Indian English Novel

The Indian English novel evolved as a subaltern consciousness; as a reaction to
break away from the colonial literature. Hence the post colonial literature in India
witnessed a revolution against the idiom which the colonial writers followed.
Gradually the Indian English authors began employing the techniques of hybrid
language, magic realism peppered with native themes. Thus from a post colonial
era Indian literature ushered into the modern and then the post-modern era. The
saga of the Indian English novel therefore stands as the tale of Changing
tradition, the story of a changing India.
The stories were there already in India steeped in folklores, myths, written in
umpteen languages as India is always the land of stories. However, the concept of
Indian English novel or rather the concept of Indians writing in English came
much later and it is with the coming of Raja Rao, R.K. Narayan, Mulk Raj
Anand, the journey of Indian English Novel began. The early Indian novels which were merely
patriotic gained a rather contemporary touch with the coming of Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and
R.K.Narayan. The social disparity of India which was aptly described by Mulk Raj Anand in his
"Coolie", the imaginary village life with its entire unedited realities in R.K. Narayan`s "Malgudi
Days" and last but not the least the aura of Gandhism depicted by Raja Rao in his remarkable
novel "Kanthapura" portrayed a whole new India. The need of the `foreigners` depicting India
amidst their write ups was not needed as Indians wanted to portray India through their Indian
English. That was the beginning of the voyage and with time it gained maturity. Not just the
daily lives, not just the social issues, Indian English novel slowly unveiled the grotesque
mythical realities of India while opening the window to a plethora of writers. Salman Rushdie,
fascinated the Indian intelligentsias with his remarkable understanding of Indian History, as well
as unification of Indian history with language. This further paved the way to portray India with
her sheer grandeur, tradition, realities, myths, heritage in the most eloquent way. Perhaps this
supported Amitava Ghosh to dabble the post colonial Indian realities while helped Vikram Seth
to picturise a rather new India laced with an air of Victorian aristocracy.
The cobweb of romance, the strange mind of the women and the very ideal that women needs
something more than just food and shelter are ideally portrayed by the women writers while
making Indian English novel to take that final step towards maturity. The fast changing pace of
the new India is thus ideally painted by the female writers. The history of Indian English novel, a
journey which began long back has witnessed a lot of alteration to gain today`s chick contour.
More On Indian English Novels
(Last Updated on : 9/11/2009)

The Indian literary scenario, beginning in the Vedic Ages, times even prior to historical
preservation, have been endowed with the best and prime literary geniuses, be it in the oral or the
written tradition. During the Vedic Period, as is however acknowledged from Indian ancient
history, Hinduism was in its most elevated and supreme state, with the caste system just coming
into vogue, with the Brahmans, Kshtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. As such, the Brahmins had
taken, rather seized centre-stage, with every sphere of daily life speaking out from the higher
caste society. And educational and literary pursuits, writing or getting oneself educated in the
ashrama system or in the gurukuls, were solely preserved for the higher caste and somewhat
upper echelons in tandem. The medium of imparting education or penning down any version of
one`s thoughts or a fictional or legendary discourse, all were strictly done in the Sanskrit lingo.
As such, the first traces of writings in Indian literature were done in the Sanskrit language, with
Sanskritic body of literature tracing out its prestigious path down the ages. It was indeed in this
highly mysterious Sanskrit literary wonders that one gets to discover the very first traces of
Indian novels and novel writing in the Indian context.
Authors and legendary sages have been recognised to have devoted volumes of paper, pen and
ink in priceless poetry or drama, dedicating each meticulous thought to penning down immortal
creations that still arrests attention. However, it was only in the Later Vedic Age that one gets to
witness the foremost and original and initial stages of Indian novel writing under the masters like
sages Valmiki or Vyasa. Indian novels began to be first written in Sanskrit only, with the said
literary body being divided into - Vedic Sanskrit, Epic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit literatures.
Setting apart the first two ages with their distinctive genres, it was precisely in the Classical
Sanskrit age that the plan and notion of `novels` began to be first shelled out in India, lending a
solid shape to the still-now floating criterion. The Classical age in Sanskrit literature was the
time when fables and fictional novels were begun to be given a distinct shape for the common
mass. As such, beginning from that period and still going on in the current scenario, Indian
novels have time and again impressed upon the reading public as well as fetching esteemed and
honoured accolades both the country and overseas.
Indian novels have been unbeaten enough to exhaustively reflect the history, society, political
domain, economic status and tradition of Indian subcontinent, traversing ages. Indeed, the history
of Indian novels has much to speak and state about such an all-encompassing genre, which can
of course not be free from any controversies or its debatable arena. And the most distinguishing
factor that surfaces to the tip of the iceberg is the role of Indian novelists and their novels in
daringly reverberating the trying and testing times of India under the British Raj. The India back
in those 200 years of slavery and cruelty under the merciless British Empire, had called to
enlightenment enough reasons for which every Indian had taken up the pen, instead of a sword,
to cry out injustice and unlawfulness against the hapless natives. Beginning from dramatisation
or penning down thoughts in the poetical format, it was in fact the ènslaved Indian novels` that
had soared in every Indian morning, the outcry coming form every Indian language -
modernistic, chic, or inert in the tribal format. And overwhelming it was! The Indian
Independence Movement was the most prolific and opportune a time, when Bengali and Hindi
novelistic tradition was at its helm. The British supremacy upon India however also had much to
impress the socially `shrewd and opportunistic` so-called ìntellectual class` which had paved
way for the upcoming Ìndian novels in English`, a phrase, which has attained much different a
context in contemporary times.
The plethora of stellar Indian literary personalities have penned down successive historical
events in their novels, sometimes depicting the societal structure, answerable as they are to the
reading as well the pan-Indian non-reading populace, with what they have created. It was also
noticed at times that such Indian novelists and their unforgettable wonders have instilled life into
the contrived fictional novels and aired their stunning aura of creativity. Indian novels have been
presented seamlessly and eternally in diverse languages, themes and other particulars. The
prominent novelists like R. K Narayan have authored distinguished novels in English, portraying
the colloquial Indian lifestyle and traditions. Gradually, the Indian English novel has been
witnessed to have evolved as a subaltern consciousness, as a reaction to break away from the
colonial literary overshadowing. The series of Malgudi Days, marked a special format and era of
Indian novels. Satyajit Ray, the patron of Bengali creativity, reaching out undisturbed to every
kind of reading generations in every possible language on earth, besides of course, Bengali, with
his adventurous and exhilarating Feluda and Professor Shonku. It was Satyajit Ray who had
brought about international adventure to the genre of children`s thriller novels, loved by all age
groups, a prime factor that still portrays no signs of fading away. Most of
Ray`s novels have victoriously been made into world famous films.
Indian novels have a high-flying fame in the diaspora of international

