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I. Introduction: An Overview of Indian Novel

„The most paying and interesting subject of study in this world is what happens to

human beings‟. (Mukherjee, introduction xi ).

Novel records human agonies, protests, relations, fighting, greed, exploitation,

victories, sentiments, feelings, affections, reforms, revolutions, spiritual quests, quest for

identity and so many other themes. Novel has the facility of larger canvas that

accommodates varied themes, ideas, concepts with all the traditional, innovative and

modern narrative techniques. Novel includes innumerable stories that „develop through the

thoughts and actions of its characters‟ and has a significant scope for representations.

Indian novel since its beginning has represented contemporary and historical issues

including nationalism, patriotism, partition, struggle for independence, Hindu way of life,

Social practices, superstition, sufferings of widows, social reality, poverty, casteism, and

many other themes in which the theme of „underprivileged‟ is also one of the major

themes. In this context, Venkat Reddy aptly observes:

The Indian novel, we may say, has emerged not simply as a pure literary exercise,

but as an artistic response to the socio-political situation existing in the country. For ,the

factors that shaped and moulded the growth of the Indian novel, since the mid-nineteenth

century, arose as such from the political and social problems of a colonized country as

from indigenous narrative tradition of ancient culture.( Reddy, Introduction 1)

The focus of the present thesis is on the representation of the underprivileged in the

Indian novel since 1980.The objective of the work is to examine how the contemporary
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Indian novel is representing „the underprivileged‟ and to identify the differences in

representation of the underprivileged with the focus on the study of „select novels‟. Novels

with the social realism have been portraying the predicaments of the underprivileged, the

marginalized, the poor and the subaltern in the backdrop of the contemporary political,

social and cultural background.

For the purpose of this research, Indian novel is construed to include novels in

English and novels in regional languages (Bhashas), where all the novels in English and

Bhasha literatures written by Indians deal with the Indian experience or Indian themes.

English is also considered as one of the Indian Languages and the creative writing in

English by Indian writers is considered as part of Indian literature. According to K R S

Iyengar :

How shall we describe Indian creative writing in English? Of course, it is

Indian literature, even as the work of a Thorean or a Hemingway is American

literature. But Indian literature comprises several literatures- Assamese, Bengali,

Gujarathi, Hindi, Kashmiri, Kannada, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya,

Panjabi, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu not to mention Sanskrit, for people continue

to write in it though the readers are few and far between – and Indian writing in

English is but one of the voices in which India speaks. It is a new voice, no doubt,

but it is as much Indian as the others (Iyengar 3).

As the present study proposes to focus on the Indian novel since 1980, it may be

relevant to have an overview of the mazor themes in the novels from the beginning in

general and since 1980 in particular.

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An overview of the novel from the beginning

An overview of the novels from the beginning shows us the contours of the Indian

English novel and novel in the Bhasha literatures. Bankimchand Chatterjee‟s Raj Mohan’s

wife (1864) is the first Indian English novel, which is woven around the issues like Hindu

tradition and historical interest. Most of the novels of popular writers like Kripabai

Sattianandan, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Toru Dutt and Rabindranath Tagore have

portrayed the lives of Hindu girls in India and their predicament. Kripabai Sattianandan‟s

Kamala: A story of Hindu Wife (1894), Michael Madhusudan Dutt‟s Bijoy Chand: an

Indian Tale (1888) Toru Dutt‟s Biyanka (1878), Yogendranath Chatopadya‟s The Girl and

her Tutor (1891) have portrayed the lives of hindu girls in India and their struggles in the

changing social environment. Devi Chowdrani by Bankimchandra Chatterjee projects

patriotism and the moral strength of the individual. Assamees novel Miri-Jayiri by

Rajnikantha Bardoloi came in 1895.

Michael Madhusudan Dutt‟s Bijoy Chand: An Indian Tale (1888), Krupabai

Satthianadan‟s Kamala: A Story of Hindu Child Wife (1894), Shoshee Chunder Dutt‟s The

Young Zamindar (1883) reflected the contemporary Hindu life and conflicts in the

narrations. Romesh Chandra also reflected the problems of widows in his novels The Lake

of Alms: A Study of Indian Domestic Life (1902) and The Slave Girl of Agra, an Indian

Historical Romance (1909). These two novels written in Bengali are translated later into

English.

Bankimchandra Chatterjee, Ravindranath Tagore, Rameshchander Dutt and

Gurajada Apparao have taken up the issues of women including the pathetic conditions of
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widows, superstitions, and dogmatic practices of those days. Their works like Choker Bali,

Yoga Yog, Gora and Kanyashulkam have tried to give a complete picture of the society of

those days where the practice of child marriages were common.

Similarly, Indian women novelists focused on feminism along with other themes.

Toru Dutt (1856_1877), Raj Lakshmi Debi, Krupabai Satthianandan, Shevantibai

Nikambe, portrayed the women of the 19th century and their problems like child marriages,

becoming widows at a young age as they are forced to marry old men in patriarchal

society. Krupabhai Satthianandan‟s Kamala:A Story of Hindu Life (1894) delineates the

pathetic conditions of Kamala which she has to undergo as a result of child marriage and

widowhood. Santa and Sita Chattergee wrote in Bengali and had them translated into

English as Tales of Bengal(1922),The Cage of Gold(1923) and The Garden

Creeper(1931).

Sharat Chandra Chatterjee‟s Srikanta is the first novel in the Indian panorama of

novels to portray the underprivileged. Sharat Chandra‟s other novels like Shesprasha,

Charithraheen and Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadya‟s Pather Panchali have brought out the

themes of downtrodden, helpless and the have nots. „Sharat Chandra identified himself

with the down and outs, and boldly portrayed the tears and sweat of the lower middle and

have-not classes‟ (Iyengar 318). Romesh Chandra Dutt translated his own Bengali novel

into English. The Lake of Palms: A Study of Indian Domestic Life (1902) and The Slave

Girl of Agra: An Indian Historical Romance were written with the aim of social reform –

widow-remarriage. The Prince of Destiny: The New Krishna (1909) by Sarath Kumar

Ghosh was about „highest ideals of the East and West‟ (Iyengar 325) Bankim Chandra
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Chatterjee‟s Durgesh Nandini is his Bengali novel. His novel Raj Mohan’s wife (1864) is

English novel and it is said to be the first Indian English novel. It deals with the problems

of women. His Anand Math (1884) has given us „Vande Mataram‟. Manoj Basu‟s

Jaljangal of the period has come as The Forest Goddess in English translation.

Madhavaiah‟s Thillai Govindan (1916), Nanda, The pariah who Overcome Caste

(1923); T.Ramakrishna Pillai‟s A Dive for Death (1911) are the novels that portrayed the

lives of the underpriveleged. Jogendra Singh‟s Nurjahan (1909),Kamala (1925) and

Kamini (1931) are the novels with the relevant social themes. Naini Bhaumik‟s Bengali

novel Daukana (1936) Manoj Basu‟s Bengali novel Jala Jangal portrait the life of

common man.

