Three Prose Writers:-
Name: Dhruvita Dhameliya
Roll no : 03
Semester : 3
Year: 2021 to 2023
Subject: Indian English Literature – Post-Independence
Topic : Three Prose Writers
E-mail ID:
dhameliyadhruvita24@gmail.com
Submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
Three Prose Writers: Radhakrishnan, Raghunathan, Nirad Chaudhuri
Indian writing in English began at the end of the 18th century and developed more strongly and characteristically during the 19th century. Three masters of prose are identified in India by K.R Srinivasa Iyengar and write in his book "Indian writing in English'. They are Professor S. Radhakrishnan, Raghunathan, and Nirad C. Chauduri. Prof. S.Radhakrishnan is a philosopher, statesman with an international reputation, a scholar with a phenomenal memory, a resourceful and eloquent and effective speaker. Raghunathan, better known by his nomde-plumevighneswara, is a deep student of English and Sanskrit Literature, and was for many years the leader writer of the Hindu. Nirad C Chaudhuri, an "Unknown Indian "till 1951 when his Autobiography made him famous, is a master of prose style. Srinivasa Iyengar says," Indian writing in English has attempted all the diverse forms of literature. Chaudhuri has emerged as a writer of the nonfiction genre.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was an Indian philosopher and politician who served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967 and 1st Vice President of India from 1952 to 1962. He was also the 2nd Ambassador of India to Soviet Union from 1949 to 1952 & 4th Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University from 1939 to 1948.
One of the most distinguished twentieth-century scholars of comparative religion and philosophy. Radhakrishnan's philosophy was grounded in Advaita Vedanta, reinterpreting this tradition for a contemporary understanding. He defended Hinduism against what he called "uninformed Western criticism", contributing to the formation of contemporary Hindu identity. He has been influential in shaping the understanding of Hinduism, in both India and the west, and earned a reputation as a bridge-builder between India and the West.
Radhakrishnan was awarded several high awards during his life, including a knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India, in 1954, and honorary membership of the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963. He was also one of the founders of Helpage India, a non profit organisation for elderly underprivileged in India. Radhakrishnan believed that "teachers should be the best minds in the country". Since 1962, his birthday has been celebrated in India as Teachers' Day on 5 September every year.
His Vision
Radhakrishnan was a man of great vision. He saw an increasing need for world unity and universal fellowship during his term in office. He believed in international peace and cooperation. He called for the promotion of creative internationalism based on the spiritual foundations of integral experience so that he could promote understanding and tolerance between people and nations. Though he did not have any active political background, he kept an impassioned guard for the Hindu culture against ‘uninformed Western criticism’. His philosophy was simple but effective.
His Work and Awards
Dr. Radhakrishnan was conferred with many awards and recognitions including the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1954. He was the first person to be conferred upon the Sahitya Akademi fellowship. He also received the Peace Prize of German Book Trade in 1961 and Templeton Prize in 1975. He donated the award money of the Templeton Prize to Oxford University. Some of his written works include Indian Philosophy, The Philosophy of the Upanishads, Eastern Religions, and Western Thoughts. In his major work on the Idealist View of Life, he laid emphasis on the importance of instinctive thinking. During the tenure of his presidency, his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday, 5th September. Radhakrishnan asked them to observe the day as Teacher’s Day instead of celebrating his birthday. Since then till today, 5th September is marked as Teacher’s Day. Radhakrishnan breathed his last on 17th April 1975. ConclusionIt is our privilege to have such a great philosopher, a great educationist, and a great humanist in our country. He will always remain in our hearts because of his unimaginable participation in the field of education
N.Raghunathan:-
One of our great journalists, N. Raghunathan of the Hindu became, late in life, the columnist who wrote under 'Sotto Voce' and signed himself as 'Vighneswara'. After a life-time of training in the exacting discipline of expression in a difficult foreign language, Raghunathan now revealed himself as the perfect humanist and the flawless literary craftsman. As the months and years passed, the 'Sotto Voce' weekly essays, with their tone of quiet assurance and look of effortless ease, became the standard bearer of traditional values and robust sanity in a world of noisy slogans and deafening cries. Raghunathan's was usually the conservative, unpopular, 'diehard' view; his assent with tradition was apt to assume the tone of dissent from current notions of progress; and yet his views couldn't be dismissed as of no consequence, for the undertones of assent and dissent came with an accent of authority that compelled attention if not acquiescence. The elephant god 'Vighneswara' of the Hindu pantheon is both the massive in bulk and slow in gait, but he has an infallible skill in works, he has a steady and clear and whole view of what he deigns to see, and he has a sense of unruffled commitment to the tasks on hand. He is at once the perfect guide to the world of knowledge and the perfect dispeller of the obstacles to right knowledge. There was thus a certain challenge in Raghunathan's assumption of "Vighneswara' as his nom-de-plume, but we can now see that the name wasn't taken in vain.