novels, owing to their rather uncanny dissimilar shades, varied dialects and
traditional flavour. Lately, a new pattern of Indian novels is into the markets,
identified as `graphic novels` (a type of comic book, mostly with a lengthy
and complex storyline similar to those of novels; the term also embraces
comic short story anthologies, and in some instances bound compendiums of
previously published comic book series). These novels are imbibed with life
through both speech and images. Some of the popular graphic novels created
in India comprise - The Believers, Corridor, Kashmir Pending and The Barn
Owl`s Wondrous Capers by various novelists, likening themselves to the
range of comic book popularisation.
The contemporaneous Indian novels are widely sold and flying off the racks
in overseas countries, besides just the native land itself. Novelists like Rohinton Mistry, Sarojini
Sahoo, Jhumpa Lahiri, Shobha De, Anita Desai, Altaf Fatima, Shashi Tharoor and others have
earned international acclamation for their works. Indian novelists are the creative masterminds
behind such impeccable story plots and continuous meshes in language. Indian novels have
reached a notable status not only in Indian book market, but also globally.
Indian women novelists have given a new dimension to the Indian literature. In the past, people
used to enjoy the `desi` versions of English magazines like `Playboy` with a sense of shame and
guiltiness. But, today the case is different. The Indian literature has gifted several talented
women novelists who present the Indian version of such books and that too within the limits of
dignity and decency. They are popularly known as the goddesses of Eros! They have brought a
stylized pattern in the whole context of Indian writing. Nowadays, people enjoy reading the
anglicized novels presented by the new age women writers.
The list of Indian women novelists comprises Anita Desai, Shobha De, Nergis Dalal, Krishna
Sobti, Dina Mehta, Indira Goswami, Malati Chendur, Gauri Deshpande, Bharati Mukherjee,
Namita Gokhale, Ruth Jhabvala, Nayantara Sahgal, Kamala Das and many more popular
names. It is believed that the desi version of the foreign varieties is comparatively more deadly
and this fact is proved by the novels of these authors. The novels of authors like Namita Gokhale
or Shobha De are really out-spoken. Most of these female novelists are known for their bold
views that are reflected in their novels. Basically, these are the novels of protest and an outburst
of reservations and contaminations. Unlike the past, where the works of women novelists were
given less priority and were actually undervalued, classification of feministic or male writings
hardly makes any sense today.
The last two decades have witnessed phenomenal success in feminist writings of Indian English
literature. Today is the generation of those women writers who have money and are mostly
western educated. Their novels consist of the latest burning issues related with women as well as
those issues that exist in the society since long. These books are thoroughly enjoyed by the
masses and the publishers make easy money out of them. The publishers feel that the literature
actually survives because of these types of bold topics and commercials used by the women
novelists. Their novels encourage the women freedom to flirt. They describe the whole world of
women with simply stunning frankness. Their write-ups give a glimpse of the unexplored female
psyche, which has no accessibility.
Feminism in Indian Literature
The present age women have realized that she is not helpless and is not dependent. They feel that
a woman is an equal competent just like a man. Today, a woman has also become a direct money
earner and she is not only confined to household works. The women of modern era think on
different lines and that is what is depicted in the novels of the Indian women authors. These facts
are incorporated by the women writers. Indian women writers explores the feminine subjectivity
and applies the theme that ranges from childhood to complete womanhood. Through their novels
they spread the message of what actually feminism is, which actually is very broad. These
women writers say that feminism means putting an end to all the sufferings of a woman in
silence.
Authors like Kamala Markandaya, Shashi Deshpande and Anita Desai have chosen the
problems and issues faced by the women in today`s male dominated world as the main theme of
their books. For instance, some of the novels of Anita Desai like ` Voices in the City` and
`Where Shall We Go This Summer?` she has portrayed the complexities between a man and
woman relationship. She has tried to explore the psychological aspects of the lead protagonists.
The women novelists try to create awareness that this is the time to proclaim with definite
precision. In India, the women writers are doing very well and their contribution is immense.
Majority of the Indian readers comprising both male and female read the novels of the Indian
women authors with certain expectations. They look for some "Indian-ness` in the write-ups.
Only the women novelists of India are capable of conveying the messages of feminism in an
Indian way.
Modern Indian Literature
The development of modern Indian literature has been marked by certain characteristics, some of
which it shares with modern literatures over the world. There has always been in all countries
and ages a conflict between the orthodox and the unorthodox, but in India, because the new
impulse was identified with an alien culture and foreign domination, the clash of loyalties has
been sharper. The very impact of Western thought, with its emphasis on democracy and self-
expression, stimulated a nationalist consciousness which resented the foreign imposition and
searched for the roots of self-respect and pride in its own heritage. For instance, Rabindranath
Tagore’s novel Gora is a masterly interpretation of this built-in conflict in the very nature of
Indian renaissance, a conflict which still persists and has coloured not only our literature but
almost every aspect of human life. The first outstanding Bengali poet of the nineteenth century
(and the last in the old tradition), Iswar Chandra Gupta (1812-59), whose remarkable journal,
Sambad Prabhakar, was the training-ground of many distinguished writers.
The new era of modern Indian literatures may be said to begin in 1800, when Fort William
College was established in Kolkata and The Baptist Mission Press in Serampore, near Kolkata.
The college was founded by the East India Company to provide instruction to British civil
servants in the laws, customs, religions, languages, and literatures of India in order to cope with
the increasing demands of fast-growing administrative machinery. Reading material, during this
time, was translated from the Sanskrit classics as well as from foreign literature, and dictionaries
and grammars were compiled. William Carey, who was also one of the founders of the Baptist
Mission Press, himself wrote a Bengali grammar and compiled an English-Bengali dictionary as
well as two selections of dialogues and stories.
Later in the second half of the sixteenth century, books in Tamil and other Dravidian languages
began to be printed. Many foreign missionaries learnt the languages of the people. They not only
translated the Bible and wrote Christian Puranas but also rendered considerable service to the
languages by compiling the first modern grammars and dictionaries. Although the printing-press
came to south India much earlier and the foreign missionary enterprise functioned much longer
and more zealously than in Bengal, the impact of Western learning as such was comparatively
slow and the resurgence of literary activity bore fruit in its modern form much later than in
Bengal.
The establishment of Hindu College in 1817 and the replacing of Persian by English as the
language of the law and the increasing use of Bengali were other landmarks which encouraged
the introduction of modern education and the development of the language of the people. It was,
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) who laid the real foundation of modern Bengali prose. The
form which he gave to Bengali prose revealed its rich potentiality in the hands of Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar (1820-1891) and Akshay Kumar Datta (1820-1886), both of whom were primarily
social reformers and educationists. Because they were men of serious purpose who had much to
say, they had little use for the flamboyance and rhetoric natural to a language derived from
Sanskrit, and they chiselled a prose that was both chaste and vigorous.
Pathfinders rather than creative artists, they standardized the medium which their younger
contemporary, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-94), turned with superb gusto and skill into a
creative tool for his novels and stories. He is known as the father of the modern novel in India
and his influence on his contemporaries and successors, in Bengal and other parts of India, was
profound and extensive. Novels, both historical and social, the two forms in which he excelled,
had been written before him in Bengali by Bhudev Mukherji and Peary Chand Mitra. Mitra’s
‘Alaler Gharer Dulalh’ was the first specimen of original fiction of social realism with free use of
the colloquial idiom, and anticipated, however crudely, the later development of the novel. But it
was Bankim Chandra who established the novel as a major literary form in India. He had his
limitations, he was too romantic, effusive, and didactic, and was in no sense a peer of his Great
Russian contemporaries, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. There have been better novelists in India since
his day, but they all stand on his shoulders.
Though the first harvest was reaped in Bengali prose, it was in the soil of poetry that this cross-
fertilization with the West bore its richest fruit. With the emotional temperament and lyrical
genius, the Bengali language is supple and musical, as though fashioned for poetry. Michael
Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873) was the pioneer who, turning his back on the native tradition,
made the first conscious and successful experiment to naturalize the European forms into
Bengali poetry by his epic in blank verse, ‘Meghnadbadh Kabya’, based on a Ramayana episode
unorthodoxly interpreted, as well as by a number of sonnets. He led the way but could not
establish a vital tradition, for his own success was a tour de force of a rare genius.
It was Rabindranath Tagore who naturalized the Western spirit into Indian literature and thereby
made it truly modern in an adult sense. He did this not by any conscious or forced adaptation of
foreign models but by his creative response to the impulse of the age, with the result that the
Upanishads and Kalidasa, Vaishnava lyricism, and the rustic vigour of the folk idiom, are so well
blended with Western influences in his poetry that generations of critics will continue to wrangle
over his specific debt to each of them. In him modern Indian literature came of age, not only in
poetry but in prose as well. Novel, short story, drama, essay, and literary criticism, they all
attained maturity in his hands. Though Indian literature in its latest phase has outgrown his
influence, as indeed it should, Tagore was the most vital creative force in the cultural renaissance
of India and represents its finest achievement.
Kolkata being the first cosmopolitan city in India to grow under the new regime, it was natural
that it should witness the birth of the modern drama. It has still a lively stage tradition. Curiously
enough, the first stage-play in Bengali produced in Kolkata was by a Russian adventurer-cum-
Indologist, Lebedev, in 1795. It was an adaptation of a little-known English comedy, â€œThe
Disguiseâ€, by Richard Paul Jodrell.
Many years passed before a serious attempt was made to build an authentic stage, mainly under
private patronage. The first original play in Bengali was Kulin Kulasarvasva, a social satire
against the practice of polygamy among Kulin brahmans, written by Pandit Ramnarayana.
Ramnarayana’s second play, Ratnavali, based on a Sanskrit classic, provoked Madhusudan Dutt
to try his hand at this medium. His impetuous genius turned out a number of plays in quick
succession, some based on old legends and some social satires. He may thus be said to have laid
the foundation of modern Indian drama, as he did of poetry, although his achievement in this
form did not equal his performance in poetry and he soon retired from the field.
His place was taken by Dinabandhu Mitra (1829-74), a born dramatist whose very first play, ‘Nil
Darpan’ (published in 1860), exposing the atrocities of the British indigo planters, created a
sensation, both literary and political. Dinabandhu wrote many more plays and was followed by a
succession of playwrights among whom were Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother
Jyotirindranath Tagore, Manomohan Basu, and, later, the more famous Girish Chandra Ghosh
and Dwijendralal Roy. Girish Chandra was actor, producer, and playwright, and it is to his
indefatigable zeal that the public theatre in Kolkata is largely indebted. But though both he and
Dwijendralal achieved phenomenal popularity in their day, their popular appeal was due more to
the patriotic and melodramatic elements in their plays than to any abiding literary merit. On the
other hand, Rabindranath Tagore’s plays, though they had considerable literary merit and were
marked by originality and depth of thought, were too symbolic or ethereal to catch the popular
imagination.
Of the numerous languages of India perhaps Marathi was, after Bengali, the most vigorous in its
response to the spirit of the new age. This is because of its robust intellectual tradition, reinforced
by memories of the erstwhile glory of the Maratha Empire, and partly because Mumbai, like
Kolkata, provided a cosmopolitan modern environment. Among the stalwarts who laid the
foundation of its modern literature may be mentioned the poet Keshavsut, the novelist Hari
Narayan Apte, and Agarkar, Tilak, and Chiplunkar as the builders of prose. Apte’s novels
stimulated the development of the novel in some other languages too, particularly in the
neighbouring Kannada. Narmad’s poetry blazed the trail in Gujarati.
Flourishing under court patronage, Urdu had made phenomenal progress and was the most
important Indian language to prosper in the eighteenth century. But it luxuriated in its own
affluence and remained aloof from the vital currents that were sweeping the country forward in
the nineteenth century.
The development of modern Assamese and Oriya, the two eastern neighbours of Bengali, was
also late in coming and was preceded by valuable spade-work done by the Christian missions.
Orissa too had recovered its homogeneous integrity and the intelligentsia in the regions was
educated in Kolkata and carried back with them the impact of the literary resurgence in Bengal.
Lakshmikanta Bezbarua and Padmanath Gohain Barua in Assamese, and Fakirmohan Senapati
and Radhanath Ray in Oriya were the early pioneers in their respective fields. Kashmiri, Punjabi,
and Sindhi had an even more retarded development, partly on account of the political conditions
and partly because of the cultural glamour of Urdu in regions predominantly Muslim. All the
more credit to the pioneers who held aloft the banner of their mother tongue are Mahjur and
Master Zinda Kaul in Kashmiri, Sardar Puran Singh and Bhal Vir Singh in Punjabi, and Mirza
Kalich Beg and Dewan Kauromal in Sindhi.
What is surprising is the rather late and tardy resurgence in the four Dravidian languages, which
had had a longer and a richer literary past than the northern languages. The past has weighed
more heavily on the south than on the north in India and nowhere more heavily than on Tamil
Nadu. However, in course of time the creative spirit in these languages too responded to the
impulse of the age, in as rich a flowering as in the other languages of India, led by Puttanna,
‘Sri’, and Kailasham in Kannada, by Kerala Varma and Chandu Menon in Malayalam, by
Bharati and Kalki in Tamil, and Viresalingam and Guruzada Appa Rao in Telugu. It is worth
observing that the youngest of the Dravidian languages, Malayalam, has responded to the new
age more dynamically than the oldest, Tamil, which even now looks too wistfully to the past.
All the great events which have influenced European thought within the last one hundred years
have also told, however feeble their effect may be, on the formation of the intellect of modern
Bengal. The independence of America, the French Revolution, the war of Italian independence,
the teachings of history, the vigour and freedom of English literature and English thought, the
great effort of the French intellect in the eighteenth century, the results of German labour in the
field of philosophy and ancient history; Positivism, Utilitarianism, Darwinism, all these have
influenced and shaped the intellect of modern Bengal.
From the beginning of the twentieth century Indian literature was increasingly coloured by
political aspirations, passionately voiced in the songs and poems of the Tamil poet Bharati and
the Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The spiritual note of Indian poetry had attained a poignant
and rapturous pitch in the medieval Vaishnava outpourings. Tagore’s Gitanjali is the swan song
of this great tradition. The devotional content of poetry was henceforth increasingly replaced by
the political, the ethical bias by the ideological, the plaintive tone by that of challenge and
mockery, until the dominant note of Indian literature today is that of protest.
Tagore’s main impact was, however, indirect, inasmuch as it gave confidence to Indian writers
that they could achieve in their mother tongue what had been achieved in Sanskrit or European
languages. But Tagore’s influence in literature was soon overshadowed by the impact of Gandhi,
Marx, and Freud, a strange trinity. Though none of these three was a man of letters proper, they
released intellectual and moral passions and introduced new techniques of thought and behaviour
which had a profound effect on young writers all over India. The influence of the philosophy of
Sri Aurobindo Ghose is also noticeable among some writers, like the Kannada poets, Bendre and
Puttappa, and the Gujarati poets, Sundaram and Jayant Parekh, but beyond imparting a certain
mystic glow to their verse and confirming their faith in the reality of the Indian spiritual
experience, it has not given any new trend or horizon to Indian literature in general.
On the whole, the impact on Indian writing of the mixed interaction has given a much-needed
jolt to the smugness of the traditional attitude, with its age-old tendency to sentimental piety and
glorification of the past. The revolt began in Bengal, yielded a rich harvest, in both poetry and
prose, in the work of Jivanananda Das, Premendra Mitra, Buddhadeva Bose, Manek
Bandyopadhyay, Subhas Mukhopadhyay et al. In Bengal both these forms attained an early
maturity in the hands of Tagore and have since made phenomenal progress under his younger
contemporaries and successors namely Sarat Chandra Chatterjee achieved a popularity, both in
Bengal and outside, which equalled, if not surpassed, that of Tagore.
Moreover, English language had a great impact on the Indians and apart from its utilitarian value
as a language of higher education in the sciences and as a ‘link language’, a fair number of
Indian writers, including such eminent thinkers steeped in Indian thought as Vivekananda,
Ranade, Gokhale, Aurobindo Ghose and Radhakrishnan, have voluntarily adopted it as their
literary medium. There has been, from Derozio in the 1820s to R. K. Narayan today, an
unbroken tradition of some gifted Indians choosing to write in English. Many of them, like the
Dutt sisters, Toru and Aru, their versatile uncle Romesh Chunder, Manomohan Ghosh, Sarojini
Naidu, and, among contemporaries, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Bhabani Bhattacharya, and
many others, have achieved distinction.
Some early pioneers in the Indian languages were also tempted at the threshold of their career to
adopt English for their creative writing, partly because they owed their inspiration to English
literature and partly because they hoped thereby to reach a wider audience. Madhusudan Dutt’s
first narrative poem, â€œThe Captive Ladieâ€, and Bankim Chandra’s early novel
â€œRajmohan’s Wifeâ€, are classic examples. Wisely they discovered in time that they could
create best in their own language. Some English novels of R. K. Narayan, a born story-teller with
any eye for observation and the gift of gentle irony, are superior in intrinsic literary merit to a
great deal of mediocre stuff that passes for literature in some Indian languages. On the other
hand, it cannot be denied that, as far as creative writing is concerned, no Indian writer in English
has reached anywhere near the heights attained by some of the great writers in the Indian
languages. What modern Indian literature sadly lacks is a well-proportioned and many-sided
development.
The modern Indian literature is the representation of each aspect of modern life. Happily, despite
this clamour of sophistry, patriotic piety, and political bias, good literature continues to be
written and, as it justifies itself, it helps to sharpen the reader’s sensibility. Since the time of
Tagore a growing minority of intelligent critics well versed in the literary traditions of their own
country and of the West have bravely maintained a more wholesome approach that is neither
overwhelmed by the burden of the past nor overawed by the glamour of the latest fashion. This
healthy trend of the modern Indian literature should gain in strength with a growing realization
that, in the republic of letters as in that of men, a sensitive and well-trained critical apparatus and
its judicious and fearless exercise are a prerequisite of happy results.

