Assistant Professor

English

S.D (P. G) College

 Panipat, Haryana, India 

Abstract

R.K.Narayan, Mulk Raj Annand and Raja Rao depict Indian sensibility and caste system in Indo-Anglian Literature. Similarly, Raja Rao, a great Indo-Anglian novelist portraysthe social, Political and religious picture of contemporary India in his famous novel Kanthapura. Thenovelist exhibits Gandhian sensibility on the people of Kanthapura. Raja Rao has used a Western artform to express Gandhian ideology in theme and treatment. The coming of the Gandhian philosophy to Kanthapura enables the novelist to penetrate the rivalries, jealousy, srigidness of the caste system that prevailed in the village. Indian sensibility is related to Gandhi Ji’s non-cooperation and non-violent movement. People of Kanthapura worshiped Goddess Kenchamma, benign and bounteous. Moorthy, the hero of the novel gradually becomes a variable force in the village under the influence of Gandhian philosophy, a mysterious power to solve the social and political problems of the contemporary Indian.The whole story of the novel presents the reality of the Indian village “Kanthapura.” The novelist also highlights how a Brahmin becomes an outcast among the Brahmin community with his efforts against untouchability. The religious, political and social elements are artistically transformed into one entity.According to Gandhi Ji, the objective to attain independence means harikatha, bhajans, fasts, prayers and non-violent resistance which takes the people of Kanthapura into a world of existence. Raja Rao frequently uses village proverbs, legends and concrete imagery to convey an essentially Indian sensibility, expressing the emotions of the people of the village. Using the third-person narrative technique, the novelist sees Achakka as Shakti who manifests an indomitable spirit. Thus, the narrator provides Moorthy’s perspective expressing Gandhian sensibility. Themythical technique in the novel presents Moorthy as a replica of Gandhi Ji, heightening Gandhian philosophy in Kanthapura. Thus, Kanthapura is not a novel dealing with the life and doings of Moorthy but of the masses of Kanthapura expressing Indian sensibility.

Key Words: Indian Sensibility, Caste System, Gandhian Philosophy, Narrative Technique and Freedom Struggle.

Introduction

The Term Anglo Indian refers to a group of Indian writers who use English as a medium of creative exploration and expression of their views. In1835,Lord Macaulay imposed English upon Indiansto solve the ends of the British administration in India. After the publication of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s ‘Raj Mohan’s Wife’ in 1864, writers like S.K. Ghosh, S.B. Banerjee, and Toru Dutt Adopted this Language as a medium of expression and attained new heights. This way of writing inspired several great writers like Sarojini Naidu, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Aurobindo Ghosh, R.K. Narayana, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao to write on Indian culture. Raja Rao’s three Novels ‘Kanthapura’ in 1938 ‘The Serpentand the Rope’ in 1960 and ‘The Cat and Shakespeare’ in 1965, established him as a major novelist of the twentieth century.Raja Rao, one of the greatest novelists of Indo-Anglian literature displays the social, political and religious picture of India in the 1930’s. Published in 1938, ‘Kanthapura’ accounts for the freedom movement and Indian sensibility. An oldwoman, Rangamma, a Brahmin widow of Pravin shastri family narrated the story of the novel. She is a woman of the Grandmother status.Indian sensibility and Gandhian philosophy influence Moorthy so deeply that he gives up his college career and returns to his native village Kanthapura where he launches a unit of the congress party. He also starts his struggle for freedom on Gandhian ideals. Moorthy, the central figure of the novel, introduces Mahatma Gandhi’s Philosophy in Kanthapura. He is one of those hundreds and thousands of men who plunged into the freedom struggle after getting inspiration from Gandhi ji. C.D. Narsimha says that Raja Rao tries to project himself into the character of Moorthy. 

At the beginning of the novel, Moorthy, a noble cow, generous, serene and different earns the respect of the villagers who begin to call him their leader. They call him Gandhi of Kanthapura.  Moorthy goes from door to door to propagate Gandhian ideals. He explains the economy of Khadi Cloths and inspires the Villagers to follow truth and non-violence in their life. He hobnobs with Harijans and convinces them that they are his brothers. He requests the villagers to weave Khadi and wear Khadi. Gradually, the people of Kanthapura became true followers of Gandhi Ji. Moorthy tells his fellow men:

“And you must now to speak the truth, and wear no cloth but the Khadi cloth”.

