Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami, better known as R. K. Narayan, was an Indian writer and novelist known for his work set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.
Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in English, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, together with R. K. Narayan, Ahmad Ali and Raja Rao, was one of the first India-based writers in English to gain an International readership. Anand is admired for his novels and short stories, which have acquired the status of classics of modern Indian English literature; they are noted for their perceptive insight into the lives of the oppressed and for their analysis of impoverishment, exploitation and misfortune. He became known for his protest novel Untouchable (1935), followed by other works on the Indian poor such as Coolie (1936) and Two Leaves and a Bud (1937). He is also noted for being among the first writers to incorporate Punjabi and Hindustani idioms into English, and was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.
Amitav Ghosh is an Indian writer. He won the 54th Jnanpith award in 2018, India's highest literary honor. Ghosh's ambitious novels use complex narrative strategies to probe the nature of national and personal identity, particularly of the people of India and South Asia. He has written historical fiction and also written non-fiction works discussing topics such as colonialism and climate change.
Indian English literature (IEL), also referred to as Indian Writing in English (IWE), is the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language but whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous languages of India. Its early history began with the works of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio and Michael Madhusudan Dutt followed by Rabindranath Tagore and Sri Aurobindo. R. K. Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao contributed to the growth and popularity of Indian English fiction in the 1930s. It is also associated, in some cases, with the works of members of the Indian diaspora who subsequently compose works in English.
Attia Hosain was a British-Indian novelist, author, writer, broadcaster, journalist and actor. She was a woman of letters and a diasporic writer. She wrote in English although her mother tongue was Urdu. She wrote the semi-autobiographical Sunlight on a Broken Column and a collection of short stories named Phoenix Fled. Her career began in England in semi-exile making a contribution to post-colonial literature. Anita Desai, Vikram Seth, Aamer Hussein and Kamila Shamsie have acknowledged her influence.
Coolie is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand first published in 1936. The second book written by Mulk Raj Anand, Coolie reinforced his position as one of India's leading English authors. The book is highly critical of British rule in India and India's caste system. The plot revolves around a 14-year-old boy, Munoo, and his plight due to poverty and exploitation aided by the social and political structures in place. Anand here tries to break the traditional way of life.
Untouchable is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand published in 1935. The novel established Anand as one of India's leading English authors. The book was inspired by his aunt's experience when she had a meal with a Muslim woman and was treated as an outcast by her family. The plot of this book, Anand's first, revolves around the argument for eradicating the caste system. It depicts a day in the life of Bakha, a young "sweeper", who is "untouchable" due to his work of cleaning latrines.
The Private Life of an Indian Prince is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand first published in 1953. The book is classified as one of Anand's most impressive and important works. In keeping with his other writings dealing with the topic of social and political reform, this book deals with the abolition of the princely states system in India. While the novel is not an autobiography, like many of his earlier novels, it follows an autobiographical tone.
The Village is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand first published in 1939. This book was the first of a trilogy that included Across the Black Waters and The Sword and the Sickle. The plot centers on India's political structure, specifically the British rule and the independence movement. The novel revolves around Lal Singh a peasant in the Punjab, his antics going against social norms while in the village, his subsequent enrollment in the army and his troubles in the army, culminating in his return to the village.
Two Leaves and a Bud is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand first published in 1937. Like his other novels, this one also deals with the topic of oppression of the poor, and is about a peasant who tries to protect his daughter from a British soldier. The story is based in the tea plantations of Assam. The book was subsequently adapted to a Hindi film, Rahi, by Dev Anand and simultaneously released in English as The Wayfarer. The book depicts in detail the concept of haves and have-nots and the exploitation of one at the hand of the other, in pre-independence India.
The Sword and the Sickle is a novel by Mulk Raj Anand first published in 1942. Like his other novels, this one also deals with the topic of social and political structures, specifically, the rise of Communism. The title for the book was given to Anand by George Orwell. The novel was in keeping with British and American writings of the time. The book was the final part of the trilogy that included The Village and Across the Black Waters.
Marg (Pathway) is a quarterly Indian art magazine and a publisher of books on the arts, based in Mumbai. It began in 1946, with writer Mulk Raj Anand as its founding editor. It was initially intended to be an encyclopaedia of the arts and culture of India and South Asia.
The Devil's Wind is a historical novel by Manohar Malgonkar that tells the story of Nana Saheb, the heir of the last Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy, who played a leading role in the 1857 War of Independence. It provides a sympathetic portrait of a man whom the British portrayed as a great villain, and is based on historical sources as far as possible. The book is written as an autobiography in which Nana Saheb describes his life in his own words.
Sant Singh Sekhon (1908–1997) was an Indian playwright and fiction writer associated with Punjabi literature. He is part of the generation of Indian authors who mark the transition of India into an independent nation, scarred by the tragedies of partition.
Saros Dara Cowasjee was an Indian-born Canadian novelist, short story writer, commentator, critic, anthologist, and screenwriter, as well as a professor emeritus at University of Regina.
Chandraprabha Saikiani or Chandraprava Saikiani was an Assamese freedom fighter, activist, writer and social reformer considered to be the pioneer of the feminist movement in Assam. She was the founder of The All Assam Pradeshik Mahila Samiti, a non governmental organization working for the welfare of the women of Assam and was a recipient of the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri for the year 1972 from the Government of India. Three decades later, the Indian government issued a commemorative stamp on Saikiani under the series, Social Reformers, in 2002.
Red Tea is an English historical novel written by Paul Harris Daniel. It was published in Madras by Higginbotham's in 1969. It is based on the experiences of tea plantation workers in the Madras Presidency during the British Raj.
A Bend in the Ganges (1964) is a novel by the Indian author Manohar Malgonkar. The novel opens with the civil disobedience movement of the early 1930s and ends with the partition riots in Punjab. It encompasses the Swadeshi movement, the activities of the freedom fighters, the outbreak of the Second World War, the British retreat from Rangoon, the Bombay dock explosion and the division of India in 1947. The epigraph of this novel is from the Ramayana: "At a bend in the Ganges, they paused to take a look at the land they were leaving".
The Road is a 1961 English-language novel by Mulk Raj Anand. The main character Bhikhu bears many similarities to the character Bakha in Anand's earlier novel Untouchable.
Maqbool Sherwani was a National Conference member who delayed the invasion of Pashtuns tribesmen from Pakistan in Baramulla, Kashmir in October 1947. In this manner, he played an important role in buying time for Indian Army's Sikh Regiment troops who landed in Srinagar once the accession was accepted. Sherwani was killed by the tribesmen.
