Name: Sharma Utkarsh K.

Roll No.: 19PEN032

Sub.: PEN-2804 (Indian literature in English)
Exam Name: ESE

Q. 1 (B) Discuss the theme of ‘power’ in Ghashiram Kotwal.

Vijay Tendulkar was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary
essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marathi. He is best known for
his plays, Shatata! Court Chalu Aahe (1967), Ghashiram Kotwal (1972), and Sakharam Binder
(1972). Many of Tendulkar’s plays derived inspiration from real-life incidents or social
upheavals, which provide clear light on harsh realities.

In response to the emergence of a local political party in Maharashtra, Tendulkar composed

Ghashiram Kotwal in 1972. The play is a political satire, written as a historical drama. Based on
the life of Nana Phadnavis, a famous minister in Peshwa's palace in Pune. The progressive
Drama Association in Pune presented it for the first time on December 16, 1972. This play
caused a lot of controversies because some people believed that it hurt the feelings of the
Chitpavan Brahmin community and showed the statesman Nana Phadnavis in a bad light. Hence
it was temporarily banned in the state.

The basic theme of the play is how men in power give rise to ideologies to serve their
purposes and later destroy them when they become useless. Tendulkar has investigated the
connections between religion, caste, sexuality, and violence in order to reveal the power system
as the dominant status quo. Tendulkar is concerned about the politics of power and its various
implications. In his introduction to the play, Samik Bandhopadhayay says that “In Ghashiram,
power is defined ‘horizontally’, in terms of individuals against individuals; from humiliation, to
revenge in assertion, to eventual victimization…on strategies of power.” On one level it does
seem that one individual is pitted against the other, but at another level, it remains very clear that
the forces of state and society remain supreme even after individuals perish. For instance,
Ghashiram, an innocent newcomer to the Poona Brahmin community is unjustly treated and
falsely accused of stealing. The Poona Brahmins humiliate and beat him up. This incident causes
Ghashiram to vow revenge against the Poona Brahmins and the corrupt city of Poona itself.
When he is thrown out of the city he declares that “You’ve made me an animal; I’ll be a devil
inside. I’ll come back like a boar and I’ll make pigs of all of you. I’ll make this Poona a kingdom
of pigs. Then I’ll be Ghashiram again, the son of Savaldas once more.”(pg.21, act 1)
 It is interesting to note that Ghashiram himself a Brahmin turns against his other brethren.
The opportunity to get even with the Poona Brahmins presents itself in front of Ghashi when the
lecherous Chief Minister of the Peshwa, the aging Nana Phadnavis desires his beautiful daughter
Lalita Gauri. Then begins the game of power in which Gauri is made a pawn and sacrificed to
Nana’s lust. In return, Ghashiram is made the Kotwal of Poona. The Nana has Gauri on the one
hand and on the other, his own misdeeds and tyranny are obscured by Ghashiram’s cruelty. Nana
is aware of these benefits and seizes the opportunity, “What’ll happen is that our misdeeds will
be credited to your account. We do it; our Kotwal pays for it. The opportunity comes in the shape
of Gahshiram. And that luscious peach is at hand to be devoured by Nana. Excellent! Yes,
Ghashya, be Kotwal. This Nana blesses you. ” (pg.30, act 1)

It is clear that even at this stage the deal is an unfair one and the only one that benefits out
of it is Nana. And finally, the Nana sacrifices Ghashi to the blood-thirsty crowds of the Brahmins
without the slightest of compunctions or even regret, and in the end, he is the one who thrives
with all the supposed power in his hands. It can be noticed that the power is only deputed in
Ghashi who does not realize this and begins to mistake it for real power.

The king or the Peshwa in this case has the power by virtue of the Divine Right. His position
is maintained by various state apparatuses like the army, the police, religious and social
institutions, etc. here the power is delegated in the Nana who further delegates it to Gahshiram
by making him the Kotwal who then operates through the police force. Thus we get to see a
whole hierarchy of power positions. It seems then that an individual is against an individual.