English Literature in India
Indian English Literature, also admiringly referred to as IEL in short, pertains to that body of
work by writers from India, who pen strictly in the English language and whose native or co-
native language could be one of the numerous regional and indigenous languages of India.
English literature in India is also intimately linked with the works of associates of the Indian
diaspora, especially with people like Salman Rushdie who was born in Indian but presently
resides elsewhere; as such, Indian English literature is also at times recurrently referred to as
Ìndo-Anglian literature`. As a categorised concept, this yielding of literature in India in English,
comes under the broader territory of postcolonial literature - the yield from previously colonised
countries, just as India once was.
Indian English literature is an honest enterprise to demonstrate the ever rare gems of Indian
writing in English. From being a singular and exceptional, rather gradual native flare-up of
geniuses, Indian English has turned out to be a new form of Indian culture and voice in which
India converses regularly. While Indian authors - poets, novelists, essayists, dramatists - have
been making momentous and considerable contributions to world literature since the pre-
Independence era, the past few years have witnessed a gigantic prospering and thriving of Indian
English writing in the global market. Not only are the works of Indian authors writing in English
surging on the best-seller list, they are also incurring and earning an immense amount of critical
acclamation. Commencing from Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, Anita Desai, Toru Dutt to
Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Allan Sealy, Amitav Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Chitra Banerjee
Divakaruni, Arundhati Roy,Vikram Chandra - the panache of fine Indian writers is long and
much augmented. Indeed, if one begins to explore the highly curious and arresting history of
Indian English literature and also experience its various facets, as expressed in Indian English
literature plays and movies and other media, he is sure to be lost amidst such profundity, in the
abstract sense.
Indian English literature (IEL) precisely conforming to its gradual evolution had all begun in the
summers of 1608 when Emperor Jahangir, in the court of the Mughals, had welcomed Captain
William Hawkins, Commander of British Naval Expedition Hector, in a gallant manner. It was
indeed India`s first tryst with any Englishman and English. Jahangir had later also allowed
Britain to open a permanent port and factory on the special request of King James IV that was
communicated by his ambassador Sir Thomas Roe, which led to the consequent sizeable English
arrival and people thus had begun to stay back in India. Though India was under the British rule,
still, English was adopted by the Indians as a language of understanding and awareness,
education and literary expression with an important means of communication amongst various
people of dissimilar religions.
Indian English literature, quite understandably spurs attention from every quarter of the country,
making the genre admired in its own right. Creative writing in English is looked at as an integral
part of the literary traditions in the Indian perspective of fine arts. Indeed, it has also been a
rather lucky happening and news that the harshness of critics has also accepted that Indian
literature in English is one guiding factor of present identification, which had begun several
decades ago and is still in a continuous process of metamorphosis. There appears to be an
acceptance of Indian English literature as, Indian writing represents a new form of Indian
cultural ethos. This literary body has become thoroughly absorbed and is presently a dynamic
element of the quintessential Indian way of life.
Beginning in the early times of British rule, much prior to the advent of the novelistic writing, it
was indeed the Indian English dramas and Indian English poetry, that had tremendously arrested
attention of the native masses. Times back then were much severe, as can be known from British
Indian history. Indeed, the present generation must always consider themselves fortunate that the
British incitement and oppression was reason enough for Indian English literature to flourish
despite horrible intimidation. Heart-rending and grievous issues were time and again brought up
in these dramatisations and poetical expressions by stellar and legendary poets and playwrights.
Every possible regional author was dedicated in their intelligence to deliver in the `British
mother tongue`, highly erudite and learned as they were even in such periods. The man that
comes to surface more than once in all the genres of Indian English literature, is Rabindranath
Tagore, who possibly was an unending ocean of knowledge and intellect, still researched as an
institution in himself.
And in this British context of an overwhelming English arrival, generally always comes to
surface the factor of any Indian writing in a foreign and alien lingo, much deviated from their
original roots. It can be said to be a challenge for the Indian English writer to pen about his
experiences in a language which has developed in a very different cultural setting - in a "foreign"
language. Indeed, there was also witnessed times in pre-Independent India, when people
conceived Indian English literature to create a very different sense of reality and intensity in
Indian life in the medium of English language, far more differentiated than any regional Indian
language. The truthfulness and honesty of the writers writing in English is often made a theme of
suspect in their own country and in other English-speaking countries they are indeed addressed
as `marginal` to the mainstream of English literature. Indian English literature writers are
sometimes incriminated of forsaking the national or regional language and penning in a western,
"alien" language; their dedication to the nation is considered in much suspicion, a rather
unfortunate sensibility for such intelligent and cultured wonders.
Indian literature in English dates back to the 1830s, to Kashiprasad Ghosh, who is considered the
first Indian poet writing in English. Sochee Chunder Dutt was the first writer of fiction, thus
bringing in the tremendous attraction and brilliancy of admiration of Indian English novels. In
the beginning, however, political writing in the novel or essay format was dominant, as can be
seen in Raja Rammohan Roy and his extraordinary output. He had written and dedicated pages
about social reform and religion in India, solely in the medium of English.
`Stylistic influence` from the local languages appears to be an exceptional feature of much of the
Indian literature in English - the local language construction and system is very much reflected in
the illustrations, as is mirrored in the literal translation of local idioms. Yet one more
breathtaking and praiseworthy feature of these English Indian writers is that they have not only
`nativised` the `British mother tongue` in terms of stylistic features, but, they have also
acculturated English in terms of the Ìndianised context`. A broad view that the mother tongue is
the primary means of literary creativity, is still generally held across cultural diversity.
Creativeness in another tongue is often measured as a deviation from this strict norm. The native
language is considered `pure`, it is addressed as a standard model of comparison. This however
have caused difficulties for non-native writers of Indian English literature and it is more than
infrequently that they have to guard themselves writing again, in English.
Besides the legendary and hugely venerated Indian English literary personalities of Rabindranath
Tagore or R K Narayan, later novelists like Kamala Markandaya (Nectar in a Sieve, Some Inner
Fury, A Silence of Desire, Two Virgins), Manohar Malgaonkar (Distant Drum, Combat of
Shadows, The Princes, A Bend in the Ganges and The Devil`s Wind), Anita Desai (Clear Light
of Day, The Accompanist, Fire on the Mountain, Games at Twilight) and Nayantara Sehgal, have
ceaselessly captured the spirit of an independent India struggling to break away from the British
and traditional Indian cultures and establish a distinct identity. Such was the already established
solid ground of Indian English literature, an aspect that has acquired much more momentous
adjectives.
During the 1980`s and 90`s, India had emerged as a major literary nation. Salman Rushdie`s
`Midnight`s Children` had become a rage around the world, even winning the Booker Prize. The
worldwide success of Vikram Seth`s `The Golden Gate` made him the first writer of the Indian
Diaspora to enter the sphere of elite international writers and leave an indelible mark on the
global literary scene. Other Indian English literature novelists of repute of the contemporary
times include - V.S. Naipaul, Shobha De (Selective Memory), G.V. Desani, M
Ananthanarayanan, Bhadani Bhattacharya, Arun Joshi, Khushwant Singh, O.V. Vijayan, Allan
Sealy (The Trotternama), Sashi Tharoor (Show Business, The Great Indian Novel), Amitav
Ghosh (Circle of Reason, Shadow Lines), Upamanyu Chatterjee (English August, The
Mammaries of the Welfare State), Raj Kamal Jha (The Blue Bedspread), Amit Chaudhary (A
New World), Pankaj Mishra (Butter Chicken in Ludhiana, The Romantics), Vikram Seth
(Mappings) and Vikram Chandra (Red Earth and Pouring Rain, Love and Longing in Bombay).
The writer in the genre of Indian English literature, who took the world with a storm, was
Arundhati Roy, whose `The God of Small Things` won the 1997 Booker Prize and became an
international best-seller overnight. Rohinton Mistry, Firdaus Kanga, Kiran Desai (Strange
Happenings in the Guava Orchard), Sudhir Kakar (The Ascetic of Desire), Ardeshir Vakil
(Beach Boy) and Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies) are some other renowned writers of
Indian origin. Former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao`s The Insider; Satish Gujral`s A
Brush with Life; R.K. Laxman`s The Tunnel of Time, Prof. Bipin Chandra`s India After
Independence, Sunil Khilnani`s The Idea of India, J.N. Dixit`s Fifty Years of India`s Foreign
Policy, Yogesh Chadha`s Rediscovering Gandhi and Pavan K.Varma`s The Great Indian Middle
Class, are also outstanding works of the recent times.
The mid-20th century Indian literature in English had witnessed the emergence of poets such as
Nissim Ezekiel (The Unfurnished Man), P Lal, A K Ramanujan (The Striders, Relations, Second
Sight, Selected Poems), Dom Moraes (A Beginning), Keki Daruwalla, Geive Patel, Eunice de
profoundly were influenced by literary movements taking place in the West, like Symbolism,
Surrealism, Existentialism, Absurdism and Confessional Poetry. These authors heavily had made
use of Indian phrases alongside English words and had tried to reproduce a blend of the Indian
and the Western cultures.

