perspectives because of the four dimensional structure of the
novel. The events depicted in the novels have no linearity, as they are depicted by Desai using the stream of consciousness
techniques in her narrative. In this narrative of the novel, the author becomes the omniscient observer. She adopts a third person
narrative in the novel and thus gives us the details of the inner worlds of the characters. According to Asha Kanwar, in:
“Clear Light of Day we have the three fold effect of time – ‘the passing of moments or hours, the voyage from youth to age,
and the historical time, or time in relation to nationwide events.’ . . . Through the reminiscences of Tara and Bim, we are taken
to their childhood and made aware of their growing up to youth and then to middle age. We are also made to see how Time
affects the course of nations. Instead of celebrating the achievement of independence, Desai laments the partition, not because
of its political implications, but for the bloodshed and the insane prejudice that followed in its wake.”
The depiction of central theme of continuity and change and time as both destroyer and preserver, in the novel is impressive,
which has been achieved by Desai using the four part structure of the novel.

5
In the novel Clear Light of Day, the major area of focus for Desai is the inner complexities of the characters. What makes
the novel stand unique is the author’s preoccupation with the psychological complexities of the characters. To put it more
simply, it is a novel which can be easily termed as a psychological novel. According to Shyam A. Asnani, “Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala chooses the social background for her comedies, tragic-comedies and farces. In Kamala Markandaya’s novels the
stress is as much on principal characters as on diverse contemporary problems – economic. political, cultural, social. Nayantara
Sahgal is nothing if not political or socio-political. Concerned exclusively with the personal tragedy of the individual. Desai is
not interested in social or political probings, the outer-weather, the physical geography, or the visible action. Her forte is the
exploration of the interior world, plunging into the limitless depths of the mind; and bringing into relief the hidden contours of
the human psyche.” While talking about the limiting parameters of the work by Indian-English women writers, Desai says:
“With all the richness of material at hand, Indian women writers have stopped short from a lack of imagination. courage. nerve,
or gusto of the satirical edge, the ironic tone, the inspired criticism or the lyric response that alone might have brought their
novels to life . . . . . . . .. . . . . They seem unable to throw off the habits of reticence and acceptance of being uncritical and
sunobstrusive.”
Desai gives more importance to the internal world of an individual than the external world. It is only through an individual’s
perception that the out world gains any significance. And that is why in her fictions she tries to: “discover its significance by
plunging below the surface and plumbing the depths, then illuminating those depths till they become a more lucid, brilliant and
explicable reflection of the visible world.” According to Desai, “only the individual, the solitary being, is of true interest. One
must be Alone, silent, in order to think or contemplate, or write.”
The interest, which started with modernism, in the fragment reality, preoccupies Desai in her novels. She is not interested
in the physical reality of the world, rather she is interested in the prismatic quality of the reality. This preoccupation of hers,
enables her to juxtapose seemingly disparate ideas and emotion in an individual or situation. For her the truth has its association
with mind, and not with the body and it is this truth that she wishes to unravel in her works of fiction. For her reality and truth
has a clear distinction between them:
“Reality is merely one-tenth visible section of the iceberg that one sees above the surface of the ocean – art remaining nine-
tenths of it that lies below the surface. That is why it is more near Truth than Reality itself. Art does not merely reflect Reality
– it enlarges it.” This also given an idea that that why Desai chooses novels over short stories. To her novel writings give: “good
deal of thought and time, get round it, see it from different angles and aspects, whereas a short story demands something quite
different. You have the whole of it quite clear in your mind and just put it down at one throw.” The focus of Desai as an author
is not on outer lives of people, but on the inner lives of people, their psychological complexities, their dreams, mysteries and
awareness of futility of life. She says:
“I am interested in characters who are not average but have retreated or been driven into some extremity of despair and so
turned against, or made a stand against, the general current. It is easy to flow with the current, it makes no demands, it costs no
effort. But those who cannot follow it; whose heart cries out ‘the great No,’ who fight the current and struggle against it, they
know what the demands are and what it costs to meet them.”
The female characters of Desai’s novel are sensitive characters and usually they are engrossed with some problem or the
other. These characters are not static but they grow during the course of the novel. Desai denies the role of feminism in bringing
her in this direction. She says that it is her interest in individuals and their growth that has led to create such characters.