The state itself functions according to a certain ideology. A society structured in such a way
ensures that power is maintained and supported by such hierarchies. The attention is focused on
individuals who are passed off as criminals. But the real crime that is the social setup continues
unchallenged as individuals are pitied against individuals. Even if Ghashirams are created and
destroyed, society remains untouched and Tendulkar’s play subtly makes us think about it and
analyze this phenomenon.

Tendulkar has highlighted the Brahmins' hypocrisy, arrogance, tyranny, and debauched, and
adulterous noble conduct. Rather than being identified by their good deeds and noble behavior,
the Brahmins are identified by their “haven head”, “holy thread” and pious looks. It is the pious
looks that hide their petty deeds. The Nana himself a Brahmin is marrying for the seventh time
not to mention his lust for numerous young girls, Lalita Gauri among them. Ghashiram though
full of revenge and hatred for the Brahmins is himself a Brahmin. His conduct for bartering his
daughter’s virtue for the dubious distinction of becoming the Kotwal of Poona can hardly be
justified and speaks of his inhuman opportunism and total lack of paternal sentiments and
sensitivity. The total picture of the Brahmins that emerges from the play is one of hypocrisy,
double standards, self-indulgence, and moral degradation. It exposes the rottenness of the caste
system that privileges a person on the basis of birth rather than merit and maintains the rigid
hierarchy of control and suppresses persons.

In this play, we can see that Tendulkar provides us with a blueprint for an unforgettable
theatrical experience by satirizing the utter decadence of feudal society and the various power
structures that function in feudal society.

Q.2 (A) Examine the contribution of anyone Indian novelist.

In the literary contribution of R. K. Narayan, we can fetch the true depiction of modern
Indian life, traditions, and culture in its dramatic and realistic form. Social pragmatism is broadly
and minutely described. He is a pure storyteller, an artist who represents reality in its real
unusual rhythm. Social customs, traditions, and reality are intensely described with unprejudiced
objectivity and complete separate observation.

The full name of R. K. Narayan is Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, (1906-

2001) belongs to the age of the Indian Freedom Struggle of the 20th century. He was an Indian
author primarily known for writings set in the fictitious South Indian town of Malgudi. The three
bright stars, personalities of Indian English literature, Mulk Raj Anand, R. K. Narayan, and Raja
Rao began writing their novels during a time of great uproar and enthusiasm. Some of their early
works represent the conditions and the troubles that characterize the early decades of 20th
Century India and the people of the country. All of them expressed the feeling of their age in
their literary works directly or indirectly. R. K. Narayan has written 15 Novels, Five Volumes of
Short-Stories, a number of Travelogues and Collections of Non-fiction, English Translation of
Indian Epics, and the Memoirs “My Days”.

1 Swami and Friends 1935

2 The Bachelor of Arts 1936
3 The Dark Room 1938
4 The English Teacher 1945
5 Mr. Sampath 1949
6 The Financial Expert 1952
7 Waiting for the Mahatma 1955
8 The Guide 1958
9 The Man-Eater of Malgudi 1962
10 The Vendor of Sweets 1967
11 The Painter of Sign 1967
12 A Tiger for Malgudi 1977
13 Talkative Man 1986
14 The World of Nagaraj 1990
15 Grand Mother’s Tale 1992

WRITING STYLE OF R.K. NARAYAN

Narayan's writing technique was unassuming with a natural element of humor. It focused
on common people, reminding the reader of next-door neighbors, cousins, and the like, thereby
facilitating a superior ability to relate to the topic. Unlike his national generation, he was able to
write about the workings of Indian society without having to modify his characteristic simplicity
to conform to trends and fashions in fiction writing. He also employed the use of nuanced
dialogic prose with gentle Tamil overtones based on the nature of his characters. Critics have
considered Narayan to be the Indian Chekhov, because of these similarities in their writings, the
simplicity and the gentle beauty and humor in tragic situations. Greene considered Narayan to be
more similar to Chekhov than any Indian writer. Anthony West of the New Yorker considered
Narayan's writings to be of the realism variety of Nikolai Gogol.

