05 November, 2016

#GuestPost :: Many Shades of Indian Literature by Aparna Sinha

About the Author:

Aparna Sinha wrote her first poem when she was seven, which she recited on All India Radio.  Since then, her literary work and industry specific articles have been published in various mediums, including reputed business magazines across Asia.
Equipped with a Master’s in management, when she was forced to quit her lucrative job because of a chronic disease, she focused on her sole passion – writing.



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Many Shades of Indian Literature


Indian literature is vast, colorful, eclectic, and very old, just like our country. Starting as early as 1500 BC from Vedic scriptures, Indian literature has come a long way. It has evolved- from mere song of prasises (hymns) to more concrete description of events in epics such as Mahabharat. It expanded from Sanskrit and other anarchic languages (such as Pali) to 22 regional languages. 

Indian literature is diverse.

From poetic Assamese forms to  intense Tamil Literature, philosophical Urdu and deep Oriya literature to multidimensional Hindi writings- Indian literature includes varied styles of writing and form of expressions.  

Indian literature is inspirational

From Munshi Premchand’s simple rustic story telling style to more progressive ones by Rabindrnath Tagore; be it hard hitting narratives by Mulk Raj Anand, heart touching biographical account of Mahatma Gandhi, theosophical writings of Sri Vivekananda or esoteric style of spiritual writing by Sri Aurobindo- Indian writers have inspired many artist, thinkers and writers across globe.

Indian literature is not Indian

It may sound strange, but writings of authors like Rudyard Kipling say otherwise; his stories from hills to Jungles of India, does  not only speak about Indian culture, but his simplistic writing style and use of vernacular languages make it as Indian as  it can be; other notable writers include: Emerson, Eliot, Hesse etc.

And while we are considering the “non-Indian” part of Indian literature, it would be hard to overlook the foreign languages in which Indian authors have written; the same is predominated by English language. English as way expression gained momentum during British imperialism in early 20th century and for a very long time Indian Diaspora carried the flag of Indian English literature; from authors such as RN Kak, DG Mukerji,  Nirad C Chaudhari to  VS Naipaul, Sulman Rushdie, Jhuma Lahiri, Vikram Seth, -they are all known globally for their contributions in the world of art and literature. But things changed post 2004- yes the year Chetan Bhagat’s first novel ‘Five point someone’ hit the market an became a phenomenon! it also gave rise to new form of writing known as ‘pop fiction’-written in simple language mostly about relationships and struggles of current generations, this form of writing was able to instantly connect with the huge young adult audience of India; new genres of writing emerged and started gaining popularity, prominent one being mythological fiction, spearheaded by Amish Tripathi. 

New publishers and new formats made the books available to larger audience and today new Indian English authors are burgeoning every year and giving a significant boost to the publishing industry; at present, Indian English Literature takes a mammoth, 55% share of total publishing market. 

Indian Literature have changed

Like every other form of art, Indian literature has evolved; while many intellectuals question the degrading quality of Indian literature, today; there is no denying of the fact that book publishing industry is at its best now. Besides literature is solely how the writer wants to represent his/her emotions, an erotica is as much literature as haiku. May be, at times, the number game of book sale overshadows some very good thoughts, but once published the thought is there to stay, to be appreciated and acknowledged. 

The sides have been divided- the ones who read popular fiction and the others who don’t; it is better to have acceptance to all kinds of writing styles. Let us not make ‘book reading’ a religion or a political view and try to impose our habits on other; let us all embrace each readers and promote reading, and in the process encourage the writers who put their heart and soul to tell us a story we have never heard before.  

Literature is very much reflection of the current social structure and will change with it. Yes, Bob Dylan, a musician won the Noble prize for literature, this year. Let us accept all the changes; change is here to stay.


About the Book:


"You have to dethrone a powerful man to become the most powerful. I was itching to defeat the single most powerful person, but there wasn't any. I was left with only one choice — to create one."

Little does Ashwin Jamwal know that the last twenty-five years of his life have been controlled by a master manipulator, who wanted to make him the most powerful man on earth, though for a reason! Ashwin steps up to take oath as the youngest Prime Minister of India and is unknowingly thrown into a vortex of power and authority as the entire world is threatened by a faceless enemy — Hades.
The world starts to look up to Ashwin as the savior, but he was just a pawn, reared only to be sacrificed in the end.
A story of greed, lies, deceptions, manipulations and corruption, Ashvamedha is a thriller revolving around the infamous game of power in a maddening bid to seek absolute control.




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