Assignment Paper-4

                                       Assignment

Name: Jalondhara Ravji J

Roll No: 35

M.A.Sem: 1

Year: 2017-18

Enrollment No:2069108420180024

Paper: 4 (Indian Writing In English)

Email Id: ravjijalandhara@gmail.com

Submitted: S.B.Gardi, Department of English MKBU

Topic: How does Raja Rao use English to express the spirit of India.


Evaluate this Assignment, Click Here

• Inroduction:

             Raja Rao was born in Hassan in Karnataka in 1908 in a well-known Brahmin family. He was introduced to the Vedas and the Hindu myths at a very early age and was greatly influenced by his grandfather and wanted to develop his knowledge of Sanskrit since he was interested in lndian Philosophy. But his father was particular that he should study English and he was therefore sent to Madrasa-Aliya, a very snobbish school. His higher study was at the Aligarh Muslim University and at the Nizam's college, Hyderabad. Raja Rao went to France in 1931 in order to do research on the Indian influence on Irish Literature. It was during 1931 he began writing for the periodical Jaya Karnataka. He was also on the editorial board of Mercure de France (Paris) for sometime. He returned to India in 1933, when his quest for spiritual knowledge began. He spent a great part of his life with the seekers of Truth, trying to comprehend the nature of existence and the nature of the Infinite. He lived in Pandit Taranath's Ashram for sometime and from there he published his first stories "Javni", "Akkayya", "A client1'- all in French. In 1938 his first novel Kanthapura was published.

           In 1942 he stayed with Gandhi for six months in sevagram and was involved in the freedom movement. It was in 1943 that he met Sri Atmananda Swami, in Tiruvananthapuram, who according to him is his spiritual Guru. Advised by his Guru after a long silence, he wrote his famous novel The Serpent and the Rope for which he received the Sahitya Academy award. In 1965, he wrote The Cat and Shakespeare. In 1969, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India.

            Raja Rao in his acceptance speech on receiving the greatest literary award of the Sahitya Akademy Fellowship in 1998 has said, "The honor that the Sahitya Akademy has bestowed on me, in electing me a Fellow of this august body is to show that I am not such a renegade as I might have seemed" (1998: 75). Indeed, Raja Rao has made every lndian proud by his achievements and the wide recognition in lndia and abroad.

• Raja Rao use English to express the spirit of India: 

             That Raja Rao is India's most significant novelist writing in the English language today is now indisputable. What is also beyond dispute, is the range of life as well as the level of consciousness he has brought into the novel form along with the creation of a suitable medium for his concerns which are at once timeless and temporal, metaphysical and social, immediately local but also international so as to enlarge the frontiers of the fictional form itself and justify the name of an innovator in modern Indian fiction which thanks largely to him more than any other single writer, has been ushered into the main stream of twentieth century literature.

              Even the early short stories have all the characteristics mentioned above. Some of the individualistic expressions that bring out the lndianness - the description of the village, social life etc., the consciousness of the Indian past, the use of Hindu myths, the philosophical speculations - reveal the potentiality of the genius which find greater expression in the later works.

           His first novel Kanthapura was a trendsetter. It describes the impact of the Indian struggle for freedom and of Gandhi's message on the people of Kanthapura, a small village in a remote corner in Mysore. The traditional villagers, who believe in the old notions of community divisions, untouchability etc., gradually change their notions and get united in the struggle for freedom. Moorthy, the central character of the novel, is a Gandhian. He endears himself to everyone by being good, by treating everyone alike, by overcoming the caste feeling and by the strength of his character. He tries to follow Gandhi's ideal but has his weaknesses too. This makes his character realistic and convincing. The novel is greatly appreciated for its unconventional, original narrative style, which was very different from the Western narrative technique.