The Gandhian Movement influenced all the men and women in the country

including the writers as well. K.S.Venkatramani‟s Murugan, The Tiller (1927) and

Kandan, The patriot (1932) Raja Rao‟s Kanthapura (1938) are a few examples of the

novels with the Gandhian thought. Humayun Kabir‟s Men and Rivers have focused on

Gandhian philosophy.

T.Ramakrishna‟s Padmini, Harinarayan Apte‟s Marati novels and the novels by

Romesh Chandradutt, Vimala Raina, A S P Iyyer and K A Abbas have taken historical

themes and political themes. Munshi Premchand‟s Godan(1936) delineates the socio

economic conditions of the peasants in rural India and also points at the exploitation of the

innocent and poor villagers.

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One of the earlier major novels in Oriya „Chha Mana Atha Guntha’ (1902) by Fakir

Mohan Senapathi, „makes us more fundamentally aware of the intricacies of human greed,

the morality of the right of possession at a level much larger than that of the individual‟

(Mishra 241).

Bengali writer Bibhuti Bhushan Bandopadyaya‟s Pather Panchali (1930) is a novel

of human relations in the face of poverty. The novel was taken to the celluloid and the well

known director Sathyajit Ray brought it into fame through his memorable and the most

famous movie by the same name. Sharat Chandra‟s Srikanth (1932) Sheshprashna (1927)

exposed the hollowness of the lives of feudal lords and problems of lower middle class

people. Sheshprashna questions the marital relations and limitations imposed on women.

The novel brings out lack of identity of women in marital relations in the contemporary

society.

Matir Manusha (1934), a novel in Oriya by Kalindhi Charana Panigrahi, advocates

simplicity in life. Baraju, the protagonist shuns amassing or accumulating wealth. He treats

it as exploiting the poor. Manavini Bhavai (1947), a Gujarati novel by Pannalal Patel

shows the cruelty of „hunger‟ and the unflinching nobility of the protagonist.

Takaji Shiva Shankarpillai‟s Thottiyute Makan,(Scavenger’s Son ) (1947) is the

story of three generations of a scavenger‟s family who are oppressed and been subjected to

suffering. Though the dream of Chudalamuttu living a dignified life goes unfulfilled,

Mohanan, the third-generation thotti, asserts his individual dignity and leads his fellow

untouchables to rise against oppression and prejudice.Mohanan revolts against the social
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oppression.The protagonist in this Malayalam novel is strong and politically conscious

and he doesn‟t accept his fate like Bakha of the Untouchable.

Shivarama Karant (South Canara) Chomana Dudi is a story of the poor, depressed,

dalit, protagonist.It powerfully presents the relationship of a man and his land. Munshi

Premchan‟s Godan, Karant‟s Marali Mannige are the novels that portrayed the lives of the

down trodden.

Telugu novel began with Sri Rangaraju Charithra and Rajashekara Charithra.

Kandukuri Veereshalingam, Chilakamarthi Lakshminarasimham and Komarraju Venkata

Lakshman Rao have contributed to the development of the Telugu novels between 1872

and 1900. Tallapragada Suryanarayan‟s Helavathi (1913) condemned untouchability in

those days and it is the first novel to do so.Chilakamarthy Lakshminarasimham‟s

Ganapathi(1920) gives the most humorous account of thoughts of the protagonist. Unnava

Lakshmi Narayana,s Malapalli(1922) runs with the background of Indian freedom

struggle and also focuses on social reformation. It delineates the social conditions of dalits

in pre independent India.

Mokkapati Narasimha Shastri Barister Parvathisham(1925) is an account of

humorous incidents of the journey of the protagonist to England.One of the greatest Telugu

writers, Vishwanatha Sathyanarayana, the Gyanapeet award recipient portrays „Valladu‟

as a protagonist with noble qualities in his novel „Veeravalladu (1945)‟. The novel brings

out the affectionate relationship between the farmer and his workers. His Veyipdagalu

gives a full account the Hindu way of life and Hindu Dharma. Buchibabu‟s Telugu

Chivaraku Migiledi(1946) is a psycho analytical novel. Chalam proves to be bold with his
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novel Maidanam .This progressive writer has delineated how the society oppresses

women in the name of tradition in his novels Daivamichina Bharya(1923),Vivaham(1928),

Brahmaneekam(1937).

„Yagnam‟ by Kalipatnam Rama Rao shows the bonds of the rural laborers and

peasants with their lands and how they sacrifice their lives for sake of their land. It also

exposes the political games in the villages. Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao, Peddibotla

Subbarammayya, Kalyana Sundari Jagannadh, Gopichand brought out the miserable

conditions of the poor, the widows and the lower middle class people who feel constrained

to follow their conscience in the name of the tradition.

Women writers in Bhasha literatures Indira Goswami (Assamese), Ashapurna Devi

and Mahasweta Devi (Bengali), Gauri Deshpande and Kamal Desai (Marati), Rajee Seth,

Mridula Garg and Krishna Sobti (Hindi), Ismat Chugtai and Qurratulain Hyder (Urdu),

Lakshmi Kanna (Tamil), Muppala Ranganayakamma, Vasi Reddy Sita Devi and Malati

Chandur (Telugu), Amrita Pritam, Ajit Cour and Daleep kaur Tiwana (Punjabi) have

focussed their works on social realism and feminist themes.

Mulk Raj Anand, R K Narayan, Raja Rao, Babhani Bhattacharya, Manohar

Malgonkar and Chaman Nahal have shown the impact of Gandhian thought in the Indian

English novels. Chaman Nahal‟s The crown and the Lion Cloth takes freedom struggle and

Gandhian age, R K Narayan‟s Waiting the Mahathma gives a note of Gandhian philosophy

and freedom struggle.

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The prominent writers like Mulk Raj Anand, R K Narayan, Bhabani Bhattacharya

and Kmala Markandaya have brought the issues of poverty and the underprivileged, and

the middle class families in the Indian English novels. The novels reveal the pathetic

conditions of the poor and the underprivileged.

Mulk Raj Anand‟s Untouchable (1935) is perhaps the first novel in Indian English

that delineates the pathetic conditions of an underprivileged and a Dalit protagonist. His

other novels Coolie(1936), The Road, and Two Leaves and a Bud (1937) reveal the

exploitation, poverty, miserable conditions of the underprivileged. His trilogy-The

Village(1939),Across the Black waters(1941) and The Sword and the Sickle(1942)- reveal

social conditions and poverty.

R K Narayan is a prolific writer. He has portrayed the lives of the middleclass in

his novels Bachelor of Arts (1936), The Dark Room (1938), The English Teacher (1945),

Mr.Sampath (1949), The financial expert (1952), Waiting for the Mahatham (1955), The

Guide (1958), The Man eater of Malgudi (1961), The Sweet Vendor (1967). His Malgudi is

a famous imaginary place we find in almost all of his novels. The innocence, simplicity,

loyalty, obedience of his protagonists finally bring them to a happy end in the novels. His

first novel Swami and Friends (1935) exposes the sensible feelings of childhood through

the protagonist Swaminathan. The Dark Room (1938) shows a helpless middle class Hindu

wife. The Man-eaten of Malgudi (1962) gives an account of suffering of a middle class

simple man in the hands of an aggressive bully with a touch of irony.

