A View of Social Justice and Exploitation by Mulk Raj Anand in the Light of Gandhian Thought

Abstract

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Indian author of English literature Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was known for his portrayal of the lower castes in traditional Indian culture. Along with R. K. Narayan, Ahmad Ali, and Raja Rao, he was one of the first India-based authors in English to attain a global audience, making him a pioneer of Indo-Anglian fiction. Anand's books and short tales are considered contemporary Indian English literary classics due to their insightful depiction of downtrodden people and thoughtful examination of poverty, exploitation, and disaster. His protest book Untouchable (1935) and other works, including Coolie (1936) and Two Leaves and a Bud (1937), brought attention to the plight of the underprivileged in India.

For his outstanding contributions to society and the literary community, Anand was awarded the Padma Bhushan and inducted into the Sahitya Academy. Buddhism's teachings on mercy and compassion, the rejection of caste hierarchy and embrace of brotherhood by Saint Kabir and Guru Nanak, and the promotion of peaceful coexistence by Nehru and others all had a significant impact on his position in society. Anand's works are "Socio-Political Messianic Novels," according to S. C. Harrax. He is a social worker disguised as a writer, in the eyes of Dr. Harish Raizada. He was a major figure in the history of literature and a prophet. His integrity, candor, modesty, and complete dedication to his cause allowed him to provide a fresh perspective on social service. It was a great honor for him to be elected to all three academies (Sahitya, Lalitkala, and Sangeet Natak) as a Fellow. Toward the end of his life, he took in a little town, built a school and a clinic, and gave up all he had so that it may flourish (Tandon 72–9). Therefore, Mulk Raj Anand is a suitable subject for this study.

Anand's eagerness to share his thoughts frequently leads to sloppy execution that lacks aesthetic merit. This leads to the accusation that he is a propagandist. Some too drawn-out sequences may be cut. In Two Leaves and a Bud, the hunt and club scenes appear like a prolongation, while in Coolie, the last section seems unrelated to the rest of the book.

Anand, the son of a coppersmith, earned his bachelor's degree with honors from Punjab University in Lahore in 1924 before continuing his education at Cambridge and London's University College. While living in Europe, he became involved in the independence movement in India and soon after published a number of books covering various aspects of South Asian culture, such as Persian Painting (1930), Curries and Other Indian Dishes (1932), The Hindu View of Art (1933), The Indian Theatre (1950), and Seven Little-Known Birds of the Inner Eye (1978).

Anand's works Untouchable (1935) and Coolie (1936), which dealt with poverty in Indian culture, brought him to prominence as a writer. In 1945, he went back to the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) to advocate for changes on a national scale. The Village (1939), The Sword and the Sickle (1942), and The Big Heart (1945; revised ed., 1980) are also among his most famous works. In addition to his novels and collections of short stories, Anand was also a prolific magazine and journal editor, having launched the art weekly MARG in 1946. Between 1951 and 1968, he wrote Seven Summers, 1968's Morning Face, 1976's Confession of a Lover, and 1984's The Bubble, four of a planned seven volumes of an autobiographical book titled Seven Ages of Man.

A View of Social Justice and Exploitation by Mulk Raj Anand in the Light of Gandhian Thought

It is common knowledge that Mahatma Gandhi had a profound and personal impact on Anand. He had deep sympathy for the poor, helpless people who had been victimized by society. Anand, like Gandhi, committed his life to helping those from the same class, and he did the same in writing. Along with Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand is among the most well-known authors in Indian English literature. He gives his characters life and genuineness. His best works show us the life of India's impoverished with realism and compassion.

The protagonist of Untouchable, written by Mulk Raj Anand, speaks for the Dalit community. The happenings of one day in Bakha's life are chronicled in this book. As the narrative progresses, Bakha continues to experience prejudice at the hands of the so-called society's Caste system. He is a member of the sweeper subculture.