Themes In Indian Literature
The category branded as Indian literature virtually encompasses the whole of India and its every
single aspect, both symbolically as well as realistically. And this certainly is not an
overstatement or hyperbole, as writers beginning from the prehistoric age have tried to mirror
their society, their times at large, a work to which they have also been successful. Indeed, the
thought themes in Indian literature broadly hold within itself a magnificent yet clandestine
vision, if viewed in an open angle. To state more precisely, it is generally seen that writers are of
the habit to leave their piece of work with an open ending, i.e. , leaving his/her readers to judge
the conclusion according to their own wish and understanding. And this where lies that much
hidden `success` of the writer, who is forever bound under societal norms when he/she is writing
for the present generation. Before beginning with a novel, poetry, short story or play, a writer
always has to bear in mind the previous happening in his community and consequences that
might occur after the work is published. Hence, the writer never as such can move out from his
society and publish an out-of-this-world creation; if such phenomenon ever comes into being, the
writer, most likely is to be branded a `social outcaste` or made ìncommunicado`. Thus, themes
in Indian literature always have to be created keeping in mind the ongoing Indian society or the
people associated with it.
Now, when elaborated further on this very subject, i.e., Indian literature and its predominating
themes, it can be found that a writer, be it of any capability cannot move out form the long-
established themes of humanity, like romance, society, tragedy, comedy, adventure, war, or the
ancient ones like mythological or epical. Since the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, it has been
documented in historical annals that man had favoured to express themselves by speech or letter
in the basic overriding conscious emotions stated just above. As such, the ancient Hindu society
in India had always favoured and liked to base their writing on mythology and umpteen other
legends and folklore, which perhaps was taken to a likeness by ladies and gentlemen both from
the mass and the class. As such, mythological themes in Indian literature was the first to capture
and enchant Indian readers, dealing with kings, queens, palaces, demons, gorgons, vision of
heaven or hell, the Almighty, battles and ultimate winning, also including themes like `never
never land` and every sort of non-living thing being animated into a living being. Indeed, these
mythological stories had so very appealed and captivated Indian minds, that none of the
succeeding generations has ever been able to come out of this everlasting `hypnotic` effect.
Another vital modified version of mythological theme in Indian literature was the rather
sophisticated development of epics in Sanskrit literature that was ushered in the Vedic Age. Epic
themes in Indian literature began its journey with the two legendary magnum creations
Ramayana and Mahabharata, influences and citations of which are still employed by
contemporary Indian writers. Thinking in terms of such colossal dimensions called for expert
Hindu Sanskrit scholars like sages Valmiki and Vyasa, who were the venerated writers of
Ramayana and Mahabharata respectively. In societies that were yet to see modern light of day,
these luminaries were capable to take India and Indians towards that modernistic section, that
present critics refer to as much ahead of times. Indeed, maximum of later Sanskrit classical
literature was based on these two epics, taking themes in Indian literature towards a genre by
itself.
Romantic themes in Indian literature was soon to follow the ancient Hindu society, jumping from
staunch Hinduism and its priests and borrowing to some extent from west, precisely from its
European counterpart. Romance as is known in strict terms in present Indian scenario was far
from what was see in those times. Romance necessarily entailed virtually every aspect of life
dealing with war, battles, crusades, chivalry, gallantry, relationships with heroic adventure and
its knights wooing the princess etc and not only a love affair between a male and a female.
Writers were successful to represent every kind of backdrop and link it with romanticism, which
just as usual, is espoused by modern Indian regional or English writings. Indeed, contemporary
Indian literature has derived out a sophisticated version of romantic theme in Indian literature,
dealing again with convoluted versions of social backgrounds and yet falling in place with a
perfect balance.
In all these variety of literary genres, it can be witnessed that authorship is mysteriously and
productively in line with societal norms, permanently portraying one or the other type of societal
variation that has changed with age. Themes in Indian literature during Vedic Age, themes in
Indian literature during Classical Age, themes in Indian literature during Medieval Age differs
grossly with themes in Indian literature for the contemporary age. As such, social themes in
Indian literature, be it in any kind of literal category, wholly falls in place with the structure
organisation that humanity dwells in.

History of Indian English Novel
The history of Indian English novel can be very much aligned to the advent and supreme reign of
the British Raj upon India, resting for a good 200 years. Such a prolonged and momentous Raj
establishment by an àlien` Empire, did have its both adverse and beneficial factors. Leaving out
the ruthless colonisation, Britishers did leave their share of wondrous virtues in the literary,
architectural and political sides. However, the literary and artistic sides perhaps had
overshadowed all the other routined existence, with Indian literature and English education never
remaining the same again. English as a basic and fundamental language was very much
introduced in the dozens, with the class and then the mass joining in to be amalgamated with the
erudite and good-hearted British populace. It was also precisely during this time that the
illustrious Indian litterateurs, in a zealous attempt to show their vengeance against such English
oppression, had penned out series of English works of art, only to be accepted forever by the
global literary scenario, in the years to come. With many regional geniuses joining hands in such
an endeavour, the history of English novel in India, presents itself as a solemn enterprise,
surpassing all other literary genres.
The history of the Indian English novel can thus honestly be dubbed as the story of a
`metamorphosing India`. There did exist a time when education was an infrequent opportunity
and speaking English was really not necessary by natives out crying against British. The stories
however were already in the location, hidden - in the myths, in the folklore and the umpteen
languages and cultures that chaffered, conversed, laughed and cried all over the subcontinent.
India has, since time immemorial, always served as a land of stories, the strict segregation
between ritual and reality being quite a thin line.
The history of the Indian English novel had though begun to emerge from these benevolent
English gentlemen themselves, precisely in the fiery talks of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio. This
very timeless strand was held strongly soon after by the spiritual prose of Rabindranath Tagore
and the anti-violence declarations preached by Mahatma Gandhi. With the bursting in of
`colonialism` genre in Indian literature, novel writing never did remain the same. Under men like
Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R.K. Narayan, the historical journey of the Indian English novel
had begun to take its gigantic strides into the world of post-colonialism and a concept of the
daring Indian novelists had emerged. In "Coolie" by Mulk Raj Anand, the social discrepancy and
gross inequality in India is very much laid down stripped from any social constraints. In R.K.
Narayan`s much-admired visionary village Malgudi, the invisible men and women of the
country`s ever-multiplying population, come to life and in a heart-rending manner, re-enact life
with all its contrarinesses and arbitrarinesses. In `Kanthapura` by Raja Rao, Gandhism truly
comes alive in a quaint laid-back village down south. The Indian ness of novel writing in
English, which was once viewed as a taboo and things of scorn due to English stronghold, was
no longer needed to be depicted by outsiders; par excellence writers had come to light and with
what consequences! People like Tagore or R.K. Narayan have proved this in shining glory time
and again. The perspectives from within ensured more clarity and served a social documentative
purpose as well.
The early history of English novels in India was not just patriotic depictions of Indian ness, but
also a rather fanatical and the cynical attempts at being unequalled. Niradh C. Chaudhuri, one of
the most stellar instances belonging to this genre, had viewed India without the Crown in a
dubious and incredulous manner. He had in fact tossed away the `fiery patriotism` and
spiritualism that were `Brand India` and grieved the absence of colonial rule. As Indian
Independence drew near and the country grew out from her obsession with freedom and re-
examined her own vein of imperialism during the Emergency, the Indian language of expression
began to alter in a rapid manner. Presently, however with the Indian diaspora being a much
depending force in the publishing world, history of Indian English novel speaks a different
global tongue, unrestrained to any particular culture or heritage - the perfect language of the
`displaced intellectual`.
This displaced intellectual class, explicated as the Ìndian Diaspora` had become victorious
enough to raise the curtain on the unlikely mythical realities that were integral part of domestic
conversations in the villages. The history of the Indian English novel was once more standing at
the crossroads in the line of post-colonialism, with literature in India awaiting its second best
metamorphosis. Men like Salman Rushdie have enamoured critics with his mottled
amalgamation of history and language as well. He had indeed served as that mouthpiece, who
had opened the doors to an overabundance of writers. Amitav Ghosh plays brilliantly in
postcolonial realities and Vikram Seth coalesces poetry and prose with an aura of Victorian
magnificence. While Rohinton Mistry tries to painstakingly decode the Parsi world, Pico Iyer
fluently and naturally charts the map in his writings.
Women novelists have loved to explore the world of the much trodden lore again and again,
condemning exploitation and trying to make sense of the rapidly changing pace of the `new
India`. History of Indian English novels however, does not only end here, with Kamala Das
scouting women`s quandary in India and the world and others like Shashi Deshpande portraying
characters who blame their self-satisfaction for their pitiable state of affairs. Arundhati Roy
begins her story without actually a beginning and does not really end it also, whereas Jhumpa
Lahiri`s well-crafted tales trudge at a perfect pace.
Indian English novel and its eventful historical journey had begun with a bang when
Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and by the time V.S. Naipaul
had earned the same, the Indian English novel owned a far flung reach. Now more than ever,
English novels in India are triggering off debates concerning colossal advances, plagiarisation
and film rights. `Hinglish masala` (a lingo of Hindi and English in the current Indian scenario)
and a dash of spiritual pragmatism are only the tip of the iceberg.