Raja Rao‟s Kanthapura (1938) and The Serpent and the Rope (1963) deal with the

themes of Indian spirituality,philosophy, East west encounter and freedom struggle. His
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Kanthapura (1938) runs with the background of freedom struggle and Gandhian influence.

The novel shows how Gandhian thought has gone into the nook and corner of the country

and brought out a „Gandhi‟ in every village. The Serpent and Rope (1963) deals with

spiritual and philosophical life in the east and modernity of the west. His The cat and

Shakespeare (1965) is also a narration of philosophical endeavor. Ahmed Ali‟s Twilight in

Delhi revealed the picture of Muslim life and their problems.

Bhabani Bhattacharya took up the issue of the underprivileged and the down

trodden in his novels So Many Hungers(1947) and He Who Rides a Tiger (1952).His

novels rip apart the superfluous values in the society and lay bare the hollowness of the so

called privileged.

Kamala Markandaya projects the oppressed and the underprivileged protagonists,

men and women ,who try to improve their conditions by migrating but migrate and realize

that the world is same everywhere. Her novels A Handful of Rice (1966) and Nectar in a

Sieve reveal social realism and the exploitation in the post colonial world.

We notice the theme of East west encounter in the novels of Shantha Rama Rao and

Raja Rao. Raja Rao‟s The Serpent and the Rope (1963) is the best example of it. G V

Desani‟s „All About H.Hatter(1948), Kamala Markandaya‟s „The Nowhere Man, Santha

Rama Rao‟s Remember the House, Manohar Malgonkar‟s Combat of Shadows and Ruth

Prawar Jhabwala‟s Esmond in India and Heat and Dust Anita Desai‟s Bye-Bye, Black bird,

Chaman Nahal‟s Into Another Dawn may be included in this category.

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Post Independence Indian novel

The socio economic conditions of the Indian peasants and their rural and

agricultural background, their traditions, their aspirations, superstitions, and the changes in

the lives of the peasants on account of draughts in the post independent period have been

the major concerns in the post-Independence novels in Bhasha literatures.

U. R. Anatha Murthy‟s Samskara (1965) brings out the catse conflict, problems of

tradition and superstitions and also marginalization of women in Indian social set up.His

Bharatipura(1973) mirrors the changes that have taken place during post Independent

period in India. It deals with political changes and particularly radical ideologies and self-

dissolution.

Anantha Murthy‟s Avasthe (1978) deals the themes of rampant corruption and

political, social immorality. Iqbal Unnisa Hussain‟s Parda and Poligamy; Life in an Indian

Muslim House Hold (1944) gives the picture of the minority muslim households and the

problems of their women.

Tarashankar (Birbhum, Bengali), K.S.Karant (Marali Mannige South Canara) and

Thakarzhi Sivasankara Pillai‟s Randidangazhi (Two Measures of Rice)(1948) (Kuttanad),

The village Had No Walls (1959) by Vyankatesh Madngulkar (Marathi translated),

Chemmeen by T.Shivashankar pillai, Steps in darkness (1962)by Krishna Baladev Vaid are

a few Indian novels which portrayed the lives of the poor, the bereft, peasants and their

homelessness, their struggle, innocence and hunger. Ban Gar Vadi (1954), a Marati novel

by Vyankatesh Madgunkar is praised to be a discovery of India. It has depicted the lives of

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innocent people and the fate of forgotten villages in contemporary India. The plight of

villagers in the famine is heart rendering.

Randidangazhi (Two Measures of Rice) (1948) by Takaji Shiva Shankar Pillai is

the novel that brings out the pathetic conditions of protagonist Koren. He gets into net of

debts even to get married.He wants to marry Chiruta and pays a bride price. He borrows

money for his marriage expenditure from the feudal lord who later exploits him.Shiva

Shankarpillai‟s Chemmeen (1956)(Prawns) won Sahitya Academy Award in 1959. It is a

story of sea faring folk who live on fishing and fishing trade. The love story between

Karuthamma and Parikkutti, their troubles and finally their sacrifice because of the selfish

greed of Chembankunzu (father of Karuthamma) is depicted in the novel. The story runs

with the background of lives of People who struggle to eke out their living.

Shivarama Karant‟s (South Canara) Chomana Dudi is a story of depressed, dalit,

poor protagonist.It powerfully presents the relationship of man and land. S.Memon

Marath‟s The Sale of an Island (1968) is about a group of people who live in an island near

Kuttanad. They feel defenseless and despaired when they face the sudden problem of

eviction from the place that has been their home for generations. Karant‟s Marali Mannige

are the novels that portrayed the lives of down trodden. Masti Venkatesh Ayyangar‟s

Chikkaveera Rajendra is a heart rending story of the fall of the Kodagu kingdom. His

ChennaBasava Nayaka(1949) is also a socio historical novel.They feel defenseless and

despaired when they face the sudden problem of eviction from the place that has been

their home for generations.

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Ban Gar Vadi (1954), a Marati novel by Vyankatesh Madgunkar is praised to be a

discovery of India. It has depicted the lives of innocent people and the fate of forgotten

villages in contemporary India. The plight of villagers in the famine is heart rendering.

Telugu novel Dagapadina Tammudu (1961)by Balivada Kanta Rao also deals with the

plight of the peasants who leave village in the time of drought and turn to become beggars.

M.T.Vasudevan Nair‟s Malayalam Naalukettu(1958) and Asuravittu are about alienation

and victimization. He has received Sahitya Academi award for Kaalam(1969) that deals

with the collapse of the feudal family.

S.L.Bhyrappa‟s Vamsa Vriksha (1965) is about child marriage, victimization of

women that were prevalent at the time. The film based on the novel has won national

award Swarna Kamal. M.K.Indira‟s Phaniyamma (1976) the protagonist is a victim of

child marriage and she becomes a child widow at the age of 13. U.R. Anantha Murthys‟

Ghatashraddha(1977) also deals with the widow life and the problems of women in

traditional families.

Assamee novel Iyaruyingam(1961) by Veerendrakumar Bhattacharya deals with

the traditions of Naga tribals and their integrity and personality.It narrates the situations of

north-east tribal area in the period of II world war.Gujarati writer Kundan Kapadia‟s Agan

pipasa (1972) deals with the theme of woman liberation.

In Telugu, Kalipatnam Rama rao‟s Telugu novella Yagnam(1965) is one of the

most acclaimed stories that deal with the political and economic oppressions in the society.

The story tells us how a farmer treats his farmland. Telugu writers Kodavatiganti Kutumba

Rao‟s Chaduvu (1952),Gopichand‟s Asamarthudi Jeevayathra (1948), Rachakonda

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Vishwanatha Shastry‟s Alpajeevi (1954) have brought out the socio economic conditions

of lower and middle class people, their helplessness, their limited resources, their

sentiments and their dreams. Endamaavulu(1962) by Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao and

Paakudurallu(1963) by Ravuri Baradvaja bring out the deplorable conditions of the daily

workers, junior artists and other cine artists. Ampashayya (1969) by Naveen is a campus

novel that has come with stream of consciousness technique.

