Indian literature

Oral literature in the vernacular languages of India is of great antiquity, but it was not until about
the 16th cent. That an extensive written literature appeared. Chief factors in this development
were the intellectual and literary predominance of Sanskrit until then (except in S India, where a
vast literature in Tamil was produced from ancient times) and the emergence of Hindu pietistic
movements that sought to reach the people in their spoken languages. Among the Muslims
classical Persian poetry was the fountainhead of a later growth in the Urdu literature produced
for the Mughal court, and elaborate Urdu verse on set themes was produced in abundance. In the
early 19th cent., with the establishment of vernacular schools and the importation of printing
presses, a great impetus was given to popular prose, with Bengali writers perhaps taking the lead.
Foreign, particularly English, literature was eagerly studied and to some extent assimilated to
classical Indian modes and themes.
Today there is a written literature in all the important languages of India, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh, as well as a large literature in English intended to reach all the university-educated
public regardless of native language. Among the best-known writers of the 19th and early 20th
cent. are Rammohun Roy, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore,
winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, and Prem Chand, as well as Asadullah Khan
Ghalib and Muhammad Iqbal, the Muslim poets who wrote in Urdu and in Persian. Later writers
include R. K. Narayan, Raja Rao, Bhabhani Bhattacharya, Ahmed Ali, Khushwant Singh,
Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, and Mulk Raj Anand in the field of fiction; Sarojini Naidu, Faiz
Ahmed Faiz, Nazrul Islam, and the Bangladeshi Shamsur Rahman in the field of poetry; and
Mohandas Gandhi, M. N. Roy, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Jaya Prakash Narayan in the field of
politics.

Panchatantra
The Panchatantra was written down as early as the second century BC in Sanskrit. It was
written by Pandit Vishnu Sharma. It has been translated until today into 57 languages of the
world. According to the German translator Johannes Hertel of Das Panchatantra (1914), there are
200 versions of Panchatantra in fifty non-Indian languages. Panchatantra started its journey
before 570 AD with an initial version of Pehlavi (Persian) during the reign of Emperor Khosro
Anushirvan (550-578 AD) of Iran. A Syriac version entitled "Kalilag Wa Dimnag," became
available, followed by an Arabic version rendered by Abdallah Ibn al-Maqaffa with the same
title in 570 AD. Like Arab numerals that were borrowed from Hindus, the Arabic version of
Panchatantra became the parent of all European versions, known generally as the fables of
Bidpai. Panchatantra was translated into Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Armenian, English,
Slavic languages, Hebrew, Malay etc., between eleventh century and eighteenth century. As
stated above, Panchatantra has been translated into well over 50 languages of the world. Thomas
North translated Panchatantra into Elizabethan English (The Fables of Bidpai) Thomas Irving
translated it into English from the Arabic Kalila Wa Dimnah and it was published by Juan de la
Cuesta, Newark, Delaware in 1980.
Bhagavad Gita
Of the large number of holy books revered within Hindu culture, the Bhagavad Gita, a short
work originally written in Sanskrit, is by far the most popular. An epic poem, it lays out a path of
mystical devotion to Krishna, one of the primary deities in the Hindu pantheon, and describes the
Hindu perspective on such essential teachings as reincarnation and karma. It was one of the first
books translated by Western scholars as they began to study Eastern teachings in the eighteenth
century, and it was widely circulated among dissident religious groups such as the
Transcendentalists of New England.

The Gita was written over a period of years between the fifth and second centuries B.C.E. At a
later date, it was inserted into the larger Mahabharata, the great epic volume of Indian history
and lore. The Mahabharata tells the story of the development of ancient India and the activities
of the descendents of Bharata, the mythical character from whom India (or Bharat) takes its
name. The story of the Gita is set as a war has broken out between two groups of Bharata's
descendents, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, and concerns the problem that Arjuna, the leader of
the Pandava army, has in participating in that war. He turns the problem he has been
contemplating over to Krishna. Is it worth ruling a kingdom, to kill so many kinsmen?

