Today, it is difficult to define a short story for various reasons. A number of writers have used this form of art so it has been experimented with in multiple ways. Its form and contents are beyond imagination. The short story contains all sorts of situations, episodes,and various types of talent. Hence, opinions are sharply divided on thenature and characteristics of the short story. Like all
forms of art, it uses experiences of everyday life to a higher level. The short story, in the hands of a modern master, is a perfect work of art. The modern short story writer is an artist, who is a close observer of life, a keen student of character, and a master of style. Every subject between heaven and earth is now regarded fit for the short story, and it can be told in any manner that may please the artist and his or her readers.
2.4 The Short Story in India
In India, the short story in its earliest form as tales and myths wasquite popular from ancient times. Then during the British rule of India,Indian-English prose writing arose and was first associated with
translations as well as political agitation, social reform, propaganda, law and education. Over time, from this mix arose a new literature of Indians writing in English. Today, Indian-English literature is popular and fashionable in India and Indian writers of English have achieved fame worldwide. These writers have received literary laurels because of their perception, vision, articulation, depth, variety of topics, and their universality of appeal.
Indian writers have successfully experimented with the short story form and narrative techniques. Some well-known writers who have received recognition are R.K.Narayan, Mulk Raj Anand, Rabindranath Tagore, Raia Rao, Manohar Malgonkar, Salman Rushdie, Anita Desai, Arun Joshi, Shashi Deshpande, Ruskin Bond, Shiv K. Kumar, Khwaia Ahmed Abbas, Dina Mehta, Farrukh Dhondy, Ruth P. Jhabvala, Indu Suryanarayan, and Manoi Das. They have all written a large number of stories, and they are known for their depth of perception, the subtle expression of their experiences, their style, variety, and innovativeness
In A History of Indian Literature, Sisir Kumar Das, in describing the short story in India, states:
There are at least three distinct stages in the growth of the short story as a modern form. All these stages are autonomous and self-sufficient but interrelated. (Das 302)
These three stages are anecdotes, tales and fables, and short fiction. The third stage, according to Das, emerged during the nineteenth century with the publication of journals and periodicals. These periodicals led to the development of character sketches and frequency of incidents and ultimately to the short story. Das makes a very apt statement in this regard:The short story distinct from anecdotes, tales, sketches, reportage and novellas came at the last stage of the evolution of narratives. As a form, it shares some features of these four but it developed its own distinctiveness identified by the presence of a conscious narrative, foregrounding a particular incident or a situation, or a moment of emotional intensity. (Das 302)
Since India is a storehouse of tales and parables, when the printing press started, these stories first appeared in printed form with certain modifications. The short story as a literary genre was used in all Indian languages, in particular when mythological, adventurous, and marvellous stories had less appeal and the novel had come into existence. In different regions, the short story was called by various names, such as: Katha, Akhyan, Upakhyan, Afsana, and Dastan. Short stories appealed to both children and adults. The Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, the Panchatantra and Hitopadesha, and Jatak Kathas became a storehouses of tales that provided material to the writers. Mr. Rama Rao refers to India’s literary history and its influence on the short story in modern Indian literature thus: We have had in India stories which lie embedded in hymns of the RigVeda or scattered in the upm’shad and the epics, thestories which constitute panchtantra, Hitopdesha,Dashkumarcharitra, The Buddhist jatak Kathas in Pali and a host of similar stories in modern Indian languages. (Rao 216)
Indian prose writing is as old as humanity itself, while the English short story form is only about two hundred years old. Indian writers in English have been using almost all major forms of literature, but the short story has received a great deal of practitioners.
As in the United States, Indian short story writers chose their form of art because through this medium, they could explore India’s multi- faceted aspects of life, and through journals and publicity, a widespread audience could be reached. The common man played a vital role in the development of the modern short story because common men and their lives and problems became the focus of attention in a short story. Hence, the short story as a means of portraying everyday life and its affairs became very popular.