Techniques used by Desai like stream of consciousness, flashback and interior monologue, help her depiction of inner
world of her characters. The story of her novel gets submerged with the characters’ consciousness through her use of psychological
realism. In her novels the significance of plot loses its value to significance of characters. A story, “imposed from the outside or
a theme similarly imposed simply destroys their life, reduces them to string of jerking puppets on a stage.” She says:

6
My novels don’t have themes – at least not till they are finished, published or read, do I see any theme. While writing, I
follow my instinct. I follow flashes of insight, I veer away from or even fight anything that threatens to distort or destroy this
insight, and somehow come to the end and look back to see the pattern of footprints on the sand.”
Desai makes use of partition as a background for the novel, but not with intention of putting forth her political argument
like other writers. What she does in the novel is that she shows the significance of partition only through the character’s
perspective. In the novel Clear Light of Day, it is the childhood experiences of the characters which is at the core of their
development, and the story captures the effect of these experiences on the psychological making of these characters. The novel
has a lot of back and forth movements, precisely because the novel has a lot to do with the idea of memory and recall. The novel
does not follow the traditional line of a beginning, middle and an end, rather it shows the things as they are.
The flashback techniques used by Desai helps her to use time in various different ways. In the novel Clear Light of Day, we
see that time is looked at in reference to age and youth, national events and there are times when we that the significance of time
has been depicted as contained in a minute. The scene which best exemplifies it is the last episode of the novel when Bim and
Baba go to listen to Mulk Mishra and his Guru:
“The contrast between Mulk’s voice and [the Gum’s] mias great: Whereas Mulk’s voice had been almost like a child’s so
sweet and clear, or a young man’s full and ripe and with a touch of sweetness to it, the old man’s was sharp, even a little cracked,
inclined to break, although not merely with age but with the bitterness of his experiences, the sadness and passion and frustration.”
Desai also makes use of imagery in her novel, with which we will deal later. Desai says that her novels: “Are no reflection
of Indian society, politics or character. They are part of my private effort to seize upon the raw material of life – its shapelessness,
its meaninglessness.”
The techniques use by Desai in her novels can be summed up as following:
(a) Stress on the inner world of the characters.
(b) Use of techniques such as stream of consciousness, interior monologue and flashback.
(c) Depiction of fragmented reality through multiple perspectives.
(d) Effect of these techniques on the structure of novel.
(e) Treat of time in a different way.
(f) Use of imagery.
Q. 3. In Kanthapura, Raja Rao coveys a purely Indian experience through the foreign medium of the English
Language. Comment.
Ans. Rao makes a highly innovative use of the English language to make it conform to the Kannada rhythm. In keeping with
his theme in Kanthapura he experiments with language following the oral rhythms and narrative techniques of traditional models
of writing. The emotional upheaval that shook Kanthapura is expressed by breaking the formal English syntax to suit the sudden
changes of mood and sharp contrasts in tone. While the intuitive borrowing from language takes place at one level in the novel,
at another inter-connected level, “real” India is constructed by enshrining the novel in Gandhian ideology. It is a highly original
style. The author’s “Foreword” to the novel almost spells out the postcolonial cultural agenda:
The telling has not been easy. One has to convey in a language that is not one’s own the spirit that is one’s own. One has to
convey the various shades and omissions of a certain tough-movement that looks maltreated in an alien language. I use the word
‘alien’, yet English is not really an alien language to us. It is the language of our intellectual make-up-like Sanskrit or Persian was
before–but not of our emotional make-up. We are all instinctively bilingual, many of us writing in our own language and in
English. We cannot write like the English. We should not. We cannot write only as Indians.
Rao’s novel is significant as a cultural tract which rewrites true history against the “inauthentic” historical accounts compiled
by Europeans and because it effects a cultural revival through the use of indigenous themes and motifs. Rao is also alive to the
fact that religion has the potential to move people beyond dormancy – to display active political energy to the extent of sacrificing
their lives. Kanthapura evokes a sense of community and freedom, construed as a spiritual quality which overcomes all bounds
and crosses all barriers.

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Raja Rao himself provide a great insight into his literary style and diction in the novel Kanthapura in the preface of the
novel. He says it is use of style and diction in the novel actually expresses a great caution on his part which comes from the
awareness of the fact that he’s using a Western language to express any experience which is essentially Indian. He writes:
“One has to convey in a language that is not one’s own the spirit that is one’s own. One has to convey the various shades and
omissions of a certain thought movement that looks maltreated in an alien language.. . English is not really an alien language to
us. It is the language of our intellectual make-up – like Sanskrit or Persian was before – but not of our emotional make-up.
We cannot write like the English. We should not. We cannot write only as Indians, We have grown to look at the large world
as part of us.”
