Gandhian Literature

Gandhian Literature

Paper – 4(Indian writing in English)

Name – Shital D Italia

Roll no – 34

Submitted to – Smt.S.B.Gardi

                           (Department of English

                            M.K University Bhavnagar)

Introduction

                M.K Gandhi was a gigantic man. For India he is an ‘avatar’. He was no doubt primarily a man of God, but he was also a practical man who was exhibition of tight rope dancing in the interest of theoretical consistency.

Gandhi such a huge man naturally influenced India and Indian literature .whatever were his principals and opinion ,qualities ,service and reforms, all found place in literature.

The Gandhi literature is marked by the following traits.

1)    Bilingualism : Mother tongue and English

Gandhi was a Gujarati.He educated in Gujarati schools. This gave him an opportunity to be in close touch with English. Gandhi set an example for upcoming writers. His writing in various magazines and his autobiography led the writer to write in double languages. Moreover earlier writers like Raja Rammohan Roy, Lokmanya Tilak, and Sri Aurobindo wrote in English and in their mother tongue.

2)    Simplicity, Directness and Clarity.

     These three things are found in Gandhi Literature. They became characteristics of Indian English writing. What Sri Aurobindo wrote, was understand by intellectual, English speaker as he was a learned man. The Writers attempted not the style but directness.Ornamental, artistics language was discarded. In regional too, these characteristic were marked.

3)    Rural life

    

     Gandhi went village to village. He moved all over India. Plight of peasant, Poor and downtrodden was horrible. He could not bear it.

       “There is implied a contrast between the two: Urban luxury and sophistication on the one hand rural modes and manners on the other”

 Shankar Ram’s ‘Children of cauery’ and ‘love of Dust’, Humayun Kabir’s ‘men and Rivers’ bring various picture of Indian parts.

4)    Gandhian Economics

        Gandhi’s economics view and practice changed India completely as he stressed self independence in every sense. Gandhi was against industry because it will ruin village industry. ‘Unto this Last’ a book of Ruskin made him thoughtful in terms of rise of everyone, which he named as ‘saryodaya’.

 

5)    Gandhian politics

Various Gandhian movement influence. Satyagraha movement,Non cooperation move were chiefly mirrored.Domestic and personal problem were also dealt with.Quite india movement is seen in kamala Markandaga’s novel ‘ Some inner Fury’.Gandhi himself is a character in R.K.Narayan’s ‘Waiting for mahatma ‘ and in Mulk Raj Anand’s ‘Untouchable’ and the ‘The Sword and the sickel’ may of political leaders also arreared in the fiction.

6)    Gandhian socialistic view.

There are other novels which have tried to catch some of the traits of Gandhi’s life and his period. The idealism,the agony,the violence, the shocks of defeat, breach between hindu and mislim unity etc. Nayantara  sehgal’s ‘ Atime to be happy’ and Dharati sarabhia’ play ‘ The well of the people’ and ‘Two women’ have mirrored various aspects.