India and Its Cities Through the Eyes of Its Writers

The piece explores the profound connection between Indian literature and the urban and regional identities of its writers. It highlights how Indian authors, from Mulk Raj Anand to R.K. Narayan and contemporary figures like Arundhati Roy and Vikram Seth, have woven their surroundings into their works. The discussion spans classics like Untouchable and Bharathipura, which confront social realities, to the imagined town of Malgudi in Narayan’s fiction, reflecting small-town struggles. It also examines how regional languages and cities like Delhi and Lucknow influenced writers like Ahmed Ali. The narrative underscores how cities and "home" transcend physical spaces, becoming emotional anchors in literature.

India, being the largest country in terms of its population and diversity, ought to have its imprint on the literature of the region. From big cities like Mumbai and Delhi to smaller ones, people here have always had an emotional connection to the place where they feel they belong. As a result, we often feel the writers reminiscing about such 'places' while reading their literature, so much so that we often find the names of the 'cities' as the titles of their work.

The 'urban' world as we know it today probably has all the necessities and luxuries any individual could ask for. Nevertheless, it also comes with a cost, the cost which is borne by the city itself and the people living in the city. The world knew literary India through the words of authors like Rudyard Kipling, which were often a disguise of reality. It was 'Untouchables' by Mulk Raj Anand which first told us the accurate picture of the brutality endured by the outcasts and the untouchables.

Untouchable may be a short novel, but its impact speaks volumes. Every writer who has ever written about India and its streets knows how it has a deep place in their hearts, the traces of which we can still see in classics like Untouchables, even after 80 long years. The sheer outrage in Anand's words speaks for itself.

While literary pieces in popular languages like English gained popularity and recognition, the regional languages were overlooked outside India. Partly because these literary pieces were not translated into English and hence could not reach a wider population across the globe. U.R. Ananthamurthy's Bharathipura, originally written in Kannada in 1973 and later translated into English in 2010, tells us how not much has changed in city life from Anand's perspective, even after many years.

In their book, they resent how Anglocentric English may appear to have taken over the Indian languages, which is far from the truth. They say that even authors like Mulk Raj Anand have used it to convey their feelings to the world and tell them the reality. Even in Anand's work, there have always been rhythms of Urdu and Punjabi. Others, such as Raja Rao, who is considered to be one of the co-founders of Indo-Anglian literature, have also traced on their mother tongue in their literary masterpieces.

Perhaps the most celebrated writer of them all was R.K. Narayan, who went ahead and imagined a town that did not exist in reality but became one of the most loved across the world. Malgudi is the setting for most of Narayan's fiction, from Swami and Friends in 1935 via perhaps his best novel, The Guide in 1958, to The World of Nagaraj in 1990. He based the town partly on his native Mysore, though it is not as significant. Malgudi is not a city, but one instinctively wants to add 'not yet.' Narayan's work beautifully depicts the pressures of the external world on small towns, from greedy developers to land grabbers; Malgudi tells the story of every small town that is at a crossroads between rural India and its rampant future.

Ahmed Ali, who, after partition, went to live in Pakistan, still reminisces about Delhi and Lucknow in their books and writings. The very thought of the separation deeply shattered Ali as they had seen an India where everyone loved and lived together. However, no form of human creation, including magnificent cities, never lasts forever.

Others who have succeeded in the legacy of these writers like Kamala Markandaya, Manohar Malgonkar, Anita Desai, and in the next generation, Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, Rohinton Mistry, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Chandra, Vikram Seth, Kiran Desai, Aravind Adiga, Jeet Thayil, Neel Mukherjee and Chetan Bhagat in the years following. They all have one thing in common, the association of their native birth as their "home." Home may not necessarily mean where one lives but where we feel the most alive. It is astonishing to find how a city stays in people's hearts and shines from it.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, Rohinton Mistry's Such a Long Journey and A Fine Balance, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, and Narcopolis by Jeet Thayali are some beautiful examples. It is almost impossible not to connect with the characters in the stories.

Kumar Aryan is a student pursuing Master’s in Sociology from Jamia Millia Islamia.

Edited by - Sana Faiz