            The novel follows the puranic style of narration and the story is narrated by an old widow, Achakka. The foreword to this novel also is significant because, here the writer describes the difficulties of the lndian English writer and his attempt to create a distinctive language without imitating the West. It also reveals the influence of the Hindu myth and tradition on the writer. By comparing the present situation with the puranic situation and the political leaders to Rama, Krishna and Siva, the writer succeeds in mythic sing the Freedom Movement.

           The spirit of nationalism that took hold of the country found expression in Tamil novels and short stories of the thirties. Mayuram Vedanayakam Pillai was the pioneer, and his Pratgpa Mutali & Caritfiram (1876) was the first Tamil Novel. The early novels were romantic entertainers. Only after the world wars, came novels of realism.

          The writer’s, Raja Rao have been writing for more than half a century, but received critical attention only after about ten years of their writing career. Raja Rao gained recognition only after the publication of his master piece, the metaphysical novel, The Serpent and the Rope (1960). Ever since, his fame has been on the ascent. Even his earlier works, his short stories and his first novel Kanthapura came to be known and read only after the publication of The Serpent and The Rope. Raja Rao is today one of India's most outstanding novelists attracting a number of critical studies. Raja Rao's philosophy, his traditionalism, his concept of womanhood and the portrayal of woman have been criticized differently in the recent times. Especially after women's awareness movement and in the wake of post colonial studies, Raja Rao's works are being re read.

         The works of Raja Rao reflect almost a similar attitude to life, though outwardly different. Raja Rao's earlier works are on social and political issues and later works focus on spiritual questions. However, behind these apparent dissimilarities, one can find an almost identical vision derived from the Hindu scriptures. Undoubtedly, philosophy is the rock basis of Hinduism. The various schools of Hindu philosophy have exercised a great influence on the life and thought of the people. On this foundation is built the frame-work of myth which is the very essence of Hinduism. The Hindu myths have molded the attitude of the people and the scriptures have prescribed the code of life. The social life of the Hindus, their family structure and the familial roles, their view of man and woman - all these reflect the influence of Hindu philosophy and religion.

          This work is an attempt to juxtapose the writings of Raja Rao. The focus is on their Hindu vision, emphasizing on their philosophical thoughts, their use of myths, the depiction of family life in Hindu society and their portrayal of woman. Raja Rao are indeed sadhakas in search of Truth and they share with the readers the experiences of their spiritual journey. Their works reveal the different stages of their spiritual evolution. We have received with an open mind the knowledge they could get from different philosophies.

         The philosophical attitude of Raja Rao is discernible in all his novels. From Kanthapura to The Cat and Shakespeare there is a steady progress in the journey of the quester. In fact, the protagonists in his novels are most often questers and represent the different stages a sadhaka undergoes in his spiritual journey. The novels are to be considered autobiographical in that sense, since they exhibit the writer's own spiritual yearnings and his quest. However, as Curtis observes, Raja Rao has retained his individuality in

spite of influences:

"This fundamental lndian sensibility Rao has retained through all the influences which might have affected a lesser writer"

SUMMING UP:

         Thus, the Indo-Anglian novels of the period marked by a patriotic and nationalistic fervour reflected the social changes that were taking place. This social and political concern is evident in the works of Raja Rao, who added a new dimension to the Indo-English fiction by using it as a medium to give expression to his metaphysical thoughts. His successful effort to lndianize English inspired many writers to continue this experimentation with success. Myth is an integral part of Raja Rao's fiction and it has a sustained link with the main theme as well as a parallel development. He has used myths as similes to convey his ideas, to concretize the abstract, and at times as a digressional technique, which gives his work a new, original form. He uses myth to give significance to the contemporary event.

Works Cited

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0ahUKEwjFoLGGmfTWAhXLQY8KHfwgDCgQFghUMAk&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdspace.pondiuni.edu.in%2Fjspui%2Fbitstream%2Fpdy%2F357%2F1%2FT2597.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1JPkSwTJ5LVbmX33X9dJ5r. The Hindu Vision. Ed. A.Kala. Pondichrry: A.Kala, 2002.