INDICATION OF MODERN SOCIAL REALITY

Our country, India has innate a great legacy of its culture from ancient times. Civilization
has continuously been passing through its complicated form. India has also kept her age-old
customary tradition in the society with some adaptation. India is a country where festivals,
cultural events, protocols of civilization, Religious occasions, and the National Day Celebration
Programme always take place. They are the undividable elements of our society. They mostly
aimed to bring together people with the feeling of unity, to make people happy life very closely
with melodious mutual understanding.

In the literary contribution of R. K. Narayan, we can certainly find the depiction of cultural
events, patterns of civilization, and traditional values but the distinctiveness of Narayan is the
faithful, real representation of modern society, without any criticism, satire, or remarks. As a
result, we may imagine modern civilization with virtues and vices in his work. Social customs
and traditional actuality are brightly described with unbiased objectivity and complete detached
observation. R. K. Narayan is a man of ethical realization. He finds out that commercial sense
wrecks the morals of a man. He is for social incorporation and order. He has successfully sliced
apart the societal reasons as an artist using genuine characterization. Hence he does it with help
of his characters. The novels of Narayan are the expression of diverse problems of middle-class
society in which he has been all involved.
AWARDS AND HONOURS IN THE FIELD OF LITERATURE

Narayan won several awards during the course of his fictional career. In 1958 His first
major award was the Sahitya Akademi Award for The Guide. He won the Filmfare Award for
Best Story when the book was adapted into a film. In 1964, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan
during the Republic Day honors. The (British) Royal Society of Literature, of which he was an
honorary member, awarded him the AC Benson Medal in 1980. In 1982 he was elected an
honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was nominated for the
Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times but never won the award.

Recognition also came in the form of honorary doctorates by the University of Leeds in
1967, the University of Mysore in 1976, and Delhi University in 1973. Narayan was nominated
to the upper chamber of the Indian Parliament for a six-year term beginning in 1989 for his
contributions to Indian literature at the end of his career. A year before his death, in 2001, he was
awarded India's second-highest civilian honor, the Padma Vibhushan.

CHARACTERS OF THE NOVELS

All the characters in Narayan’s novels are live creations of the imaginative depiction. They
are neither heroes nor heroines, nor are they members of the aristocratic or noble classes; rather,
they are regular people from the middle class. Their actions are obvious but they are dummies in
the hands of God or Nature. They seem to perform their duties as an active agent who is put up
in the limelight or highlighted to some particular dilemma with a view to creating normalcy. My
study in this research work is to show the gradual development of all the major characters of R.
K. Narayan’s novels in respect to their conflict, struggle, confrontation, and adjustment at the
end. “Actually, the success of R. K. Narayan lies in attributing globality to his ordinary place
characters. The non-heroes characters finally evolve into heroes. This is done with creative
impersonality and diverse objectivity. There is no didacticism, no philosophy, no propaganda
involved in their conception. They are drawn with extraordinary fragility and tenderness,
admirable integrity, and intelligence. The novelists can not control and govern them but let them
be liberated. The point of view articulated by them is the logical outcome of their personality.
What is noteworthy is that Narayan’s characters stay dedicated to the search of correct meaning
in life”

The main Characters of a variety of novels mentioned below are dramatic and realistic in
their nature and become the purpose of research as well as a prime concern for any research
study.

Jagan and Mali - The Vendor of the Sweet

Raman and Daisy - The Painter of Signs
Raju, the Tiger - A Tiger of Malgudi
Sriram and Bharti - Waiting For the Mahatma
Raju, Rosie and Marco - The Guide
Dr.Rann and Talkative Man - Talkative Man
Ramani, Savitri, and Shantabai - The Dark Room
Nataraj and Vasu - The Man Eater of Malgudi
Swaminathan his friends Mani, Shankar, Somu, Samuel, and Rajam (Swami and Friends)
Chandran, Malathi, and Sushila - The Bachelor of Arts
Margayya, Balu, Dr. Pal - The Financial Expert
Krishna, Sushila, and Leela - The English Teacher
Mr. Sampath and Srinivas - Mr. Sampath
Nagraj and Sita - The World of Nagraj
Bala (Grandmother’s Tale)