His in-depth knowledge of both ancient Tamil literature and western classics, including his favourite writer Dostoevsky, finds expression in all the 18 stories he wrote under the pen name “Raskian ” in Bharatha Mani , a magazine run by his friend K.C. Venkatramani between 1938 and 1948.
He published his short story collection in 1962, and in 2006 Tamizhini released Rasikan Kathaikal which included his four plays and one of Sotto Voce articles in English by him under the name Vigneswara.
He believes that The culture of the people-the complex of swabhava, swadharma, swatantra, swarajya that is the true index of this culture has been the slow creation of the ages, and may not now be crudely tampered with except at the risk of our total discomfiture. Indian spirituality isn't something opposed to life and world affirmation. Spirituality is an awakening to the inner or true Reality of our being, and once we have our feet on the Ground of Reality, our everyday movements will be steady with an instinct for poise and a sense of direction. But how does one achieve contact with the Ground? Reason is a wonderful analytical instrument, but the Base eludes it. Hence the need to invoke the higher-than-mind faculty, which for want of a better term we call intuition. Once the contact with the Ground has been established, reason may be left to steer the surface movements with sureness and ease. This alliance between intuition and reason -this clue to enlightened and wise living-Raghunathan calls viveka. Without the continual exercise of viveka, man would be but a forked animal, a siege of contradictions and frustrations. The 'integrated' man is one who has achieved harmony between himself and the world, his inner and his outer life, his thoughts and his word. On the other hand, like the plane that zigzags when taxi-ing and somersaults when taking off, the man afflicted with pramada the man without viveka-has a clouded consciousness that knows neither right measure, matra, nor self restraint, dama, but is a prey to egoistic separativity and the misery arising out of it.
The task of viveka is to maintain measure between the eternity that is Self and the manifoldness of the phenomenal play. In literature, the particular is so seized with sensibility that the particular itself becomes charged with universality. Literature makes such a feat of transcendence possible because of the alliance of creative imagination and deep sensibility, which correspond to the two terms of intuition and reason. Just as viveka in action and behaviour lies, not in running away from life's responsibilities, but in mastering and exceeding them, so too aesthetic experience is meant to be, not an escape from life, but rather a seeking after quintessential life, being absorbed in it, and distilling a joy from it akin to the Bliss of Brahman.
Dr. F. R. Leavis says rightly that the University is be the,
"Society trying to preserve and develop a continuity of consciousness and a mature directing sense of value-a sense of value informed by a traditional wisdom. The Universities are recognized symbols of cultural tradition-of cultural tradition still conceived as a directing force, representing a wisdom older than modern civilization and having an authority that should check and control the blind drive onward of material and mechanical development...."
The world of journalism knew him as the ‘edit writer of The Hindu’ for 31 years. N. Raghunathan, who died in 1982, was also a brilliant writer of short stories and plays, capturing in authentic Thanjavur Tamil the disintegration of feudalism and social structure constructed on it in the face of modernism in the beginning of the 20th century.
Nirad Chaudhary:-
Nirad C. Chaudhuri is one of the great modern prose writers of Indian English. He was a moderately educated Bengali who represented the type of Bengali Babu. He migrated to England after his retirement from the All India Radio and went to England to settle down. He wrote his autobiography The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian. He is the author of other controversial books the continent of Circe, The Intellectual in India, To live or Not to Live, Culture in the Varity Bag. The scholar Extraordinary: The Life of Friedrich Max Muller (1974). The Clive of India (1975), Hinduism(1979), A Passage to England (1959) and his supplementary autobiographical books. They hand, the great Anarch. Chauduri lived up to 100 years and p[published nearly 10 books on India. He was a shrewd critic of Indian history, culture and civilization.
Thematic concerns of the following Books
1.The Auto Biography of Unknown Indian: (1951)
It is a thoughtful analysis of contemporary society and politics. It describes feelings of Nationalism and Hinduism and also covers the deep observation of how British colonies and how a new renaissance started in the country. A description of his early childhood and education in the rural heartland of Bengal is seen in the book. It is very deftly covering the varied geographies of the map as well as human thought. The main aim of the book is to highlight the culture and history of India. The book reveals that how a boy grew up to a man in the early decades of the 20th century, The book describes contemporary religious, moral, and political conditions. A major theme of The Autobiography is the origin and death of the Indian effort to create a modern culture on the basis of East-West cultural synthesis. It is an essay on the course of Indian History. He remarks that human personality is indeed contradictory every Where". A sense of Hindu Solidarity which is and uncontrollable tendency towards disunity within the Hindu order, collective megalomanias with self abasement, extreme individualism, violence with non- violence with fascism, possessiveness with carelessness about the property owned courage with forwardness, cleverness with stupidity.
