Authors at Play Depictions of Batting Games in Hindī Literature Word count: 25,888 Philippe Lauwers Student number: 19900736 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Eva De Clercq A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Eastern Languages and Cultures: India Academic year: 2018 – 2019 Authors at Play: Depictions of Batting Games in Hindī Literature Acknowledgements This paper marks the end of a fulfilling period of study. Over time, I have noticed that one does not simply acquire a degree all by oneself. Success in such an endeavour requires the patience, energy and inspiration the people around you have to offer. As such, this task is the perfect occasion to dwell upon those who stood by my side. First of all, I would like to thank my wife An Mertens without whom, I would not have had the opportunity to go back to university at a moment this seemed rash or illogical to many. In addition, prof. Dr. Eva De Clercq and her team provided much of the material that made this period so interesting. Furthermore, they were always willing to answer questions or give feedback. My thoughts go out to Tillo Detige in particular for his kind and reassuring words the moments I started to doubt myself. On a more practical note, I would like to thank Ramesh Rishikalp and prof. Raj Kumar for their help in my search for suitable texts. Last of all, I look back at the pleasant evening I spent with Mrs. Neha Sharad, daughter of the late Sharad Joshi, in Mumbai. I would like to thank her for the kind invitation and for providing me with a number of books from your personal archives. i Authors at Play: Depictions of Batting Games in Hindī Literature Table of Contents Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... ii Nederlandse samenvatting ......................................................................................................... iv Authors at Play ........................................................................................................................... 1 The Art of Reading Modern Hindī Literature ............................................................................ 4 The novel as the essence of modern literature ........................................................................ 4 The Novelisation of Hindī literature ....................................................................................... 5 The Hindī saṃskāra ............................................................................................................ 5 Social reform ....................................................................................................................... 7 The Progressive Writers’ Association................................................................................. 8 Language, literature and identity ...................................................................................... 10 Indian literature after Independece ................................................................................... 12 From Novel to Short Story ................................................................................................... 13 Reading literary texts ............................................................................................................ 16 Playing in India ........................................................................................................................ 17 Epic heroes: playing in earnestness ...................................................................................... 18 Pre-colonial India: functional stories of functional games ................................................... 19 Batting games ....................................................................................................................... 21 Gillī Ḍaṇḍā : “Vedic” Sports? .......................................................................................... 22 Cricket: The Most Complicated Game in the World ........................................................ 24 Batting games in Hindī Fiction ................................................................................................ 32 Once Upon a Time in Bollywood: Lagaan ........................................................................... 32 Premchand ............................................................................................................................ 39 The Life of Premchand ..................................................................................................... 39 Premchand’s Ideologies .................................................................................................... 40 The aim of literature .......................................................................................................... 42 ii Authors at Play: Depictions of Batting Games in Hindī Literature Indian cricket during the life of Premchand...................................................................... 43 Gullī Ḍaṇḍā ...................................................................................................................... 45 Cricket Match .................................................................................................................... 48 Sharad Joshi .......................................................................................................................... 52 Indian Cricket at the time of writing ................................................................................. 53 Gavaskar broke the record ................................................................................................ 54 Without Gavaskar ............................................................................................................. 56 A Doctorate for Gavaskar ................................................................................................. 57 Abhishek Kashyap: Play ....................................................................................................... 57 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 60 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 62 Web Pages ................................................................................................................................ 66 Appendixes ............................................................................................................................... 67 Note to the translations ......................................................................................................... 68 Premchand ............................................................................................................................ 69 Gullī-Ḍaṇḍā ....................................................................................................................... 69 Cricket Match .................................................................................................................... 78 Sharad Joshi .......................................................................................................................... 90 Maiṃ pratīkṣā meṃ hūṃ : 2 – I am in Expectation .......................................................... 90 Gāvaskara ne rekārḍ toḍā – Gāvaskar Broke the Record................................................ 100 Binā Gāvaskara – Without Gāvaskar .............................................................................. 102 Gāvaskara ko ḍākṭareṭ - A Doctorate for Gāvaskar ........................................................ 104 Abhishek Kashyap .............................................................................................................. 106 Khel – Play ...................................................................................................................... 106 iii Authors at Play: Depictions of Batting Games in Hindī Literature Nederlandse samenvatting Spel behoort tot de kern van de menselijke natuur. Sport, als georganiseerde en gereguleerde vorm van spel, wordt gevormd door de maatschappij maar heeft op zijn beurt een eigen invloed op de maatschappij. Het doel van deze paper is na te gaan hoe auteurs gillī ḍaṇḍā en cricket als motief gebruik om commentaar te geven op de maatschappij waarin ze beoefend worden. Om dit te onderzoeken, overdenk ik in eerste instantie het idee van Indische literatuur. Vervolgens breng ik het belang van gillī ḍaṇḍā en cricket in kaart om tenslotte over te gaan tot de analyse van enkele literaire teksten. De verhalen die geanalyseerd zullen worden zijn Gullī Ḍaṇḍā en Cricket Match van Premchand, drie columns die Sharad Joshi schreef over Gavaskar en het verhaal Spel (Khel)van de onbekende auteur Abhishek Kashyap. Indische literatuur Twintigste-eeuwse Indische literatuur wordt sterk beïnvloed door de eigen voorgeschiedenis – die teruggaat tot de Veda’s en epische literatuur enerzijds en de westerse traditie van moderne literatuur. Bakhtin en Lukács maakten beiden een vergelijkende studie van (westerse) epische literatuur en de roman als vorm van moderne literatuur. In deze visies is het epos een gesloten tekst die niet in interactie staat met de omgeving