Mulk Raj Anand was an Indian writer in English, notable for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. A pioneer of Indian writing in English, he gained an international following early in his life. His novels 'Coolie' and 'Untouchable' set an entire generation of educated Indians thinking about India's social evils that were perpetuated in the name of religion and tradition.
Background
Born in Peshawar, he studied at Khalsa College, Amritsar, before moving to England where he attended University College London as an undergraduate and later Cambridge University, graduating with a PhD in 1929. During this time he forged friendships with members of the Bloomsbury Group. He spent some time in Geneva, lecturing at the League of Nations' School of Intellectual Cooperation. He died in Pune on 28 September 2004 at the age of 98.
Career
Anand's literary career was launched by family tragedy, instigated by the rigidity of the caste system. His first prose essay was a response to the suicide of an aunt, who had been excommunicated by her family for sharing a meal with a Muslim Woman. His first main novel, Untouchable, published in 1935, was a chilling exposé of the day-to-day life of a member of India's untouchable caste. He spent World War II working as a scriptwriter for the BBC in London, where he became a friend of George Orwell. Anand returned to India in 1946, and continued with his prodigious literary output there. His work includes poetry and essays on a wide range of subjects, as well as autobiographies and novels. Prominent among his novels are The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1939), The Sword and the Sickle (1942), all written in England, and Coolie (1936), The Private Life of an Indian Prince (1953), perhaps the most important of his works written in India.
Politics
Inevitably, Anand, who spent half his time in London and half in India, was drawn to the Indian independence movement. During his time in London, he wrote propaganda on behalf of the Indian cause alongside India's future Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon, while trying to make a living as a novelist and journalist. At the same time, he also supported freedom elsewhere around the globe and even travelled to Spain to volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, even though his role in the conflict was more journalistic than military.