Raja Rao, Kanthapura

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 Raja Rao 
(1908-2006) 

 

 Raja Rao was an Indian Kannada writer of English language novels and short stories whose works are deeply rooted in Hinduism.

  •  The Serpent and the Rope written in 1960, a semi auto-biographical novel recounting a search for spiritual truth in Europe and India, established him as one of the finest Indian prose stylist and won him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964.
  •  For the entire body of his work, Rao was awarded the Neustadt International Prize for literature in 1998.
  •  The novel “Kanthapura” (1938) was an account of the impact of Gandhi’s teachings on non-violent resistance against British. 
  •  Rao returned to the theme of ‘Gandhism’ in the short story collection “The Cow of the Barricades (1947). 
  •  In 1998, he published Gandhi’s biography “Great Indian Way: A life of Mahatma Gandhi”.
  •  The Serpent and the Rope dramatized the relation between Indian and western culture. The Serpent in the title refers to ‘illusion’ and the Rope refers to ‘realty’.  
  •  Cat and Shakespeare (1965), was metaphysical comedy that answered philosophical questions posed in the earlier novels. 
  •  For the first time he addressed the question of language and indigenous experience.

Awards

  1.  Padma Bhusan (third highest award)-1969
  2. Padma Vibhusan (second highest award )-2007

Novels of Raja Rao

  1.  Kanthapura (1938)
  2. The Serpent and the Rope (1960)
  3.  The Cat and Shakespeare : A Tale of India (1965)
  4. Comrade Kirillov (1976) –Protagonist: Padmnabha Iyer
  5.  The Chessmaster and His Novels (1988)

Short Stories

  1.  The Cow of the Barricades  
  2. The Policeman and the Rose  
  3. Jovni  
  4. On the Ganga Ghat 

Non-Fictions

  1.  Changing India: An Anthology (1939)
  2.  The Great Indian Way: A life of Mahatma Gandhi (biography- 1998)

Kanthapura (1938)

  • The novel is narrated by Achakka in the form of “Sthalapurana”. Achakka is an old village woman.
  •  Kanthapura is a traditional caste ridden Indian village which is away from all modern ways of living.
  •  The village is believed to have protected by a local deity called “Kenchamma”
  • The protagonist of the novel “Moorthy” is a Brahmin who discovered a half-burried ‘Linga’ from the village and installed it. A temple is built there which became the center point of village life 
  •  Hari-Katha was a traditional form of storytelling practiced in the village.
  •  A man named ‘Jayaramachar’ narrated Hari-Katha based on Gandhi and his ideals.
  • The narrator was arrested because of political propaganda instilled in the story.
  • The novel begins its course of action when Moorthy leaves for the city where he got familiar with Gandhian philosophy through pamphlets and other literatures. 
  •  He followed Gandhian spirit, discarded foreign cloths and fought against untouchability.
  • At the end of the novel, it is mentioned that the people of Kanthapura are settled in Kashipur and Kanthapura was occupied by people from Bombay. 

The Serpent and the Rope (1960)

  •  It is written in the biographical style and it deals with the concepts of existence, reality and fulfillment of one’s capabilities 
  •  The protagonist of the novel, Ramaswamy’s thought process in the novel is said to be influenced by Vedantic philosophy and Adi-Shankara’s non-dualism. 
  •  It won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964.
  •  It is a story for the search of spiritual truth.

The Cat And Shakespeare: A Tale of India (1965)

  •  It is a gentle, almost teasing fable of two friends. The setting is famine of 1942.
  •  Govinda Nair is an astute, down-to-earth philosopher and clerk who tackles the problems of routine living with extra-ordinary common sense and Gusto and whose refreshing and unorthodox conclusions,  continually panic. 
  • Ramkrishna Pai, is Nair’s friends, neighbor and narrator of the story.
  •  This novel brings the live texture of life in Trivandrum.

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