Telangana Armed Peasants Struggle inspired many writers. Vattikota

Alwarswamy‟s Prajala Manishi (1955) exposes the atrocities of feudal lords in the Nizam

period. Similarly, Chillara Devullu and Modugu Poolu by Dasarathi Rangacharya portray

the lives of Telangana rural poor in the Nizam period and post Independent period. The

cruelty and oppression of Razakars, Feudal lords, Karanams & Patels are exposed in these

novels.

In the decade 1970-80, Vasireddy Sitadevi‟s Mattimanishi, K.N.Y.Patanjali‟s

Khakivanam, Arnad‟s chikatollu, and other novels have broadened the horizon of the

Telugu novel with social realism. Rachakond Vishwanatha Shastri‟s Sommalu Ponayandi,

Raju Mahishi, Moodu Kathala Bangaram reveal the lives of the poor and how they are

treated in the society (especially by the police and the revenue departments). Kaakhi

Batukulu by Spartacus is the novel which has exposed the inhuman treatment meted out to

the Dalits.

Incredible Goddess (1977), Athadu Adivini Jayinchadu (1985) (He Conquered the

Jungle), Smashanam Dunneru are the novels by Keshava Reddy which bring out the

pathetic lives of the underprivileged.

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The post independence Indian English novel focuses on the themes like human

relationships, quest for identity, gender equations and marital relations, meaninglessness of

existence, alienation and inner world of sensibility and psychology, partition woes. Mulk

Raj Anand‟s fiction also moves away from social realism to autobiographical narration.

We see Anand in his later novels Seven Summers, Morning Face, Confession of a lover

and The Bubble.

Bhabani Bhattacharya‟s Music for Mohini(1952),Shadow From Ladakh (1966)

have dealt with east west encounter and politics of ideology. Manohar Malgokar‟s Combat

of shadows(1962) deals with moral issues.

Women writers have produced novels with female protagonists in modern society

with the traditional role in which they are expected to confine themselves. The writers

exposed the problems and difficulties of women. Shakuntala Shrinagesh‟s The Little Black

Box(1955),Lotika Ghose‟s White Dawns of Awakening(1950),Huthi Singh‟s Maura

(1951),Mrinalini Sarabhai‟s This Alone is True(1952),Bani Roy‟s Srilatha and

Sampa(1953) Sally Athogia‟s Gold in the Dust(1958),Attia Hussain‟s Sunlight on a Broken

Column(1961) are some of the novels which have exposed not only the problems of

women but also their predicaments where patriarchal domination and harassment prevailed

in the name of tradition.

Kamala Markandeya, Anita Desai, Nayantara Sahgal, Shashi Deshpande, Ruth

Prawjhabvalla, Namita Gokhale, Bharati Mukherjee, Jai Nimbkar, Shobha De, Rama

Mehta, Nergis Dala, Dina Mehta, Attia Hosain, Tara Ali Baig, Santha Rama Rao, Meena

Alexander, Kamala Das and many other women novelists have focused on problems of
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women and women empowerment in their novels in 1960s and 70s. Kamala Markandaya‟s

novels Some Inner Fury (1955) Possession (1963) and A Silence of Desire (1960) deal with

the themes of marital relations, East-west relationship. Bharati Mukherjee‟s Tiger’s

Daughter (1973), Jai Nimbkar‟s Temporary Answers (1974), Uma Vasudev‟s The Song of

Anusuya (1978), Shashi Deshpande‟s Roots and Shadows (1981), and The Dark Holds No

Terrors (1980), Namita Gokhale‟s Paro: Dreams of Passion, Santha Rama Rau‟s

Children of God (1976) covered the themes of feminism,social reliality and alienation.

Namita Gokhale and Kamala Das questioned sexual exploitation in male dominated

society.Anita Desai‟s Cry,the Peacock deals with the individual yearning for identity.

Political background play pivotal role in the novels of Nayantara Sahgal and

Chaman Nahal.A Time to be Happy(1957),This Time of Morning(1965),A Storm in

Chandigarh(1969),A Situation in New Delhi of Nayantara Sahgal and Azadi(1975),Into

Another Dawn(1977) of Chaman Nahal are the novels written before 1980. Azadi gives us

the picture of political,religious,and cultural India of those days.

Some of the Post independent Indian novels by Shashi Tharoor, Salman Rushdie,

O.V.Vijayan, Nayantara Saighal, Khushwanth Singh and Mukul Kesavan have taken on

historical themes.

Khushwanth Singh‟s Train to Pakisthan (1956), Kamala Markandeya‟s Some Inner

Fury (1957) Balachandra Rajan‟s The dark dancer, Chaman Nahal‟s Azadi Manohar

Malgonkar‟s Distant drum (1960) and A bend in the Ganges (1964), K A Abbas‟s Inquilab

(1955) Altia Hosain‟s Sunlight on a Broken Column are the novels that delienate the pangs

of partition. Qurratulain Hyder‟s Urdu novel Aag ka Dariya (1959) which has won Sahitya
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Akademi Award is translated into English under the title River of Fire. The novel gives an

account of the days of partition. We see the powerful presentation of partition woes of

Indian sub continent in Kushwant Singh‟s Train to Pakistan(1956).Manohar Malgonkar‟s

A Bend in the Ganges(1964) has also mention of partition. Chaman Nahal‟s Sahitya

Akademic Award winner Azadi (1975) deals with the theme of partition and migration.

Azadi is one of the most notable novels on the theme of partition.

Only a few writers like Romen Basu, Kamala Markandeya have touched upon the

theme of underprivileged in the post independent Indian English novels. Kamala

Markandaya‟s novels with social themes Nectar in a Sieve (1954) A Handful of Rice

(1966) and The Coffer Dams (1969) have dealt with the underprivileged. They depict the

lives of migrated rural poor. Romen Basu‟s Outcast (1980)deals with the theme of

struggle of the oppressed against the exploitation and hegemony of the high caste political

leaders in the villages.

G.V.Desani‟s All About H.Hatters(1948) is the first experimental Indian English

novel with the theme of philosophy and search for meaning of life. Anita Desai‟s Cry, The

peacock (1963), Bye Bye Black Bird (1971), Nayantara Saighal‟s A Time to be Happy,

Ruthprawar Jheabvala‟s To Whom She Will, Sudhira N Ghosh‟s And Gazelles Leaping

(1949), Arun Joshi‟s The Foreigner (1968), Chaman Nahal, Amitov Ghosh, Upamanyu

Chatterjee‟s novels have dealt with the issues of quest for identity, alienation, marital

relations, human relations and psychological emotions. Shashi Deshpande exposes the

feelings of the urban educated middle class woman who is caught in the transitional period

between tradition and modernity. Her novels That Long Silence, Dark holds no Terror and
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Roots and Shadows portray the lives of middleclass women. Her protagonist rebel against

established social practices which are biased. Her novels focus on changes in the marital

relations in modern age.She projects new women in her works. Jhumpa Lahiri‟s Name

Sake is a novel about quest for identity.The Protagonist in Arun Joshi‟s The Foreigner

(1968) is presented as alienated. He has no family. His only concern is humanitarianism.

