Sahityasetu

I

Since classical age, India has great heritage of literature. In India, today, in many languages literatures are produced with quality and quantity. Literature is considered as the reflection of the society as the culture of particular society is reflected in its literature. Since the eighteenth century and particular since the Victorian period, the novel replacing the poetry and drama, has become the most popular literary form in all over the world. The history of Indian English novel can be very much aliened to the advent and supreme region of the British rule upon India. In Indian English literature, novel had begun with novelists like Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, R.K.Narayan, and Ravindranath Tagore. Returning home, to country of Mahatma Gandhi was the great beginning of India to change and to be independent in every aspect like social, economical, educational, political, and intellectual. Being independent is nothing but a mental set of thinking logically one’s own way.

The wind of change in India was started from the first decade of the twentieth century and since then there was gradual development till post independent era and, in the age of science and technologies too. The writers in all Indian languages like, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, R.K.Narayan, Ravindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand, Pannalal Patel, Raghuvir Chaudhari, Zaverchand Meghani, Vijay Tendulkar, Laxman Mane, Laxman Gayakvad, Sharadchandra Chatopadhyay, Bankimchandra, Amrita Pritam, and many more had put their observation of changing scinario of Indian society in their respective literary work. Many writers like in Hindi Premchandji, Manu Bhandari, in English Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, R.K.Narayan, in Gujarati Pannalal Patel, Raghuvir Chaudhari, and many more have presented the picture of real rural India of specific period of time. They showed from their narratives that how the changes came in rural India in the entire aspects like social, economical, educational, political, and intellectual. Not only in Indian English but this factor was common in almost all the languages of Indian literature.

II

Mulk Raj Anand can be considered as one of the greatest writers in Indian English literature. He was born in Peshavar, in present day, in Pakistan. His literary carrier begun with the Untouchable in 1935 which followed the Coolie, Leaves and the Buds, his popular trilogy, The Village, Across the Black Waters, and The Sword and the Sickle, The Road, Death of the Hero, Morning Face. He got the Sahitya Akademi award in 1972.

Anand is widely known for his humanistic writings as the characters of his novels reflect the reality of the Indian society and the Indian culture. In all his novels, Anand stressed the need for a humanistic approach of life. Like most Indian English novelist, he was inevitably concerned with a man in society. Anand’s novels closely reflected the slowly changing society in social, economical, educational, and political, system of his time. And it was the impressions he gained and experiences him underwent the shaped narrative.

Anand’s trilogy is about particular time-period and the changes which spread in India in all the dimensions like social, economical, educational, political, etc. The Village is the first novel of trilogy presents the picture of the rural life of India, especially typical Punjabi village in early twentieth century. Nandpur is like any other village of India, with superstitions, mythical beliefs, traditions, landlord system. The second novel, Across the Black Waters is the portrayal of the picture of World War, it can be considered as only war novel in Indian English literature. The last volume of the trilogy is The Sword and the Sickle is about the Lal Singh’s return to home, to his country. There is also ideology of Gandhiism and Communism in the trilogy.

The trilogy covers the period of some years before the First World War to the post war which was disturbed era in India. Lalu is the centre of narrative by Anand. Thus the trilogy is about the Lalu’s early childhood to early manhood. It is also portrayal of global war, politics, freedom movement, history. It can be placed as the saga of rural India of particular time-period.

III

Raghuvir Chaudhri is one of the prominent and contemporary Indian literary figures of Gujarati language. He was also the president of Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. His novels like Amrita, Venuvatsala, Vachalu Faliyu, Ichhchhavar, are excellent example of novel form. While in satire like Panchpuran, he presents the real life of rural area. His trilogy, Upervas, Sahvas and Antarvas, is considered as the best work of art and for it Raghuvir Chaudhari got Sahitya Akademi award.

Chaudhari, in his trilogy, presents the change in all the dimensions like social, economical, educational, political, intellectual, etc, in post independent era in rural India. In this trilogy Chaudhari portrays the village, Sompura, in north Gujarat, like his own native place, which represents the every village in India. Post independence era as well as fifty years before the independence period is witness of lots of change in India.

In post independence era, urbanizations and the growth of industries played vital role in making the society conscious about their social, economical, educational, political, intellectual layers. There was lots of change in life style, problems, values, ethos, traditions, in urban as well as countryside areas too. Chaudhari’s trilogy Upervas, Sahvas and Antarvas is about three generations. The central character is Lavji, who go to city for education and then go to abroad. The all the characters of trilogy, of three generations is like recurring the chain.

IV

Both the writers present the changing rural life and growth of countryside populations of India with specific time period. Not only individual character but Anand and Chaudhri present the development of entire rural society in every aspect like, social, economical, educational, political, intellectual, from specific time to time. For making life like in their fictional work they use the specific historical events in their respective trilogies. Both show the generation gap to introduce the changes. Anand and Chaudhri present the vividness in characterization of countryside as well as urban area. There is mixing of complexity and simplicity in diction in both the trilogies. They both used the artistically locale proverbs and dialect, when and where these were needed. There are many similarities in the trilogies of Anand and Chaudhari.

Bibliography

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