The reason Raja Rao’s style become unconventional is that he integrates the speech rhythms, the very essence of his mother
tongue Kannada into English. The kind of English he writes in the novel is not an English spoken or written by sophisticated and
educated English speakers of India, rather it the speech spoken by the common people of South Indian villages in simple English.
While talking about the effects of the English used in Kanthapura is Srinivasa Iyengar writes:
“… It is as though one sees a familiar landscape through coloured glasses. The colouring, the strangeness, is unavailable, but
it does not alter the essential truth of the things seen or the movements observed.” The reason Raja Rao shows English as the
language for his novel is because he wishes to find the stylistic equivalent of Indian experiences in a foreign language. To put it
in different words one can say that he intended to express his understanding of Indian life through a foreign language.
In order to express Indian experiences through English, Raja Rao dissociates the language from those elements which can be
associated completely with the Western culture, and the result is that one can apparently see local flavour in the speeches of the
characters in Kanthapura. He deliberately makes the language do away with Western connotations so that the resulted remaining
of the language can be very well used in order to create what we know as Indian English. Raja Rao discards English ideas and
provides by replacing them with his borrowed expressions from Kannada. Esha Dey, while writing about this aspect of the novel
in The Novels of Raja Rao, says:
“There is a sprinkling of words connected with the physical reality of India and Hindu behaviour patterns, like pollution,
cost, coconut, camphor, lantana, bamboo, ablution, banana puffed rice, et cetera, in short the items which ‘Indianize’ language
essentially for the semantic function in respect of Hindu/Indian culture. But linguistic patterns remain the same, in the effort to
present reality as actually perceived by the senses.”
Maarkand Paranjape , while talking about Raja Rao’s synthesis of theme and style says:
“Both stylish Italian thematically… Rao succeeds in capturing the spirit of India in its works. His innovations with form and
style have expanded the expressive range of English and have influenced other writers who share his predicament: the task of
writing about the culture and language that is not native to it.”
The prose of Kanthapura has a poetic quality of its own. Rhythmic effect is created through indulgence in the repetition and
bringing together a number of clauses. The effect is such that it sounds almost like a verse. This can be seen in the opening pages
of the novel when Rao talks about winding roads of the ghats in Kanthapura. More or less the same effect can be noticed when
Rao describes the battle between the Goddess Kenchamma and the Demon. In his preface to the novel, a Rao says that the novel
has been written has a sthala-purana, suggesting that the language of the novel has a tone of an epic. And excellent example of
rhythmic prose in the novel is the description of the Kartik Festival:
“Kartik has come to Kanthapura… with the glow of lights and unpressed footsteps of the wandering Gods; white lights from
clay-trays and red lights from copper-stands, and diamond lights that glow from the bowers of entrance-leaves; lights that glow
from banana trunks and mango twigs, yellow lights behind white leaves, and green lights behind yellow leaves, and white lights
behind green leaves; . . .”
There is no doubt that the prose style of the novel has an oral quality to it. The story of the Kanthapura is narrated by
someone who has a socially distinct manner of telling a story, which makes it only natural for the story to have this oral quality.
The narrator of the novel is Achakka, a grandmother of the village. She has a rich experience of life but her origin is humble. In

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order to enrich her narrative she makes complete use of folklore elements and traditional myths. These elements enhance the
texture of the narrative of Raja Rao’s novel. Rao uses long sentences in the novel which shows his descriptive power. The overall
effect is described by S.C Harrex in the following words:
“Considered in terms of the development of the Indian novel in English, Kanthapura clearly has a special place as the first
work to demonstrate convincingly, in terms of form and content, that the novel in English was a medium which could be adapted
to the Indian sensibility.”
While talking about the similarities between the style of Raja Rao and ancient Indian Purans Paranjape writes:
“Kanthapura shares certain narrative techniques with the Puranas. The story is told rapidly, all in one breath, by a village
grandmother and the style reflects the oral heritage also evident in the Harikatha.. .The Puranas contain detailed, poetic descriptions
of nab’s; similarly, the novel has several descriptive passages which are so evocative and unified as to be prose-poems themselves.
Examples are the coming of Karthic, daybreak over the Ghats and the advent of the rains.”
Q. 4. What makes India special for Aurobindo is “spirituality made the leading motive and the determining power
of both the inner and the outer life.” Do you agree? Elaborate Aurbindo’s view on Indian Culture.