Modern Indian Literature
The development of modern Indian literature has been marked by certain characteristics, some of
which it shares with modern literatures over the world. There has always been in all countries
and ages a conflict between the orthodox and the unorthodox, but in India, because the new
impulse was identified with an alien culture and foreign domination, the clash of loyalties has
been sharper. The very impact of Western thought, with its emphasis on democracy and self-
expression, stimulated a nationalist consciousness which resented the foreign imposition and
searched for the roots of self-respect and pride in its own heritage. For instance, Rabindranath
Tagore’s novel Gora is a masterly interpretation of this built-in conflict in the very nature of
Indian renaissance, a conflict which still persists and has coloured not only our literature but
almost every aspect of human life. The first outstanding Bengali poet of the nineteenth century
(and the last in the old tradition), Iswar Chandra Gupta (1812-59), whose remarkable journal,
Sambad Prabhakar, was the training-ground of many distinguished writers.
The new era of modern Indian literatures may be said to begin in 1800, when Fort William
College was established in Kolkata and The Baptist Mission Press in Serampore, near Kolkata.
The college was founded by the East India Company to provide instruction to British civil
servants in the laws, customs, religions, languages, and literatures of India in order to cope with
the increasing demands of fast-growing administrative machinery. Reading material, during this
time, was translated from the Sanskrit classics as well as from foreign literature, and dictionaries
and grammars were compiled. William Carey, who was also one of the founders of the Baptist
Mission Press, himself wrote a Bengali grammar and compiled an English-Bengali dictionary as
well as two selections of dialogues and stories.
Later in the second half of the sixteenth century, books in Tamil and other Dravidian languages
began to be printed. Many foreign missionaries learnt the languages of the people. They not only
translated the Bible and wrote Christian Puranas but also rendered considerable service to the
languages by compiling the first modern grammars and dictionaries. Although the printing-press
came to south India much earlier and the foreign missionary enterprise functioned much longer
and more zealously than in Bengal, the impact of Western learning as such was comparatively
slow and the resurgence of literary activity bore fruit in its modern form much later than in
Bengal.
The establishment of Hindu College in 1817 and the replacing of Persian by English as the
language of the law and the increasing use of Bengali were other landmarks which encouraged
the introduction of modern education and the development of the language of the people. It was,
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) who laid the real foundation of modern Bengali prose. The
form which he gave to Bengali prose revealed its rich potentiality in the hands of Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar (1820-1891) and Akshay Kumar Datta (1820-1886), both of whom were primarily
social reformers and educationists. Because they were men of serious purpose who had much to
say, they had little use for the flamboyance and rhetoric natural to a language derived from
Sanskrit, and they chiselled a prose that was both chaste and vigorous.
Pathfinders rather than creative artists, they standardized the medium which their younger
contemporary, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-94), turned with superb gusto and skill into a
creative tool for his novels and stories. He is known as the father of the modern novel in India
and his influence on his contemporaries and successors, in Bengal and other parts of India, was
profound and extensive. Novels, both historical and social, the two forms in which he excelled,
had been written before him in Bengali by Bhudev Mukherji and Peary Chand Mitra. Mitra’s
‘Alaler Gharer Dulalh’ was the first specimen of original fiction of social realism with free use of
the colloquial idiom, and anticipated, however crudely, the later development of the novel. But it
was Bankim Chandra who established the novel as a major literary form in India. He had his
limitations, he was too romantic, effusive, and didactic, and was in no sense a peer of his Great
Russian contemporaries, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. There have been better novelists in India since
his day, but they all stand on his shoulders.
Though the first harvest was reaped in Bengali prose, it was in the soil of poetry that this cross-
fertilization with the West bore its richest fruit. With the emotional temperament and lyrical
genius, the Bengali language is supple and musical, as though fashioned for poetry. Michael
Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873) was the pioneer who, turning his back on the native tradition,
made the first conscious and successful experiment to naturalize the European forms into
Bengali poetry by his epic in blank verse, ‘Meghnadbadh Kabya’, based on a Ramayana episode
unorthodoxly interpreted, as well as by a number of sonnets. He led the way but could not
establish a vital tradition, for his own success was a tour de force of a rare genius.
It was Rabindranath Tagore who naturalized the Western spirit into Indian literature and thereby
made it truly modern in an adult sense. He did this not by any conscious or forced adaptation of
foreign models but by his creative response to the impulse of the age, with the result that the
Upanishads and Kalidasa, Vaishnava lyricism, and the rustic vigour of the folk idiom, are so well
blended with Western influences in his poetry that generations of critics will continue to wrangle
over his specific debt to each of them. In him modern Indian literature came of age, not only in
poetry but in prose as well. Novel, short story, drama, essay, and literary criticism, they all
attained maturity in his hands. Though Indian literature in its latest phase has outgrown his
influence, as indeed it should, Tagore was the most vital creative force in the cultural renaissance
of India and represents its finest achievement.
Kolkata being the first cosmopolitan city in India to grow under the new regime, it was natural
that it should witness the birth of the modern drama. It has still a lively stage tradition. Curiously
enough, the first stage-play in Bengali produced in Kolkata was by a Russian adventurer-cum-
Indologist, Lebedev, in 1795. It was an adaptation of a little-known English comedy, â€œThe
Disguiseâ€, by Richard Paul Jodrell.
Many years passed before a serious attempt was made to build an authentic stage, mainly under
private patronage. The first original play in Bengali was Kulin Kulasarvasva, a social satire
against the practice of polygamy among Kulin brahmans, written by Pandit Ramnarayana.
Ramnarayana’s second play, Ratnavali, based on a Sanskrit classic, provoked Madhusudan Dutt
to try his hand at this medium. His impetuous genius turned out a number of plays in quick
succession, some based on old legends and some social satires. He may thus be said to have laid
the foundation of modern Indian drama, as he did of poetry, although his achievement in this
form did not equal his performance in poetry and he soon retired from the field.
His place was taken by Dinabandhu Mitra (1829-74), a born dramatist whose very first play, ‘Nil
Darpan’ (published in 1860), exposing the atrocities of the British indigo planters, created a
sensation, both literary and political. Dinabandhu wrote many more plays and was followed by a
succession of playwrights among whom were Rabindranath Tagore’s elder brother
Jyotirindranath Tagore, Manomohan Basu, and, later, the more famous Girish Chandra Ghosh
and Dwijendralal Roy. Girish Chandra was actor, producer, and playwright, and it is to his
indefatigable zeal that the public theatre in Kolkata is largely indebted. But though both he and
Dwijendralal achieved phenomenal popularity in their day, their popular appeal was due more to
the patriotic and melodramatic elements in their plays than to any abiding literary merit. On the
other hand, Rabindranath Tagore’s plays, though they had considerable literary merit and were
marked by originality and depth of thought, were too symbolic or ethereal to catch the popular
imagination.
Of the numerous languages of India perhaps Marathi was, after Bengali, the most vigorous in its
response to the spirit of the new age. This is because of its robust intellectual tradition, reinforced
by memories of the erstwhile glory of the Maratha Empire, and partly because Mumbai, like
Kolkata, provided a cosmopolitan modern environment. Among the stalwarts who laid the
foundation of its modern literature may be mentioned the poet Keshavsut, the novelist Hari
Narayan Apte, and Agarkar, Tilak, and Chiplunkar as the builders of prose. Apte’s novels
stimulated the development of the novel in some other languages too, particularly in the
neighbouring Kannada. Narmad’s poetry blazed the trail in Gujarati.
Flourishing under court patronage, Urdu had made phenomenal progress and was the most
important Indian language to prosper in the eighteenth century. But it luxuriated in its own
affluence and remained aloof from the vital currents that were sweeping the country forward in
the nineteenth century.
The development of modern Assamese and Oriya, the two eastern neighbours of Bengali, was
also late in coming and was preceded by valuable spade-work done by the Christian missions.
Orissa too had recovered its homogeneous integrity and the intelligentsia in the regions was
educated in Kolkata and carried back with them the impact of the literary resurgence in Bengal.
Lakshmikanta Bezbarua and Padmanath Gohain Barua in Assamese, and Fakirmohan Senapati
and Radhanath Ray in Oriya were the early pioneers in their respective fields. Kashmiri, Punjabi,
and Sindhi had an even more retarded development, partly on account of the political conditions
and partly because of the cultural glamour of Urdu in regions predominantly Muslim. All the
more credit to the pioneers who held aloft the banner of their mother tongue are Mahjur and
Master Zinda Kaul in Kashmiri, Sardar Puran Singh and Bhal Vir Singh in Punjabi, and Mirza
Kalich Beg and Dewan Kauromal in Sindhi.
What is surprising is the rather late and tardy resurgence in the four Dravidian languages, which
had had a longer and a richer literary past than the northern languages. The past has weighed
more heavily on the south than on the north in India and nowhere more heavily than on Tamil
Nadu. However, in course of time the creative spirit in these languages too responded to the
impulse of the age, in as rich a flowering as in the other languages of India, led by Puttanna,
‘Sri’, and Kailasham in Kannada, by Kerala Varma and Chandu Menon in Malayalam, by
Bharati and Kalki in Tamil, and Viresalingam and Guruzada Appa Rao in Telugu. It is worth
observing that the youngest of the Dravidian languages, Malayalam, has responded to the new
age more dynamically than the oldest, Tamil, which even now looks too wistfully to the past.
All the great events which have influenced European thought within the last one hundred years
have also told, however feeble their effect may be, on the formation of the intellect of modern
Bengal. The independence of America, the French Revolution, the war of Italian independence,
the teachings of history, the vigour and freedom of English literature and English thought, the
great effort of the French intellect in the eighteenth century, the results of German labour in the
field of philosophy and ancient history; Positivism, Utilitarianism, Darwinism, all these have
influenced and shaped the intellect of modern Bengal.
From the beginning of the twentieth century Indian literature was increasingly coloured by
political aspirations, passionately voiced in the songs and poems of the Tamil poet Bharati and
the Bengali poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The spiritual note of Indian poetry had attained a poignant
and rapturous pitch in the medieval Vaishnava outpourings. Tagore’s Gitanjali is the swan song
of this great tradition. The devotional content of poetry was henceforth increasingly replaced by
the political, the ethical bias by the ideological, the plaintive tone by that of challenge and
mockery, until the dominant note of Indian literature today is that of protest.
Tagore’s main impact was, however, indirect, inasmuch as it gave confidence to Indian writers
that they could achieve in their mother tongue what had been achieved in Sanskrit or European
languages. But Tagore’s influence in literature was soon overshadowed by the impact of Gandhi,
Marx, and Freud, a strange trinity. Though none of these three was a man of letters proper, they
released intellectual and moral passions and introduced new techniques of thought and behaviour
which had a profound effect on young writers all over India. The influence of the philosophy of
Sri Aurobindo Ghose is also noticeable among some writers, like the Kannada poets, Bendre and
Puttappa, and the Gujarati poets, Sundaram and Jayant Parekh, but beyond imparting a certain
mystic glow to their verse and confirming their faith in the reality of the Indian spiritual
experience, it has not given any new trend or horizon to Indian literature in general.
On the whole, the impact on Indian writing of the mixed interaction has given a much-needed
jolt to the smugness of the traditional attitude, with its age-old tendency to sentimental piety and
glorification of the past. The revolt began in Bengal, yielded a rich harvest, in both poetry and
prose, in the work of Jivanananda Das, Premendra Mitra, Buddhadeva Bose, Manek
Bandyopadhyay, Subhas Mukhopadhyay et al. In Bengal both these forms attained an early
maturity in the hands of Tagore and have since made phenomenal progress under his younger
contemporaries and successors namely Sarat Chandra Chatterjee achieved a popularity, both in
Bengal and outside, which equalled, if not surpassed, that of Tagore.
Moreover, English language had a great impact on the Indians and apart from its utilitarian value
as a language of higher education in the sciences and as a ‘link language’, a fair number of
Indian writers, including such eminent thinkers steeped in Indian thought as Vivekananda,
Ranade, Gokhale, Aurobindo Ghose and Radhakrishnan, have voluntarily adopted it as their
literary medium. There has been, from Derozio in the 1820s to R. K. Narayan today, an
unbroken tradition of some gifted Indians choosing to write in English. Many of them, like the
Dutt sisters, Toru and Aru, their versatile uncle Romesh Chunder, Manomohan Ghosh, Sarojini
Naidu, and, among contemporaries, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Bhabani Bhattacharya, and
many others, have achieved distinction.
Some early pioneers in the Indian languages were also tempted at the threshold of their career to
adopt English for their creative writing, partly because they owed their inspiration to English
literature and partly because they hoped thereby to reach a wider audience. Madhusudan Dutt’s
first narrative poem, â€œThe Captive Ladieâ€, and Bankim Chandra’s early novel
â€œRajmohan’s Wifeâ€, are classic examples. Wisely they discovered in time that they could
create best in their own language. Some English novels of R. K. Narayan, a born story-teller with
any eye for observation and the gift of gentle irony, are superior in intrinsic literary merit to a
great deal of mediocre stuff that passes for literature in some Indian languages. On the other
hand, it cannot be denied that, as far as creative writing is concerned, no Indian writer in English
has reached anywhere near the heights attained by some of the great writers in the Indian
languages. What modern Indian literature sadly lacks is a well-proportioned and many-sided
development.
The modern Indian literature is the representation of each aspect of modern life. Happily, despite
this clamour of sophistry, patriotic piety, and political bias, good literature continues to be
written and, as it justifies itself, it helps to sharpen the reader’s sensibility. Since the time of
Tagore a growing minority of intelligent critics well versed in the literary traditions of their own
country and of the West have bravely maintained a more wholesome approach that is neither
overwhelmed by the burden of the past nor overawed by the glamour of the latest fashion. This
healthy trend of the modern Indian literature should gain in strength with a growing realization
that, in the republic of letters as in that of men, a sensitive and well-trained critical apparatus and
its judicious and fearless exercise are a prerequisite of happy results.
Indian Authors and the Evolution of the

