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The First World War also had its impact on the writers. It brought them face to
face with actual reality. This impact on Indo-English writers was two-fold. They now
sought to portray a more realistic, idealized and earthly presentation of life in their
works. The writers, under the impact of nationalism sought to portray not only the
national concerns but also the social conditions of their times. The people felt that
nationalism and liberty were prizes worth fighting for.
The struggle for Independence in India was not merely a political struggle but a
pervasive experience that became a part of the life of almost all the sensitive and
enlightened Indians. It is this co-incidence which is responsible for a flowering
maturity of the Indo-English fiction in the thirties during which period the freedom
movement percolated to the very grass-roots of Indian society. Parallel to this
struggle for political freedom was another one on the social plane.lt was a fight
against superstitions, caste system, poverty, illiteracy and many other social ills. No
Indian writer writing in that decade could avoid reflecting this upsurge in his work
Besides this, the visit of Tagore and Nehru to the Soviet land and the formation of
'All India Progress Writer's Association' in the thirties made the writers portray the
Indian peasantry in the hope that social transformation of society could be feasible
only through mobilizing the opinion of the under-privileged classes, the
economically exploited, politically subjugated and socially oppressed Indian people.
Novelists on the pre independence era can be noticed not only by their selection of
themes but also in their presentations (J.D. Gupta). No more attracted by high-
flown, artificial, oratorical style, they now sought to write in a direct and compact
manner, devoid of all superfluities. Mulk Raj Anand , for example, writing out of
sincerity and austerity: Exercised so much influence on Anand that he started
weaving homespun clothes, found himself transformed from a blooms burry
intellectual to a more emphatically, self confident writer and decided writing only
about the poorest of the poor. whom he had known specially and was inspired to
brood on the last always and Gandhi also exhorted devotion to the poor (Gupta
152). Dividing the history of Indo-English literature into five periods, Iyanger
Characterises the period between 1920- 1947 as the era of the Gandhi revolution
and the modem heroic age.
Not that the Indo-English novelist was doing something heroic on selecting a theme
and narrating it against its contemporary social background. Against the
contemporary social background, almost the singular attempt was made by writers
in regional languages of the country as well. Further it was not a sudden and
overnight break from the old tendencies, old themes, and old techniques.
Traditional, sentimental didactic novels continued to exist but the appearance of the
realistic novel with this purpose is what identifies the thirties during which the
IndoEnglish writer like his counter- parts in the regional language soon realized that
his salvation lay not in reproducing the imitative voices of his colonial masters, but
in seeking the strength, fertility of his cultural similarities and social cultural
experience.
Buta Singh is forced by circumstances to play a double game. He knows that the
wave of the future is with the nationalists and encourages his son to take a
nationalist stand. At the same time he is personally loyal to the British, supports
the war and is on good terms with the progressive British Resident Mr. Taylor who
privately believes that the British should leave India after the war.
Butas son Sher Singh, immature, egotistic and neurotic, is caught up in the hectic
atmosphere of violence. He becomes the leader of a gang of young terrorists and
plays about boastfully with a loaded pistol. The play acting goes too far. An old
peasant tries to blackmail Sher Singh, is thrown into jail and is in danger of being
hanged. Taylor orders his release out of pity for his parents. Sher Singh emerges
from jail, a hero of the nationalists. The family is united again when the mother
dies.
Here the author has reviewed khushwant singhs work from societal point of
view. This work focuses on the Khushwant singhs way of presentation of
social ethos and issues in his novels and short stories
Here Author has talk about Indian fictions written pre and post
independence era. Talking about Khushwant singh, author is of the
opinion that Khushwant singh was one of the most impactful writer of
those times. His novels have really whipped the hearts of readers, in
reflecting the post partition situation in Punjab and its rural area.
1.6 Scope of Study
Khushwant Singh was a very versatile writer. His works includes Novels,
Short Stories, columns etc. My work on Khuswant Singhs writings will cover
presentation of social and cultures ethos. For this purpose I will consider his
following writings
1) Train to Pakistan:
Train to Pakistan, originally entitled Mano Majra, is one of the finest realistic
novels of post-World War II of Indian English Fiction. The novel picturises a
village Mano Majra in Punjab and his real experiences after partition in rural
India. The background of Punjabi literature also provides him essential style
and technique for exploration of the experience of rural India.
1) Train to Pakistan
2) I shall not hear Nightingale
3) A History of sikhs
4) The Company of woman
5) The Dark Dancer
6) The riot
1.11 Bibliography
1) Primary Sources
1) Singh, Khushwant: Jupji- The Sikh Morning Prayer. London: Probsthaein, 1954.
3) Singh, Khushwant: I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale, New Delhi: Times Books
International, 1989. First Pub1.1959.
4) Singh, Khushwant: The Sikhs Today: Their Religion, History, Culture, Customs,
and Way of Life. edited by Rahul Singh. Bombay: Orient Longman, 1959.First
publ. 1959.
2) Secondary Sources
1) Allen, G.W.: .et. AI. (ed.) Walt Whitman's Poem. New York: Penguin 1955.
Bates, H.E.: The Modern Short Story. London 1941.
4) Connor, F.G: The Lonely Voice: A Study of Short Story. London: 1963.