Before delving deeply into the exceedingly diversified genre of contemporary Indian literature, it is foremost necessary to comprehend the fraternal terms of `modern`, `modernity` and `modernisation` in the Indian context. These three terms in the present perspective are pretty loaded and highly condensed terms for historical experiences.
Chronologically stating, the twentieth century is more modern than the nineteenth century, but that does not never mean that 19th century cannot be incorporated with contemporary literature in India. The criterion involved here is not qualitative, but rather simplistic. Further, anything which is in fashion in present times is modern whether it is desirable or not. However, the more significant aspect of modernity is a value-based approach. Particular attitudes and ideas are conceived more progressive and hence it is natural to condition them as modern as opposed to what existed before. The chronological sense is in a way implicit in this concept. The Indian context of contemporary literature is integrally linked with social and political history of the country during the mid-19th century, which indeed had marked a breakthrough. English education had gradually disseminated in India during the first half of the 19th century, but its effect is seen manifestly in Indian literary creation only in the second half of the century. A fresh kind of literature had emerged in the major languages. There indeed had existed an unambiguous novelty in form and content, mostly in both literatures, as form and content are always cohesively bound together.
There could be witnessed an `intellectual drowsiness` in 18th century India, which continued well into the 19th century. The contact with the West had then aroused the artistic bent of mind as was never seen before, etching a forever mark upon contemporary Indian literature and its tradition. This all-pervasive awakening had indeed touched Indian poetry and prose alike, but somewhat differently. This influence from the west had also marked the birth of renaissance in Indian literature and this was precisely the harbinger of modernity in the Indian literary scenario. The concept of `contemporary Indian literature` is effective from that period of modernity that is accepted from the era of 1850-1975. However, particular streaks of modernity or buds of novelty can be witnessed even earlier, especially in Indian writing in English. This can be conceived as the first phase or the incubation period. The real flowering of modernity is witnessed in the second half of the 19th century.
With the establishment of vernacular schools and the importing of the printing press, a thrusting impetus was lent to popular prose, with Bengali writers perhaps taking the lead. This was precisely the so called renaissance in contemporary Indian literature, marked by the supremacy of Bengali writers like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutta and Akshay Kumar Dutta, etc. making it to the ranks of among the world`s best literary figures. Tagore`s own translation of `Gitanjali` into English fetched him international fame when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913. His `Gora` is considered an outstanding and revolutionary novella in Indian literature.
Luminary poets such as Mirza Ghalib, had indeed lived and worked during the British era, when a literary revolution occurred in all the Indian languages as a result of liaison with Western thought. The regulation of the printing press, introduced by Christian missionaries and the influence of Western educational institutions was strong enough to alter forever the path of contemporary Indian literature. Throughout the mid-19th century in the major ports of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, a prose literary tradition arose -embracing the novel, short story, essay and literary drama (the last incorporating both classical Sanskrit and Western models) - that gradually engrossed the traditional Indian verse genres. Urdu poets remained devoted towards the old forms, while Bengalis were drew heavily from English poets like Percy Bysshe Shelley or T.S. Eliot. Ram Mohan Roy`s (1774-1833) campaign for introduction of scientific education in India and Swami Vivekananda`s work are considered as greatest examples of the spread of English education and literature in India.
The overriding domination of the British on India had a lot of socio-economic impact and literature was also not left far behind. The advent of the printing press in the mass native context revolutionised literature, as it was successful to reach out to the masses. The `Bengal Gazette` was the first newspaper to be published, ushering an era of the `new genre`. As a first ever and rising step towards the betterment of contemporary Indian literature, schools were established to foster English education and vernacular languages as well. Indians began to write in English for the first time and put across their views to the world. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Debendranath Tagore, Lal Behari Dey, Dinabandhu Mitra, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Keshab Chandra Sen, Pramatha Chaudhuri and Kazi Nazrul Islam were spearheading the reformist movement, championing the cause of women`s education and abolition of sati. Raja Ram Mohan Roy braving the dogmatic society for widow remarriage and voting rights for women, was the pioneer of Indian writing in English, a substantial genre in contemporary Indian literature. Ram Mohan Roy had heavily accentuated that for India to be included among the world`s nations, education in English was essential and mandatory. He, therefore, campaigned for introduction of scientific education in India through the English medium.
Even authors like Rabindranath Tagore penned prolific literature during this period. It also won him the universally-acclaimed title of Nobel Laureate. Tagore had practically explored every possible genre of literature: he penned essays, short stories, dramas, poetry, novels, lyrics etc. Rabindranath Tagore had written in English as well as Bengali, with a dexterity that was remarkable and still irreplaceable. He was known to translate his own works into English. Gitanjali won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. His other collections of poetry include Gitimalya (1914), Balaka, Sonar Tari (1894). Tagore`s umpteen dramas are enacted even today and exhibit an emancipation of mind and sensibility. The most famous amongst them being Dak Ghar, Ghare Baire, Yogayogand and numerous others.
