Mulk Raj Anand, English novelist, India

Mulk Raj Anand (12th December 1905 – 28th September 2004) was one of the first Indian English writers along with R.K Narayan gained an international readership for Indo – Anglian fiction. He was an English novelist, short story writer and critic.

Anand was the first writer who had used Punjabi and Hindustani idioms in English. Depiction of poor castes in traditional Indian society was his main theme. It is said that Mulk Raj Anand, Rajo Rao and R. K. Narayan as the “founding fathers” of the Indian English novel. He is known as India’s Charles Dickens.

His most celebrated work is the Coolie a critic work based on British rule in India and India’s caste system. His famous trilogy The Village, Across the Black Waters and The Sword and the Sickle was a strong protest against social injustices.

India Speaks, The Hindu View of Art, the King-Emperor's English, Seven Summers, Death of a Hero, Bombay, Ajanta, Seven Little Known Birds of the Inner Eye and Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana are his major contributions to English literature.

Courtesy: ‘Mulk Raj Anand’, Movie directed by Mr. Suresh Kohli for Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.

You can buy this DVD from Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.