When it comes to politics, Mahatma Gandhi and the Satyagraha and Non-Co-operation Movement of 1920-21 take center stage in Anand's book Confession of a Lover. To achieve complete independence from British control, Gandhi channeled the political unrest into a nationwide movement. Despite imperialist claims that Indians lacked bravery, manliness, and administrative ability, he stroked a desire for self-government. Through his own actions and those of the Satyagraha, or nonviolent, movement, Gandhi resurrected the heroic idea of bravery. As Gandhi saw it, this was the power of Truth, the absence of fear that cannot be divorced from it. In his book Glimpses of India, Jawaharlal Nehru writes that Satyagraha may be used as a tool for political change and liberation:

The nonviolent Satyagraha movement was a firm rejection of wrongdoing. Even though it was ostensibly a nonviolent insurrection, a more civilized kind of warfare, the State was nevertheless in peril. It was an efficient method of mobilizing the masses, and it harmonized with the unique brilliance of the Indian people. It prompted us to act more civilly and gave the impression that our opponent was in the wrong. We were finally able to let go of the crippling anxiety that had been holding us back, and we started having difficult conversations with others and expressing our true feelings. And third, the strategy of peace made the eventual settlement simpler by preventing the formation of the tremendously terrible racial and national hatreds that have always followed such fights.

The Non-Cooperative Movement Resolution was adopted during the 1920 Congress Session in Nagpur. Students over the age of sixteen were urged to stop attending schools run by the government, as that is the system the country has resolved to abolish. They were also instructed not to devote themselves to any sort of special service related to the Non-Cooperation movement or to continue their education at any national institutions (Bald 106). Because his father worked for the Angrezi Raj and served in the army, Anand had no choice but to attend the government-funded school in Ferozepur.

Regardless of the ultimate destination, Gandhi argued that the immediate pursuit of self-governance, self-mastery, and self-realization was of paramount importance for all Indians. He referred to this philosophy as Hind Swaraj, or Passive Resistance. To secure one's rights by one's own suffering is passive resistance, the polar opposite of armed resistance. I use soul-force when I refuse to engage in behavior that goes against my morals. I resort to soul-force if I choose to disobey the law and pay the price for doing so. Selflessness is required.

Faith and genuine religious devotion are what the Mahatma characterized as the sources of "Soul-force," another term he coined. Mulk Raj Anand's protest novels made important contributions to ending social injustices like untouchability, casteism, occupational prejudices, etc., and Gandhi believed that these issues, along with the reform of education and the uplifting of personal morals, including the adoption of brahmacharya for limiting population growth, were necessary for India to achieve national self-realization. (Anand's strong rejection of this aspect of Gandhian ideology stems from the fact that he saw no evidence of it during his time at the Sabarmati Ashram in 1932).

Gandhi said that the revitalization of society must begin with the revitalization of the old village organizations. This is something Anand could not accept, and it caused tension between him and Gandhi. Gandhi's support for Hindu society's conventional beliefs was something that Anand, too, found wanting. Although Gandhi battled against worker exploitation, he valued the mutually beneficial relationships between workers and capital, tenants and landlords, and employees and employers, and he encouraged dialogue and compromise to bridge differences. The values of peace, love, and friendship were to permeate every aspect of this social order:

Work is just as potent as money, if not more so. Power may be wielded for good or evil, creatively or destructively. One cannot exist without the other. As soon as the worker understands his power, he may stop seeing the capitalist as his master and start treating him as a partner. In his pursuit of ownership, he risks eliminating the source of future prosperity (Prabhu & Rao 116).

Gandhi saw industrialization as imperial devastation of the village and joblessness; his answer, a return to the pre-industrial, primitive village society, was seen as a step backward in Marxist theory. Because of his exposure to radical and Marxist notions of social transformation in England and elsewhere, and because of his relative modernity, Anand became a committed advocate for these ideas. To Anand, Gandhi's economic theory was a complete nonstarter. He had come to understand that the widespread poverty and degradation in India were the result of the country's economic backwardness and old social systems.

I was shocked to learn that social status determined one's opportunities in life, and I was outraged by the dishonesty, naiveté, and superstition that pervaded our coppersmith fraternity (Anand 19-20).

Anand yearned for a reborn India, one without the oppression of foreign powers or traditional societal hierarchies. He wanted to join a group, even if it was only the small group of artistic men known as the Bloomsbury Group, to alleviate his isolation. Instead, he found himself immersed in a world of prejudice and polarizing characters upon his arrival in England in 1925:

I was seething on the inside; after all, I had gone to prison for the Gandhi cause. My pre-white-sahib father battered my mother into submission when I went to prison, so I ran away. I had also been trained to act defiantly.

