Samipya 1991 Vol 08 Ank 01 02

Author(s): Pravinchandra C Parikh, Bhartiben Shelat
Publisher: Bholabhai Jeshingbhai Adhyayan Sanshodhan Vidyabhavan

Page 93

National Consciousness and Its Literary Expression: The Case of Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai
R. L. Raval*
Nationalist movement under the leadership of Gandhi generated new momentum in Gujarat, Gandhi's novel approach to tackle the socio-political and economic problems of India based on non-violence had fired the imagination of new generation in the twenties and thirties. A few Gujarati poets and fiction writers captured the spirit of his message through their peoms and novels. This paper is an attempt to understand the spirit of nationalism as it was reflected in some of the novels of Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai, a noted Gujarati writer of the Gandhian era.
Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai (1892-1954), a Nagar by caste, held the M. A. degree from the Bombay University (1916). His father, Vasantlal, hailing from Kalol, a town in the Panch Mahal district, was an editor of a monthly, Deshbhakta, in the city of Baroda. He was agnostic. Ramanlal's mother, Maniben, was an orthodox Vaishnav lady. Ramanlal inherited some of the traits from his parents. His ambition was to become a college teacher. But on account of his failure to get a class he had to join the service of the Baroda state. He worked in different capacities in the government departments. He extensively toured the villages coming under his jurisdiction, and thus gained the first-hand knowledge about the problems of the rural life. Most unassuming and highly cultured Ramanlal was associated with the cultural and literary activities of Gujarat. He authored about seventy-seven works including forty-two novels and short-stories.
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It is with this background that we propose to discuss the contribution of Ramanalal's three novels, namely, Divya Chakshu (1932), Gram Laxmi (in four parts, published in 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1937 respectively) and Bharelo Agni (1935), in generating and popularizing the ideas of national consciousness in Gujarat. These novels also reflect his own ideas about the Gandhian phase of the Indian freedom struggle.
The central characters of his two novels, Divya Chakshu and Gram Laxmi, are cast in the image of the Gandhian workers who after getting university education
Prof. & Head, Department of History, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad
National Consciousness and its Literary Expression:]
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