Indian English Novel
chillibreeze writer — Neelima Kumar
The story of the Indian English novel is really the story of a changing India. There was a time
when education was a rare opportunity and speaking English was unnecessary. The stories were
already there- in the myths, in the folklore and the umpteen languages and cultures that gossiped,
conversed, laughed and cried all over the subcontinent. India has always been a land of stories,
the demarcation between ritual and reality being very narrow.
The Indian English novel erupted in the fiery talks of Henry Derozio, the spiritual prose of
Tagore and the pacifist dictums preached by Gandhi. With the coming of Mulk Raj Anand, Raja
Rao and R.K.Narayan, the Indian English novel had begun its journey. In “Coolie” by Mulk Raj
Anand, the social disparity in India is laid bare. In R.K.Narayan’s imaginary village Malgudi, the
invisible men and women of our teeming population come to life and act out life with all its
perversities and whimsicalities. In ‘Kanthapura’ by Raja Rao, Gandhism awakes in a sleepy
village down south. India no longer needed to be depicted by outsiders. The perspectives from
within ensured more clarity and served a social documentative purpose as well.
The early novels in India were not just patriotic depictions of Indianness. There were the cynics.
Niradh C Chaudhuri viewed India without the crown skeptically. He discarded the fiery
patriotism and spiritualism that were ‘Brand India’ and mourned the absence of colonial rule. As
India grew out of her obsession with freedom and viewed her own streak of imperialism during
the Emergency, the Indian idiom began to change. Now with the Indian Diaspora being a
reckoning force in the publishing world, Indian English speaks a global tongue, unconfined to
any particular culture or heritage- the language of the displaced intellectual.
This brings us to a problem with contemporary Indian English writing. When you ponder on the
subject very few Indian English writers in India have made it with their English writing. They
inevitably have the odd degree from Oxford and Cambridge and their foundations are laid
abroad. It seems to be a prerequisite to have a global perspective if one is to be successful in
writing in English. The real need in India is more publishing houses that are willing to give
aspiring writers in India a chance. Writers in India need more avenues to make themselves heard
and as readers the Indian audience should not get too mesmerized by foreign publications.
The Indian Diaspora raised the curtain on the fantastic mythical realities that were part of
domestic conversations in the villages. Salman Rushdie fascinates critics with his
‘chutnification’ of history and language as well. He opened the doors to a plethora of writers.
Amitav Ghosh dabbles in postcolonial realities and Vikram Seth fuses poetry and prose with an
air of Victorian grandeur. While Rohinton Mistry tries to decipher the Parsi world, Pico Iyer
effortlessly walks the map in his writings.
Women writers explore old wives’ tales, condemn exploitation and try to make sense of the fast
changing pace of the new world. Kamala Das explores women’s plight in India and the world
and others like Shashi Deshpande paint characters who blame their own complacence for their
sorry condition. Arundhathi Roy begins her story without a beginning and does not really end it
while Jhumpa Lahiri’s well-crafted tales move at a perfect pace.
Indian English began with a bang when Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature and
by the time V.S.Naipal bagged the same, the Indian English novel had a far flung reach. Now
Indian English novels are sparking off debates about huge advances, plagiarism and film rights.
Hinglish masala and a dose of spiritual realism are only the tip of the iceberg. The Indian
audience and the rest of the world have a lot to look forward to when they get an Indian English
novel in their hands.
Indian English literature

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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History of modern
literature
Indian English Literature (IEL) refers to the body of work by writers

in India who write in the English language and whose native or co-
native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. It is
also associated with the works of members of the Indian diaspora, such
as writer Salman Rushdie, who was born in India. The early modern
period
It is frequently referred to as Indo-Anglian literature. (Indo-Anglian is 16th century in
a specific term in the sole context of writing that should not be confused literature | 17th century
with the term Anglo-Indian). As a category, this production comes in literature
under the broader realm of postcolonial literature- the production from European literature in
previously colonised countries such as India. the 18th century
1700s | 1710s | 1720s |
IEL has a relatively recent history, it is only one and a half centuries
1730s | 1740s | 1750s |
old. The first book written by an Indian in English was by Sake Dean
1760s | 1770s | 1780s |
Mahomet, titled Travels of Dean Mahomet; Mahomet's travel narrative
1790s | 1800s
was published in 1793 in England. In its early stages it was influenced
by the Western art form of the novel. Early Indian writers used English Modern Literature,
unadulterated by Indian words to convey an experience which was 19th century
essentially Indian. Raja Rao's Kanthapura is Indian in terms of its 1800s | 1810s | 1820s |
storytelling qualities. Rabindranath Tagore wrote in Bengali and 1830s | 1840s | 1850s |
English and was responsible for the translations of his own work into 1860s | 1870s | 1880s |
English. Dhan Gopal Mukerji was the first Indian author to win a 1890s | 1900s
literary award in the United States. Nirad C. Chaudhuri, a writer of non- Modern Literature,
fiction, is best known for his The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian 20th century
where he relates his life experiences and influences. P. Lal, a poet, Modernism |
translator, publisher and essayist, founded a press in the 1950s for Structuralism |
Indian English writing, Writers Workshop. Deconstruction |
Poststructuralism |
Postmodernism | Post-
colonialism | Hypertext
fiction
1900s | 1910s | 1920s |
1930s | 1940s | 1950s |
1960s | 1970s | 1980s |
1990s | 2000s
Modern Literature in
Europe
European literature
Modern Literature in
the Americas
American literature |
Argentine literature |
Brazilian literature |
Canadian literature |
Colombian literature |
Tagore, photographed in Hampstead, England in 1912 by John Cuban literature |
Rothenstein. Jamaican literature |
Mexican literature |
Peruvian literature
Australasian
Literature
Australian literature |
New Zealand literature
R.K. Narayan is a writer who contributed over many decades and who continued to write till his
death recently. He was discovered by Graham Greene in the sense that the latter helped him find
a publisher in England. Graham Greene and Narayan remained close friends till the end. Similar
to Thomas Hardy's Wessex, Narayan created the fictitious town of Malgudi where he set his
novels. Some criticise Narayan for the parochial, detached and closed world that he created in
the face of the changing conditions in India at the times in which the stories are set. Others, such
as Graham Greene, however, feel that through Malgudi they could vividly understand the Indian
experience. Narayan's evocation of small town life and its experiences through the eyes of the
endearing child protagonist Swaminathan in Swami and Friends is a good sample of his writing
style. Simultaneous with Narayan's pastoral idylls, a very different writer, Mulk Raj Anand, was
similarly gaining recognition for his writing set in rural India; but his stories were harsher, and
engaged, sometimes brutally, with divisions of caste, class and religion.
Contents
[hide]
• 1 Later history
• 2 Debates
• 3 Poetry
• 4 Alternative Writing
• 5 Indo-Nostalgic writing
• 6 References
• 7 See also
• 8 External links
[edit] Later history
Among the later writers, the most notable is Salman Rushdie, born in India, now living in the
United Kingdom. Rushdie with his famous work Midnight's Children (Booker Prize 1981,
Booker of Bookers 1992, and Best of the Bookers 2008) ushered in a new trend of writing. He
used a hybrid language – English generously peppered with Indian terms – to convey a theme
that could be seen as representing the vast canvas of India. He is usually categorised under the
magic realism mode of writing most famously associated with Gabriel García Márquez.
Salman Rushdie
Bharati Mukherjee, author of Jasmine (1989), has spent much of her career exploring issues
involving immigration and identity with a particular focus upon the United States and Canada.
Vikram Seth, author of A Suitable Boy (1994) is a writer who uses a purer English and more
realistic themes. Being a self-confessed fan of Jane Austen, his attention is on the story, its
details and its twists and turns.
Shashi Tharoor, in his The Great Indian Novel (1989), follows a story-telling (though in a
satirical) mode as in the Mahabharata drawing his ideas by going back and forth in time. His
work as UN official living outside India has given him a vantage point that helps construct an
objective Indianness.
Mysore N. Prakash, author of The Courtesan and the Sadhu (2008) is a Texas based writer who
uses historical themes to address spiritual concepts.
Other authors include Manoj Das Vikram Chandra, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy,
Gita Mehta, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Raj Kamal Jha, Jhumpa Lahiri, Bharti Kirchner,
Khushwant Singh, Vijay Singh, Tarun Tejpal, Amit Chaudhuri, Amitav Ghosh, Vikas Swarup,
Rohinton Mistry, Suketu Mehta, Kiran Nagarkar, Dr Birbal Jha ,and C R Krishnan.
Khushwant Singh
[edit] Debates
It would be useful at this point to bring in the recent debates on Indian Writing in English
("IWE").
One of the key issues raised in this context is the superiority/inferiority of IWE as opposed to the
literary production in the various languages of India. Key polar concepts bandied in this context
are superficial/authentic, imitative/creative, shallow/deep, critical/uncritical, elitist/parochial and
so on.
The views of Rushdie and Amit Chaudhuri expressed through their books The Vintage Book of
Indian Writing and The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature respectively essentialise this
battle.
Rushdie's statement in his book – "the ironic proposition that India's best writing since
independence may have been done in the language of the departed imperialists is simply too
much for some folks to bear" – created a lot of resentment among many writers, including
writers in English. In his book, Amit Chaudhuri questions – "Can it be true that Indian writing,
that endlessly rich, complex and problematic entity, is to be represented by a handful of writers
who write in English, who live in England or America and whom one might have met at a
party?"
Chaudhuri feels that after Rushdie, IWE started employing magical realism, bagginess, non-
linear narrative and hybrid language to sustain themes seen as microcosms of India and
supposedly reflecting Indian conditions. He contrasts this with the works of earlier writers such
as Narayan where the use of English is pure, but the deciphering of meaning needs cultural
familiarity. He also feels that Indianness is a theme constructed only in IWE and does not
articulate itself in the vernacular literatures. He further adds "the post-colonial novel, becomes a
trope for an ideal hybridity by which the West celebrates not so much Indianness, whatever that
infinitely complex thing is, but its own historical quest, its reinterpretation of itself".
Some of these arguments form an integral part of what is called postcolonial theory. The very
categorisation of IWE – as IWE or under post-colonial literature – is seen by some as limiting.
Amitav Ghosh made his views on this very clear by refusing to accept the Eurasian
Commonwealth Writers Prize for his book The Glass Palace in 2001 and withdrawing it from
the subsequent stage.
The renowned writer V. S. Naipaul, a third generation Indian from Trinidad and Tobago and a
Nobel prize laureate, is a person who belongs to the world and usually not classified under IWE.
Naipaul evokes ideas of homeland, rootlessness and his own personal feelings towards India in
many of his books.
Jhumpa Lahiri, a Pulitzer prize winner from the U.S., is a writer uncomfortable under the label of
IWE.
Recent writers in India such as Arundhati Roy and David Davidar show a direction towards
contextuality and rootedness in their works. Arundhati Roy, a trained architect and the 1997
Booker prize winner for her The God of Small Things, calls herself a "home grown" writer. Her
award winning book is set in the immensely physical landscape of Kerala. Davidar sets his The
House of Blue Mangoes in Southern Tamil Nadu. In both the books, geography and politics are
integral to the narrative. In his novel Lament of Mohini [1] (2000), Shreekumar Varma [2]
touches upon the unique matriarchal system and the sammandham system of marriage as he
writes about the Namboodiris and the aristocrats of Kerala.
[edit] Poetry
A much over-looked category of Indian writing in English is poetry. As stated above,