The short story portrays the common man with all his problems so that the themes wereuniversal. The short story, therefore, acted as a balance between historical novels and novels dealing with social problems by identifying a new zone of experience. The short story was closer to the novel in its early stages, but after some time, it more closely resembled the lyric in its compactness of form and unity of emotion while presenting life in amodernized way.The first Indian to give theshort story this modern look was Fakir Mohan Senapati in his short story ‘Lachamania'(1868). Because the common reader relished a complete story in one instalment, instead of a serialized novel, short stories were frequentlypublished in journals and periodicals. Thus in India also, the journalsand periodicals played a crucial role in making the short story quitepopular.
Soshee Chandra Dutt in London published the earliest collection ofIndian short stories entitled Realities of Indian Life: Stories Collectedfrom Criminal Reports of India (1885). In the same year, Dutt andSourindra Mohan Tagore published together The Times of Yore, orTales from Indian History. Soon after, P.V Ramaswami Raiu presentedtwo collections The Tales of the Sixty Mandarins (1886) and IndianFables (1887), from London. In the nineteenth century, two morewriters of anthologies came upon the scene, namely, KshetrapalChakravarti who published Sarala and Hingara: Tales Descriptive ofIndian Life (Kolkata, 1895) and Samuel and Kamala Satthianadhan,who published Stories of Indian Christian Life (Madras, 1898). BR.Raiam Aiyer’s stories appeared in the Prabuddha Bharata during 1896-1898, and then were published in the anthology Rambles in Vedanta(1905)
Despite these collections, not many short stories appeared before thebeginning of the twentieth century. Cornelia Sorabii, who was anadvocate in Kolkata, was the first Indian short story writer withimpressive work to her credit. She produced four short storycollections: Love and Life behind the Purdah (1901), Sun-babies:Studies in the child-life of India (1904).
Other significant short story anthologies of the period were S.M.Natesa Sastri’s Indian Folk Tales (1908), Dwiiendra Nath Neogi’sSacred Tales of India (1916), A. Madhavia’s Short Stories, written
under the pseudonym Kushika (1916), and Maharanee Sunity Devee’sBengal Dacoits and Tigers (1916), The Beautiful Mughal Princess(1918)Most of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century short storiesof India resemble folktales, legends, and parables. They are simple intheir art, tending to be anecdotes, sentimental, and didactic. TheWestern short story considerably influenced Indian writers during thistime with several European writers becoming known to Indian readersthrough translations. The early Indian writer faced several seriousobstacles so far as his creative art in English was concerned. He had toadapt the English language to his needs and motives to portrayeffectively contemporary India to his readers, so less effort was made toexperiment with technique. Early Indian short story writers were not asconcerned with the individual and his personal problems; instead,characters tended to be types rather than individuals, oftenrepresenting the different social classes. English education wasbecoming popular and Western writers set a model for portrayingsocial scenes effectively.
The publication of periodicals also helpedIndian writers to develop their prose style.After 1920, the Indian short story in English reached its zenith. Atthis time, Shanker Ram wrote his short story collections The Childrenof Kaueri (1926) and Creatures All (1933). His later stories present therural life of India. He uses literal translations of rustic utterances like’Barrel Nose Grandpa.’ He presents the superstitions, the castesystem, the poverty, and other rural problems of India during his era.
Social reform was one of the major concerns of writers at this time,called the Gandhian Era when Gandhi was promoting freedom forIndia from British rule. During this period, A.S.P. Ayer’s Sense in Sex and Other Stories (1932), K.S. Venkataramani’s jatadharan (1937),and K. Nagarajan’s Cold Rice (1945), among many other short stories,deal with social reforms in society. Writers during this time often seemambivalent in their attitude to the tension resulting from the conflictbetween traditionalism
and modernity.
At the same time, they highlighted the ancient Indian values of service, sacrifice, non-attachment,and dedication to a moral cause.During this period, the Indian creative mind became critical aboutIndian traditions and some short story writers started to assert theIndian ethos in their works. S. K. Chettur throws light on rural superstitions, feuds, and the concept of the supernatural in his short storycollections The Cobras of Dhermashei and other stories (1937) andThe Spell of Aphorize and other stories (1957).