Gitanjali
The original Bengali collection of 157 poems was published on August 14, 1910. The English
Gitanjali or Song Offerings is a collection of 103 English poems of Tagore's own English
translations of his Bengali poems first published in November 1912 by the India Society of
London. It contained translations of 53 poems from the original Bengali Gitanjali, as well as 50
other poems which were from his drama Achalayatan and eight other books of poetry mainly
Gitimalya (17 poems), Naivedya (15 poems) and Kheya (11 poems).
The translations were often radical, leaving out or altering large chunks of the poem and in one
instance fusing two separate poems (song 95, which unifies songs 89, 90 of Naivedya). The
translations were undertaken prior to a visit to England in 1912, where the poems were extremely
well received. In 1913, Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for
Literature, largely for the English Gitanjali.
The English Gitanjali became popular in the West, and was widely translated.[3] The word
gitanjali is composed from "geet", song, and "anjali", offering, and thus means "An offering of
songs"; but the word for offering, anjali, has a strong devotional connotation, so the title may
also be interpreted as "prayer offering of song".
 5 Famous Indian writers

Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali Rabndranth hkur (born May
7, 1861, Calcutta [now Kolkata], Indiadied August 7, 1941,
Calcutta), Bengali poet, short-story writer, song composer,
playwright, essayist, and painter who introduced new prose and verse
forms and the use of colloquial language into Bengali literature,
thereby freeing it from traditional models based on classical Sanskrit.
He was highly influential in introducing Indian culture to the West
and vice versa, and he is generally regarded as the outstanding
creative artist of early 20th-century India. In 1913 he became the first
non-European to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature. The son of
the religious reformer Debendranath Tagore, he early began to write
verses, and, after incomplete studies in England in the late 1870s, he returned to India. There he
published several books of poetry in the 1880s and completed Manasi (1890), a collection that
marks the maturing of his genius. It contains some of his best-known poems, including many in
verse forms new to Bengali, as well as some social and political satire that was critical of his
fellow Bengalis. In 1891 Tagore went to East Bengal (now in Bangladesh) to manage his
familys estates at Shilaidah and Shazadpur for 10 years. There he often stayed in a houseboat on
the Padma River (the main channel of the Ganges River), in close contact with village folk, and
his sympathy for them became the keynote of much of his later writing. Most of his finest short
stories, which examine humble lives and their small miseries, date from the 1890s and have a
poignancy, laced with gentle irony that is unique to him (though admirably captured by the
director Satyajit Ray in later film adaptations). Tagore came to love the Bengali countryside,
most of all the Padma River, an often-repeated image in his verse. During these years he
published several poetry collections, notably Sonar Tari (1894; The Golden Boat), and plays,
notably Chitrangada (1892; Chitra). Tagores poems are virtually untranslatable, as are his more
than 2,000 songs, which achieved considerable popularity among all classes of Bengali society.