Rabindranath Tagore wrote in Bengali and English and was responsible for the translations of his
own work into English. Other early notable poets in English include Derozio, Michael
Madhusudan Dutt, Joseph Furtado, Armando Menezes, Toru Dutt, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Sri
Aurobindo, Sarojini Naidu, and her brother Harendranath Chattopadhyaya.
In modern times, Indian poetry in English was typified by two very different poets. Dom Moraes,
winner of the Hawthornden Prize at the precocious age of 19 for his first book of poems "A
Beginning" went on to occupy a pre-eminent position among Indian poets writing in English.
Nissim Ezekiel, who came from India's tiny Bene Israel Jewish community, created a voice and
place for Indian poets writing in English and championed their work.
Their contemporaries in English poetry in India were Jayanta Mahapatra, Gieve Patel, A. K.
Ramanujan, Rajagopal Parthasarathy, Keki Daruwala, Adil Jussawala, Arun Kolatkar, Dilip
Chitre, Eunice De Souza, Kersi Katrak, P. Lal and Kamala Das among several others.
A generation of exiles also sprang from the Indian diaspora. Among these are names like Agha
Shahid Ali, Sujata Bhatt, Melanie Silgardo and Vikram Seth.
[edit] Alternative Writing
Not only mainstream, India has also been the global epicenter of parallel experimental and avant
garde counter culture with the ongoing Prakalpana Movement for over the last four decades.
Prakalpana Movement found its place in the world of literary movements by projecting its newly
created forms and concepts of Prakalpana fiction and Sarbangin Poetry in its bilingual English-
Bangla organs Kobisena and Prakalpana Sahitya/ Prakalpana Literature. The movement has
been enriched with the works of today’s renowned avant garde and experimental writers and
mail artists such as Richard Kostelanetz, John M. Bennett, Don Webb, Carla Bertola, Sheila
Murphy and many others worldwide, with their Indian Counterparts like Dilip Gupta, Nikhil
Bhaumik, Syamoli Mukherjee Bhattacharjee, Ramratan Mukhopadhyay, Bibhu Padhi,
Boudhayan Mukhopadhyay, Utpal etc. as well as Vattacharja Chandan, who has been the
artificer and architect of the movement.[1] A glimpse of the unique Prakalpana fiction form which
is the fusion of prose-poetry-picture-play-essay all-in-one, is observable from (a chapter of the
on-going bilingual Bangla-English Atiprithibi / Cosmosphere) e book By Vattacharja Chandan :
Aurora On The River Gour.
[edit] Indo-Nostalgic writing
Indo-Nostalgic writing is a somewhat loosely defined term encompassing writings, in the

English language, wherein nostalgia regarding the Indian subcontinent, typically regarding India,
represent a dominant theme or strong undercurrent. The writings may be memoirs, or quasi-
fictionalized memoirs, travelogues, or inspired in part by real-life experiences and in part by the
writer's imagination. This would include both mass-distributed "Indo-Anglian" literature put out
by major publishing houses and also much shorter articles (e.g. feature pieces in mainstream or
literary magazines) or poetry, including material published initially or solely in webzines.
Certainly, Indo-Nostalgic writings have much overlap with post-colonial literature but are
generally not about 'heavy' topics such as cultural identity, conflicted identities, multilingualism
or rootlessness. The writings are often less self-conscious and more light-hearted, perhaps
dealing with impressionistic memories of places, people, cuisines, Only-in-India situations, or
simply vignettes of "the way things were". Of late, a few Indo-nostalgic writers are beginning to
show signs of "long-distance nationalism", concomitant with the rise of nationalism within India
against the backdrop of a booming economy.
Typically, the authors are either Western-based writers of Indian origin (e.g. Salman Rushdie,
Rohinton Mistry, Vijay Singh, Suketu Mehta), or Western writers who have spent long periods
of time in the subcontinent, possibly having been born or raised in India, perhaps as the children
of British Raj-era European expatriates or missionaries (e.g. Jim Corbett, Stephen Alter). Or,
they may even be Anglo-Indians who have emigrated from the subcontinent to the West. Third
Culture Kids (TCKs) often grow up to produce Indo-Nostalgic writings that exhibit palpably
deep (and perhaps somewhat romanticized) feelings for their childhoods in the subcontinent.
Accordingly, another common theme in Indo-Nostalgic writing is "rediscovery" or its cousin,
"reconnection".
Of course, for mass-distributed authors, Indo-Nostalgic writings may not necessarily represent
all of their literary output, but certainly would represent a high percentage; it is their sweet spot,
after all. Finally, it is worth noting that the markets for such writers are almost entirely in the
West; despite the rapid growth in the incomes of urban Indians, the sales of English-language
literature within India (other than books required for educational degrees or professional
purposes) are minuscule compared to sales in the West, even if one includes pirated copies.
[edit] References
• Haq, Kaiser (ed.). Contemporary Indian Poetry. Columbus: Ohio State University Press,
1990.
• Hoskote, Ranjit (ed.). Reasons for Belonging: Fourteen Contemporar
The Beginnings
The East IndiaCompany was formed in 1599 at a meeting attended by leading London merchants
and after more than 150years the company had the key to the domination of Bengaland
Indiagenerally. The battle of Plassey was fought in 1757 but Clive declined theresponsibility of
Diwani or revenue administration and it was in 1722 that theEast India Company took it over and
still later in 1790, the responsibility foradministering criminal justice. The
Company was, however, interested in politicaldomination only to the extent
such domination increased its own dividends. Itwas directly interested neither in Empire nor in
the Kingdom of Christ– and certainly not in the suppression or advancement of indigenous
culture. Butthere were exceptions as well. Warren Hastings established the CalcuttaMadrasah in
1781, Sir William Jones established the Royal Asiatic Society ofBengal in 1784 and Sir Thomas
Munro too was much impressed by the Indianculture. These men came to be called
‘Brahmanised Britons’ because they admiredIndian culture and deprecated the idea of
introducing Western civilization orChristianity into India.
By the beginning of the 19thcentury, Britain– or East India Company – was more or less the
master of the situation in India. In 1813the commercial monopoly of the Company was ended,
and the British in India assumed,beside police functions, educating and civilizing mission as
well. A tokengrant of Rupees one lakh per year was made for education and the idea was
topromote only Oriental education. Printing presses in different parts of thecountry and books in
the vernacular as well as in English were coming out sincethe beginning of the 18th century.
Along with grammars, dictionariesand translations, the printing presses also gave rise to the first
evernewspaper – Hicky’s Bengal Gazette (1780), and others followed in due course.Last came
the private schools that imparted English education – such schoolshave been started as early as
1717 at Cuddalore near Chennai. 1718 at Mumbai(by Richard Cobbe, a chaplain), and 1720 at
Kolkata, endowed by theThomlinsons, culminating in the established of Hindu Collegein 1817.
Started by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his friends – David Hare and SirEdward Hyde East, it
became the Presidency College in 1855, stillrecognized as one off the premier educational
institutes. Western education wasspreading fast in different parts of India and was doing much
betterthan the institutions imparting oriental education. The Orientalists and theAnglicists
continued to wrangle but it was quite evident that the former weresteadily losing ground, and
Macaulay’scelebrated Minute settled the issue at last. He declared that it was bothnecessary
and possible to “make the natives of this country good Englishscholars and that to this end our
efforts ought to be directed.” On 7thMarch, 1835, Lord William Bentinck resolved that “the
great object of theBritish Government ought to be the promotion of European Literature and
scienceamong the natives of India, and all funds appropriated for the purpose ofeducation would
be best employed on English education alone.” From 1835 was theAnglicizing period.
During the 20 years between 1835 to1855 thenumber of those educated in English had been
rapidly increasing. It is saidthat even in 1834-5, 32,000 English books sold in India, as against
13,000 in nativeIndian languages. The vogue for English books increased, and the demand
camemore from English educated Indians than from the Englishmen in India. Westernways – in
manners and customs- became current in bigger towns and cities. In1853 the first
railway was established in India, in 1854 the first telegraphline and a modern postal
system were inaugurated. Distance was being abridgedand a common medium of communication
was being established. Modern Europeanscientific techniques (including medicine and surgery)
were slowly beingintroduced in India.It was thus thought that Indiawas eventually progressing
from its static and secure medievalism to a dynamicmodernism.
Indians started with reading, speaking andcomprehending English, and they soon started writing
also. Once this started,Indian writing in English had to range from the most utilitarian prose to
themost ambitious verse-epics, for example. On the other hand, Indian writing inEnglish was but
only one of the manifestations of the new creative urge in India – what is often referred to as
theliterary Renaissance in India.The study of English literature stimulated literary creation in
Bengali,Marathi, Telegu, Gujrati and other Indian languages. And Indo-Anglianliterature had the
same origin as the other modern literature in India,though here the foreign element seemed more
pronounced. The filiations betweenthe modern Indian literatures (including Indian English
Literature) and Englishliterature have been close.
Ram Mohan Roy

The renaissance in modern Indian literature begins with Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Roy was born in
Radhanagar village in west Bengal's Hooghly district on May 22, 1772, to conservative Bengali
Brahmin parents. His father Ramakanta Roy's family belonged to the Vaisnava
(who worship Lord Vishnu - the Preserver; followers of Sri Caitanya Maha
Prabhu) a liberal sect that flourished in Bengal and South India. His mother Tarini
Devi's orthodox priestly family (Bhattacharyas of Chatra) on the other hand
belonged to the Shakta sect (worshippers of Godess Kali - the Shakti - the Mother
Energy of the universe). Roy did his elementary education in the village school in
Bengali, his mother tongue. At the age of 12, Roy went to a seat of Muslim
studies in Patna where he mastered Persian and Arabic. His knowledge of Arabic enabled him to
read the Koran in the original, as well as the works of Sufi saints. He also devoured Arabic
translations of the works of Aristotle and Plato.
When he was 16, Royclashed with his orthodox father on the issue of idol worship and left
home. Toacquaint himself with the Buddhist religion, he travelled across northern India and
Tibet for the next three years. Hisquestioning mind objected to the deification of the Buddha and
this did not godown well with some of the lamas. He then visited Varanasi where he learnt
Sanskrit and studiedancient Hindu scriptures.
In 1803, he secured a job with the East India Company and in 1809, he wasposted to Rangpur. In
Rangpur, he learnt about Jainism and studied the Jaintexts. Roy wasdrawn to certain aspects of
Christianity that led some of the followers of thereligion to suggest that he convert; but he
politely declined.
Roy'sunderstanding of the different religions of the world helped him to comparethem with
Vedantic philosophy and garner the best from each religion. Sufimysticism had a great influence
on Roy.He loved to repeat three of their maxims: "Man is the slave ofbenefits"; "The enjoyment
of the worlds rests on these two points -kindness to friends and civility to enemies"; and "The
way of servingGod is to do good to man".
To pursue his interests, Roy resigned from theEast India Company a few years later and came to
Calcutta in 1814. Dissatisfied with thesystem of education and the rote method of teaching
English, he formed anassociation of English and Hindu scholars. He also invested his own
money inthe starting of a school where he introduced subjects like science,mathematics, political
science and English. Roy felt that an understanding of these"modern" subjects would give
Indians a better standing in the worldof the day.
Though initially antagonistic towards British rule in India, Roylater began to feel that the country
would benefit in terms of education and byexposure to the good points of Christianity. For this
he was called a stooge ofthe British.
Along with a group of like-minded people, Royfounded the Atmiya Sabha in 1814. The group
held weekly meetings at his house;texts from the Vedas were recited and theistic hymns were
sung. Roy was drawn to the Unitarian form of Christianity thatresulted in him supporting a
Unitarian Mission to be set up in Calcutta in 1824.
Toru DuttRead Toru Dutt's Poems
Toru Dutt (born on 4th March, 1865)compels attention as a poet, however her
life – a combination of beauty andtragedy – equally fascinates and depresses us.
Her poetry is reality, no doubt,but the poet too induces interest. She had a rich and respectable
ancestry. TheDutts were one of the eminent families in Kolkata.
Her father Govin ChunderDutt, was well-to-do, a good linguist, and a cultured man with
literaryleanings and generous impulse. In 1862, when she was just six, the Dutt family
embracedChristianity. Initially, this strained the relations between her parents but itturned out to
be a temporary phase. Her mother soon reconciled, became a devoutChristian, and translated The
Blood of Jesus into Bengali, giving ampleproof of her linguistic abilities and ease in handling the
two languages. Toruwas the youngest in the family, having a brother Abju and a sister Aru. Of
hisson Govi wrote:
Most loving is my eldest, and I love him most;