While helping to wipe the glasses, I became aware of my anger at comments made about India and about people of color being deemed "lesser breeds beyond the law." The shame of knowing I was less than others felt like a gaping hole in my spirit. I stared at it, and it gradually grew sore to the touch. Though I appreciate the literary abilities of these English authors, I have resolved in my mind to struggle for the independence of my nation forever (Conversations in Bloomsbury, 29). Anand has highlighted these kids' direct action in Apology for Heroism:

The events of the 1926 strike proved to me without a shadow of a doubt that Britain was managed and organized for the benefit of a few, one that was able to forcefully repress the vast majority both at home and across the Empire. (Anand 36)

Anand hadn't given up looking for the right philosophy to create a New India. The ideas of Gandhi have had a significant impact on Mulk Raj Anand, as he freely confesses. Anand states in his talk titled "The Humanism of M. K. Gandhi,"

Despite his flaws, we nevertheless consider him a great personality because he has the humility to acknowledge that everyone has them, too. Without a doubt, he unleashed a train of thought that, by the depth and breadth of its sympathies, liberated our people to a new level of solidarity (Anand 18-19).

In his depiction of Indian society, he has shown us a group whose economic standing determines their social standing. In his seminal work, Untouchable, social standing is a matter of biology. Coolie, another book, has an economic group decide. When it comes to themes, Anand's Coolie is essentially an expansion of Untouchable. Anand shows that the effects of societal evil may be seen even in ancient Indian history. Anand, a guy who places a high value on human decency and equality, is appalled by the inhumane treatment of the untouchables and coolies by people of higher social status. Whereas Anand's book Untouchable focuses on one group of people, it alludes to the broader global context of caste-based societies and racial/ethnic persecution. His depiction of society illustrates his belief that exploiters need to be uplifted in society and revolutionized so that they may stop acting inhumanly against others. According to K. R. S. Iyenger, his works are not only a reflection of society as it is, but also an integral aspect of social control and, ironically, a driving force behind social transformation.

Author Mulk Raj Anand stands out for his advocacy of underrepresented impoverished people and his realistic portrayal of their characters in novels that also promote social ideals and communal living. Anand thinks man has the power to shape his own future. He believes wholeheartedly in the potential of mankind. Anand, the great artist that he is, uses black and white language, but he does so to give terrible human experience a beautiful aesthetic expression. The display of Anand's artwork is where his protest and warning are most effective. Iyanger claims that Anand's works are a direct result of his intimate engagement with real life. Although our constitution expressly forbids racial and caste-based discrimination, such prejudice persists in everyday life. As a result, the lowest classes of society continue to be subjected to prejudice and exploitation, but in a different shape and degree than in the pre-independence period. This is confirmed by K. R. Shrinivas Iyenger as well: ......the issue, possibly with blunted edges and even with some alleviating characteristics here—still resists a definite and definitive solution! Despite this, Anand's work is seen as the catalyst for reforming the social order so that untouchables may get full citizenship. Anand envisioned a country that is powerful, unified, affluent, and peaceful. Through his works, he has brilliantly and painfully depicted the bleak reality of our so-called Indian society. Now it's on to us to figure out how to alter the status quo and make our country more progressive in his absence. It's the first lesson of Shaivism.(Sharma 101)

It is clear that Anand's works reflect the impact that Mahatma Gandhi had on his thinking. Gandhism is a set of beliefs and ideals that sum up Mahatma Gandhi's motivations, objectives, and legacy. It's often linked with the term "civil resistance," another name for nonviolent opposition, which he helped popularize.

What Gandhi meant to individuals all around the globe and how they utilized his teachings to shape their own lives is also included in the definition of "Gandhism." Non-governmental and personal spheres are not immune to Gandhianism's influence. Gandhian can refer to either a person who adheres to Gandhism or to that body of thought. Distinguished academician Ramjee Singh has dubbed Gandhi the "Bodhisattva" of the modern era. (Wikipedia)

The years 1920–1947 are known as the Gandhian era of Indian English fiction. Gandhi's views had a significant impact on the fiction of the day. Novels such as Untouchable, Coolie, Two Leaves and a Bud, Swamy and Fiends, The Bachelor of Arts, The Dark Room, The English Teacher, andKanthapura were written during this time and show the influence of Gandhian philosophy on three of India's greatest English-language novelists: Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, and R. K. Narayan.Mulk Raj Anand's Coolie and Untouchable are two of the greatest novels ever written, and they bear witness to the impact of Gandhian doctrine. Like Gandhi, Anand sought to use his work to advocate for the rights of India's oppressed poor.

