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MulkRajAnand
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MulkRajAnand(12December190528September2004)
wasanIndianwriterinEnglish,notableforhisdepictionofthe MulkRajAnand
livesofthepoorercastesintraditionalIndiansociety.Oneofthe
pioneersofIndoAnglianfiction,he,togetherwithR.K.
Narayan,AhmadAliandRajaRao,wasoneofthefirstIndia
basedwritersinEnglishtogainaninternationalreadership.
Anandisadmiredforhisnovelsandshortstories,whichhave
acquiredthestatusofbeingclassicworksofmodernIndian
Englishliterature,notedfortheirperceptiveinsightintothelives
oftheoppressedandtheiranalysesofimpoverishment,
exploitationandmisfortune.[1][2]Heisalsonotableforbeing
amongthefirstwriterstoincorporatePunjabiandHindustani
idiomsintoEnglish[3]andwasarecipientofthecivilianhonour
ofthePadmaBhushan.[4]

Contents
Born 12December1905
1 Earlylifeandeducation Peshawar,BritishIndia(now
2 Career Pakistan)
3 Literarystyle
Died 28September2004(aged98)
4 Novels
Pune,India
5 Autobiographies
6 Seealso Occupation Writer
7 References Period 20thcentury
8 Externallinks
Signature

Earlylifeandeducation
BorninPeshawar,AnandstudiedatKhalsaCollege,Amritsar,
graduatingwithhonoursin1924,[3]beforemovingtoEngland,whereheattendedUniversityCollegeLondonas
anundergraduateandlaterCambridgeUniversity,earningaPhDinPhilosophyin1929.Duringthistimeheforged
friendshipswithmembersoftheBloomsburyGroup.HespentsometimeinGeneva,lecturingattheLeagueof
Nations'SchoolofIntellectualCooperation.

Career
Anand'sliterarycareerwaslaunchedbyfamilytragedy,instigatedbytherigidityofthecastesystem.Hisfirst
proseessaywasaresponsetothesuicideofanaunt,whohadbeenexcommunicatedbyherfamilyforsharinga
mealwithaMuslimwoman.[5][6]Hisfirstmainnovel,Untouchable,publishedin1935,wasachillingexposeof
thedaytodaylifeofamemberofIndia'suntouchablecaste.ItisthestoryofasingledayinthelifeofBakha,a
toiletcleaner,whoaccidentallybumpsintoamemberofahighercaste.

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Bakhasearchesforsalvetothetragedyofthedestinyintowhichhewasborn,talkingwithaChristianmissionary,
listeningtoaspeechaboutuntouchabilitybyMahatmaGandhiandasubsequentconversationbytwoeducated
Indians,butbytheendofthebookAnandsuggeststhatitistechnology,intheformofthenewlyintroducedflush
toiletthatmaybehissaviorbyeliminatingtheneedforacasteoftoiletcleaners.

Thissimplebook,whichcapturedthepuissanceofthePunjabiandHindiidiominEnglishwaswidelyacclaimed
andAnandwonthereputationofbeingIndia'sCharlesDickens.Theintroductionwaswrittenbyhisfriend,E.M.
Forster,whomhemetwhileworkingonT.S.Eliot'smagazineCriterion.[7]Forsterwrites:"Avoidingrhetoricand
circumlocution,ithasgonestraighttotheheartofitssubjectandpurifiedit."

Inevitably,Anand,whointhe1930sand'40sspenthalfhistimeinLondonandhalfinIndia,[3]wasdrawntothe
Indianindependencemovement.DuringhistimeinLondon,hewrotepropagandaonbehalfoftheIndiancause
alongsideIndia'sfutureDefenceMinisterV.K.KrishnaMenon,whiletryingtomakealivingasanovelistand
journalist.[8]Atthesametime,healsosupportedfreedomelsewherearoundtheglobeandeventravelledtoSpain
tovolunteerintheSpanishCivilWar,eventhoughhisroleintheconflictwasmorejournalisticthanmilitary.He
spentWorldWarIIworkingasascriptwriterfortheBBCinLondon,wherehebecameafriendofGeorgeOrwell.
OrwellpennedafavourablereviewofAnand's1942novelTheSwordandtheSickleandremarkedthat"although
Mr.Anand'snovelwouldstillbeinterestingonitsownmeritsifithadbeenwrittenbyanEnglishman,itis
impossibletoreaditwithoutrememberingeveryfewpagesthatisalsoaculturalcuriosity,"addingthatthegrowth
"ofanEnglishlanguageIndianliteratureisastrangephenomenon".[9]HewasalsoafriendofPicassoandhad
Picassopaintingsinhiscollection.