Arun Joshi‟s other novels The Strange Case of Billy Biswas (1971) and The Apprentice

(1974) also deal with the theme of alienation. Shiv K.Kumar‟s Nude Before God also deals

with alienation and quest for identity.

19

Indian novel since 1980

Novel in Bhasha literatures has undergone remarkable change after 1980. Chandra

Seakhar Kambar, Jayakanthan,N.P.Mohamed, Bhishma Sahani, Dr.Keshava Reddy,

Sharan Kumar Limbale, Takkaji Shiva Shankar Pillai, O.V.Vijayan, U.R.Ananthamurthy,

M.T.Vasudeva Nair, Matampu Shankaran Kunjukuttan, Devanur

Mahadeva,S.L.Bhyrappa,Krishna Baladev Vaid,Paigham Afaqui,Mahasweta Devi,

Aravind Malaghatti, Laxman Gaikwad, P.Sivakami, Tejaswi, G.Kalyan Rao,

A.N.Santhanam, Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao, Kalipatnam Rama Rao, Omprakash

Valmiki, S.M.Punekar, K.A.Gunasekaran,Indira Goswami,Bama, Allam Rajaiah, Peddinti

Ashok Kumar, Muppala Ranganayakamma are some of the eminent writers who brought

out novels in Bhasha literatures and most of the novels have been translated.

There are more significant and remarkable novels in Bhasha Literatures.

Mahasweta Devi‟s ChottiMunda and His Arrow(Bengali)(1980) is a „powerful

presentation of the underprivileged protagonist and his protest against the colonizer‟

In Malayalam literary scene, Matampu Shankaran Kunju Kuttan‟,s Bhrushtu(Out

Caste)(1996) narrates the pathetic conditions of the neglected people. Sara Joseph‟s

Aalaahayude Penmakkal (Malayalam)(1999) is the story of a child from

Kokkanchira(dumping ground for carcasses) a slum area and about the way the

underprivileged people are treated and displaced in the background of urbanization.

Sarajoseph‟s another novel Othappu is a story of a girl who hears Calling and joins the

convent to serve but finally discovers that real serving lies in serving the poor and the

wretched. Sethu‟s Pandavapuram(1979) is a story of a woman deserted by her husband.

20

She avenges her husband‟s misdeeds by entering imagined world „Pandavapuram‟ where

she finds lovers who are at her mercy. It exposes sexual politics and male dominance in the

patriarchal society. M.T.Vasudeva Nair‟s Randamoozham (1984) is a novel that tells

Mahabharata from the point of view of the second pandava Hero Bheema. His latest novel

Varanasi(2002) is about the journey of the protagonist to Varanasi on a piligrimage where

he discovers himself by way of his reminesences. He dissolves his own self by performing

his own funeral rites and offering „Atma pindam‟.

N.P.Mohamed‟s The Eye of God (Deivathinte Kannu,1990) highlights the socio-

cultural living conditions of the Mappillas(Malayalam muslims). His another novel Desert

Shdows (1989) is a winner of the Sahitya Academi award .The novelist tells the story of

exploitation, cruelty and duplicity and hypocrisy of the authorities in modern society.

Rajam Krishnan‟s Lamps in the Whirlpool(Tamil) compares the lives of women in

the male chauvinistic society to the small „leaf-boat lamps‟ carrying an oil soaked wick

floating in the river Ganga. The story reveals how a woman is tortured in an orthodox

Brahmin households in the name of „madi‟ and „aachaaram‟

Hindi novelists Krishna Sobti(Zindaginama),Surendra varma(Mujhe Chand

Chahiye), Vinod Kumar Shukla (Deewar Main Ek Khiekee Rahathi Thi),Manohar

ShyamJoshi (Kyap),Amar Kant(Inhin Hathiyaron Se)and Krishna Baladev Vaid(Ek

Naukarani Ki Diary) explored the themes of human relations, love, poverty and social

reality
21

Kannada Literature is enriched with the Sahitya Academi Award Winners-

Chaduranga‟s Vaishaka, Poornachandra Tejaswi‟s Chidambara Rahasya(1987),

Carvalho(1980),Devanur Mahadeva‟s Kusuma Bale(1990),Shankar Mokashi Punekar‟s

Avadheshwari(1987),Geethanagabhushana‟s Baduku(2004), Raghavendra Patil‟sTeru

(2005), K,Veerabhadrappa‟s Aramane (2007) and Srinivas B.Vaidya‟s Halla Bantu Halla

(2008) between 1980 and2010. Mruthyunjaya(Kannada) by Niranjana tells the story of the

oppressed. It was translated as Coming Forth by Day(1994). Singarevva and the Palace

(1982) by Chandra Sekhar Kambar is about a victim girl Singari who is married to an

impotent in a feudal house. S.L.Bhyrappa has continued to enrich the Kannada literature

with his writings after 80s also. His Nele(1983), Sakshi(1986), Mandra(2001),

Aavarana(2007), Kavalu (2010) are some of his recent novels.

Similarly, the Marathi novel is enriched and broadened with more novels written on

the living conditions of the down trodden and especially Dalits. Dr.B.Ambedkar and

Mahatma Jyothi Rao Phule teachings influenced and inspired the dalit movement for a

fairer share of rights and fruits in the society. In the Marathi literature of the sixties and

seventies the Dalit movement against social unjust was prominently mirrored,while in the

other Indian languages this movement became prominent since eighties. Laxman Mane‟s

Upara received Sahitya Academi Award in 1981. Uchalya(1987) by Lakshman Gaikvad is

a delineation of the marginalization of the dalits and their sufferings. Punjabi novel

Pinjar (1950) is written by Amrita Pritam. It is the story of a Hindu girl, Puro who is

abducted by a Muslim boy.It is one of the best partition novels. Changia Rukh is an

autobiographical Punjabi novel which tells the dalit sufferings.

22

Telugu writers B.S.Ramulu (BathukuPoru), Allam Rajaiah (Komurambheem),

Yandamuri Virendra Nath (Aanando Brahma, Antarmukham), K.N.Y.Pathanjali

(Veerabobbili), Keshava Reddy(Chivari Gudise) , Volga(Swecha), Namini Subramanyam

Naidu (Munikannadi Sedyam), Vaddera Chandidas (Anukshanikam), Ranganayakamma

(Janaki Vimukti) and other prominent writers have written novels that deal with different

themes including political, feministic and philosophical themes after 1980. G.Kalyan Rao‟s

Antarani Vasantham (2000) is the story of dalit oppression.

After 1980, there have been remarkable changes in Indian Novel in English. Indian

English Novel after 1980s is called „new novel‟ as a result of the publication of the novels

with new themes, and new techniques of narration. Along with the social, political,

feministic themes, new themes like nostalgia, diaspora, quest for identity, displacement,

alienation, and sense of loss are explored by using narrating techniques like magic realism,

“montage” and allegorical expressions. The Indian English Novel has almost come out of

the foreign influence in its story telling process as R. S. Pathak points out:

In the growth and development of the Indian novel in English the 1980s

occupy the most significant position. During the last one-and-a-half decades some

very promising novelists have published their works, which speak about the

originality and unprecedented inventiveness of these novelists eloquently along

with their capability of doing away with all apishness and complexes and

constraints which the earlier novelists had to suffer from. It is during the eighties

that Indian English novelists and novels earned unheard of honours and distinctions

in the Western academic world (Pathak, Introduction 14).