Literary Review

C. D. Narasimhaiah, an Indo-Anglian writer and a literary critic of the twentieth century says that Raja Rao’s Kanthapura depicts a real picture of Indian sensibility. Here, the novelist traces the early Phase of the history of the freedom movement from 1920 to 1931 in this novel. We can easily comprehend from the story that Indian sensibility has influenced contemporary people in a big way. Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, people shed their age-old beliefs and united themselves against the cruel roles of the country. The novelist shows how the superstitious, illiterate and traditional people stood up unitedly against foreign rule. K.R Srinivasa Iyengar asserts that Kanthapura has a central place inIndian sensibility. The novel opens with an account of a small village Kanthapura,situated in Kara province in Mysore.Having given an account of its topography, the novelist describes the complex structure of an Indian village that can be divided into four categories: Pariah-quarter, a Porter-quarter, a Weavers-quarter and a Sudra-quarter.Raja Rao’s Kanthapura not only gives a true account of the Gandhian movement in the tiny village of Kanthapura but also projects a veritable picture of the Indian sensibility of those days. The story of the novel stands firmly rooted in the Indian Soil and sensibility. The author gives an authentic account of village life in contemporary India. The society shown in the novel has its own religion and social customs. It is ridden with the caste system, superstitions, Illiteracy,religious dogmatism, rural indebtedness and poverty. Being ignorant and superstitious, the people of Kanthapurahave faith in Goddess Kenchamma, the presiding deity of the village. They believe;

Kenchamma, Kenchamma

Goddess benign and bounteous

Mother of Earth, blood of life

Harvest queen, rain crowned

Kenchamma, Kenchamma

Goddess benign and bounteous.

The novel proceeds the picture of village life filled with poverty, illiteracy, funerals, sickness, death, harvesting and ploughing watched over by Goddess Kenchamma. The following lines exhibit the Indian sensibility and illiteracy of Kanthapurian.‘there may be small-pox or influenza around but you make a vow to the Goddess, next morning, you wake up and you find the fever has left you.’C.D. Narasimhaiah rightly points out that ‘Kanthapura is India in Microcosm.’The author shows the idealism of Indian people in the character of Moorthy who completely follows Gandhian ideas and inspires the people to raise their voices against the Britishers.Gradually, the people of Kanthapurabecame actively involved in the freedom struggle with gusto. The mythical technique used by the novelist in Kanthapura glorifiesthe present and imparts the status of an Epic or Purana to the novel.Professor Meenakshi Mukherjee observes that the choice of this mythical technique serves several useful purposes. She says that by making an old woman the narrator, Raja Rao has freely mixed fact with fiction in a successful way. She views Gandhi ji as Ram and Jawaharlal as Bharat. She says that Mahatma Gandhi ji will slay Ravana (The British Rules) so that Sita, that is India, may be freed.Gandhi ji has attained the statues of a God and Moorthy is his “Avtar” in Kanthapura. The use of the mythical technique is seen in Harikatha recited by Jayaramachar, the Harikatha man.

Raja Rao captures the spirits of Indian sensibility in the context of physical features, life, customs, habits, manners, traditions and language.As the novelist explains Sathala-Purana in the preface of Kanthapura. similarly, every village in India has a rich Sathala-Purana or legendary history. Kanthapura has a legend concerning the Goddess Kenchamma, the mother of Himavathy, who always protects the people from their sufferings and problems. Northrop Fry, a Canadian literary critic and theorist points out that some of the characters in Kanthapura are Gods, other beings larger in power than humanity. Moorthy has been regarded as a figure of local mahatma and the village women consider him small a mountain.Like Christ, Moorthy takes the sins of the people of Kanthapura upon himself and undergoes penance for purification. Gandhian sensibility seems to have transformed Moorthy from a common villager into a leader. He goesdoor to door to explain the Khaddi and the importance of Gandhian ideas. Range Gowda remarks;

He is our Gandhi. The state of Mysore has a Maharaj but that Maharaj has another Maharaj who is in London, and that one has another one in Heaven,So everybody has his own Mahatma, and this Moorthy who has been caught in our knees playing as a child is now grown up and great, and he has wisdom in him and he will be our Mahatma.

