The Context Quarterly e journal of language, literary and cultural studies

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1 The Context Quarterly e journal of language, literary and cultural studies Publication details and instructions for authors: This is an Open Access Journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Gandhian Ideals in Mulk Raj Anand s Untouchable Dr. Dnyanoba Mundhe a Dr. Girish Kousadikar b a Assistant Professor, Department of English, Sharda Mahavidyalaya, Parbhani. MS. b Assistant Professor, Department of English, B. Raghunath ACS College, Parbhani. MS. Published online: 05 April 2016 Article Number: TCissn /3.2a106 To cite this article: Mundhe, D. and Girish Kousadikar. Gandhian Ideals in Mulk Raj Anand s Untouchable. The Context, 3.2 (2016): Web Author(s); licensee Magnus Publishing. The electronic version of this article is available at: Abstract Mulk Raj Anand s first novel Untouchable is based on Gandhian voice against untouchability. It was written under the guidance of Gandhiji who suggested Anand to write on the challenging subject of untouchability. Gandhian ideals ultimately aim at creating society which ensures the common man s development. This humanistic Gandhian approach helped Anand to make choice of themes as well as protagonists for his fiction. Anand is the first Indo-Anglian novelist who depicted untouchability, which isolates man from his own society, in novel form. Untouchable is a faithful description of the pathetic condition of untouchables who are subjected to immitigable social indignities only because of their lowly birth. This research paper is an attempt to study Gandhian ideals in Anand s remarkable novel. Keywords: Gandhi, untouchability, emancipation, humanistic approach 139

2 Gandhian Ideals in Mulk Raj Anand s Untouchable Dr. Dnyanoba Mundhe Dr. Girish Kousadikar Mahatma Gandhi, during freedom struggle of India, influenced Indian masses. And, his struggle for the sake of India s freedom introduced some new trends in Anglo- Indian fiction, and some great writers of all the Indian languages produced poetry, drama, and other forms of creative writing. Gandhi s impact was so much that a number of novelists are influenced by him. They come under the impact of some of the facets of Gandhian thought, either consciously or unconsciously. Meenakshi Mukherjee says: No discussion of Indo-Anglian fiction dealing with the Independence movement would be complete without an assessment of the function of Mahatma Gandhi in these novels. The most potent force behind the whole movement, The Mahatma is recurring presence in these novels, and he is used in different ways to suit the design of each writer. He has been treated variously as an idea, a myth, a symbol, a tangible, reality, and a benevolent human being. In a few novels he appears in person, in most others his is an invisible presence. (61) Indo Anglian fictions, particularly the fictions of the thirties and forties, are extremely influenced by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, who fought against the Britishers for the cause of the under privileged classes, downtrodden, the marginalized, have nots and the defenseless. These writers have mirrored not only the various incidents and happenings of the life and activities of Mahatma Gandhi but also the contemporary social and political, economic and religious upheavals. Their works are not simply the collection of historical facts of events but highly literary, saturated with poetic grandeur and artistic craftsmanship. The prominent writers who reflected Gandhi and his ideals in their works are K.S. Venkataramani, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, D.F. Karaka, Amir Ali, Ven Chitali, K.A. Abbas, R.K. Narayan, Nayantara Sahgal, K. Nagarajan etc. Anand s first novel Untouchable (1935) deals indirectly with Gandhi s efforts for Harijan upliftment and his appearance and his public speech against the divide and rule policy of the British Government and proposal for giving separate electorate in the council to the low and depressed classes under the new constitution. Prof. G.P. Sharma s statement is correct about the theme of the novel: The novel thus deals with 140