23

The novel has taken the new paths of modernity with its liberal while representing

historical, political, economical, gender, psychological issues. There is a significant growth

in the number of novelists and novels published from which most of them either have

received awards or at least have got shortlisted for awards.

Salman Rushdie‟s Midnight’s Children (1982) is the pioneering work in the

direction of this „new novel‟. The writings of Salman Rushdie and his comic and

allegorical expression in narration, magic realism used in the novel and the ease and flow

of language, chutnification of history, finally its popularity have influenced the generations

of writers to come into its fold in the following decade. These writers are called „Rushdie‟s

Children‟ by New York Times.

The Indian English novels of recent times have chosen the themes like

socio-cultural situations, East and West relationship, history, mythology, dispossession,

cultural fragmentation, colonial and neo-colonial power structures. Post-colonial

corruption, cultural degeneration, and the crisis of identity are some of the major

preoccupations in the novels.

Mulk Raj Anand novels The Bubble(1984),Little Plays of Mahatma Gandhi(1991)

are autobiographical. R.K.Narayan‟s novels have continued to focus on the world of

Malgudi in A Tiger for Malgudi(1983)Talkative Man(1983) and The World of Nagaraj

(1990).Raja Rao has his mark of spiritual and philosophical preoccupation in the novel The

Chessmaster and His Moves(1988).

24

Writers in the post eighties have started taking on the themes of partition, diaspora,

feminism, history and culture with the technique of magic realism. Writers like Nayantara

Sahgal, Kushwant Singh,Chaman Nahal, Anita Desai and V.S.Naipaul have already

achieved prominence by this period.Writers like Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Shashi

Tharoor, Rohinton Mistry,Upamanyu Chaterjee, Rukun Advani, Boman Desai, Amit

Chaudhuri, G.V.Desani, Kiran Desai, Vikram Chandra, Bharati Mukherjee, R.P.Jhabvala,

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Jhumpa Lahiri, Arundhati Roy, Manju Kapoor, Shashi

Deshpande, have proved to be successful in the creation of new fiction in the decades

1980-90 and 1990-2000.

Amitav Ghosh‟s TheCircle of Reason(1986) and The Shadow Lines (1988),Vikram

Seth‟s The Golden Gate(1986), Shashi Tharoor‟s The Great Indian Novel(1989)

Upamanyu Chaterjee‟s English August: An Indian Story(1988) Amit Chaudary‟s A

Strange and sublime Address (1991), Afternoon Raag (1993) Freedom Song (1998) and A

New World (2000) are the novels about man‟s quest for Identity,human relations and post

colonial situation in the modern world. Shashi Tharoor‟s The Great Indian Novel(1989) is

a post modern novel.

Nayantara Sahgal‟s Sahitya Academi Award Winner Rich Like Us (1985) is written

with a backdrop of emergency and she exposes the hypocritical minds in political and

beaurocratic Worlds. Contemporary Politics became a major theme in Chaman Nahal‟s

The Crown and The Loincloth(1981),The Salt of Life(1990),and The Triumph of the

Tricolour(1993). Rohinton Mistry‟s A Fine Balance (1997)also depicts the socio-political

conditions in the period of emergency.

25

The theme of social realism that has focused on the lives of the oppressed, the

downtrodden and the underprivileged is rarely found in the Indian English novels written

in the decade 1980-1990.Rohinton Mistry‟s A Fine Balance(1997)and Arundhati Roy‟s

The God of Small Things (1997) have delineated the miserable conditions of the poor, the

oppressed, the underprivileged and the dalits. The novels have brought out the reality in the

so called cultured society where the weak and the underprivileged are ill-treated in the

hands of the privileged.

Shashi Deshpande‟s novels focus on woman, especially middleclass educated

woman, and the psychological and social problems she faces. In her The Dark Holds No

Terror(1980) the protagonist realizes that men occupy a higher place in society and they

can‟t accept if women are more resourceful. Her protagonist in Roots and Shadows

(1983)also realizes that the age old ideals in male dominated society can‟t permit a woman

to be „individual‟ and „Free‟. Her novels That Long Silence(1988) and The Binding

Vine(1993) reveal the problems a woman faces in her wedded life and her individual

struggle to cope with the social expectations in patriarchal society.. Her novel Moving on

(2004) centres around a woman with individuality.

Indian English novel has included more number of books dealing with amazing

range of subjects and themes in the decade 2000-2010. The much talked about

Globalization in the Twenty First Century has changed the outlook of the writers from all

walks of life and it is evident in the novels that have come in the decade 2000-2010. .

Jhumpa Lahiri, David Davidar, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Chetan Bhagat, Chaman

Nahal, Boman Desai, Bharathi Mukherjee, Ashok Banker, Aravind Adiga, Anurag Mathur,
26

Anjali Benarjee, Anitha Nair, Amish Tripathi, Amit Choudary, Amitav Ghosh, Hari

Kunzru, Jayasree Misra, Namitha Ghokle, Rohinton Mistry, Ruskin Bond, Salman

Rushdie, Sarnath Banerjee, Shashi Deshpande, Upamanyu Chatterjee, V S Naipal, Anita

Desai, I.Allan Sealy, Kushwant Singh,Kiran Nagarkar, Manil Suri, Manju Kapur,Manu

Joseph, Nayantara Sahgal,Shashi Tharoor,Shobha De,Tabish Khair,Tarun Tejpal,Vikas

Swarup, Vikram Seth and many other writers have contributed to the Indian novel with

their Indian English novels.

Rohinton Mistry‟s Family Matters (2002) delineates the life of a retired Professor

of English and his predicament. Upamanyu Chatterjee‟s The Mammeries of the Welfare

State (2000) may be called a political novel which runs like a satire. V.S.Naipaul‟s Magic

Seeds(2003), Upamanyu Chatterjee‟s The Mammaries of the Welfare State (2000)Anurag

Mathur‟s Making the Minister Smile(2002) Vikram Chandra‟s Sacred Games(2006)

expose the contemporary social situation. We find protagonist who either longs to change

the situation or exploits the situation or gets victimized by the situation.

Sacred Games (2006) by Vikram Cahndra gives details of power politics in

Mumbai world. The Death of Vishnu (2001) by Manil Suri tells about the petty concerns of

the middle class people in an apartment and their indifference towards the dead „Vishnu‟.

The kind of magic realism used in the novel does not appeal to the reader. Amithav Gosh‟s

The Glass Palace (2000) and The Hungrey Tide (2006) deal with human relations. The

Inheritance of Loss (2006) by Kiran Desai deals with individual living, human relations

and insurgency. Aravind Adiga‟s The White Tiger (2008)and Vikas Swarup‟s Q&A(2005)
27

expose the lives of the slum dwellers, the rural poor and the wretched lives of the

underprivileged.