JHUMPA LAHIRI
No list on Indian writing in English is complete without Jhumpa
Lahiris name in it. Her debut short story collection Interpreter of
Maladies, after facing rejection for years was finally released in
1999, and subsequently won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and
the O. Henry Award. She has written three other books since then
The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth and The Lowland which
was shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. Her writing is
distinguished for her plain, yet deep, language and Indian immigrant
characters. She is my personal favorite in this list.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee also known as Bankim Chandra
Chattopadhyay was one of the greatest novelists and poets of
India. He is famous as author of Vande Mataram, the national
song of India. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was born on June
27, 1838 in the village Kantalpara of the 24 Paraganas District
of Bengal. He belonged to a family of Brahmins. The word
'Bankim Chandra' in Bengali means 'the moon on the second
day of the bright fortnight'. Bankim Chandra's father Yadav
Chandra Chattopadhyaya was in government service. After his birth he was posted to Midnapur
as Deputy Collector. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee had his early education in Midnapur. He was a
brilliant student. After his early education in Midnapur Bankim Chandra Chatterji joined the
Mohsin College at Hoogly and studied there for six years. Apart from his textbooks, Bankim
Chandra Chattopadhyay, used to read other books in his leisure time. He was very much
interested in the study of Sanskrit. His study of Sanskrit stood him in good stead. Later, when he
wrote books in Bengali his knowledge of Sanskrit helped him immensely.
In 1856, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee joined the Presidency College in Calcutta. In 1857, there
was a strong revolt against the rule of East India Company but Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
continued his studies and passed his B.A. Examination in 1859. The Lieutenant Governor of
Calcutta appointed Bankim Chandra Chatterjee as Deputy Collector in the same year. Bankim
Chandra Chatterjee was in Government service for thirty-two years and retired in 1891. He was a
very conscientious worker.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was married when he was only eleven. At that time his wife was
only five years old. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was only twenty two when his wife died. After
some time he married again. His second wife was Rajlakshmi Devi. They had three daughters
but no son.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee began his literary career as a writer of verse. He then turned to
fiction. Durgeshnandini, his first Bengali romance, was published in 1865. His famous novels
include Kapalkundala (1866), Mrinalini (1869), Vishbriksha (1873), Chandrasekhar (1877),
Rajani (1877), Rajsimha (1881), and Devi Chaudhurani (1884). Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
most famous novel was Anand Math (1882). Anand Math contained the song "Bande Mataram",
which was later adopted as National Song.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wanted to bring about a cultural revival of Bengal by stimulating the
intellect of the Bengali speaking people through literary campaign. With this end in view he
brought out monthly magazine called Bangadarshan in 1872.
Bankim Chatterjee was superb story-teller, and a master of romance. No Bengali writer before or
since has enjoyed such spontaneous and universal popularity as Chatterjee. His novels have been
translated in almost all the major languages of India. He passed away on April 8, 1894.
R.K. Narayan
R.K. Narayan is one of the most famous and widely read Indian novelists. His stories were
grounded in a compassionate humanism and celebrated the humour and energy of ordinary life.
R.K. Narayan was born on October 10, 1906 in Madras. His father was a provincial head master.
R.K. Narayan spent his early childhood with his maternal grandmother, Parvathi in Madras and
used to spend only a few weeks each summer visiting his parents and siblings. R.K. Narayan
studied for eight years at Lutheran Mission School close to his grandmother's house in Madras,
also for a short time at the CRC High School. When his father was appointed headmaster of the
Maharaja's High School in Mysore, R.K. Narayan moved back in with his parents. He obtained
his bachelor's degree from the University of Mysore. R.K. Narayan began his writing career with
Swami and Friends in 1935. Most of his work including Swami and friends is set in the fictional
town of Malgudi which captures everything Indian while having a unique identity of its own.
R.K. Narayan's writing style was marked by simplicity and subtle humor. He told stories of
ordinary people trying to live their simple lives in a
changing world. R.K. Narayan's famous works include
The Bachelor of Arts (1937), The Dark Room (1938),
The English Teacher (1945), The Financial Expert
(1952), The Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi
(1961), The Vendor of Sweets (1967), Malgudi Days
(1982), and The Grandmother's Tale (1993). R.K.
Narayan won numerous awards and honors for his works.
These include: Sahitya Akademi Award for The Guide in
1958; Padma Bhushan in 1964; and AC Benson Medal by
the Royal Society of Literature in 1980; R.K. Narayan
was elected an honorary member of the American
Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1982. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in
1989. Besides, he was also conferred honorary doctorates by the University of Mysore, Delhi
University and the University of Leeds.

Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is a famous Indian novelist and social
activist. Arundhati Roy came into limelight in 1997 when
she won the Booker Prize for her first novel "The God of
Small Things". She was awarded Sydney Peace Prize in
2004. Arundhati Roy was born November 24, 1961 in
Assam. Her mother was a Keralite Christian and her father
was a Bengali Hindu. Their marriage was not successful
and Arundhati Roy spent her childhood years in Aymanam,
Kerala with her mother. Arundhati's mother, who was a
prominent social activist, founded an independent school
and taught her daughter informally. At age of sixteen Arundhati left home, and eventually
enrolled at the Delhi School of Architecture. There she met her first husband, Gerard Da Cunha,
a fellow architecture student. Their marriage lasted four years. Both of them did not have great
love for architecture, so they quit their profession and went off to Goa. They used to make cake
and sell it on the beach to make living. This continued for seven months after which Arundhati
returned back to Delhi. She took a job at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, rented a barsati
near the dargah at Nizamuddin and hired a bicycle. One day film director Pradeep Krishen saw
her cycling down a street and offered her a small role of tribal girl in the film "Massey Saab".
Arundhati Roy accepted the role after initial reservations. She later on married Pradeep Krishen.
Meanwhile, Arundhati got a scholarship to go to Italy for eight months to study the restoration of
monuments. After returning from Italy Arundhati Roy linked with her husband to plan a 26
episode television serial for Doordarshan called the Banyan Tree. The serial was later scrapped.
She wrote screenplays for a couple of TV films - "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones" and
"Electric Moon". Arundhati Roy also wrote screenplay for Shekhar Kapur's controversial film
'Bandit Queen'. The controversy escalated into a court case, after which Arundhati Roy retired to
private life to concentrate on her writing, which eventually resulted in "The God of Small
Things". After winning the Booker Prize for "The God of Small Things", Arundhati Roy has
concentrated her writings on political issues. She has written on varied topics such as Narmada
Dam project, India's nuclear weapons and American power giant Enron's activities in India.
Arundhati Roy strongly associated with anti-globalization movement and is a staunch critic of
neo-imperialism.