RECASTING INDIAN ENGLISH FICTION IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY

IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal RECASTING INDIAN ENGLISH FICTION IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY DR. ARTI NIRMAL Assistant Professor, Department of English, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-5 ABSTRACT The paper is an attempt to trace the emerging trends in the Indian English fiction, particularly novels in the twenty first century. Literature of the present century is very different from the previous one as it has new issues and challenges to address. In fact, the very concept of culture as well as literature has undergone enormous change over the years and with these changing paradigms, the authors too are experimenting profusely with themes, styles and techniques of writing in order to properly and effectively communicate the new sensibilities of contemporary time. History, myth, science, technology, ecology, environment, gender, politicsall are being told and re-told from myriad perspectives. Innovative forms and techniques are coming into being such as graphic novels, Chick-lit, Science fiction, disability novels, pulp fiction, ecological fiction, gerontological fiction, gay/lesbian novels and various others to capture all the possible aspects of human life and society. Key words: Graphic Novels, Chick-Lit, Disability Novels, Pulp Fiction, Ecological Fiction, Gerontological Fiction Introduction Sahitasysabhavah sahityam 1 implies that a good literature is one that cares for the interest of all. In Ramcharitmanas, Goswami Tulasidas too writes- kirati bhanit bhuti bhali soyi, sursari sam sab kah hit hoyi to mean that the best literary creation is that which like the holy river Ganges seeks to benefit all.2 It indicates that literature and society, literary aesthetics and humanity are integrally associated with each other. Hence, with the change of society not only the literature changes to adept with the change but it also defines the present and shapes the future in the larger interest of humanity. Indian society has always been dynamic and so is the literature taking birth in its soil. From ancient time to present day, pre industrial to postindustrial, pre independence to post independence, pre colonial to postcolonial, pre modern to 1 2 सहितस्यभावः साहित्यम कीरतत भतितत भतू त भलि सोई। सरु सरर सम सब किँ हित िोई॥5II Bal Kand. Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 1 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal postmodern, and provincialism to globalization, Indian society has undergone a sea change. Literature produced in different ages at different stages of time has remarkably captured its socio-political and cultural ethos from time to time. As a new kind of world is emerging ‘with the development of a new set of cultural and technological protocols for the organization of space and time’ (Boxall 8), it becomes instructive to study the ways in which Indian society has changed so far and the cultural as well as literary trends that have emerged with the dawn of twenty first century. In consonance with the characteristics of contemporary Indian society redefined by scientific and technological advances, impact of media and information technology, digital revolution and consumerism, the writers of present generation look for new contents, themes, forms, style, and techniques for offering a faithful picture of the society they live in. Various experiments and innovations are being done today in the writing of Indian fiction in the form of graphic novels, science fiction, chick literature, gerontological fiction, hypertext, diaspora literature and others. Their approaches offer a challenge to our sedimented methodologies for studying the Indian novel, especially as the forms of novels grew and proliferate in the twenty first century (Anjaria 20). Inspired and motivated by the rich literary tradition and legacy of India, the authors of the new millennium exhibit profound creative exuberance and exquisite aesthetic sense along with the linguistic accomplishment. They have new dreams, demands, issues and challenges which seeks expression in the form of creative writing. The need for experimentation and innovation was also realized to enable Indian English novels emerge as a powerful tool of social change and human development. The writings of Krishna Baldev Vaid, Dilip Chitre, Khushwant Singh, Mahasweta Devi, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Shashi Tharoor, Khushwant Singh, Sudha Murthy, Arundhati Roy, Manju Kapur, Anita Nair, Aravind Adiga, Gita Hariharan, Deepa Mehta, Kiran Desai, Shiv K. Kumar, Tabish Khair, Pankaj Mishra, Amit Chaudhari, Amish Tripathi, Chetan Bhagat, Karan Mahajan, Samina Ali, Uday Prakash, Ashok Banker, Raj Kamal Jha, Aniruddha Bahal, Tarun Tejpal, Amruta Patil, Jeet Thayil, Vishwajyoti Ghosh, Vikas Swarup, Mukul Kesvan, Padma Vishwanathan, Hari Kunzru, Indira Sinha, Amita Ghosh, Rahul Bhattacharya, Kunal Basu, Cyrus Mistry, Sowmya Rajendra, Shahnaz Bashir, and many others tried to infuse fresh breeze in the literary environment of India. The desire to break away from the colonial literature was paramount in these