Partion in Indian English Novel

Name: Kanad Prajna Das
UG 2nd year, Roll no.:83
Subject: Class Assignment
Impact of Partition on Indian Novelists Writing in English
Indo-Anglian novel, right since its beginning, has inextricable

bonds with the socio-political milieu where in it took birth and
has been written since. The emerging national political
consciousness in India which was slowly permeating to the grass-
roots has been faithfully mirrored in Indo-Anglian fiction. The
partition of the Indian subcontinent was an event of such a great
magnitude that profoundly affected human emotions and values
to such a great extent that all creative arts and artists have come
under its influence. They have been performed and produced to
educate and appeal the audience about partition. But
contemporary Indian English novels provide a vast canvass to the
creative genius to deal with the very complex theme of partition
and this genre has attracted writers of all Indian regions. Almost
all the Indo-Anglian novels have one or more of the following
nuclear ideas, predominant in them; and the evil of partition, the
cult of Quit-India and the Gandhian myth.
We can point out some of the famous novels from the huge
corpus of the Indian English novels on partition: Train to
Pakistan by Kushwant Singh, Azadi by ChamanNahal, A Bend in
the Ganges by Manohar Malgokar, The Heart Divided by Mumtaz
Shah Nawaz, The Dark Dancer by B. Rajan, A storm in
Chandigarh by Nayantara Sahgal, The Suitable boy by Vikram
Seth and The Rape by Raj Gill etc.
Khushwant Singh in his Train to Pakistan published in 1956 we

see a portrayal of our nation was on the threshold of new dawn,
continuously facing unprecedented destruction, bloodshed and
trauma. His balanced presentation of Partition version concerns
the way in which he introduces news of the atrocities. Though
brutal violence provides the basis of the story, the restraint with
which Singh approaches this subject, particularly at narrative
points when excessive or premature description would be at the
expense of real-life expectances, is commendable. Thus Singh so
manipulates the version that a gradual and refracted revelation
of the atrocities is necessary to coincide with the villager‘s
growing suspicions: psychologically the main interest is in the
impact the violence makes on their minds. Khushwant Singh‘s
Train to Pakistan differs from most of the other novels on
Partition in respect of canvas, and unity of time, place and
action. It has greater unity of time and place. Its action centres
in the vicinity of Mano Majra and it covers a period of not more
than a month. Perhaps this is an important factor that enables
him to transform the horrendous raw theme into fine fiction that
is full of human compassion and love. One significant aspect of
Train to Pakistan is the use of English language. The style is
realistic with down to earth idioms. It is transposed from Punjabi
to English, which is a pronounced expression of the quality of his
mind and his view of life. Another side of the novel is complete
absence of direct impact of partition on the people of village, but
indirect way to depict victims who feel affected by aftermath of
partition.
Manohar Malgonkar uses a brilliant third narrator in his novel A

Bend in the Ganges. He is an observer of the historical events of
the time. He narrates the events with such authenticity that the
novel has become an excellent piece of story-telling. He uses a
swiftly moving narrative for an epic portrayal of the complex
forces which lead to the Partition tragedy and also mirrors the
deeply rooted caste prejudices in the Indian Society. As the
action moves forward quite rapidly the novel depicts profoundly
the horrible developments resulting in the partition, the triumph
and tragedy of the hour of freedom, the screams of the victims
renting the morning air, the barbarous cruelties heaped on men
and women. The Muslim fears of being ruled by the Hindus in
the absence of the British rule in the country where they had
been the rulers, their notion that the Hindus were mere
dangerous than the foreigners and ought to be their real target
and their subsequent striding at them, their struggle for a sage
homeland separate from India leading to the Partition, and the
terror and pity of it – all these form the contents of the novel. The
issues discussed in his novels are Indian Nationalism and British
Colonialism on the one hand and religious fanaticism on the
other. His novel presents a cogent account of political history of
the thirties and forties —unfolding an epic movement for
independence and its attainment at the cost of the division of the
subcontinent.
Chaman Nahal’s Azadi originally published in 2001 which won