Ans. Sri Aurobindo falls into the exclusive category of Poet-Seers who have achieved the highest realisations and have
endeavoured to share that experience with the rest of humankind. The teachings and very utterances that spiritual masters of this
calibre offer to the world come from the most sublime realms of consciousness that human beings can attain to. Their poetry
transcends the page to become mantra, an invocation to the transcendental consciousness.
Sri Aurobindo, Indian nationalist, poet, philosopher and Spiritual Guru was born in Calcutta on 15th August, 1872.
Sri Aurobindo spent his formative years in England studying at St Paul’s and Trinity College where he excelled in the study
of Literature and the Classics. In 1892 he returned to India where he became heavily involved in the Indian independence
movement, he was a natural leader and one of the most radical nationalist politicians. Because of his radicalism, in 1908 Sri
Aurobindo was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a bomb plot and was remanded in Alipore jail. It was here in jail that
Sri Aurobindo had significant spiritual experiences, he became aware of a divine inner guidance and also realised the omnipresence
of God even in a darkened prison cell.
Due to the commitment of Sri Aurobindo’s lawyer C.R. Das, Sri Aurobindo was released without charge. However, this
experience had changed Sri Aurobindo’s outlook. Henceforth, he retired from politics and focused his energies on spirituality.
Sri Aurobindo travelled to Pondicherry, South India where he could practise yoga undisturbed. In 1914 he was later joined
by a French women, Mira Richards who would later became known as the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Together they
founded the Sri Aurobindo ashram, which began to attract disciples attracted to their dynamic reinterpretation of yoga.
As-well-as being a spiritual Guru to many disciples Sri Aurobindo was a noted poet, philosopher and writer. His main works
were The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the Gita and Savitri. Savitri was an epic work of poetry that he worked on
for over 20 years.
Sri Aurobindo did not negate the world like Indian yogis of the past. Instead Sri Aurobindo affirmed that all life is Yoga;
through a conscious aspiration it is possible for man to evolve into a higher consciousness – a consciousness of truth and inner
harmony. Sri Aurobindo called this new consciousness the Supramental.
For over 40 years, Sri Aurobindo worked tirelessly for his vision of a divine life on earth. Through his writings and poetry he
left a legacy which reflected his hopes of a golden future for humanity. Sri Aurobindo entered mahasamadhi on 5th December,
1950.
Sri Aurobindo not only expressed his spiritual thought and vision in intricate metaphysical reasoning and in phenomenological
terms, but also in poetry. He started writing poetry as a young student, and continued until late in his life. The theme of his poetry
changed with the projects that he undertook. It ranged from revolutionary homages to mystic philosophy. Sri Aurobindo wrote in
classical style.
In Sri Aurobindo’s theory of poetry, written under the title The Future Poetry, he writes about the significance that art and
culture have for the spiritual evolution of mankind. He believed that a new, deep, and intuitive poetry could be a powerful aid to

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the change of consciousness and the life required to achieve the spiritual destiny of mankind which he envisioned. Unlike
philosophy or psychology, poetry could make the reality of the Spirit living to the imagination and reveal its beauty and delight
and captivate the deeper soul of humanity to its acceptance. It is perhaps in Sri Aurobindo’s own poetry, particularly in his epic
poem Savitri, that we find the fullest and most powerful statement of his spiritual thought and vision.
Savitri: A Legend and a symbol is Sri Aurobindo’s epic poem in 12 books, 24,000 lines about an individual who overcomes
the ignorance, suffering, and death in the world through Her spiritual quest, setting the stage for the emergence of a new, Divine
life on earth. It is loosely based on the ancient Indian tale of ‘Savitri and Satyavan’ from the Mahabharata.
The poem explores the idea of human transcendence through a tree with its branch stretching upwards, towards heaven. The
poet says that even though the roots of the tree are fixed to the ground, the branches reach towards the sky. In the couplet the poet
compares the human soul with the tree. He says that just like tree our body and brain are earthly bound and therefore they are able
to detain our heavenly flight. It is interesting that while talking about the tree, the poet’s tone is positive and while talking about
the humans his tone becomes negative. The earthly bounded body and brain stops the human to reach the heavenly heights. The
poet blames humans for the urge to be bound to the physical world.
In this poem the poet tries to present the opposite ideas of life and death together. The poet says that both of these ideas have
been regarded as antimonies ever since but now he has finally found a new wisdom or knowledge. The new knowledge which the
poet talks about is: “Life only is, or death is life disguised, …”. The first part of this statement means that there is nothing called
death. Everything is life. But in the later part of the line, the poet says that even if there is something called death then it is but life
in disguise.
