Discovering the Immersive world of Indian Literature
India is a wonderful nation with a vibrant and complex culture. In Western society, we often perceive this country through a prejudiced and stereotyped lens. We often ridicule the broken accent of Indian denizens, their cultural traditions, their cultural aesthetics. But behind the stereotypical manifestation of India lies a beautiful nation with an immersive culture and deep history. But also, this nation has created some of the greatest and oldest literature. While the modern day nation has only existed for 71 years following the British Partition of India in 1947, this country’s literary history extends back long before its modern formation. This South Asian nation is bordered by Pakistan and Afghanistan in the West, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the North and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the East. India is the second most populated nation on Earth, with a total population of approximately 1.225 billion. It is also the second largest Asian country in terms of land mass, with about 3.28 million square kilometers of land. India is also one of the most culturally diverse nations on Earth, containing more than 2,000 ethnicities and 22 major languages (over 720 dialects).
It may come as a surprise to some that the Indian literary scene is quite prominent in the modern age. Some of today’s most prominent and influential authors are of Indian descent. One of the most famous modern Indian authors is a man named Salman Rushdie who is most well known for his novels The Satanic Verses (1988) and Midnight’s Children (1981) which caused much controversy due to supposed blasphemy against Islam. In spite of much of the controversy in the 1980s, Rushdie is still a very successful author and has won notable literary awards such as the Golden Pen Award and Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award. Rushdie had even won the Man Booker Prize in 1981 for Midnight’s Children, at that time becoming only the second Indian born author to win that prize. Another prominent Indian author in the modern age is Aravind Adiga, who won the Man Booker Prize in 2008 for his novel, The White Tiger, becoming the fifth Indian born author to win the wars. Another prominent Indian author in the modern age is Aravind Adiga, who won the Man Booker Prize in 2008 for his novel, The White Tiger, becoming the fifth Indian born author to win the award. Adiga, who currently lives in Australia, has published other notable novels such as “Last Man in the Tower” and “Between the Assassinations”. Other Indian authors to win the Man Booker are V.S Naipaul, Kiran Desai and Arundhati Roy, whose works have greatly contributed to Indian literature. But to be an influential author, it is not required that you receive the Man Booker. Individuals such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Vikram Seth and Amitav Ghosh are also highly renowned authors within the nation, selling thousands of novels and winning various other literary prizes. But the history of Indian literature extends further back, long before the Common Era, with some of the earliest known pieces being written by Sanskrit poets. India’s history is steeped in literature, making it one of the most prominent nations in the world of literature.
Over my years of reading, I have been constantly drawn to pieces of literature which originate from the Indian sub-continent. Indian culture is vivid, exuberant and exciting, which as a result, produces captivating and immersive literature. As an individual of Bengali descent, I can even relate to a lot of the culture manifested within these pieces of literature, giving me a warm almost nostalgic emotion. However, the appreciation of this nation’s literature is not limited to those who share cultural similarities with its denizens. By immersing oneself in Indian literature, you are given a detailed and enthralling insight into the unique, vibrant culture of this wonderful nation.
One of my most treasured novels from India is Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Lahiri’s family are from the Eastern Indian city of Kolkata, in the West Bengal region. Kolkata is bordered by Bangladesh to the East and as a result, the language and culture are very similar in spite of Kolkata being part of a completely different nation. In her novel, she chronicles the life of a family who immigrated to the USA from Kolkata. The novel initially begins by focusing upon the Ganguli family, Ashoke and Ashima who are expecting a newborn child. Following the child’s birth, the wife, Ashima sent a letter home to her grandmother in Kolkata. This was part of Bengali cultural tradition as the grandmother would be obliged to select a name for the newborn child. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, Ashima’s grandmother suffered from a stroke and as a result, became incapable of comprehensible verbal communication. This left Ashoke and Ashima with the prerogative of naming their own child, which they had considerable trouble with. Ashoke eventually considered naming the child after one of his favourite Russian authors, Nikolai Gogol and thus, the newborn was officially known as Gogol Ganguli. The rest of the novel pivots around the maturation of Gogol as a character and his zealous attempts to abscond from his Indian culture and fit into a predominantly white, American society. He even tries to escape his own namesake; Gogol. Throughout the novel, Lahiri manifests how Gogol’s self-isolation from his culture and upbringing impacts upon his connections with his family and friends, depriving him of what he once treasured most.