Another colonial writer well known in the west is Jhaver Chand Meghani. A renowned folklorist and a pioneering researcher, he had travelled extensively over Saurashtra in Gujarat and his book Saurashtrani Rasdhar depicts tales of bravery, honesty and nobility. Jhaver Chand Meghani has virtually authored more than 80 volumes of folk tales, biographies, stories and plays. Kaka Saheb Kalelkar is another celebrated writer in pre-independent India. His philosophical writings demonstrate his vast erudition, his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, his essays on culture, his travelogues, his translation of Gitanjali had won him applauding appreciation from all quarters. The other eminent personalities that contributed to the literature world redefining contemporary Indian literature during this period comprise: Munshi Premchand, Subramaniam Bharati, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Tarashankar Bandopadhay, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, R. K. Narayan, Fakir Mohan Senapati and uncountable other literary personalities of the colonial period.
Modern literature is colossal in its scope and encompasses literature of various genres and styles. Contemporary literature in India is influenced considerably in content by the western philosophy and thought. However it knows how exactly to maintain its unique Indian flavour and assorted richness. In the arena of international literature, contemporary Indian literature occupies a position of pride for its sumptuous affluence and originality. Literature of modern India still bears some of its ingrained colonial impact and present-day writers often base their works in the colonial backdrop. However this is not something heavily peculiar for a nation under colonial rule for such an extensive period of time. Contemporary Indian writers have taken to writing in English and time and again their themes are based upon an Indian backdrop and household.
Making a move from the 18th or 19th century, that had indeed sowed the budding phase of then referred contemporary Indian literature, writers belonging to contemporary India are additionally very conscious about their own culture and traditions. Hence can be witnessed a massive body of vernacular language and literature flourishing in it. While some of the authors pen in English, most of them continue to write in their colloquial language. The philosophy and thought behind their works exhibit influences of western thoughts and principles. It is remarkable that these authors have been successful enough to maintain the unique flavour of their region in their works and tinge it further with a modern dimension The literary genre of the contemporary Indian literature are manifold. Present Indian readers have novels, plays, short stories, literary criticism, science fiction and poetry to choose from.
Contemporary writers like Jibanananda Das, Buddhadev Bose, Dharamvir Bharati, Javed Akhtar and Mulk Raj Anand, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth, Jhumpa Lahiri and Amitav Ghosh have won international awards and put India firmly on the world`s literary map.
Contemporary Indian literature however does not draw its lines here itself. Work by two other great 20th century Indian leaders and writers is also widely respected, comprising: the verse of Islamic leader and philosopher Sir Muhammad Iqbal, originally written in Urdu and Persian; and the autobiography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, My Experiments with Truth, originally penned in Gujarati between 1927 and 1929, are today considered a classic in their own right.
To just name some of the umpteen other contemporary Indian litterateurs, would encompass - Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) for his Glimpses of World History, Discovery of India and An Autobiography (1936); Mulk Raj Anand, among whose many works the early affable Untouchable (1935) and Coolie (1936) are novels of social protest; and R. K. Narayan, quintessential writer of novels and tales of village life in south India. The first of R.K. Narayan`s many works, Swami and Friends, appeared in 1935; amongst his comparatively recent titles are The English Teacher (1980), The Vendor of Sweets (1983), and Under the Banyan Tree (1985). Among the younger authors describing of modern India with longing for the past include Anita Desai for her Clear Light of Day (1980). Her In Custody (1984) is the chronicle of a teacher`s lethal captivation with poetry. Ved Mehta, although long resident of the United States, recounts his Indian roots in a series of memoirs of his family and of his education in schools for the blind in India and America; among these works are Vedi (1982) and Sound Shadows of the New World (1986).
The other well-known novelists and writers falling under contemporary Indian literature are - Dom Moraes (A Beginning), Nissim Ezekiel (The Unfurnished Man), P Lal, A. K. Ramanujan (whose translations of Tamil classics are internationally acclaimed), Kamala Das, Arun Kolatkar and R. Parthasarathy; Toru Dutt; Sarojini Naidu; Aurobindo Ghosh; Raja Rao, GV Desani, M Ananthanarayanan, Bhabani Bhattacharya, Monohar Malgonkar, Arun Joshi, Kamala Markandaya, Khushwant Singh, Nayantara Sahgal, O.V. Vijayan; Salman Rushdie; K.R. Sreenivasa Iyengar, C.D. Narasimhaiah and M.K. Naik.
Among the latest bunch of this modernistic category are Vikram Seth (A Suitable Boy), Allan Sealy (The Trotter-Nama), Sashi Tharoor (Show Business, The Great Indian Novel, Amitav Ghosh (Circle of Reason, Shadow Lines), Upamanyu Chatterjee (English August) and Vikram Chandra (Red Earth and Pouring Rain).