3 the Hindu social problem of untouchability against the political background of the time, depicting at the same time people s faith in Gandhi as their leader in faith in the national movement and his magnetic influence on the people. (205) Mulk Raj Anand s first novel Untouchable is based on Gandhian voice against Untouchability. It was written under the guidance of Gandhiji who suggested Anand to write on the challenging subject of Untouchability. Gandhian ideals ultimately aim at creating society which ensures the common man s development. This humanistic Gandhian approach helped Anand to make choice of themes as well as protagonists for his fiction. Anand is the first Indo-Anglian novelist who depicted untouchability, which isolates man from his own society, in novel form. Untouchable is a faithful description of the pathetic condition of untouchables who are subjected to immitigable social indignities only because of their lowly birth. Anand painted the miserable condition of the family of Lakha, jamadar of the sweepers. Anand not only focuses on their poverty and suffering but also their low caste. Bakha fights with the enemies not from within but from without. He is not against a particular individual but against social customs. In Untouchable Anand describes a day in the life of Bakha, eighteen years old sweeper boy, in a small town Bulashah in Punjab. The presentation of the outcaste colony in the beginning of the novel shows the subhuman level of the untouchables. It is Gandhian in emphasis bare, holding up a mirror to the inhumanity of Hindu social structure. (Sharma 205) The plight of the untouchables is as bad that even for the basic needs as water and food; they have to depend on the mercy of high caste Hindus: Oh, Maharaj! Maharaj! Won t you draw us some water, please? We beg you. We have been waiting here a long time, we will be grateful, shouted the chorus of voices as they pressed towards him, some standing up, bending and joining their palms in beggary, others twisting their lips in various attitudes of servile appeal and abject humility as they remained seated. (Anand 59) On the way he desires to go to school but he reminds what his uncle had told him. Being an untouchable boy he couldn t attend the school. But Bakha s worst ignominy is yet to come when he goes to the town to clean the streets. He is humiliated and beaten in the market place by a Hindu Lalla when by chance he touches him. Here Anand wants to show the irrationality and callousness of a society where purity and impurity depend on pollution by touch. Bakha desires to taste the sweets (Jelebi). He being an untouchable, to avoid pollution by touch the confectioner throws the packet of jalebis, like a cricket ball, for Bakha to catch. He catches it and then places four nickel coins on a shoe board near which the confectioner s assistant has been standing ready with some water to sprinkle and remove the pollution and then he walks away. He becomes very happy having sweets in his hand. He opens the packet and puts a piece quickly into the mouth. It gives him satisfaction and delight. He attacks the packet again and again with excitement and, continues to walk along the road, munching and looking at all the sights. In this 141

4 delightful mood he forgets to call out Posh, posh, sweeper coming, and he suddenly hears someone shouting at him: Keep to the side of the road, you, low caste vermin!.. Why don t you call, you swine, and announce your approach! Do you know you have touched me and defiled me, you cockeyed son of a bow legged scorpion! Now I will have to go and take a bath to purify myself. And it was a new dhoti and shirt I put on this morning! (Anand 38) Bakha becomes dumb with fear of humility and servility but Lalla continues to abuse him. Soon crowd gathers around Bakha without a pity for him. Lala slaps him while abusing. Bakha knows his social status. Though he has head and heart, and flesh and blood like any human being, he is an untouchable for the world. As he continues to walk he sees something strange in contrast. Immediately he realizes the hypocrisy of the society, which considers touching a human being like him as a curse and touching a dirty bull as blessing. This makes him conscious about his plight as an untouchable. The Priest, who tries to molest Sohini, creates a scene saying that he is defiled by contact. This creates phobia of being an untouchable in Bakha. He does not mix openly with his playmates Chotu and Ramcharan. He afraid to touch Ram Charan when he offers him sweets Bakha calls himself harijan and recalls how some congress men had come to the outcastes street a month ago and lectured about harijans, saying they were no different from the Hindus and their touch did not mean pollution. (Anand 132) Bakha imagines that the Mahatma would chastise that man who had beaten him for accidental touch, or at least, he would chide the citizens who are present to listen Gandhi, and they won t treat him again like an untouchable. Bakha already knew that Gandhi would speak about untouchability as the congress worker informed him. He is immediately animated when Gandhi utters that potent word untouchability and says, I read untouchability as the greatest blot on Hinduism. (137) Gandhi describes his view by an anecdote about a sweeper boy, Uka. To abolish untouchability, Gandhi started the programme of self scavenging every person living in the ashram was supposed to do the work of scavenger irrespective of any caste, creed and religion. This fact is shared in Untouchable: I love scavenging. In my ashram an eighteen year old Brahmin lad is doing a scavenger s work, in order to teach the ashram scavenger cleanliness. The lad is no reformer. He was born and bred in orthodoxy. He is the regular reader of the Gita, and faithfully says his prayers when he conducts the prayers; his soft melodies melt one in love. But he felt that his accomplishments were incomplete until he had also become a perfect sweeper. He felt that if he wanted the ashram sweeper to do his work well he must do it himself and set an example. (Anand 138) To Bakha the Mahatma appeared a real and genuine sympathizer who always considered untouchability as the greatest sin, on earth. Anand also used Mahatma s 142