Kanthapura also describes the caste system that prevailed in the village through Bhatta and SwamiWho think that Brahmins are the agents of God. They believe that no Brahmins should have contact with the Pariahs with whom Moorthy always mingles in the society. People of lower caste are not allowed to enter the temple. But we must have Darshan of God from outside. Laws and ways of the British government are also depicted in the novel. Skeffington Coffee Estate is the symbol of Britishrulers who exploited the people of Kanthapura in various ways. Bhatta and Swami, the agents of the Britishers oppose Moorthy’s involvement in Gandhi’s freedom movement and send the policeman Bade Khan to harass the patriots. Women, children and elders are treated with great cruelty and forced to salute the Britishers. Moreover, the policy of divide and rule is also visible in the novel. H. S. Williams rightly opines;

If Annand reflects Gandhi’s humanism, Raja Rao reflects Indian sensibility and conservatism and charismatic religious consciousness, his essential Hinduism. He is the most ambitious and brilliant Indo-Anglian novelist of the twentieth century.

At the end of the novel, the impact of Gandhi Ji can be seen on the people of Kanthapura. It was Gandhi’s greatness that he produced several Gandhis throughout India. Moorthy, whom the people of Kanthapura called Gandhi left his studies and inspired the people to follow the principles of Gandhi Ji. He organises the programme of Swadeshi in the village and gives a practical form to eradicating of untouchability by going from door to door, even in the houses of the Pariahs. Throughout the novel, Gandhi Ji remains in the background but his presence is always felt. As Mulk Raj Anand introduces the great Mahatma in his novel Untouchable, similarly, Raja Rao has made the presence of Gandhi Ji in the character of Moorthy. As the people shouted Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai and Inqilab Jainabad, the police arrested them and imprisoned.Slogans like Vanden Matram, Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai and Inqilab Jainabad exhibit the Indian sensibility. Kanthapura is a microcosm of the microcosm. It is India in miniature.Indian sensibility is also visible in the case of the customs, traditions, religious dogmas and culture of the village.

Suddenly a shooting star is sweeping across the sky between the house-roof and the byre-roof and Ramakrishnan says, some good soul has left the earth. Here is a distinctive Indian sensibility, a peasant sensibility, to be precise, expressed the English.

Conclusion

In short,Kanthapura is an excellent work of Indo-Anglian literature that realistically, artistically and impartially presents the Indian sensibility and the impact of Gandhi Ji on the people of India. It is an Indian novel expressing Indian sensibility in theme and treatment.It exhibits the struggle for Freedom. The novelistportrays Gandhian ideology, philosophy and principles through the character of Moorthy. The novel focuses on the themes of non-violence, passive resistance, non-cooperation and truthfulness, the weapons of Gandhi. Raja Rao also presents the influence of Gandhion Indian society and how his teachings motivated them to stand up against injustice and exploitation of the dominant class. He is proficient in drawing out genuine feelings and sentiments while writing in an unknown dialect.S.S.Mathur appropriately says that Raja Rao’s characters are real creatures of flesh and blood with their own virtues and vices.

Works Consulted

1. Agnihotri G. N. Indian life and Problems in the Novels of Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan. Meerut: Shalabh Book House, 1984. 

2. Asnani Shyam M. Critical Response to Indian English Fiction. New Delhi: Mitthal Publications, 1956.

3. Augustine, Thomas. The Village in Raja Rao’s Kanthapura. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and  Distributors, 2001. 

4. Bhattacharya P. C. Indo-Anglian Literature and the Works of Raja Rao. New Delhi: Atma Ram Publications, 1983.

5. Bose. N. K. The Structure of Hindu Society. New Delhi: Orient Longman Pvt. Ltd, 1966.

6. Gandhi Mahatma. An Autobiography. Ahmedabad: Navjivan Publishing House, 1958.

7. Gandhi, M. K. On Untouchability. New Delhi: Media House, 2003.

8. Iyengar Srinivas K. R. Indian Writing in English. New Delhi: Sterling Publications Pvt. Ltd, 1984.

9. Jayaraman, Raja. Caste and Class. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1982.   

10. Jha Rama. Gandhian Thought and Indo-Anglian Novelists: Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, R. K. Narayan and Babhani Bhattacharyya. New Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1983.

11. Kumar, Gajendra. Kanthapura: Stylistic Feat. Mumbai: Jaico Publishing House. 2004.

12. Mukherjee Meenakshi. The Twice-Born Fiction. New Delhi: Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1977.

13. Raja Rao, Kanthapura. New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks, 1971. 

14. Raja Rao, The Serpent and the Rope. New Delhi: Orient Paperback, 1968.