This claim is very big as if it can potentially change one’s attitude towards one’s life. If we reject the idea of death then we
have to believe that we are immortal which is not what we see in our everyday life. But to see it from the perspective of the
second part of poet’s new found knowledge it seems that what may appear as death is but a disguise for people do not die but they
pass from one form of life into another.
In the last line of the poem, the poet reverses the entire scheme of thought that we have till now developed. Earlier he
discarded the idea of death and now he says that life on earth, the life as we know it, is nothing when compared to the life after
death.
Q. 5. Mulk Raj Anand’s novel portrays Indian social problems realistically. Discuss with references to the novel
Untouchable.
Ans. Mulk Raj Anand’s novels portray Indian social problems realistically. Discuss with reference to the novel Untouchable.
Mulk Raj Anand stands in the front line of IndianWriting in English. His depiction of character is lifelike and he is the
perfectionist ii the representation ofhis characters. He is undoubtedly the greatest artist of Indian Writing in English. His great
works represent to us the lives of India’s poor in a realistic and sympathetic manner. Mulk Raj Anand’s debut novel Untouchable
the great blend in literature. Untouchable novel depicts the events of a single day in the life of Bakha.. Bakha, throughout the
novel faced the discrimination in the caste-based so called society. He belongs to the sweeper community. He has a great
physique and muscles. “Each muscle of body, had as a rock when it came to play, seemed to shine forth like glass. What a
dexterous workman! The on-looker would have said. And though his job was dirty, he remained comparatively clean”
(Untouchable) He has to clean toilets and bring about sanitation at the cost of his hygiene. Every now and then he is
disparaged and called “defiled and polluted”. He is only a beast of burden in his eyes of the highly prejudiced so called society.
His sister has also to work in the houses of the touchables for chores and returns humiliated. In utter desperation and exasperation,
he tells his father “They think we are dirt because we clean their dirt” (Untouchable). The so called society is not even considerate
to him if he offers a helping hand to it. On the occasion, Bakha is playing hockey. A little boy is injured and as Bakha lifts the boy
up, boy’s caste-ridden mother screams “Polluted, polluted” (Untouchable) There are many occasions in the novel which reveal
the harsh and painful realities in the society. On such occasion is when the Untouchables are victimized, and shattered into
pieces. The “Well Incident”, “Temple Incident”, “bazar incident” and many other incidents describe how these ill-feted people

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are exploited by the so-called highclass touchables. The cruelty doesn’t happen only with him but his sister also faces the same
thing just because being an Untouchable. So, here, we can see the Untouchables, being weak, have no justice. The priest in the
novel pollutes his position, who is supposed to preach the gospel of truth, humanity, morality, and sanctity. But, he turns out to be
a victimizer, a tyrantmane treatment. The ‘Bazar Incident’ is also very touching and pathetic. He has to face insult through out the
novel , it’s just because of his untouchability. His only crime is that he touches people from the caste Hindu. For it, he is ill-treated
by the so called touchables in the words– ‘swine dog’ , ‘dirty dog’ , ‘you brute’. Bakha is unable to do anything despite to listen
and bend down his head, mumbling something. As the same, ‘Temple Incident’ is also painful and arises our sympathy for the
sufferer. Bakha is also a common being like many others in the society but his feelings are repressed by this so-called touchable
society. He is one of many unlucky ones whose life is painful and undergo humiliation just because of their being Untouchables
in the society. These Untouchables find them self no where in the society and spend life full of pain even today in this world.
Untouchable is the story of a single day in the life of 18 year old Untouchable boy named Bakha, who lives in pre-independence
India. Bakha is described as `strong and able-bodied`, full of enthusiasm and dreams varying from to dressing like a ‘Tommie’
(Englishmen) in ‘fashun’ to playing hockey. However, his limited means and the fact that he belongs to the lowest caste even
amongst Untouchables, forces him to beg for food, to often face humiliation, and to be at the mercy of the whims of other, higher
caste, Hindus.
The day described in the story is a difficult one for Bakha. Over the course of the day, he is slapped in public for ‘polluting’
an upper caste Hindu through an accidental touch and has food thrown at him by another person after he cleans her gutters. His
sister is molested by a priest, he is blamed for an injury received by a young boy following a melee after a hockey match, and he
is thrown out of his house by his father.
In the story, Mulk Raj Anand presents two choices, or ways in which Bakha in particular and Untouchables in general can be
liberated from the life they are born into. The first choice is that of Christianity, a religion that does not recognize the caste
system. The second comes from the teachings of Gandhi who calls for the freeing of Harijans.

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