2)A Passage to England (1959):
It compares the Indian society with the English to the disadvantage of the Indian way of life. The Indian attachment to money is commented upon by Nirad C Chaudhuri. He also speaks of the fact that love making in India is biological.
3.)To live or not to live (1971):
This essay is also about the criticism of life in modern India. The book is divided into two parts. The First part deals with social life and the second part with family life. The essay describes the view of the Hindu world, social and family norms man- woman relationship and marital fidelity.
4)Scholar Extraordinary (1974):
This is about the biography of Friedrich Max Muller. It is an account of the life of a man who was scholar and thinker and also interested in presenting the rediscovered ancient India and not Germany, to modern Indians. He writes Max Muller's Position and reputation were not that of a specialised scholar. He was an intellectual playing a part in the mental history of times by making people aware of new ideas extending their view to new Horizons.
5.)The continent of circle:-
It contains the analyses of Indian society in the early 20th century from historical, sociological and cultural perspective. It is submitted as an essay on the people of India and is a description against the Hindu ethos. It describes the human situation in India after the dependence. It is an expression of chaudhuri 's rancour and bitterness, personal prejudices and hated against the Hindus. This book won the Alfred Duff cooper Memorial prize.
6.)The intellectual in India:-
Chauduri is primarily concerned with the contemporary situation in India. He condemns the gross discouragement of intellectual ambitions and attitudes in India. It is in the toils of authoritarianism in India. It is in the toils of authoritarianism in politics and social life, hostility to intellectual pursuits and precarious
economic situation.
7)Culture in the Vanity Bag:-
It is an essay on clothing and adornment in passing and abiding India. It is a study of Indian culture in terms of clothing. It describes the evolution of clothes in the country It has three parts. The first part is about the orders and taxonomy of clothing. The second part is about conflicts in Indian dressing. The third part is regarding the fashion scenario in the India of the 1970's and Chowdhuri shows its decline and rootlessness, It talks about the lack of originality in Indian dressing.
8)Clive of India:-
It is a political and psychological essay. This is about the history of Robert Clive. The main title "Clive of India "is confusing because Clive was not of India but of England. Infact he was an Englishman who defeated an Indian Nawab in the decisive Battle of Plassey. One weird feature of the biography is the way it defends Lord Clive against charges of corruption Clive had been accused of corruption by other English men and taken to court. While the courts acquitted Clive due to lack of evidence. Chaudhuri defends him by a mere technicality .He writes acceptance of gifts was not contrary to the regulations then in force.
9) Hinduism (A Religion to live by) 1979:-
This is a book about a religion to live by is a wholly original exposition of Hindu and behaviour. Rejecting familiar assumptions about early Hinduism.chaudhuri examines temple and image worships as well as three major cults of Shiva Krishnan and the mother Goddess Hinduism is a body of a belief and practice. The book constitutes a reading of Hindu as a rich and sensible philosophy of Hindu as rich and sensible philosophy of life in this world.
Conclusion:
Nirad C Chaudhuri's view was towards the development of the society. He believed that the main motto of the citizens should be to think of the global development and for that every individual should make efforts because it is not a one man work but everyone should be united together. The author V.S.Naipul who considered Nirad C Chaudhuri never to be good with any of his writings but still Chaudhuri made his existence in the society and in the field of writing and every one appreciate him for his honesty and his daring nature of facing every odds keeping in mind that one day people certainly accept him with what he is.
Word Count:- 2548
Works Cited
Kolappan, B. “The little known story teller of The Hindu.” The Hindu, 23 September 2016, https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/The-little-known-story-teller-of-The-Hindu/article14001488.ece. Accessed 4 November 2022.
Prasad, Siddeswara K.J. “THEMATIC CONCERNS IN THE PROSE WORKS OF NIRAD C. CHAUDHURI: AN ARCHITECT OF INDIAN ENGLISH PROSE.” THEMATIC CONCERNS IN THE PROSE WORKS OF NIRAD C. CHAUDHURI: AN ARCHITECT OF INDIAN ENGLISH PROSE, vol. 5, no. 3,2020, 2020. Oray’s Publications, https://www.rjoe.org.in/. Accessed Monday October 2022.
“Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://iep.utm.edu/radhakri/. Accessed 4 November 2022.
Singh, Sunil Kumar. “The Great Teacher Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan:Life,Vision and Actions.” Academia.edu, https://www.academia.edu/1990663/The_Great_Teacher_Dr_Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan_Life_Vision_and_Actions. Accessed 4 November 2022.
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