Paper IV

Indian writing in English ENGBA (604)

Unit : IV

Chapter : 2

Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand

About Author:

Mulk Raj Anand

Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglianfiction, he, together with R. K. Narayan, Ahmad Ali and Raja Rao, was one of the first India-based writers in English to gain an International readership. Anand is admired for his novels and short stories, which have acquired the status of classics of modern Indian English literature; they are noted for their perceptive insight into the lives of the oppressed and for their analysis of impoverishment, exploitation and misfortune. He is also noted for being among the first writers to incorporate Punjabiand Hindustani idioms into English[4], and was a recipient of the civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan.

Mulk Raj Anand

Born 12 December 1905 Peshawar, NWFP, British India (now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)

Died 28 September 2004(aged 98) Pune, Maharashtra, India

Occupation Writer

Alma mater Cambridge University University College London Khalsa College, Amritsar

Period 20th century

Notable work Coolie; Untouchable

Notable awards Sahitya Akademi Award (1971) Padma Bhushan(1968) International Peace Prize (1953)

Spouses Kathleen Gelder; Shirin Vajifdar

Novels

• Untouchable (1935) • Coolie (1936) • Two Leaves and a Bud (1937) • The Village (1939) • Across the Black Waters (1939) • The Sword and the Sickle (1942) • The Big Heart (1945) • The Lost Child (1934) • Seven Summers : A Memoir (1951) • The Private Life of an Indian Prince (1953) • The Old Woman and the Cow (1960) • The Road (1961)

Other notable works

• The Golden Breath: Studies in five poets of the new India (1933) • Introduction to Indian art (1956) (editor) • Kama Kala (1958) • Homage to Khajuraaho co-authored with Stella Kramrisch

Notable awards

• International Peace Prize - 1953 • Padma Bhushan - 1968 • Sahithya Akademi Award – 1971

Summary of Untouchable Untouchable is a novel written by Muk Raj Anand. Published in 1935, it charts the path of one day in the life of a young man named Bakha. Bakha is a member of the Untouchables, a designation for people so far below even the lowest caste in Indian society that they are considered outside of the system. His job is to sweep streets and latrines for the upper class, who are forbidden from cleaning or touching human waste. Because he was born as an Untouchable, this will be Bakha’s job for his entire life, unless there are reforms in India. The entire novel takes place on one day of Bakha’s life, a day in which his tolerance for the mistreatment endured by the lower castes begins to erode. Plot Summary: As the novel begins, Bakha is reporting for another day of latrine cleaning at the behest of his father, an ill-tempered bully named Lakha. While cleaning the latrine of a famous street hockey player named Charat Singh, the man invites Bakha to visit him later in the day. He promises to give Bakha a hockey stick as a gift.

When Bakha comes home, his sister Sohini leaves to get water for them. She travels to the communal well. However, the Untouchables are not able to dip their own water—the upper caste Hindus believe that the touch of an undercaste will pollute the well, which would then have to be subjected to lengthy and expensive purification rituals. A priest named Kali Nath arrives and, taken with Sohini’s beauty, agrees to pour water for her. He then invites her to the temple courtyard later in the day so that she can clean it.

Bakha moves through the streets, sweeping. He accidentally brushes up against a Brahmin Hindu, who begins to shout that he has been polluted by Bakha. The man shouts at Bakha as a mob gathers, joining in the insults. The man slaps Bakha before a Muslim cart driver breaks up the fight and disperses the mob. The Muslim man does not care about the Hindu castes, since he is also treated as an Untouchable.

Bakha goes to the temple and looks inside, which is forbidden to him. But before he is caught, Sohini appears, crying. The priest who invited her to clean the temple is there, accusing her of polluting him with her touch. Sohini claimed that he sexually assaulted her by grabbing her breasts while she was cleaning the lavatory. It was only when she rejected him that he began shouting that she had touched him. Bakha tells her to go home and says he will take responsibility for gathering food.

He spends the rest of the afternoon begging for food, all while being subjected to various indignities and cruelties from the upper caste Hindus. He is increasingly disgusted with the mistreatment he suffers, and when he gets home he tells his father the story about the man who hit him. His father insists that the upper Hindus are good and kind, and reminds Bakha that when he was an infant, a Hindu doctor came to their home and saved Bakha’s life when he had a fever.

Bakha attends the wedding of the sister of one of his friends. After he tells two of his friends the story of the man hitting him, one of them proposes that they take revenge on the man. Bakha considers it, but he understands that he will only get himself and his family in trouble if he retaliates. The Untouchables have no recourse for justice. After collecting his hockey stick from Charat Singh, Bakha joins a game of street hockey. During the game, a fight begins and the two teams throw rocks at each other. One of the rocks hits a little boy in the head. Bakha picks him up and carries him to his mother, who recognizes him as a street sweeper. Even though he is trying to help she screams that he has polluted her son.

At home, Bakha’s father is furious that Bakha has been away all afternoon. He kicks Bakha out of the house. Bakha makes his way to a train station where he hears a rumor that Mahatma Gandhi is coming there to give a speech. Bakha stays until Gandhi arrives. Gandhi’s speech condemns the caste system and urges the people to follow his example of non-violent protest. Bakha is enthused by the speech, but does not know enough to determine whether Gandhi’s suggestions are naïve.