Almost a man in seeming, yet a child…
And thus of Aru:
My next, the beauty of our home, is meek;

Not so deep-loving haply, but less wild
Than her dear brother;-brow and blushing cheek
Her nature shows serene, and pure, and mild
As evening’s early star;
And thus to Toru:
Punyand elf-like, with disheveled tresses,

Self-willedand shy ne’er heeding that I call,
Intentto pay her tenderest addresses
Tobird or cat, - but most intelligent…
The children had a private tutor but Govin took personalcare in educating them properly. Toru,
was conscious of the influence herfather had exercised in shaping her mental calibre. She
recalled gratefully,"without Papa I should never have known good poetry from bad, but he
usedto take such pains with us … When we were quite little ones… I wonder what Ishould have
been without my father, nothing very enviable or desirable, Iknow". The first calamity came in
1865 when Abju died. The sisters clungto each other and read Paradise Lost repeatedly, and lost
themselves in literary studies.
In 1869, the family left for Europewhere the girls could glean rich treasures of knowledge and
become versatile.Their first stay was in Nice, in the South-east of France. Here they attended
schooland learnt French - a language in which they attained proficiency to use it forcreativity.
The stay at Nice was short and was followed by a visit to Italy and then to England. In London,
the lessons in music aroused thegirls’ finer sensitivities and opened new vistas of the world of
emotions. Atwo-year period at Cambridgehelped in the blossoming of their personalities further.
Toru came into contactwith Mary Martin at Cambridgeand the two fostered a life-long bond of
friendship and affection. Thecorrespondence with Mary Martin is a valuable source to know the
mental make-upof the young poetess. The letters reveal the young writer’s childlike joy inlife
with her intellectual maturity. They speak of flowers and birds and ofartistic vision, scholarly
pursuits and morbid illness.
Toru DuttRead Toru Dutt's Poems
Soon after their arrival in their London came out The Dutt Family Album (1870), containing
about 200 pieces, Govin’s contribution being mainly of a didactic nature. His brothers and a
nephew called Omesh Chunder were the other contributors to the volume. Of no major literary
importance, the volume throws light on the literary exertion and creative atmosphere of the Dutt
family house. The family moved back to Kolkata in September 1873 and soon after that, in 1874
July, Aru succumbed to consumption.
Toru’s first publication A sheaf Gleaned in French Fields (1876) consisting of translations of
seventy French poets (including Hugo, Gautier, Baudelaire, Leconte de Lisle, Nerval, Sainte-
Beauve), brought her to the attention of Edmund Gosse. Most of the poems were translated by
Toru and her translations are also the more striking:
Ha! There’s the seagull. See it springs,

Pearls scattering from its tawny wings,
Then plunges in the gulfs once more,
‘Tis lost in caverns of the main!
No! No! It upward soars again,
As souls from trials upward soar.
(‘Lines:Victor Hugo’)
The most interesting part of the collection was the Notes appended at the end of volume,
consisting of critical comments on the French poetry translated in the volume. They were largely
written by Toru. Gosse found them ‘curious’ and ‘bewildering’ as ‘nothing could be more naïve
than the writer’s ignorance at some points, or more startling than her learning at others.
Thompson admired the ‘independence and masculinity’ of her criticism.
Shortly after her return to Kolkata, Toru published her first essays, including one on Derozio in
the Bengal Magazine (December 1874). She worked hard at learning Sanskrit and writings
poems on Hindu mythology. Toru was considering translating Clarisse Bader’s La Femme dans
l’Inde Antique when she died at the age of only twenty one years and six months. It was 30th
August 1877.
A selection of English translation of the sonnets of Comte de Grammont, a sketch for an

unfinished romance Bianca, or The Young Spanish Maiden, a complete French novel – Le
Journal de Mademoiselle d’Arvers, and a collection of poems Ancient Ballads were left behind
by Toru. Bianca was published in Bengal Magazine (1878), while the French novel appeared in
1879 to much critical acclaim. The poems collected in Ancient Ballads were better than anything
written up till then by an Indian in the English language. ‘Baugmaree’ which takes its name from
the place where the Dutt country house was situated, is a celebration of trees. In its imagery and
description – an affinity might be found between Toru and her contemporary Emily Dickinson.
The bulk of the poems in Ancient Ballads is based on Indian mythology.
Toru Dutt’s poetry transcends the recognisable school of nineteenth century poetry and evolves a
separate identity. The difference lies in the manner in which her language addresses her
experience, her vision radiating beyond the boundaries within which most of the nineteenth
century poetry in English was confined. Her awareness of her own Indianness is not restricted to
Indian historical themes and the reworking of Indian legends. The mythological content of her
poems does not exist extrinsically, but is integrated with her consciousness, her memory. In her
poetry, we meet for the first time a language that is crafted out of the vicissitudes of an
individual life and a sensibility that belongs to modern India.
The Top Ten Indian Writers in English

Salman Rushdie
The 1980s and 90s saw a renaissance of Indian writing in English making the task of choosing
the top ten authors of this genre especially challenging. The renaissance was spearheaded by
Salman Rushdie with his path breaking novel Midnight’s Children in 1980. Ever since his
success, there has been a glut of Indian authors writing in English. These contemporary writers
are not confined to people living in India, but like Rushdie, a large number of them are part of
the Indian diaspora. Earlier writers like Nirad C. Choudhuri, R.K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand or
Raja Rao used English in its classical form. However, Rushdie, with his Pidgin English, signaled
a new trend in writing as well as giving voice to multicultural concerns. Although his Midnight’s
Children, Shame, The Moor’s Last Sigh, Fury, and Shalimar the Clown received critical acclaim
for their themes as well as his use of magic realism, the book that generated the most controversy
was The Satanic Verses. He was accused of blasphemy by many Muslims because of certain
allegedly irreverent references to Islam’s Prophet Mohammad. A fatwa was issued by Iran’s
Ayotollah Khomeini in 1989 calling for the execution of the author. Many countries banned the
book including India. Rushdie had to go into hiding in U.K. Till date, Rushdie remains a hunted
man with a price on his head.
Vikram Seth
Next on the list should be Vikram Seth who produced some magnificent works like The Golden
Gate, A Suitable Boy, An Equal Music, and Two Lives. His first book is written in verse form and
chronicles the lives of young professionals in San Francisco. But the work that propelled him
into the limelight was his second book, A Suitable Boy, which was based in a post-independent
India.
Arundhati Roy
If Rushdie’s work liberated Indian writing from the colonial straitjacket, Arundhati’s Roy’s
book, The God of Small Things, radically changed perceptions about Indian authors with her
commercial success. She won the Booker prize and remained on the top of the New York Times
bestseller list for a long time. With her also started the trend of large advances, hitherto unheard
of among Indian writers.
Rohinton Mistry
The other authors who should be included in the list are: Rohinton Mistry, V.S. Naipaul, Amitav
Ghosh, Jhumpa Lahiri, Shashi Tharoor, and Upamanyu Chatterjee. Mistry’s books shed light on
the issues affecting the Parsi community in India. Although the novels are long and at times
depressing, the beauty of the books lies in their lyrical prose. Some of his better known works
include Such a Long Journey, Family Matters, and A Fine Balance.
V.S Naipaul
One of the most enduring figures in the field and a nobel laureate, V.S. Naipaul, is of Indian
origin although he was born in Trinidad. His prolific writing career includes works such as A
House for Mr. Biswas, India: A Wounded Civilization, An Area of Darkness, India: A Million
Mutinies Now, and A Bend in the River. Naipaul is another writer who has courted controversy
for a long time. His often scathing commentaries on developing countries like India or the
Caribbean and his critical assessment of Muslim fundamentalism on non-Arab countries have
been subjected to harsh criticism.
Amitav Ghosh
Another respected name that should feature on a list of the top ten contemporary Indian writers is
Amitav Ghosh, who has won many accolades including the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Prix
Medicis Etrangere of France. Although less prone to controversy, he is responsible for producing
some of the most lyrical and insightful works on the effect of colonialism on the native people.
His books include The Circle of Reason, The Glass Palace, The Calcutta Chromosome, and The
Hungry Tide.
Jhumpa Lahiri
Jhumpa Lahiri, a recent entrant into the world of Indian writers, tackles the much-debated topic
of cultural identity of Indians in a far off land. Lahiri took the literary world by storm when her
debut book, The Interpreter of Maladies, won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2000. The
Namesake, her first novel, is an ambitious attempt to chart the lives of a family of immigrants
through the eyes of a young boy. Both her books have received brickbats as well as accolades but
she deserves a mention for tackling a subject long ignored by other Indian writers.
Shashi Tharoor
The list would be incomplete without a mention of Shashi Tharoor’s satirical works like The
Great Indian Novel and Show Business. His latest book, India: From Midnight to Millennium, is
a non-fiction chronicle of India’s past and its projected future.
Upamanyu Chatterjee
Lastly, Upamanyu Chatterjee deserves a mention as he was one of the first Indian authors who
found success outside of India with his 1988 debut novel, English, August. His wry sense of
humor and realistic portrayal of India has given us the witty and amusing, The Mammaries of the
Welfare State. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate the success of his debut novel with his
later works, especially in the West.

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Indian English Novel

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The Indian English novel evolved as a subaltern consciousness; as a reaction to

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Indian novels have a high-flying fame in the diaspora of international

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Indian Authors and the Evolution of the

Indian English literature

Indian English Literature (IEL) refers to the body of work by writers

[edit] Later history

A much over-looked category of Indian writing in English is poetry. As stated above,

[edit] Alternative Writing

[edit] Indo-Nostalgic writing

Indo-Nostalgic writing is a somewhat loosely defined term encompassing writings, in the

Ram Mohan Roy

Most loving is my eldest, and I love him most;

And thus of Aru:

My next, the beauty of our home, is meek;

And thus to Toru:

Punyand elf-like, with disheveled tresses,

Ha! There’s the seagull. See it springs,

A selection of English translation of the sonnets of Comte de Grammont, a sketch for an

The Top Ten Indian Writers in English

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