Lahiri’s novel is eloquently written and the characterisation is exemplary. The plot takes you through the confusing and exciting life of Gogol Ganguli, emotionally attaching the reader with this fictitious yet compelling and complex character. Throughout the novel, its almost as if you can feel the confusion and pain within Gogol feels, in spite of him being pure fiction. At some points of the novel, I even shed a few tears at the adversity which Gogol endures. By the time you have completed reading the novel, you will have felt as if you have accompanied Gogol through the volatile journey of his complicated and difficult life, seeing the various ways in which he has developed as a character. Lahiri’s manifestation of Bengali culture within this novel is also an extremely important and interesting aspect of the plot, as Gogol feels as if he is caught between the vastly divergent cultures of India and the USA. Lahiri exhibits a lot of the cultural aspects of West Bengal through Gogol’s relatives, who often participate in various cultural rituals and events endemic to that region. As an individual of Bangladeshi descent, I found this inclusion of Bengali culture to be quite accurate, making the story much more relatable and interesting to me. Even if you are not someone who is familiar with Bengali culture, this novel provides a fascinating insight into a fascinating foreign heritage. Apart from the prominent theme of culture, Lahiri also explores other personal themes such as family, tragedy and assimilation, adding to the characterisation of Gogol Ganguli, making a much more compelling plot line.
Another piece of Indian literature which I regard as one of my favourite novels is Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger. This novel won the Man Booker Prize of 2008, and after reading it, you will understand why. Adiga’s novel is a much more explicit and grim representation of Indian society and culture. This predominance of this novel is set within North India and is written in the form of a letter to a Chinese Ambassador who is scheduled to visit India. The main character, Balram Halwai is a “self-made” entrepreneur who attempts to expose the dark secrets and corruption which lies behind the supposedly affluent facade of Indian society. In writing this letter, Balram recounts his rise to entrepreneurship, outlining the injustices he both endured and committed. He outlines the incessant oppression and inequality which is perpetuated through the nation’s outdated caste system. This caste system intended to determine the occupation of a family’s bloodline. As an individual born into a “high” caste, Balram should have been entitled to an affluent life of sweet-making. Instead, he and his family resided in the rural village of Laxmangarh, born into a bloodline of indigence and pain. All this while a select oligarchy of landlords lived in affluence and owned the village’s property. Balram eventually learnt to drive and left his village to earn money for his family, working as the personal driver of the opulent family of a landlord he calls “The Stork.” From this point onward, Balram would commit unethical and manipulative acts in order to work his way up in this unscrupulous, “chicken coop” society.
Adiga’s portrayal of the inequalities and prejudices present within Indian society is vividly manifested through the events which transpire within the novel’s plot-line. Much like Lahiri’s novel, Adiga also creates a very wide character arc for Balram, showing his metamorphosis from a penurious villager to the owner of a vehicular transport company. Balram’s personality and character also develops quite significantly, manifested in his moral compass which he defies through the many unethical acts he commits in order to achieve his personal affluence. Adiga blurs the line between right and wrong, questioning whether such acts are justified in such an unforgiving almost Darwinist society. Adiga’s eloquence combined with the heavy use of symbolism within this novel also makes it a very enjoyable and interesting piece to read. Some examples of symbolism are the division of India’s economic demographics into the “light and dark”, with the former being the affluent and the latter being the poor. The anthropomorphism of the village landlords into animals (eg. The Stork, The Wild Boar etc.) is also an example of some of the deep symbolism Adiga utilises throughout the course of the novel. The representation of Indian culture within the novel is also extremely thorough and insightful, through the discussion of the nation’s caste system to marriage based rituals. The White Tiger is a much more graphic and grim novel than Lahiri’s The Namesake. However, both novels are wonderfully written pieces of literature which incorporate aspects of their respective nation’s culture. Both of these novels are must-reads for anyone wishing to delve into the literary scene of this wonderful nation.
Indian novels and stories are vibrant, interesting and enthralling. But the nation’s poetry scene is just as prominent in terms of literary relevance. India is no stranger to the notion of poetry and literature. Poets from the Indian subcontinent have been writing pieces of literature long before the modern age, with some of the earliest Sanskrit epics being written well before the 1st Century CE.
One of India’s most famous Poets is a Bengali man by the name of Rabindranath Tagore. He was born in the East Indian city of Calcutta in 1861 during British occupation and died at the age of 80 in 1941. Tagore and his works are extremely influential and prominent in the world of Indian literature, being the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature which he won in 1913. He is known for writing long collections of poems such as the Gitanjali anthology, the anthology which coincidentally won him the Nobel Prize. One of my favourite poems from this anthology is a piece known as “Let Me Not Forget.” The poem is a melancholic and poignant piece, discussing the sorrow and emptiness one feels at the death of their loved ones. The poem utilises heavy repetition of the phrase “let me not forget for a moment,” reinforcing this notion of remembrance and sorrow during the passing of a loved one. The utilisation of imagery and metaphor within the poem adds to the melancholic ambience of the piece, while intermittent rhyming couplets put emphasis on certain key words within the poem; such as the rhyme between life and sight in the first stanza of the piece. This poem is a very reflective and emotional piece, making it one of my favourite works form Tagore.
