Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004) was a famous Indian writer known for his detailed depictions of the lower castes in traditional Indian society. Mulk Raj Anand’s works are based on themes of feudalism, poverty, hunger, religious hypocrisy and exploitation. Some of his famous works include The Untouchables (1935), Coolie (1936), Across Black Water (1939), and other works such as the short story collections The Lost Child and Other Stories (1934), Tractors and Corn” “The Goddess and Other Stories” (1947) and many more. Mulkraj Anand volunteered as a journalist during the Spanish Civil War. In September 2004, he died of pneumonia at the age of 98.
Wiki/Biography
Mulk Raj Anand was born on Tuesday, December 12, 1905, in Peshawar, British India (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). He was 98 years old. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He graduated from Khalsa College, Amritsar in 1924. He later moved to the UK to further his studies and received his undergraduate degree from University College London. In 1929, he graduated from Cambridge University with a doctorate in philosophy. Mulk Raj Anand’s literary career began with a family tragedy when his aunt committed suicide after being abandoned by her family for sharing food with a Muslim woman. This incident deeply affected Mulk Raj Anand, and he also learned about the dark side of India’s caste system. In response, Mulk Raj Anand wrote his first prose. In 1933, he returned to India, stayed with Mahatma Gandhi at the Sabarmati Ashram, and wrote the first draft of his first novel, Untouchables.
Mulk Raj Anand as a young man
family and caste
Mulk Raj Anand was born into a Khatri family in Peshawar, British India.
Parents and siblings
Mulk Raj Anand’s father, Lal Chand, was a coppersmith who later joined the British Indian Army. His mother, Ishwar Kaur, is a farmer and comes from a peasant family. They had five sons, four of whom survive, Mulkraj Anand being the third son.
wife and children
In 1938, Mulk Raj Anand married British actress and communist Kathleen Van Gelder, with whom he had a daughter, Susheela. In 1948, the two parted ways after ten years together. His second wife was Shirin Vajifdar, an Indian classical dancer and critic. They were married in 1950.
Mulk Raj Anand’s second wife – Shirin Vajifdar
Religion/Religious Views
Although Mulk Raj Anand was born into a Hindu family, his writings beautifully expressed his religious views. In the novel Untouchable, Mulk Raj Anand preached the religion of humanity based on Gandhi’s view of any other religion.
So I believe that the humanism of the world that I want… remains an integral part of the Indian tradition in which I grew up. “
Signature/Autograph
Profession
Mulk Raj Anand was a prolific writer. In addition to novels and short stories, he also wrote a number of books on art and painting. He set off a wave of social protest and realism in Indian English fiction through his works. His novel “Death of a Hero” was adapted into the TV series “Maqbool Ki Vaapsi on DD Kashir”.
novel
Untouchable1935
Untouchable is Mulk Raj Anand’s first major book, published in 1935. The plot of the book tells the story of a man from the lowest caste of Indian society. Untouchable is a powerful work that exposes the dehumanizing differences and institutionalized oppression that exist in India’s divided society, despite its apparent simplicity. The protagonist of the book is a sweeper who belongs to the untouchable lower caste and is considered an outcast by society due to the belief system of the upper castes. Through this novel, Anand criticizes the restrictions that limit the existence of untouchables.
coolie1936
This is the second book written by Mulk Raj Anand. He criticized the caste system in India through this novel. The novel deals with the poverty and exploitation that an orphan Munu faces in his life. Mulk Raj Anand in his novel depicts the impact of British colonialism on the class hierarchy imposed on Indian society.
Across Black Water 1939
Anand wrote a trilogy of three novels: The Village (1939), Across the Black Water (1940), and The Sword and Sickle (1942). Across Black Water follows Lalu’s experiences as an Indian Army soldier during World War I, fighting for the British against the Germans in France. The author describes him as a farmer who was forced off his family’s farm and was unaware of the true cause of the war.
Other novels
Some of Mulk Raj Anand’s other noteworthy novels are Two Leaves and a Bud (1937), The Village (1939), Mourning on the Death of a Master of Arts (1939), “The Sword and the Sickle” (1942), “The Big Heart” (1945), “Seven Summers: The Story of an Indian Childhood” (1951), “The Private Life of an Indian Prince” (1953) and “The Old Woman and the Cow” (1960) ).
short story collection
Old Bapu (The Power of Darkness and Other Stories)
Mulk Raj Anand uses themes of death, struggle and hope in Old Bapu, taken from his collection The Power of Darkness and Other Stories. The story is told from a third-person perspective by an unknown narrator.
Silver Bracelet (Lajwanti and Other Stories Series)
This story is part of the collection “Rajwanti and Other Stories” written by Mulk Raj Anand. The themes he uses in it are patriarchy, hatred and anger. Again, the narrator of this story is unknown and is written from a third-person point of view.
Other short story collections by Raja Rao
Mulk Raj Anand is also known for his short stories “The Lost Child and Other Stories” (1934), “The Barber’s Guild and Other Stories” (1944), “The Tractor and the Corn Goddess and Other Stories” (1947), Known for Reflections on the Golden Bed and Other Stories. Other Stories (1953) and Between Tears and Laughter (1973).
Art and painting books
Indian Picture Album (1973), (1984),
Awards and Honors
- Morning Face (1968) Sahitya Akademi Award (1971)
- International Peace Prize (1953)
die
Mulk Raj Anand died of pneumonia on September 28, 2004 at Jehangir Hospital in Pune at the age of 98.
Facts/Trivia
- Indian English literature scholar MK Naik once compared Mulkraj Anand to a “stately and many-branched” banyan tree.
- Mulkraj Anand was an active member of the Indian National Congress.
- He is also a member of the British Labor Party.
- During the Second World War, Mulk Raj Anand was a screenwriter at the BBC’s London film department. He also worked as an announcer in the same film department.
- He was a friend of Picasso and collected matching pieces and other works of art by Picasso.
- During the Second World War, he worked as a screenwriter for the BBC in London, where he met George Orwell and developed a close friendship. Orwell reviewed Anand’s novel The Sword and the Sickle.
- He was a founding member of the Progressive Writers Association.
- Mulk Raj Anand was ridiculed by the British critic Edward Sackville-West for writing a novel about the lower castes (Untouchable 1935) and criticism. Sackville-West was a novelist and music critic who wrote a series of semi-autobiographical novels in the 1920s and 1930s.
He said arrogantly: ‘Oh! There can be no novel about poor people! One can only laugh at Londoners like Dickens. It made me feel uneasy and made me despair of repenting,” said Mulkraj Anand.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education