Samipya 1991 Vol 08 Ank 01 02

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

Page 99

reconciled with the method of the communists. He found in Gandhi the sum-total of all the best elements that the Indian culture had produced. Obviously the spirit of nationalism which gradually evolved in his novels was informed by the integrated approach of deep humanism overiding the limited objectives of political freedom.
According to many Gujarati literary critics Ramanlal's novels lack compact structure. He falls short of a regour of a first-rate fiction writer like K. M. Munshi. That he fails to create right atmostphere through the interaction of his characters to convey the covert meaning implicity in the very structure of the fiction. That he cannot resist a temptation to intervene between the characters and a reader, thereby making his reader conscious about what he as an author wants to convey. Long passages of reflective observations create Rasabhang. It seems that Ramanalal has adapted this style from Goverdhanram Tripathi, a classic Gujarati writer of the late nineteenth century.
Not that Ramanlal was not conscious of his linitations. However, it seems that his very limitations of intruision indirectly created a space in the mind of a reader to come out from the fictional world, and compare it with the world of reality. Thus, by making the meaning explicit Ramanlal seemed to have believed that along with the current historical forces a fictional narrative would help to enlarge reality expanding reader's notions about the Indian culture and society, and of what could be possible. Thus, an ordinary reader who knew the least about the principles of literary criticism could grasp the message surcharged with an enlarged vision that the Gandhian movement created. This perhaps was one of the reasons why Ramanlal became the most popular novelist in the thirties and forties.
Obviously Ramanlal himself being the product of the urban bourgeoise, his plots and central characters reflected the educated decent urban middle class of Gujarat. Also influenced by the Gandhian ideology Ramanlal did not want to give shock to his reader by creating a situation with sharply contrasting characters. On the whole, he was eager to resolve the problems created by his characters. He made his reader more secured in a cosy atmosphere to grasp the message with mild dozes. In a way, his novels reflect the typical pragmatic Gujarati temperament and approach to life. This we seldom find in K. M. Munshi's novels. Munshi over-powers and dazzles his reader: where as Ramanlal entertains as well as educates-he takes his readers into his confidence.
References Desai. Ramanlal Vasantlal, Divya Chakshu, Fifth edition, Second reprint, R. R. Sheth's Company, Bombay, 1959
........, Gram Laxmi, Part-I, Sixth edition, Second reprint, Bombay, 1968 ...., Gräm Laxmi, Part-II, Bombay, 1934
..., Gram Laxmi, Part-III, Fourth edition, second reprint, Bombay, 1968
.., Grām Laxmi, Part-IV, Fifth edition, reprint, Bombay, 1971 .........., Bharelo Agni, Seventh edition, reprint, Bombay, 1967
........., Tej Chitro, Bombay, 1942 Doshi, Hasmukh, and Desai, Ramanlal V.: Vyakti Ane Vaxmaya, Part I & II.
Bombay, 1963
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