Some Indian English novels reflect the changing life style of the „man‟ in the post-

liberal economy of India and in metropolis in 2000-2010.The fascinating titles of Durjoy

Datta‟s Of Course I Love You…! Till I Find Someone Better, Now That You are Rich,Let’s

Fall in Love, She Broke up, Ididn’t, Ohh Yes Iam Single and So is My Girlfriend ,Chetan

Bhagat‟s Five Point Some One, The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008) have become popular

with their focus on corporate sector,IIT Campuses,call centres and inspired many other

aspirant writers to take up writing novels in English. Amish Trivedi‟s Shiva Trilogy is a

mythical story in the popular mode of writing.

Sensitivity to female problems have been noticeable in the writings of women

written since 1980. The writings projected new life of new women. Their point of view,

feelings are recorded in the novels. Quest for identity, emancipation, social and intellectual

participation, psychological problems and man woman relationship are some of the themes

found in the writings of Anita Desai, Kamala Markandaya, Shashi Deshpande, Ruth

Prawer Jhabvala, Nayantara Sahgal, Bharati Mukherjee, Anita Desai, Uma Vasudev ,

Githa Hariharan, Shobha De, Arundhati Roy, Manju Kapur, Chitra Benerjee, Divakaruni,

Gita Mehra, Dina Mehta and Namita Gokhale, Kiran Desai. Some of them have dealt with

sexuality and position of women in their novels. Manju Kapoor‟s A Married Woman

(2002) shows the impact of male dominating society on a woman and her psychological

response. Home (2006) is also a novel about the place of woman in family relations.

Adashir Vakil‟s One Bay also deals with man-woman relations.

28

The fore going survey undertaken has left enough indications that there are more

works with the themes and issues of feminism, partition, condition of middle class life,

east-west relations, quest for identity, freedom struggle, social realism, conditions of

underprivileged, caste oppression and marginalization, modernity, politics , philosophy and

historical back ground. It has also been observed that the novels since 1980 have come out

with more focus on modern narrative techniques like magical realism and montage. The

new novel in Indian English literature has won awards and world wide recognition.

Especially, among the themes of the novels in 80s, the voice of the underprivileged is

almost unnoticeable and seldom heard in Indian English novels. On the other hand, more

novels have come with the theme of the underprivileged in Indian Bhasha literatures. In the

90s both the literatures have produced novels with the theme of the underprivileged and

the trend has continued in the post millennium literature. There are political, economic,

social and literary changes and movements that have either inadvertently or intentionally

influenced the writer, while representing the underprivileged in the novels which have

brought to light his conditions, background, political affiliation, thoughts and his

predilections. Often, the representations tend to reflect the socio, economic and cultural

conditions and movements of the period and also it depends on the experience,

understanding ,and study of the writer. Hence , the hypothesis may be stated that there is

much possibility and scope for varying representations of the underprivileged in the Indian

literary scenario since 1980.

29

Therefore the objective of the present research is to examine the representations of

the underprivileged in the post colonial Indian novel that includes novels in Indian English

literature as well as the novels in Indian Bhasha literatures since 1980. Post colonial

writing creates space for the representation of the oppressed, marginalized, poor and the

underprivileged. The colonial hegemony and domination continues to be noticed in the

post colonial world. Post colonial theory ((Wikipedia) is understood to be “destabilizing

western ways of thinking” and “ therefore creating space for the subaltern, or marginalized

groups, to speak and produce alternatives to dominant discourse”

There has been much research on post colonial writing and how the „orient‟ is

constructed in the writings of the west. From Edward Said‟s monumental work on

Orientalism to the present day debates, many arguments have been putforth regarding

oriental representations and the neo-Oriental stand point in postcolonial space. In this

context Makarand Paranjape says:

Edward Saïd's path breaking work alerts us to the alliance between power

an knowledge in the manner in which the Orient has been traditionally constructed

by the West. But if we examine the cultural politics and dynamics of such

representations in the present, in our so-called post-colonial times, we will be

struck not so much by how these representations continue, but how they are now

generated by those who come from among the colonized peoples themselves. We

might be able to discern these patterns if we contrast how India is portrayed in the

works, not of Western, but various kinds of "Indian" writers. Is there a difference in

how India is seen from afar by writers located in the metropolitan centres in the
30

West and those who live and work in India? Furthermore, is there a further

difference between those who write in English and those who do so in the native

languages of India? (Paranjape, Indian English 8)

The survey of the literature tells that since the beginning of the novel many writers

have portrayed the lives of the dalits, suppressed classes, the peasants and the oppressed

women. Majority of the writings have come from the non dalits and upper class writers

until the sixties. As Gupta rightly notices:

There were several sympathetic portrayals of the dalits, untouchables and

the rural poor in the works of upper class writers, who were non-dalit such as Prem

Chand, Tagore, Shiv Sankara Pillai, Ismat Chugtai and Mulk Raj Anand. These

writers changed the course of Indian writing. Although writing across the country

in different languages, they followed certain common directions, creating a

common aesthetics. Coming together briefly in the Progressive Writers‟ Movement

during the 30s, these writers experienced a string sense of cultural bonding with

one another. Decentering the values of the upper class, their works created the

ground for the emergence of dalit writing that has emerged more visibly with a

strong voice since 1960s………. The dalit writings that have appeared in Marathi,

Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu question the society‟s meta narrative defining

itself as an egalitarian, just and humane society, the control of a small powerful

privileged class on the process of constructing and disseminating knowledge,

technology, and the images of the self and other. (Gupta 11)
31

This again poses the question of differerence in the representation of the

underprivileged,peasants and other oppressed classes in the novels. As it has been observed

that there is a scope for difference in representation it may be relevant to consider a few

critical thoughts , opinions and perceptions on the Indian writing in English and writing in

Basha literatures of crititcs and writers. Critics and writers like G.N.Devy, Balachandra

Nemade, M.K.Naik, Salman Rushdie, Dilip Chitra, U.R.Ananthamurthy, Sunil

Gangopadhyaya, Mahasweta Devi, M.T.Vasudevan Nair, Rajendra Yadav, Ashoka

Mitram, Makarand Paranjape and R.K.Dhawan have given us valuable insights which may

prove to be useful for the present study. The fortnight magazine Outlook brought out an

issue (February25,2002) with a cover story on „First International Festival of Indian

Literature‟. It has covered the opinions of a few renowned writers and critics. For instance:

U.R.Anathamurthy says “There are any number of top-quality regional writers who

don‟t get international recognition only because their language is not the global languages

of America”.

Similarly, writer M.T.Vasudevan Nair doesn‟t bother about greater exposure and he

is content with his small readership. But he says “Indian Literature is not a pond to include

both IWE and regional literature. Each regional literature is part of world literature”. Tamil

writer Ashokamitram is also of the opinion that he has a country, a language, a community

and he is “pleased to be a part of it”. But, he says, IWE doesn‟t have the advantage.

Jayamohan finds “In regional languages, there is vast scope for experiments in

expression”. According to him “there is a distinction between serious and popular writing
32

in regional literature and the IWE falls between two stools by being neither popular enough

nor serious enough”.

