Mulk Raj Anand

Mulk Raj Anand (born December 12, 1905, Peshawar, India [now in Pakistan]—died September 28, 2004, Pune) was a prominent Indian author of novels, short stories, and critical essays in English who is known for his realistic and sympathetic portrayal of people struggling with poverty in India. Hand in hand with pioneering novelists Raja Rao and R.K. Narayan, Anand laid the foundations of the English-language novel as a genre in Indian literature.

Education and early career

Anand graduated with an honors degree in 1924 from Khalsa College, Amritsar, and pursued additional studies at the University of Cambridge. He later earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from University College London. During his time at university, Anand’s frequent meetings with the Bloomsbury group inspired him to explore innovative narrative techniques in his works, particularly in his seminal novel Untouchable (1935), in which he sought to depict the harsh realities of social injustice in India through a modern lens. He recalled his encounters with illustrious writers, artists, and critics—including D.H. Lawrence, Clive Bell, Nancy Cunard, E.M. Forster, Eric Gill, and Aldous Huxley—in Conversations in Bloomsbury (1981).

Anand was one of the founding members of the Progressive Writers’ Association, established in London in 1935. This organization aimed to address social issues through literature and advocate for social justice and equality in pre-independence India. It included several writers and intellectuals, such as Ahmed Ali, Premchand, Ismat Chughtai, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, and Saadat Hasan Manto. The association emerged from a meeting in London, where Anand, along with Sajjad Zaheer, Jyotirmaya Ghosh, and others, drafted a manifesto outlining their objectives to confront hunger, poverty, and political oppression through their writings and political activism.

Anand attended significant international conferences in 1935, such as the International Congress for the Defence of Culture in Paris and the World Conference of Intellectuals in Madrid. At both conferences Anand emphasized the importance of freedom of expression as a fundamental right necessary for addressing social injustices. His belief that literature should challenge oppression aligned with the discussions at these gatherings, where participants sought to defend cultural values against fascist ideologies. During his 20-year stay in Europe, he became politically active in India’s struggle for independence and 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), the last two written after his return to India.

Notable works

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. Untouchable is considered a landmark work in Indian literature for its raw portrayal of the harsh realities faced by the so-called “untouchables” in Indian society. Anand’s depiction of Bakha’s struggles in Untouchable highlights the systemic oppression and social injustices rooted in the caste system. The novel was groundbreaking for bringing the plight of these marginalized people to the forefront, challenging societal norms and encouraging discourse on caste discrimination. Coolie is significant for its exploration of universal themes related to human suffering and resilience. Anand’s picaresque narrative illustrates how economic hardship transcends caste and religion, fostering a sense of fraternity among the oppressed. This aspect makes the novel relevant across cultures and time periods, as it addresses fundamental human experiences.

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 had founded in 1946. He 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).