AnandreturnedtoIndiain1946,andcontinuedwithhisprodigiousliteraryoutputthere.Hisworkincludespoetry
andessaysonawiderangeofsubjects,aswellasautobiographies,novelsandshortstories.Prominentamonghis
novelsareTheVillage(1939),AcrosstheBlackWaters(1939),TheSwordandtheSickle(1942),allwrittenin
England,andCoolie(1936),ThePrivateLifeofanIndianPrince(1953),perhapsthemostimportantofhisworks
writteninIndia.Healsofoundedaliterarymagazine,Marg,andtaughtinvariousuniversities.Duringthe1970s,
heworkedwiththeInternationalProgressOrganization(IPO)ontheissueofculturalselfcomprehensionof
nations.HiscontributiontotheconferenceoftheIPOinInnsbruck(Austria)in1974hadaspecialinfluenceon
debatesthatlaterbecameknownunderthephraseof"DialogueAmongCivilizations".Anandalsodelivereda
seriesoflecturesoneminentIndiansincludingMahatmaGandhi,JawaharlalNehruandRabindranathTagore,
commemoratingtheirachievementsandsignificanceandpayingspecialattentiontotheirdistinctbrandsof
humanism.

His1953novelThePrivateLifeofanIndianPrincewasmoreautobiographicalinnature.In1950Anand
embarkedonaprojecttowriteasevenpartautobiography,beginningin1951withSevenSummers.Onepart,
MorningFace(1968),wonhimtheSahityaAkademiAward.[10]Likemuchofhislaterwork,itcontainselements
ofhisspiritualjourneyashestrugglestoattainahighersenseofselfawareness.

HediedofpneumoniainPuneon28September2004attheageof98.[11]

Literarystyle
Anand,whowasassociatedwithCommunism,usedhisnovelstomakebroadattacksonvariouselementsof
India'ssocialstructureandonBritishruleinIndiatheyareconsideredimportantfortheirsocialstatement.[12]

Novels
Untouchable(1935)

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Coolie(1936)
TwoLeavesandaBud(1937)
TheVillage(1939)
AcrosstheBlackWaters(1939)
TheSwordandtheSickle(1942)
TheBigHeart(1945)
ThePrivateLifeofanIndianPrince(1953)
TheRoad(1961)[13]

Autobiographies
SevenSummers(1951)
MorningFace(1968)wontheSahityaAcademyAward(BestLiteratureaward)inIndia.
ConversationsinBloomsbury(1981)