5 real words about untouchability to declare that he did not want to be reborn, if he should be reborn, he would wish to be reborn as an untouchable: I do not want to be reborn. But if I have to be reborn, I should wish to be reborn as an Untouchable, so that I may share their sorrows, sufferings and the affronts levelled at them, in order that I may endeavor to free myself and them from their miserable condition. Therefore I prayed that, if I should be born again, I should be so, not as a Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, but as an outcaste, as an Untouchable. The words of the Mahatma directly touched to the heart of Bakha and he prepared himself to do any work for the man, who was the real savior of the untouchables: He loved the man. He felt he could put his life in his hands and ask him to do what he liked with it for him he would do anything. (Anand 138) Gandhiji did not hesitate to speak about some evils prevailed among the untouchables like insanitation, drinking and gambling. According to Gandhiji, these reforms were necessary for the emancipation of the Untouchables. He also advised them not to receive left over form the plates of caste Hindus and rotten grains. They should receive only good grain. Mahatma wanted to abolish untouchability and enlighten the orthodox Hindus who were sunk in ignorance. He wanted to open all the civic amenities like temples, public wells to the untouchables: All the public wells, temples, roads, schools, sanatoriums must be declared open to the untouchables. (Anand 139) Gandhi asked people to carry on propaganda against the observance of untouchability but it should not be done by force Peaceful persuasion is the only means. He has two strongest desires, one is emancipation of the untouchables and other is protection of the cow. When these desires are fulfilled there is Swaraj. Gandhi s views about the discarding foreign clothes are also described in the Untouchable: Let s discard foreign cloth. Let s burn it! the congress volunteers were shouting. And true enough, Bakha saw people throwing their felt caps, their silk shirts and aprons into the pile, which soon became a blazing bonfire. (Anand 140) Untouchable is Anand s first novel which explores the evil of untouchability in Indian society. Anand is the first Indo-Anglian novelist who depicted untouchability, which keeps man away from his own society, in novel form. Untouchable is a realistic description of the worst condition of untouchables who are subjected to immitigable social harassment only because of their low birth. Anand painted the pathetic condition of the family of Lakha, Jamadar of the sweepers. Anand focuses on their poverty suffering and their low caste. Bakha fights with the enemies not from within but from without. He is not against a particular person but against prevalent social customs. In this novel Anand deals with Gandhian ideals about Fast, Swadeshi, Civil Disobedience, Harijan, discarding foreign clothes etc., Gandhi is shown very keen on uplifting the untouchables. 143

6 Mulk Raj Anand s, Untouchable is influenced by the Mahatma Gandhi, a character in the novel, who appears at the last pages. In it novelist has presented a realistic picture of one day life of the protagonist, Bakha, an untouchable boy. He has to face humiliation only because he belongs to untouchable class. In all the incidents Temple incidents, Market incident, Hockey Match incident, Well incident, Bakha has to face humiliation derogatory remarks by the high caste men. In the concluding of the novel Mahatma appears as a Messiah to uproot untouchability and castediscrimination. Bhaka becomes very happy when hears Mahatma s appellation of Harijan sons of God to the bhangis and chamars. Bakha highly influenced by the words of Mahatma Gandhi who address the big gatherings. The speech of Gandhi acts as the balm on the wounds of Bakah, who wants his identity in a caste-dominated social framework. This powerful speech consoles his long suppressed heart. Now he feels a sense of emancipation. Works cited: Anand, Mulk Raj. Untouchable. Pune: Mehta Publishing House, Print. Jha, Rama. Mulk Raj Anand: The Champion of Gandhian Humanism" Gandhian Thought and Indo Anglian Novelists. New Delhi: Chanaky Publications, Print. Mukherjee, Meenakshi. The Twice Born Fiction. New Delhi, Print. Sharma, G. P. Nationalism in Indo-Anglian Fiction. New Delhi: Sterling, Print. 144