authors in one way or the other which appears in their preference for employing the techniques of hybrid language, magic realism with native themes. In 1980s and 90s, one can notice that the Indian literary scene was dominated by Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Rohinton Mistry, Vikram Chandra and the like who bagged international recognition for Indian fiction. Their writings registered an unprecedented impact on the writers of next generation who changed the paradigm of fiction writing in India through unprecedented experiments and innovations in theme, style and technique. These novelists preferred to adapt their writing more in tune with the changing time and contemporary issues and therefore chart a range of new themes and techniques in view of market, globalization, urbanity, new realism, gender issues, religion and technology. These efforts prove that Indian English fiction has come a long way in its journey and evolved and matured significantly over the years. The new century is not exception in the authors preference to write in English but the level of maturity in handling it with distinctness and proficiency shows that it is no more a mere Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 2 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal borrowed language for them. “The sense of English as a “foreign” language on one hand and a cosmopolitan one on the other have largely dissolved” (Anjaria 13). Within the English language too, Indian English has secured its own unique texture in the recent years. Earlier, postcolonial fiction incorporated italicized words if it was from Indian language culture but in the writings produced after the year 2000, there is a use of Indian English spoken in contemporary India which also includes regional terms and phrases without italics and annotation. Thus, our English today is unquestionably one of ‘the Indian languages with perceptible resonance of the spirit of Indianness, and its history in India may be called a history of shift from linguistic imperialism to linguistic globalization’ (Singh 2013: 4). The postcolonial narratives expressed in some of the novels of previous generation authors built grand narratives of their time. Rushdie, Tharoor, and Ghosh tried to represent India in a wider frame addressing the then socio-political and cultural realities of India, whereas the authors of the new generation seem to dislodge the postcolonial version of their predecessors as they feel that the rushdian model was in a way supplementing to the demands of the West. A decolonial attitude is visible in the authors of present time who tend to expose the subtle strategies of the West that gained them an imperial position. They prefer to engage with the mundane, the ordinariness of the Indian life to explore immediate, regional and cultural spaces. Padma Vishwanathan’s novel The Toss of a Lemon (2008) best exemplifies it with the depiction of a single Tamil Brahmin family’s confrontation with the issues of caste, religion and gender against the backdrop of Tamil Nadu. Translation of existing texts is another remarkable way to expand the horizon of knowledge. Fiction written in the regional languages and its translation done in good number also enriches the Indian English fiction in multiple ways. For example, the translation of the works of Munshi Premchandra, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Subramania Bharathi, Vijay Tendulkar, Vasudevan Nair and many other notable authors are available now in English so that it may be read by the people worldwide. Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai’s Chemmeen, Kesava Reddy’s He Conquered the Jungle, Sundara Ramasamy’s Tale of a Tamarind, U.R. Anantha Murthy’s Samsakara, Mahashweta Devi’s Draupadi are few praiseworthy English translations. One major recent development of this time is the birth of Graphic novels which offer great visual feast to the readers with added literary sensibility. They are thrilling and impressive with immense potential to subtly handle the serious as well as comic meticulously through painting, drawing and cartoon. Amruta Patil’s well received graphic novel Kari (2008) is about two close friends who jumped off their apartment building, one being saved and other falling into a sewer. Kari, who fell into to sewer, fights against suicidal thoughts and suffers internal turmoil throughout her life. Likewise, Vishwajyoti Ghosh’s Delhi Calm (2010) shows a dystopian world where the rights of people have become suspended by the forces of State. Such novels draw much from Indian mythology and political history and narrate through visual mediums and illustrations. Hush (2011) by Prateek Thomas, Vivek Thomas and Rajiv Eipe is one of the most experimental and impressive graphic novels produced so far in India. This silently communicating novel has no words but through moving graphic illustrations using ink and water color the misery of a victim of child sex abuse has been effectively conveyed. Suhas Sundar and Deepak Sharma’s Odayam (2014) set against the backdrop of feudal Kerala, Abhijeet Kini’s Angry Maushi (2011), set in Maharastra on Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 