After the speech, Bakha overhears two educated men, a poet and a lawyer, debating the merits of Gandhi’s speech. The lawyer believes that Gandhi’s aims are childish and irrational. Longstanding traditions are rarely overturned, and he believes that the caste system will endure despite protests for reform. The poet believes that the barbarism of the caste system will be eliminated, particularly in light of the fact that the flushing toilet is rumored to be coming to their town. Once the people have flushing toilets, there will be no need for the Untouchables to dispose of the town’s refuse, which would require a rethinking of their role and duty to society.

The author’s experience as an Indian, and the fact that Untouchable was written while the caste system was firmly in place, give the novel an authenticity and accuracy that make it easy to empathize with Bakha and his family. Untouchable is a unique opportunity for readers to experience the plight of the victims of the caste system. At the same time, the story identifies the complexities of Indian identity after the Great War as India emerges from postcolonialism to globalism.

Character Sketch of Characters in

Untouchable : Bakha, son of Lakha

An 18-year-old Indian youth, Bakha is a sweeper and the protagonist of Untouchable. Strong and able-bodied, he is fascinated by the life and ways of India’s English colonizers. His position as an untouchable has resulted in high levels of selfdeprecation and depression. Bakha can be judgmental and at times helps perpetuate the very system that keeps him oppressed. Paradoxically, he still questions the status quo and challenges a caste system that is supposedly “set in stone.”

Chota The son of a leather-worker, Chota is one of Bakha’s best friends. Though they are of the outcaste class, Chota is higher than Bakha in the caste system’s hierarchy. Like Bakha, he is also obsessed with the English.

Ram Charan Ram Charan is the washer’s son and Bakha’s other best friend. He is also higher in the hierarchy than Bakha because his family only washes other people’s clothes (an act deemed cleaner than clearing refuse).

Lakha, Jemadar of the sweepers Bakha’s father. A lazy, abusive man that takes advantage of his children. He resents Bakha’s obsession with the English and urges Bakha to be satisfied with their family’s lot in life as untouchables and sweepers.

Rakha Bakha’s younger brother. Somewhat of a foil to Bakha’s character, he is described as “a true child of the outcaste colony.”

Sohini Bakha’s younger sister, Sohini is described as nubile and beautiful. Patient and resilient, she bears the brunt of her family’s frustrations. Her altercation with a member of the high caste is one cause of Bakha’s existentialist woe.

Havildar Charat Singh One of Bakha’s heroes, Singh is a famous hockey player. His personality is jocular, his mood extremely changeable. At the beginning of the novel he harangues Bakha to clean the latrines but later on he gives Bakha a brand new hockey stick. His willingness to share his afternoon tea with Bakha illustrates his lack of belief in untouchability. Ali A young man of Bakha’s age group, Ali is the son of a regimental bandsman and Muslim. Bakha asks him questions about Islamic practices and is accused of insulting the religion.

Ramanand Described by Bakha as a “peevish old black moneylender,” Ramanand is of a higher class than Bakha. He interrupts Bakha’s morning musings by shouting at him to clean the latrines.

Gulabo A washer woman, Gulabo is Ram Charan’s mother. She has a superiority complex because she has a high place in the hierarchy of the low castes/outcastes. She resents Bakha’s friendship with her sons and hates Sohini.

Waziro Waziro is the weaver’s wife and prevents Gulabo from hitting Sohini.

Pundit Kali Nath He is one of the priests in charge of the temple in Bulashah, the town Bakha and his family live outside of. He sexually assaults Sohini and then accuses her of defiling him.

Lachman A Hindu water-carrier, he is 26 years old and attracted to Sohini.

Hakim Bhagawan Das A local doctor, Hakim Bhagawan saved Bakha’s life when he was a small child.

Ram Charan’s sister Bakha’s childhood crush, Ram Charan’s sister is a symbol of the things Bakha is barred from because of his low status in the caste system.

Colonel Hutchinson The chief of the local Salvation Army, Hutchinson is a Christian missionary tasked with converting Hindus to Christianity. The face of the Christian religion in the novel, he symbolizes one facet of England’s colonization of India.

Mary Hutchinson Mary is the Colonel’s irreligious wife. Miserable about their life in India, she constantly demeans and disparages her husband’s work amongst Indian peoples, who she refers to as “blackies.”

Mahatma Gandhi One of several real-life people alluded to/featured in Untouchable, Gandhi was one of the leaders of India’s independence movement. In the novel his purpose is to offer a religious, moral, and political denunciation of untouchability

Kasturabai Gandhi The wife of Mahatma Gandi. Like her husband, Kasturabai was heavily involved with India’s independence movement. In the novel she accompanies Gandhi during his visit to Bakha’s town.

Miraben Slade Another real-life person that makes an appearance in the novel, Miraben was the daughter of a British admiral. She left Britain to work at Gandhi’s side for India’s independence in 1925. In the novel, she also accompanies Gandhi during his visit to Bakha’s town.

Iqbal Nath Sarshar A young poet who defends Gandhi despite his misgivings about the revolutionary’s political and economic views. Sarshar offers up a Marxist interpretation of the plight of the untouchables and suggests a Marxist solution.

R. N. Bashir An Indian lawyer that studied at Oxford. Bashir is highly critical of Gandhi and the Marxist solution suggested by Sarshar.