Writer Nirmal Verma opines

The best writers in regional literature are coming from a different class than the

IWE – the middle class and the lower middle class. Their writing portrays contemporary

India, its folklore, encompasses the entire epic flow of their life. He‟s what makes it so

uniquely Indian in its soul because it‟s so close to the skin of their experience.(Outlook)

But there is also a firm assertion about Indain Writing in English. U.R.Anantha

Murthy says:

While export-oriented writing is sad, the best of IWE do manage to convey

the ambience of the provincial language and ethos. Arundhati Roy‟s contribution,

for instance, is an English whose energy comes from Malayali culture and

ambience. Even Rushdie draws from the ethos and Hindi of Bombay, while

R.K.Narayan draws from Tamil and Kannada influences, as Raja Rao does from

Kannada. There are as many Englishes as there are regional languages. This is what

makes their English distinct.(Outlook)

In his introduction to The Vintage Book of Indian Writing: 1947-1997 Salman

Rushdie also opines that the Indian English fiction tends to portray lives of the bourgeoisie.

It is true that most of these writers come from the educated classes of India;

but in a country still bedeviled by high illiteracy levels, how could it be otherwise?
33

It does not follow, however-unless one holds to a rigid, class-war view of the

world-that writers with the privilege of a good education will automatically write

novels that seek only to portray the lives of the bourgeoisie.(Rushdie xii)

We have noticed much discussion and more debates on the novels of Indian writing

in English and in Indian Basha Languages. The more the subject is touched with diatribes,

the more it leads to inconclusive and avoidable arguments and counter arguments rather

than fruitful results and unjust compilations, anthologies with the selections from the canon

which prove to be either one side superiority or partiality are brought out. Hence, the

present research gains its sustenance from the wise observations of M.K.Naik and the ilk of

them:

The Indian writer in English and his counterpart in the Indian regional

languages are not rivals or strangers but brothers, whose one common concern is

the expression of the modern Indian ethos, whatever the language of

communication employed. Both have much to learn from each other.(Naik , Critical

Harvest 52)

Since its earliest days Indian novel (in English and Bhasha Literatures) has been

focusing on the underprivileged in the social, economic, political and gender contexts.

What K.Venkata Reddy opines about the Indian English novelists is applicable to novelists

in Bhasha literatures also:

The Indian novelists took upon themselves the responsibility of giving

artistic articulation to the problems that beset the common people and their joys and
34

sorrows, the crusade against the tyranny of poverty, illiteracy, suffering,

superstition, caste and sex. Resulting, in a number of novels the protagonist is a

farmer, a labourer, a factory worker, a patient or a virtuous woman pitted against a

zamindar, a landlord, a factory owner or a ruthless, callous hard-hearted

man(Reddy, Introduction 3)

Obviously, the protagonist referred to here comes close to the meaning of the

underprivileged. The meaning of the word „underprivileged‟ can be extended to the poor,

the landless, the destitute, the oppressed, those who live in the margins of the mainstream

society, those who live on the fringes, to whom the fruits of democracy are not extended,

those who have been exploited politically and economically, those who struggle

throughout their lives to keep their body and soul together, those who live in the abject

living conditions, and to those who have been oppressed in the name of caste, religion and

gender. The fact that the Oppressed or the marginalized or the underprivileged is

essentially „Poor‟ is an undeniable fact. Hence, the present research proposes to examine

the portrayal of the „economically‟ and „socially‟ underprivileged in the Indian novels

since 1980 and it also proposes to examine issues of the women who are oppressed,

alienated and underprivileged and their representation in the novels since 1980.The study

intends to examine how the protagonist is represented while writing about his/her

predicaments, responses in Indian context. As caste plays an important role along with

politics, gender and economy, the select novels may be considered under the categories of

Caste-Politics, Caste-Gender, and Caste-Class for study. In light of the critical opinions

and observations, this study proposes to examine the difference in representation of the

underprivileged in the novels in Bhasha and Indian English literatures since 1980 only
35

with the focus on how the novels portrayed the underprivileged in the unique Indian

context.

As the protagonists in the novels selected for study come from the marginalized,

downtrodden, underprivileged and least powerful strata of the Indian society,their

representation in the novels is analyzed and interpreted while going through their

sufferings, submissions and resistance as recorded in the novels.

A thorough survey and an over-view of the novel in English and Basha literatures

since 1980 and a study of critical reviews has revealed that there has not been any study

focusing on the representation of the under privileged protagonist in either of the novels-

the novel in English and in Basha literature since 1980.Hence the present study is more

relevant and necessary.

The present study focuses on the novels since 1980. The period „since 1980‟ is

considered for the study in view of the social, cultural, economical, political and literary

developments. The new novel in English has come in the eighties with the publication of

Midnight’s Children. In this period,many social and literary movements have guided the

writers and their narratives in the Bhasha literatures. Hence the study of the novels since

1980.
36

The following novels are selected for the study:

I 1980-90

i) Mahasweta Devi‟s Chotti munda and His Arrow

ii) Romen Basu‟s Outcast

II 1990-2000

i) Bama‟s sangathi

ii) Arundhati Roy‟s The God of small Things

III 2000-2010

i) G.Kalyan Rao‟s Untouchable Spring

ii) Aravind Adiga ‟s The White Tiger

37

The following chapterization is planned in the thesis:

Chapter One introduces Indian Novel including novel in Basha Literatures and in

English. It gives a brief account of the themes of the novels starting from the beginning.

The novels with the themes of partition, reformation, the hindu way of life, suffering of

the widows, east-west encounter, quest for identity, Indian spirituality, diaspora,

urbanization, feminism, social realism, man and women relationship and human relations,

alienation, migration, political developments, post-liberal social scenario and modernity

are briefly surveyed. The situation of the underprivileged is discussed in the novels in the

context of social realism.

Chapter Two focuses on the novels that delineated the social conditions of the

underprivileged protagonists. It focuses largely on the novels written since 1980s.The

publication of The Midnight Children has changed the face of Indian English novel and the

narrative technique of magical realism influenced the Indian English writers in the

following decade. During this period, novels with social realism have become a rarity in

Indian English literature. The political waves of communism from Bengal are visible in

some novels. The Dalit Panther movement and the Progressive Writers Association of the

sixties are a few powerful social milieu in the sixties. The dalit literary movement has

spread to other states in this decade and many works have come out in Basha literatures.

All these changes are visible in the novels. This chapter discusses the novels published

with underprivileged protagonist since 1980 in detail.

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In Chapter Three a thorough analysis of the select novels of the decade 1980-90

has been taken up. Chotti Munda and His Arrow by Mahasweta Devi and Outcast by

Romen Basu are examined to find the differential representational writings.

Chapter Four proposes to examine the portrayal of the underprivileged in select

novels Sangathi by Bama and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

Chapter Five proposes to examine Untouchable Spring by G.Kalyan Rao and The

White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Chapter six takes up the discussion of the preceding chapters and examines

whether the findings have come close to the hypothesis postulated in the I Chapter. It also

concludes with an analysis of representation in the novels in Basha Literatures and Indian

English Literature since 1980. It will also record the new findings of the discussions.