Untouchable : a review.

Mulk Raj Anand-- this name I first heard when we were in the University. In context of "The Progressive Writer's Association

( PWA)" movement, the first name that was uttered by our professor was of Anand's.

Yes, after the Paris Conference in 1935, Anand along with other Indian students namely--Sajjad Zaheer, Pramod Ranjan and Md. Din Taseer formed the PWA in London where he was doing his reseaech in Philosophy. The Progressive writers believed that the primary and foremost function of literature was to reflect and express the aspirations and basic problems of the society. This movement also came to India and its first conference was held in Lucknow during April 1936.The conferece was presided over Premchand .The speech Premchand delivered that day was later published as "Sahitya ka udeshya" or "the aim of literature". 'Untouchable was the first novel to present the Dalits' suffering; it did so without pretending there was an easy answer'-- as rightly claimed by Guardian. Untouchable, indeed, chiefly dealt with the ghastly evil of untouchability afflicting the Hindu society of the pre- partition era, in the larger backdrop of the caste- configurations within the Hindu society that have successfully stiffled the healthy growth of a considerable section of Indian communities for centuries.

Anand's Protagonist Bakha is a sweeper. He is a strong and healthy man who performs his duty of cleaning public latrines properly and efficiently. Bakha remains neat and clean though his job is dirty. He is quite smart and ambitious. The plot narrates one whole day of Bakha's life. Towards the end of the story, novelist Anand also suggest some remedies for untouchability.

One quite interesting thing about this book is that its preface was written by E.M. Forster.

Source: google, my textbook.