Some of the essential components of a good book were missing from the novels published during the Gandhian era. The lack of technical skill, aesthetic conventions, and realism was striking. The story's framework lacked coherence and organization. The inadequate character development reduced the individuals to stereotypes. The writers seemed to rely excessively on didacticism and allegory, both of which served as roadblocks to their success. The great of the Indian English novel, however, was yet to come, and these works served as its precursors. Some of the writers were skilled storytellers, which was a strong suit of their writings. To rephrase, this potent form had already germinated, but it would require more care and feeding to bring it to full bloom and fruition.

After 1920, many people saw a sudden and remarkable growth in Indian literature. It was a moment when the nationalist surge had touched and inflamed the patriotic instincts of people all around the country. The whole nation was in political upheaval, but the liberation movement awakened people to their history and gave them hope for the future. After the war ended in 1918, Indian writers suddenly became more aware of their surroundings. The awakening of national consciousness and the realization that freedom and independence were worth fighting for had a profound effect on our authors. As Mahatma Gandhi's liberation struggle gained traction throughout India, this notion gained prominence. The quick events of the 1930s practically startled people into self-awareness, and they inspired a society shaped by Indian nationalism, as it did everywhere in the world, sparking a social and radical movement that was undoubtedly reflected in Indian literature and in Indian English literature.

Any kind of fiction may flourish in the presence of such self-awareness. In this context, the arrival of Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, and Raja Rao—the "founding fathers on the Indian English novel"—heralded a new era of literary maturity, vision, and direction in India. Their work may be seen as continuing the mission of British authors like E. M. Forster and Edward Thompson to explain contemporary India to both Indians and the rest of the world.

In fact, it was at this time that appealing topics like the fight for independence were introduced to the Indian novel. The untouchables, the plight of the landless working class and the economically exploited, the conflict between the west and the rest of the world, religious strife, and racial and ethnic tensions, etc. Historical novelists of the period sought to investigate these issues by elucidating the root causes and potential solutions based on enduring ethical and moral ideals.

It wasn't revolutionary to offer the social description in a certain way. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's work Rajamohan's wife (1884) was the first Indian novel written in English. It's a story about a girl whose romanticism is snatched away and who has to endure her inner rebellion against the mundane, immoral constraints of everyday life. This book was groundbreaking for its day, and its themes are just as relevant now as they were then. During the time period under study, there was a shift in the norms surrounding the narration of social occurrences, allowing for a more holistic understanding of the world at large. The fact that old ideas, old methods, and old mushy books for kids are still there today is confirmed by P. P. Mehta. The realistic book with a goal, however, emerged as a separate literary genre, ushering in fresh ideas, methods, and perspectives.

Therefore, we conclude that societal change is a central theme in Mulk Raj Anand's literature. In Untouchable (1935), Coolie (1936), and Two Leaves and a Bud (1937), he sheds attention on the humiliating predicament of the untouchables, landless laborers, and tag-garden workers, respectively. Anand's reality stems from his unwavering faith in the need of showing kindness and fairness to the world's poor.

During this time, a few of writers attempted to use Gandhi's philosophy to change the world via fiction. Murugan, The Tillar (1927) by K. S. Venkataramani, for instance, is inspired by Gandhian ideals. His novel The Patriot (1932) set in Kansa echoes the spirit of its day. These books both advocated for the Satyagraha movement and inspired Indians to fight for their country's rebirth and their right to be free from oppression at the ballot box.

A. S. P. Ayyar, a contemporary author who specializes in historical fiction, peppers his story in Baladitya (1930) with lectures on the perils of the caste system and shallow religion, among other topics. Ayyar's message of social transformation is consistent with that of Anand's.

The rustic lifestyle is also a focus in Mulk Raj Anand. His three novels, "The Village," "Across the Black Water," and "The Sword and the Sickle," all chronicle the life of a Sikh peasant named Lal Singh in rural Punjab. To make history more believable, Anand tries to reenact stories from his boyhood.

Swami and Friend, R. K. Narayan's debut book, was published in 1935, and it marked the beginning of his series of Malgudi novels, which he would go on to expand and give with a new depth in the representation of social settings. He is a kind of crusader who gently chastises wrongdoers, mocks superstitions and foolish beliefs, praises those who help others, inspires the faint of heart, and tickles the reader into submission.  The story of Swami and Friends centers on Swaminathan, a little boy of ten who is full of curiosity and mischief in the made-up town of Malgudi.