the Sahitya Akademi award, deals with various aspects of the
traumatic experience of Partition and one of the most
comprehensive fictional accounts of the partition holocaust in
Indian literature. While delineating the partition, he raised the
cause, the process of the partition and the butchery of political
leaders with its effect on the both newly created countries. He
too attempted to show remarkably how the partition changed the
political ideology of both nations. Chaman Nahal had suffered in
the partition. He had to migrate from Sialkot to Delhi. The novel
gives the psychological consequences of the partition. It makes
an attempt to diagnose the malady, leading to the inhuman
catastrophe. Nahal criticizes the Hindu and the Muslim leaders,
who were responsible for the partition and the bloodshed. The
English too fully exposed for their wild and unholy game in
creation of the partition. Nahal hold the people of both
communities equally responsible for the tragic events. The plot of
the novel is structurally speaking symmetrical and well
organized. The novel is neatly divided in three parts entitled The
Lull, The Storm and The Aftermath — all suggestive and symbolic
of the three distinct stages in the narrative. The Lull describes
the peace and communal harmony among the people of Sialkot
before the idea of partition captures the imagination of some
Muslim zealots; the storm takes place after the announcement of
partition. Incommunal frenzy, the Muslims started to humiliate
Hindu minorities. They take out the procession to warn the
Hindu and Sikh population that they had no land of theirs and
that they should quit.
Mumtaz Shah Nawaz, a Pakistani woman writer, has responded

to the colonial experience and the Partition in her novel The
Heart Divided. The novel tries to narrate colonial experience
touching upon issues, like the colonialist ideology, the link
between culture and imperialism, mimicry, hybridity, the
celebration of the indigenous and the Hindu-Muslim question. It
also intended to investigate the different aspects of the Partition
and her portrayal of the status of women in the sub-continent in
the beginning of the twentieth century. Unlike Singh and Nahal,
she does not consider Partition a grievous mistake. Shah Nawaz
also stresses the impossibility of the Hindus marrying Muslims
and vice versa because in spite of having lived together for
centuries, people of different religions cannot be united, and if
somehow they succeed in doing so then they are looked down
upon by society.
Another partition novel is The Dark Dancer by B. Rajan, in which

we find two tragedies – the tragedy of Krishna’s marriage and
tragedy of Pakistan. The novelist has excellently merged the
personal and national experience. The sudden holocaust and
storm of horrors of partition and sudden arrival of Cynthia are
the changing of peace to horror in both levels, personal and
national as well. The storm inside is matched with the storm of
outside.
Nayantara Sahgal’s A storm in Chandigarh too projects the
scenes of horror and inhuman violence at the time of partition.
The novel is set in the exotic city of Chandigarh, which is the
Indian part of the partitioned Punjab. Harpal, the C.M. of
Haryana has experienced the trauma and horror of the partition.
There were arrivals of buses loaded with Hindus. The Muslims
and Hindus were maddened by their fury for revenge. With such
critical events, there are some isolated events of kindship also
described in the novel.
The Suitable boy by Vikram Seth too narrates the ghastly

event of separation. He conjures the images of the uprooted
‘marginal man’ fleeing across the borders. Justice Chatterjee is
shocked by learning the reason of separating India into India and
Pakistan. Kedarnath and Veena have to flee from the place and to
settle in their own land. There are detail picture of blood-mad
mobs on the streets of Lahore.
Then Raj Gill’s The Rape set against the background of

partition, depicting two lovers of a Sikh village called Lyallpur.
The love story is interwoven with the effects of partition. Two
heroines become the victim of partition.

Partion in Indian English Novel

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Partion in Indian English Novel

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Partion in Indian English Novel

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Name: Kanad Prajna Das

UG 2nd year, Roll no.:83

Subject: Class Assignment

Impact of Partition on Indian Novelists Writing in English

Indo-Anglian novel, right since its beginning, has inextricable

Khushwant Singh in his Train to Pakistan published in 1956 we

Manohar Malgonkar uses a brilliant third narrator in his novel A

Chaman Nahal’s Azadi originally published in 2001 which won

Mumtaz Shah Nawaz, a Pakistani woman writer, has responded

Another partition novel is The Dark Dancer by B. Rajan, in which

The Suitable boy by Vikram Seth too narrates the ghastly

Then Raj Gill’s The Rape set against the background of

You might also like