Anand, Mulk Raj

▪ 2005

      Indian author (b. Dec. 12, 1905, Peshawar, India [now in Pakistan]—d. Sept. 28, 2004, Pune, India), was a founder of the English-language novel in India, best known for his works that focused on the injustices of India's caste system, especially the exploitation of the poor. Anand studied at the University of the Punjab, Lahore (now in Pakistan), the University of Cambridge, and University College, London, where he received (1929) a doctorate in English philosophy. He wrote several books on South Asian culture, including Persian Painting (1930) and The Hindu View of Art (1933), before his first novel, Untouchable, was published in 1935. This fictional recounting of a day in the life of a young lavatory cleaner attracted international attention with its realistic portrayal of poverty and its use of colloquial expressions. Anand continued to chronicle the oppressed in such novels as Coolie (1936), Two Leaves and a Bud (1937), and The Big Heart (1945; rev. ed. 1980). Other major works included a trilogy—The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1940), and The Sword and the Sickle (1942)—and four volumes of a projected seven-book autobiographical novel, Seven Ages of Man. In Conversations in Bloomsbury (1981), he recounted his discussions with such leading literary figures as Aldous Huxley, E.M. Forster, and Virginia Woolf. Anand, who founded the influential art quarterly Marg in 1946, was also noted for his short stories and critical essays.

* * *

▪ Indian author

born December 12, 1905, Peshawar, India [now in Pakistan]

died September 28, 2004, Pune

      prominent Indian author of novels, short stories, and critical essays in English, who is known for his realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the poor in India. He is considered a founder of the English-language Indian novel.

      The son of a coppersmith, Anand graduated with honours in 1924 from Punjab University in Lahore and pursued additional studies at the University of Cambridge and at University College in London. While in Europe, he became politically active in India's struggle for independence and shortly thereafter wrote a series of diverse books on aspects of South Asian culture, including Persian Painting (1930), Curries and Other Indian Dishes (1932), The Hindu View of Art (1933), The Indian Theatre (1950), and Seven Little-Known Birds of the Inner Eye (1978).

      A prolific writer, Anand first gained wide recognition for his novels Untouchable (1935) and Coolie (1936), both of which examined the problems of poverty in Indian society. In 1945 he returned to Bombay (now Mumbai) to campaign for national reforms. Among his other major works are The Village (1939), The Sword and the Sickle (1942), and The Big Heart (1945; rev. ed. 1980). Anand wrote other novels and short-story collections and also edited numerous magazines and journals, including MARG, an art quarterly that he founded in 1946. He also intermittently worked on a projected seven-volume autobiographical novel entitled Seven Ages of Man, completing four volumes: Seven Summers (1951), Morning Face (1968), Confession of a Lover (1976), and The Bubble (1984).

* * *