The imaginative superiority of R. K. Narayan is unique. His simple and brief manner of
presenting stories, his knowledge of people's psychological behavior, his practical approach to
the art of representation, his smooth plot creation, and, above all, his use of stylist writing
distinguish him as a novelist of distinction and intellect. R. K. Narayan does not use the medium
of novels for any purpose other than giving imaginative happiness to his readers. He was a pure
and simple artist novelist. His backgrounds are enormously realistic, nearly philosophical in their
practicality. He was noted for the objectivity and indifference of his stand. He was free from the
desire to talk, to direct, and to convert the modern society. He has developed a huge number of
characters who will continue to delight his readers' hearts in the future.

Q.3 Write Short Notes (any two)

1. Kanthapura

Kanthapura is often known as a Gandhian novel, as it is a re-enacted story based on the

revival of a small, sleepy village during the nationalist struggle for independence, spearheaded
by Mahatma Gandhi. What is reflected in the novel is that, in the aftermath of Gandhi’s non-
violence and non-cooperation movements, such resurgences were actually taking place
concurrently across India in thousands of Indian villages in the dynamic days of 1919-1930,
when Gandhi transformed the entire country into a throbbing army of enduring and disciplined
freedom fighters.
There were three basic aspects of the Gandhian movement- the political, the socio-
economic, and the religious, and Rao tactfully incorporates all these three aspects in the complex
narratorial fabric of the novel. Kanthapura, thus, regenerates with the vigor and fervor of a
people whose spirit has been infused with the Gandhian philosophy of freedom and self-
dependence. Therefore, Kanthapura exists not only as a political document but also as an intense
work concentrating as much on socio-economic progress and religion as a struggle for freedom.
This unit will enable you to critically appreciate the novel, Kanthapura which is often referred to
as a post-independence novel. Interestingly, it was written much before India gained
independence, in the year 1938. But there is more to the novel that makes it a post-independence
novel.

This story shows the birth of new ideas in old India. The reasons against reform, which in
the Gandhian sense is a change of soul and not merely a caste or social feature, are strongly put
forward by reactionaries who point to the chaos, corruption, and ignorance of the pre-British
rule. As the old government man put it, the British came to protect the dharma or the duty.
Playing on the raw fear of the people, the anti-nationalists claim that change would lead to the
inevitable exploitation of the caste and of the great ancestral traditions.

While this novel does not have the profound philosophic essence of The Serpent and the
Rope (1960), Rao’s most influential novel, it is definitely didactic in that it glorifies the concept
of revolt. It is shocking, in fact, that the author was not imprisoned for his beliefs.

Raja Rao’s Kanthapura sets out some of the motifs of postcolonialism. Raja Rao criticizes
the simple position that the discourse of colonialism formed the notion of the inherent dominance
of the colonizing race and that this was internalized by the colonized. In the second piece on the
novel, how the novel problematizes viewing colonial modernity as having had a liberating
impact on Indian society.

The novel’s problematizing capacity applies to anti-colonial nationalism. To discuss this, let
us shift to another dimension of the novel. The advent of the novel as a genre in India in the 19th
century poses the question as to whether it is a derivative. Although there is a debate on this
subject, the role of the novel in enabling the nation-state concept to take shape is a significant
one. Benedict Anderson argued that the novel is partly the duty of society to think of itself as a
nation. In support of this argument, novels are written in the 19th century and beyond in India
can be used. While in Kanthapura, the action is confined to the village itself, with none of the
characters venturing too far out, yet the village is not insulated against the happenings in other
places.

2. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness takes us on an intimate journey of many years across
the Indian subcontinent - from the cramped neighborhoods of Old Delhi and the roads of the new
city to the mountains and valleys of Kashmir and beyond, where war is peace and peace is war. It
is an aching love story and a decisive remonstration, a story told in a whisper, in a shout, through
unsentimental tears and sometimes with a bitter laugh. The fiction holds the insufferable truths of
A society such as the wretched condition of minorities humiliated lifestyles of trans genders,
mediocre government, the life of injustice, inequality, and prejudice. This dissertation is an
attempt to read the transgender characters of this novel especially Anjum, one of the major
characters, through queer theory and in the light of the idea of Transgender Congruence. It aims
to prove the Anjum was greatly proud of her identity and existence and is a character with high
transgender congruence, irrespective of all the trials and tribulations she faced in her life. The
work also focuses on the approach and attitude taken by the author to establish the position of
transgenders in society by focusing on their worth, qualities, lifestyle, and culture. The Ministry
of Utmost Happiness can be seen as a political fiction that is explicitly political and aggressive
discursive. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness delves into the cultural disputes and interpersonal
difficulties that shape contemporary Indian culture. Society overlooks transgenders with fear and
suspicion. Despite a mind-boggling sense of despair, the Ministry of Utmost Happiness is laden
with the confidence of discovering triumph, expectation, and, indeed pleasure.
The novel consists of twelve chapters entitled “Where Do Old Birds Go to Die?”
“Khwabgah”, “The Nativity”, “Dr. Azad Bhartiya”, “The Slow-Goose Chase”, “Some Questions
for Later”, “The Landlord”, “The Tenant”, “The Untimely Death of Miss Jebeen the First”, “The
Ministry of Utmost Happiness”, “The Landlord” and “Guih Kyom”.

This hulking and sprawling tale has two main strands: one follows Anjum, a hijra, unrolling
threadbare Persian carpet in a city graveyard she calls home. She and her company harbor a
hope that has no entity but only to revivify the breath lost by years ago. The other follows Tilo, a
thorny and irresistible architect turned activist (who seems to be modeled on Roy herself), and
the three men who fall in love with her.

Roy’s rich and knowing narration wings across the landscape, traversing caste, religion, and
gender divides. She acerbically captures the cruel ironies of cities like Delhi where dead
pampers lie in “air-conditioned splendor.” It is a story about our contemporary world delivered
through the microcosm of individuals living through the never-ending and harrowing conflict in
Kashmir and the marginal communities of outsiders in Delhi. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
demands a certain degree of attention and reflection in equal parts. The dedicated readers will
certainly come away with a rewarded sense of empathy for humanity, despite its shortcomings.
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is not a sole apprenticeship of imagination; rather, it is a joint
feat of both imagination and reality. Everyone who has a sophisticated taste for Literature and is
enthusiastic about Indian political and religious history should read it at least once since it offers
a pleasant reading with the features of fiction as opposed to the tedious prosaic nature of
textbooks on the politics of India.
Q. 4 Answer in brief: (any six) (6)

1. What is a myth?
“are the sacred stories that tell a society what it is important for us to know.” Unified
mythology can be a powerful instrument of social authority. What Frye calls a civilization's
canon of “concerned knowledge,” transmitting a heritage of shared allusion, creates a cultural
history.

2. Is Ghashiram Kotwal a political satire?

Ghashiram Kotwal is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972 as a
response to the rise of a local political party, in Maharashtra. The play is a political satire, written
as a historical drama.

3. Who was the first Indian to win the Man Booker Prize?
In 1971, V.S. Naipaul’s novel In a Free State was the first book by an Indian novelist to
win the Booker.

5. Justify the title The God of Small Things with at least three statements.
There are basically two parts in the title. 1. The god, 2. Small things. Velutha was the god of
small things. Everything that concerns him is small, he makes tiny toys and he is in love with
ammu, whom he calls little. Here women are shown the small things that are ruled by males (the
god) in Indian society.

6. Differentiate the two terms ‘Myth’ and ‘fiction’.

Myth is a traditional story which embodies a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of
experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; a sacred
narrative regarding a god, a hero, the origin of the world or of a people, etc while fiction is
literary type using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose.

7. How social discrimination affect society? Examine with reference to The God of Small
Things.
In The God of Small Things, the laws of India's caste system are broken by the characters of
Ammu and Velutha, an Untouchable or Paravan. Velutha works at the Paradise Pickles and
Preserves Factory owned by Ammu's family. Yet, because he is an Untouchable, the other
workers resent him and he is paid less money for his work. Velutha's presence is unsettling to
many who believe he acts above his station.