He attends Albert Mission School, a British-founded institution that places an emphasis on Christian values, English literature, and the importance of an education. When Rajum, a symbol of colonial authority, enrolls in Swami's school and quickly becomes his best friend, Swami's life is turned upside down. As he creates excuses and hangs out in Malgudi with his buddies, Swami shows the developing pains of a youngster who despises school.

The Bachelor of Arts (1937), another book by R. K. Narayan, describes the maturation of a young person's intellect. Chandran, the protagonist, is a young kid who represents the archetypal Indian upper middle-class youngster of the pre-independence period. First, the story follows Chandran while he attends college in the latter part of the colonial era. After finishing college, he develops feelings for the girl's parents since, according to his horoscope, a manglik can only marry another manglik and the non-manglik would die if they do. He dons the sanyasi robes and sets off on a lengthy trip, frustrated and desperate. Along the road, he has several encounters and is regarded by some locals as a wise elder. He chooses to go back to his hometown because of certain urgent obligations and some sobering insights. He starts working as a news agent and plans to get married in an effort to make up to his parents for the trouble he caused them in the past.

The Dark Room, written in 1938, tells the story of a Hindu housewife and her trials and sorrows. Savitri, a subservient woman married to Ramani, an employee of the Engladia Insurance Company, is the novel's main character. They are the proud parents of Kamla, Sumati, and Babu. Savitri is a typical Indian housewife of the day, completely subservient to her husband. When her husband's abuse becomes unbearable, Savitri retreats to a quiet room in the home. Ramani carries on an affair with a new hire at his company. When Savitri finds out, she threatens to leave her husband and their house. Ramani's haughtiness causes him to disregard the danger. Savitri had a violent fight with her husband, but the wrath and jealously she feels for him is great enough to keep her from changing her mind. She makes a futile attempt to drown herself in a river before deciding against it. After several unexpected turns (in keeping with Narayan's approach) including getting a work as a temple keeper, Savitri realizes that she cannot bear to be apart from her children and returns home. After Swami and Friends and The Bachelor of Arts, this book rounds off the impromptu trilogy.

The English Teacher, Narayan's second book, came out in 1944. The novel's protagonist, Krishna, teaches English at the same school he formerly attended as a student. At first, Krishna seems to be a kind and genuine instructor who is devoted to his job above anything else. Introduce pupils Carlyte and Milton. Krishna is shown as a loving and caring parent to his daughter Leela and a devoted husband to his wife Susila in the first part of the novel. But once his wife passed away, he fought the urge since he knew he had to raise their kid. He decides to leave his college position and become a kindergarten teacher instead. Having overcome his anxiety, he is now able to see that his life has purpose. Slowly but surely, he takes solace in caring for his small daughter that he forgets about his loss of his wife. Though Sushila's soul will always be with him, he no longer needs that confidence boost in order to take on the world.

The fictional city of Malgudi serves as the setting for all of Narayan's works. Thus, R. K. Narayan is the pinnacle of the regional fiction. His finest works, however, were written after independence, when his philosophy of life, which had hitherto been restricted to his fictional realm of Malgudi, expanded into an existential philosophy of human life.

The earliest work of Indo-English literature to invoke the Gandhian era is Raja Rao's Kanthapura (1938). A little South Indian village finds itself in the middle of the 1930s liberation movement. Gandhi's influence on the nonviolent resistance movement against the British is chronicled in this book. The narrative unfolds in the little South Indian town of Mysore. Rao takes inspiration from the form and manner of Indian folk-epic and vernacular stories. The story is told by an elderly lady about how the local god gave them courage.

Taking the side of the young Moorthy who has just returned from the city against the British Raj. Rao represents an idealist who upholds Ahimsa and Satyagraha and seeks to dismantle the boundaries of Caste in India. The English author E. M. Forster had nothing but appreciation for the piece. However, in Rao's view, India is less of a physical place and more of a philosophical idea and a symbol of a higher spiritual purpose. The tale shows how individuals put their confidence in their country and its principles, as well as in God. The rural setting is described in a way that is both realistic and lovely. One cannot better quote another accurate portrayal of rural life among books produced in the English Language than Rao Rao's Kanthapura, which not only gives a realistic reconstruction of village life but also breathes life into it, making it alive and throbbing.

The protagonist of Amir Ali's drama is a young man from a rural Hindu community who leaves for Bombay in search of an advanced education. However, he becomes entangled in the unrest of 1942. The story follows typical storytelling conventions. Another contemporary author, A. K. Abbas, uses his work tomorrow is ours to promote progressive causes including nationalism, leftism, and anti-fascism. His work, however, makes it quite plain that he supports the left. The storyline once again follows the norm.