The most famous writers of this period, Mulk Raj Anand, RajaRao, and R.K. Narayan, depicted the cultural clash, which wasprevalent, and it was closely examined in their creative works.Anand’s collections are The Lost Child and other stories (1934),The Barber’s Trade Union and other stories (1944), Reflections on theGolden Bed and other stories (1947), The Power of Darkness andother stories (1959), Lajwanti and other stories (1966) and BetweenTears and Laughter (1973). Anand employs a variety of narrativemodes. His stories reveal various moods, persons, social surroundings,
and colours of life. Even his style varies remarkably; his stories are likefables, parables, and folktales. The stories also reflect Anand’sreformative zeal and his psychological inquiry. Anand’s stories attack
the hypocrisy of the people. He sympathizes with the lower classes insociety and shows their lot, due to social injustice and the strongprejudices exhibited by the privileged communities. He satirizes the
irrational and often inhuman customs of the feudal society. He alsoattacks evils like child marriage, patriarchy, untouchability, lack ofsanitation, and cruelty in society.
R. K. Narayan’s collections include Dodu and other stories (1943),Malgudi Days (1943), An Astrologer’s Day and other stories (1947),Lawley Road and other stories (1956), and A Horse and Two Goats(1970). Narayan presents reality in a lighter vein. His stories endhappily. He comically reveals the truths of life, yet he does not allow cynicism or mockery to enter the world of his creations.
He reveals theironies of life impressively.Raia Rao depicts philosophically the Indian reality with its focus onthe social and political aspects of life. He makes profound use offolktales, myths, and legends. He has a profound vision of life and isdeeply rooted in his Indianness. Rao’s stories are highly symbolic andphilosophical. Among his best works are Kanthapura (1938), The Cowof the Barricades and Other Stories (1947), The Serpent and the Rope(1960), The Cat and Shakespeare: A Tale of India (1965), ComradeKirillou (1976), The Policeman and the Rose: Stories (1978), TheChessmaster and His Moves (1988), and On the Ganga Ghat (1989).Manieri Isweren (often spelled as Isvaran in English) is an enjoyableshort story writer with nine collections to his credit, includingRickshawallah (1946) and Painted Tigers (1956). His focus is thelower and middle class people in south India in general and TamilNadu in particular. He writes about war, the Indian struggle forfreedom, the innocence of children, the problems of women, and socialevils. Isweren’s depiction of women is commendable. He shows howfamilies come under the influence of traditionalism and modernity and
the consequences relating to this situation.After India achieved independence, the vision and perception ofmany writers changed because now they were facing a new situation.Making a new India was the main concern of all. Hence dreams,promises, and plans for a better India form the major theme of manyshort stories and other works of literature at this time.
Among the later twentieth century Indian short story writers isKhushvant Singh, whose four short story collections are The Mark ofVishnu and Other Stories (1950), The Voice of God and Other Stories
(1957), A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories (1967), and Blackjasmine (1971). He too attacks hypocrisy.
R. P. Jhabvala, a daughter ofPolish parents, was born in Germany and educated in England.Because she was married to an Indian, she lived in India for more thantwo decades; apart from eight novels, she published the short storycollections Like Birds, Like Fishes, An Experience of India (1966), AStronger Climate (1968), and How I Became a Holy Mother (1976).She keenly observes Indian life and its social mannerisms.
Today, Ruskin Bond and Manoi Das are the prominentcontemporary Indian short story writers in English. Ruskin Bond hasbrought out a number of collections of short stories, including My First
Love and other stories (1968). Manoi Das has written The Crocodile’sLady: a Collection of Stories (1975) and A Little Night Music (2004).Many more names can be added to prepare a bibliography of shortstory writers of modern India. These authors write aboutcontemporary life in India and about Indians living abroad.
In 1966, Mulk Raj Anand commented on the significance of theshort story genre during this time in these words:
‘And when the history of Indian culture comes to be writtenin the next century, it may appear that the inmost longings,thwarting of the many peoples of our country, as expressed inthe short-stories, are more authentic evidence of the life of ourtime than the slogan of politics and the very obvious outerEvents’ (Anand 132)
However, the Indian English short story, despite the flexibility of itsform and its publication opportunities, has failed to achieve its ownidentity. A.N. Dwivedi aptly says that the critics have treated itcasually (Jain 124). Although a powerful and distinct form, today, theshort story remains often considered as a by-product of the novel.
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