Seealso
ListofBloomsburyGrouppeople

References
1."VeryEnglish,moreIndian".TheIndianExpress.29September2004.("...itcanbesaidthattheyhavetakenoverfrom
BritishwriterslikeE.M.Forster&EdwardThompsonthetaskofinterpretingmodernIndiatoitself&theworld"),The
OxfordHistoryofIndia,VincentA.Smith(3rdedition,ed.PercivalSpear),1967,p.838.
2.RanjitHoskote(29September2004)."ThelastofIndianEnglishfiction'sgrandtroika:Encyclopaediaofarts".The
Hindu.
3."MulkRajAnandProfile"(http://www.iloveindia.com/indianheroes/mulkrajanand.html),iloveindia.com.
4."PadmaAwards"(PDF).MinistryofHomeAffairs,GovernmentofIndia.2015.RetrievedJuly21,2015.
5.C.J.George,MulkRajAnand,HisArtandConcerns:AStudyofHisNonautobiographicalNovels(https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=M7LSHdlvRtcC&pg=PA8&dq=mulk+raj+anand+aunt+muslim&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ehMqUbuPNNCykg
WY8oH4Aw&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=mulk%20raj%20anand%20aunt%20muslim&f=false),NewDelhi:
AtlanticPublishers,1994.
6.ShailajaB.Wadikar,"SilentSufferingandAgonyinMulkRajAnand'sUntouchable"(https://books.google.com/books?id
=g2DHBzEO9UEC&pg=PA144&dq=mulk+raj+anand+aunt+muslim&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ehMqUbuPNNCykgWY8oH4Aw
&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=mulk%20raj%20anand%20aunt%20muslim&f=false),inAmarNathPrasadand
RajivK.Malik,IndianEnglishPoetryandFiction:CriticalElucidations,Volume1,NewDelhi:Sarup&Sons,2007,p.
144155.
7."MulkRajAnand"(http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/content/mulkrajanand),PenguinIndia.
8.Cowasjee,Saros.SoManyFreedoms:AStudyoftheMajorFictionofMulkRajAnand,NewDelhi:OxfordUniversity
Press,1977.
9.Orwell,George.TheCollectedEssays,JournalismandLettersofGeorgeOrwellMyCountryRightorLeft19401943,
London:MartinSecker&Warburg,1968,pp.216220.
10.SahityaAkademiAwardrecipientsinEnglish(http://www.sahityaakademi.org/sahityaakademi/awa10304.htm#english)
11.JaiKumarandHareshPandya,"MulkRajAnand"(obituary)(https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/sep/29/guardianob
ituaries.india),TheGuardian,29September2004.
12.Berry,Margaret(19681969)." 'Purpose'inMulkRajAnand'sFiction".Mahfil.MichiganStateUniversity,Asian
StudiesCenter.5(1/219681969):8590.JSTOR40874218.
13.B.R.AgrawalMulkRajAnand20068126905867Page149"Hisnovel,TheRoad(1961)alsodealswiththethemeof
untouchability.BhikhuisnonebutBakhaofUntouchable.Heisapoorroadworkerandwithhispeopleworkstobuilda
roadtosolvetheproblemsoftransportation."

Externallinks
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MargPublications(http://www.margart.org)
Obituaryfromrediff.com(http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/sep/28mra. Wikiquotehasquotations
htm) relatedto:MulkRajAnand
MulkRajAnand,"TheSearchforNationalIdentityinIndia"(https://
books.google.com/books?id=YI_nZjqwPIYC&pg=PA5&dq=isbn:3771103118&source=gbs_selected_pages
&cad=0_1#PPA73,M1),in:HansKchler(ed.),CulturalSelfcomprehensionofNations.Tbingen
(Germany):Erdmann,1978,pp.7398.
TalatAhmed,"MulkRajAnand:novelistandfighter"(http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=60&issue=105),
inInternationalSocialism,Issue105,9January2005.
MulkRajAnand:ACreatorwithSocialConcern(http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fline/fl2121/stories/20041
022008413000.htm)Frontline,Volume21,Issue21,922October2004.
CharlotteNunes,"ScholarexploresworkandcareerofwriterMulkRajAnand"(http://blog.hrc.utexas.edu/2
011/05/10/scholarexploresworkandcareerofwritermulkrajanand/),CulturalCompass.HarryRansom
Center,UniversityofTexasatAustin.

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Categories: 1905births 2004deaths AlumnioftheUniversityofCambridge

AlumniofUniversityCollegeLondon Indiansocialists Indianmalenovelists
EnglishlanguagewritersfromIndia PeopleoftheSpanishCivilWar
RecipientsoftheSahityaAkademiAwardinEnglish
RecipientsofthePadmaBhushaninliterature&education PeoplefromPeshawar Indianmagazineeditors
FellowsoftheLalitKalaAkademi 20thcenturyIndiannovelists 20thcenturyIndianjournalists
Indianmalejournalists

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