Even though most authors were preoccupied with the political upheaval of the Gandhian era, we encounter A. S. P. Ayyar, who was keen in penning historical fiction at the time. The fact that he writes historical fiction has been mentioned briefly. As a member of the Indian Civil Service, he had to always be on watch, making it impossible for him to write books based on the political climate of the period. Therefore, he looked to ancient Indian history for inspiration, and in 1939, he published Three Men of Destiny, a book set against the backdrop of Alexander the Great's conquests of India in the fourth century BC. The rituals and beliefs of a bygone era are also brought to life for us. It's certain, however, that Ayyar was, intellectually and emotionally, a genuine Indian. The unsettling political climate had no effect on him. His comment makes this very clear:

Nothing could be more fitting than telling the story of India's bloody first encounter with the greatest and most civilized nation in Europe—the Greeks—during the current glorious renaissance of the period, when Eastern and Western Ideas are stirring the people into various kinds of political, artistic, and religious expressions peculiarly their own.

Ayyar, a knowledgeable historian, vividly depicts the downfall of the Nandas, the ascent of Chandragupta Maurya with the aid of Chankya, and Alexander the Great's humiliating defeat in this book. Ayyar's figures, however, remain simple silhouettes, and his creative inventiveness and technical expertise seem to be lacking. In reality, Three Men of Destiny reads more like a history book than a fiction.

The emergence of the ethnic novel as a literary genre at this time is a fascinating phenomenon. In this scenario, a group of Muslim authors began penning works concerning Muslim family life and etiquette. As much as possible, they want to shed light on the deterioration of Muslim culture. Such works like Ahmed Ali's Twilight in Delhi (1940) aim to draw our attention to a bygone era of Indian history and culture, a way of thinking and being that is vanishing nearly before our own eyes.

In her 1944 book Purdah and Polygamy, Iqbalunnisa Hussain paints a picture of a conventional Muslim business family. Humayun Kabir's Men and Rivers (1945) describes how the riparian fisher-folk of Bengal are affected by the river Padma's shifting moods.

Anand portrays Gandhi harshly and with some disrespect in The Sword and the Sickle (1942). Gandhi is a physical disfigurement to the hero of the story, Lalu, who thinks he looks like the devil. Lalu had wanted Gandhi to give a remedy to the dying and starving peasants; instead, he heard Gandhi speak about the need for suffering, soul-force, nonviolence, untouchability, the spinning wheel, self-perfection, and the sublimation of sexual urges. Anand describes Gandhi as a little lop-eared, toothless man with a shaved head, which shone clean like a raw purple turnip. At this point in his life, Anand's views on India's difficulties, and especially on the plight of the evicted zamindari tenants, were closer to those of Jawaharlal Nehru's. Of course, Anand was not oblivious to the reality that Nehru's responses were typical of upper-class Hindus' empty rhetoric of sympathy.

Count Rampal Singh (based on the non-communist Kanwar Brajeet Singh, who hosted Anand in his palace at Kalakankar in 1938), student leader Razni, 'declassed intellectual' Professor Verma, and Comrade Sarshar are just a few of the revolutionaries featured in The Sword and the Sickle. The strong Marxist leanings of Anand's character, his promotion of collective action, and the training of workers into professional revolutionaries in an all-India organization are all emphasized. Young Indians of the 1920s and 1930s shared same hopes and dreams. The trade unionist Sauda in Coolie calls on the workers to fight for their rights and respect:

So, you rootless wretches, get up and fight for what's right. Get up here, you scared nincompoops. It's time to get up and fight. Rise up and be the man you were always destined to be; don't go scuttling back to the mills like the worms you are (Anand 266)

Novels created during the Gandhian era are clearly superior than those written before 1920 in terms of both topic and technical effectiveness. The main distinction is on the subject matter chosen. Our authors' favorite subjects during the Gandhi era were revolution and social change, the plight of the poor, superstition and tradition, national pride, and the struggles of the impoverished. The authors matured enough to accurately portray the ups and downs, love and hate, humor and tragedy that make up real life. As a result, books adopted a more realistic tone. In the words of W. H. Hudson,

Art is a byproduct of living; it feeds off of life and responds to it.

