Indian Writing In English Syllabus

B.A. ENGLISH – I YEAR 

DJE1A : INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH SYLLABUS ( Core 2) 

UNIT I – PROSE

M.K. Gandhi – Voluntary Poverty

• Themes: Simplicity, self-restraint, ethical living.

• Focus: Gandhian philosophy on renunciation and how poverty can be a moral choice.

V.S. Srinivasa Sastri – The Joy of Freedom

• Themes: Nationalism, pride in independence, post-colonial hope.

• Focus: Emotional and political celebration of freedom from British rule.

S. Radhakrishnan – An Idea Before the Youth

• Themes: Responsibility of youth, national duty, education.

• Focus: Idealism vs. pragmatism in shaping India’s future.

Mulk Raj Anand – The Barber’s Trade Union

• Themes: Caste, social change, dignity of labor.

• Focus: Upliftment of marginalized communities.

Swami Vivekananda – Work and its Secret

• Themes: Karma Yoga, discipline, selflessness.

• Focus: The spiritual and practical meaning of work.

UNIT II – POETRY

Nissim Ezekiel – Enterprise

• Journey from idealism to disillusionment.

• Allegory of national struggle or personal growth.

R. Parthasarathy – Exile

• Sense of loss and dislocation.

• Diaspora identity, longing for home.

Rabindranath Tagore – Where the Mind is Without Fear

• Vision for a free, enlightened India.

• Prayer for moral courage and knowledge.

A.K. Ramanujan – History

• Personal vs. political past.

• Multilayered memory and identity.

Gieve Patel – Servants

• Class division, hierarchy.

• Irony and subtle social commentary.

UNIT III – DRAMA

Mahesh Dattani – Where There’s a Will

• A critique of patriarchal values, hypocrisy, family dynamics.

• Modern Indian middle-class family, inheritance, and identity issues.

UNIT IV – Fiction

R.K. Narayan – Swami and Friends

• Coming-of-age story, childhood in colonial India.

• Blend of humor, simplicity, and critique of British education and values.

UNIT V – SHORT STORIES

 Raja Rao – The Cow of the Barricades

• Allegory of nonviolence and sacrifice.

• Cow as a symbol of resistance and unity.

 Rabindranath Tagore – A Snake in the Grass

• Irony, fear, and human behavior.

• Exposure of hypocrisy.

Arun Joshi – The Homecoming

• Alienation, return, loss of identity.

• A man’s psychological disconnection.

Gopi Gauba – Green Parrots in a Cage

• Political imprisonment, psychological confinement.

• Symbol of lost freedom.

Tagore – Babus of Nayanjore

• Irony and satire on aristocracy.

• Mocking of outdated pride and decaying nobility.

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