Another equally famous Poet from India is a man by the name of Sri Aurobindo. Aurobindo like Tagore, was born in the city of Kolkata to a Bengali family on August 15 1872. Aurobindo moved to England at the age of seven and studied there for 14 years before returning to India. Aurobindo died in 1950 and had become a greatly renowned poet, philosopher and political reformist, leaving behind a prominent legacy. He wrote a lot of poems in his lifetime, but one of his most renowned is a piece entitled “Because thou Art.” This piece is a love poem which uses an infatuated, jubilant tone. This piece has a distinct structure, divided into four stanzas, with the three containing four lines and the last containing only 2 lines. The first three stanzas have an obvious rhyming scheme of ABAB, with the final word of each line following this rhyming pattern. The last stanza is composed of a rhyming couplet, rhyming the words “prow” and “thou.” The clear structure of this poem gives it an almost bouncy flow, with stress on the last word of each line. This characteristic suits the poem, as it is meant to invoke a jubilant ambience. The structure of the piece, combined with the use of metaphor and imagery makes this poem an enjoyable piece to read.
The famous poets of India are not only males however. Kamala Surayya was one of the most famous and influential poets in the nation. She was born on March 31 1934 in what is now modern-day Kerala and died at the age of 75 in 2009. Her uncle, Nalapatta Narayan Menon was a prominent writer at the time and was her source of inspiration when she was a child. Thanks to her uncle, Surayya became involved in poetry and literature at a very young age, an interest which she would commit to in her later life. One of her first and most well renowned English pieces is a poem called “The Testing of The Sirens,” released in 1964. The poem is written as if it were a short story, recounting the protagonist’s meeting with a man whom she loves. The poem is about the pain which comes with loving someone and uses beautiful imagery to create vivid pictures in the reader’s mind. Rhyme is not very relevant in this piece, instead, symbolism and dialogue are used instead to convey the idea of this poem.
One of India’s most well-known poets from the 16th century was a woman named Mirabai. Mirabai was born in 1496 and died in 1546 at the age of 50. She was a Hindu mystic poet, writing poems about spiritualism and religion during the Bhakti movement of that time, a cultural movement in the Hindu religion. Mirabai was a very pious woman, with one of her most famous poems being one called “I am True to my Lord.” The poem discusses Mirabai’s utmost devotion to her God, who in this case is a deity known as Girdhar. The piece is quite short and doesn’t contain a noticeable rhyme scheme, focusing instead on symbolism. While the piece is not very eccentric or extravagant, it held religious and cultural prominence to 16th century Hinduism in India, having a significant impact on Bhakti culture.
A more modern poet is a man by the name of Vikram Seth. Seth was born in 1952 in Calcutta and is currently 66 years old. He is a well known novelist, winning several awards for his works such as the WH Literary award and the Crossword Books Award. But Seth’s poetry works are also quite well known in the world of Indian literature. A recent poem of his which caught my eye is a piece titled “Evening Scene from my Table.” As you can expect, the poem visualises a scene from his table as the sun begins to set. The poem follows a strict structure, containing four stanzas with four lines each, following the rhyme scheme ABAB, giving the piece a consistent flow. Seth also uses creative and vivid imagery within this piece, creating vibrant visuals within the reader’s mind, making this piece an enjoyable one to read.
Delving into the literary history of India has shown me how deeply rooted literature is in Indian society. From the early Sanskrit authors to the famous modern day poets and novelists, India has birthed some of the most influential and prominent literary minds. Due to the many different ethnic and lingual demographics within this nation, many poets and authors representing various different cultural backgrounds have published their works, making the Indian literary scene extremely diverse and nuanced. Poems and novels have been written in Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Bengali and many more languages, resulting in a significantly large literary scene within the nation. Literature is also deeply associated with several cultural movements in Indian history. The most prominent being the 8th-16th century Hindu Bhakti movement of South India, which revolutionised Sikhism and medieval Hinduism. This prominent and widespread cultural movement birthed many influential poets such as Mirabai, Kabir and Namdev; who helped shape Indian literature in the mid-2nd millennium. The mid 20th-century Indian independence movement also heavily influenced the nation’s literary scene, with famous poets and political figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo and Sir Muhammad Iqbal producing poems, songs and novels advocating the independence of India. But when individuals think of prominent literary nations, India is not the first one that comes to mind. However, after studying the literary history of this nation and reading the works produced by Indian born poets and novelists, their minds would surely be changed. Individuals such as Salman Rushdie, Rabindranath Tagore, Kiran Desai and many other renowned novelists from this country have helped shape the national and international literary scenes, shattering Western perceptions of Indian society and culture. India’s literary prominence in the world is often overlooked and treated with contempt, but hopefully this nation will one day finally receive the recognition it deserves.
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