Better creativity and expertise replaced the laborious explanations and lengthy regressions that marked older works. The writers' writing style shows more refinement and elegance. The narrative is well-developed, and the technical execution is impressive. Once in need of care and feeding, the book is now ready to stand on its own. (Professor John E. Joseph)

We can see that Mahatma Gandhi's outlook on Indian society, and on the lower caste, downtrodden people in particular, had a significant impact on Mulk Raj Anand. Anand pulls Bakha back to reality by sharing Gandhi's enlightened message. Harijan and Cleaners of the Hindu faith are two terms Gandhi used to replace his shame with pride. In the conversations that follow Gandhi's lecture, it becomes clear that the combination of Gandhi's spirituality and contemporary technology may provide a meaningful solution to the issue of untouchability by using the flush system. Anand presents a Gandhian ideological framework for industrialisation as a means of bringing about modernisation.

Gandhi's speeches serve as a uniting influence for Mulk Raj Anand. At first, he stares at Gandhi with awe, admiration, and even terror. Later, though, he begins to sense an intense closeness and warmth emanating from him. Gandhi enlightens him to the reality that 'Untouchability' was never approved of by religious authorities. In order to make him aware of their rights, Gandhi tells him that they should demand clean, unspoiled grains as payment for their labor rather than the spoiled scraps off the upper caste's plates. Critics have said that Anand presents Marxism in Untouchable and his previous books. rather than the Marxist ideology of vengeance against the powerful. It would seem that Anand is more persuaded by the nonviolent philosophy of Gandhi. He believes that the exploiters will alter their ways if the exploited submit to them nonviolently. While researching and writing his book, Anand stayed close to Gandhi. He followed Gandhi's directions and revised the text while staying at Sabarmati Ashram. This suggests that Gandhi, rather than Marx, is a major inspiration for Anand. Marx believed that religion was the opiate of the people and should be eradicated for their own good. He speaks ill of the priests who act as go-betweens in religious services. They make it easier for others to take advantage of the worshipper and extend the distance between God and the worshipper. Marx aspired to preach a gospel of revolution to the worlds underprivileged. Gandhi's goal was to educate people about their rights and eradicate poverty, which he saw as the root cause of oppression. He advocated a nonviolent approach to combating their oppressors. Anand believes that the first step towards the outcastes' liberation is to educate them about the exploitation they face at the hands of the superior castes. This crisis of self-awareness that Bakha or Munoo experience.

The Big Heart, first published in 1945, depicts the social and economic climate of the time and Anand's creative reaction to it vividly. It's a heartbreaking indictment of mankind that vividly portrays the crises and conflicts of India in the 1940s, as well as the reservoirs of compassion in India's working classes that keep them going in the face of abject poverty.

Conclusion

Mulk Raj Anand is a pioneer in Indian literature published in English. The effectiveness with which novels convey concepts, feelings, and experiences has been assessed. Due to its unique aspects and traits, the English-language Indian novel warrants rigorous critical scrutiny, much like its equivalents in other languages. Indian English authors express their objectives and aspirations to the typical man via works that exhibit social concern, realism, and parallelism. As a result, they provide instances of cultural opinions on people. Mulk Raj Anand, the book\'s author, is a humanist with a great intellectual concern for humanity. Untouchable is a powerful account of subalterns who are suffering from socially built manacles.

References

[1] Yadav, Shashi. (2014). Critical Analysis of Mulk Raj Anand‘s Novel Untouchable. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences. 30. 47-50 10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.30.47. [2] Dar, Nisar. (2018). MULK RAJ ANAND\'S UNTOUCHABLE: A VOICE OF SUBALTERN. [3] Jefreen, Fiza. (2017). Pursuit of Identity by the Protagonists in Untouchable and Hairy Ape: Perpetual Sufferings of the Downtrodden. [4] Eyre, Angela. (2019). Organized Peasant Resistance in Fiction: The Sword and The Sickle and The Lives of Others. South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. 21. 10.4000/samaj.5498. [5] Surendran K.V. ?Indian Literature in English: New Perspectives.? Sarup&Sons, New Delhi. [6] Tandon, Neeru. ?Mulk Raj Anand: A Social Worker Behind a Mask.? Mulk Raj Anand. Ed. B. R. Agrawal. New Delhi: Atlantic, 2006. Print. [7] Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. ?Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography; R. Guha, (ed.), Subaltern Studies IV: writings on South Asian history and society.? New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1985, pp. 330-363.

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Copyright © 2024 Damodhar G. Ramteke . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.