3 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal people’s rights and fight against corruption and malpractices, and Sarnath Banerjee’s Corridor (2004) dealing with the urban cities of India are few more examples of this genre of fiction. Malik Sajad’s Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir (2015) and Nasser Ahmed and Saurabh Singh’s Kashmir Pending (2007) talk about Kashmir from multiple perspectives including militancy, terrorism and violence. Visuals are an important part of another graphic novel Moonward (2009) by Appupen which poignantly suggests dark humour. There are several ‘silent’ pages in this book that resonate a dystopic tone. With the growing impact of technology in our lives, there is tremendous scope for science fiction and fantasy fiction in India. ‘Pulp fiction, characterized by fantasy, science fiction, military, suspense and thriller has a market of its own, and therefore, a good business is done by such works in present time. Payal Dhar’s science fiction trilogy- A Shadow on Eternity (2006), The Key to Chaos (2007), and The Timeless Land (2009); Samit Basu’s Turbulence (2012), The Simoqin Prophecies (2004), and Resistance (2013) are brilliant and innovative domestic science fiction. Chetan Bhagat’s Girl in Room 105 (2008)- a mystery thriller, Shatrujeet Nath’s The Guardians of the Halahala (2014)- fantasy fiction based on ‘Samudra – Manthan’, Shweta Taneja’s Cult of Chaos (2015)- based on Hindu Tantrism, Sami Ahmad Khan’s Aliens in Delhi (2017) - on Laden’s assassination and India’s first moon landing, Priya S. Chabria’s Generation 14 (2008)- about political satire via on cloning, Shiv Ramdas’s Domechild (2013)- a dystopian sci-fi novel in which humans may also be drones, and Indrapramit Das’s The Devourers (2015) are few noteworthy attempts to address contemporary realities through fantasy and science fiction. Another subgenre of this kind is ‘crime fiction’ best exemplified by Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games (2007), K. Srilata’s Table of Four (2009), Vish Puri’s The Case of the Missing Servant (2010), Ashok Banker’s Blood Red Sari (2010), Aruna Gill’s The Indus Intercept (2012), Ashwin Sanghi’s The Krishna Key (2012)- an anthropological thriller, and none the less Swati Kaushal’s Drop Dead (2012). Authors have also tried to offer an account of contemporary geopolitics, fight against terrorism, insurgency in Kashmir, Pakistan and militancy in Afghanistan. For example Gita Hariharan’s Fugitive Histories (2009), Neel Kamal Puri’s Remember to Forget (2012)- on the memories of Khalistan movement, Shashie Warrier’s The Homecoming (2008)-on the impact of insurgency in Kashmir, Omair Ahmad’s Jimmy the Terrorist (2010)- opens a window to the psyche of a terrorist, Mukul Deva’s The Dust Will Never Settle (2012)-based on terrorist strike in Jerusalem, Arvind Nayar’s Operation Karakoram (2005)- an espionage novel on Indo-Pak diplomatic relation, Peggy Mohan’s The Youngest Suspect (2012)- on Godhra Massacre and so on. Likewise, another new genre which has gained currency in this duration is that of novels in digital form-hypertexts. Revolution in the field of internet and world wide web has played an unprecedented role in the birth of these technology based texts. Alongwith the mode of writing and publication, readers space has also undergone tremendous change. Books are being preferred to be read as PDF and Kindle which are digitally created and preserved forms. Fiction despite being fictional depicts reality. Social realism has always been a driving force behind writing novels since the time of Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R.K. Narayan to Rushdie and Ghosh. The Indian authors throughout the 20th century could be seen engaging inevitably with the presentation of social, economic, political and cultural reality of India in Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 4 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal one or another manner through befitting devices in the form of social realism or magical realism. But, the choice of contemporary novelists is new urban realism which gives preference to local and regional realities. They are interested in depicting the lives of regional locations such as Hyderabad, Varanasi or Patna rather than cities which have metropolitan character. Urbanity of these cities is presented through the themes of violence, corruption, crime, hypocrisy, stereotypes, power politics, caste, gender and communal biases. Politics governed violence and religious fundamentalism also features well in many writings of this age. The new urban realism can be seen in Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games (2006) which shows how violence has become a part of everyday life in urban India besides Vikas Swarup’s Q & A (2005) on which film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was made in 2008. Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger (2008) and Selection Day (2016) express a dystopic vision of Indian society and urban life with a pair of cricket-playing brother in a Mumbai slum respectively. Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017) Karan Mahajan’s Family Planning (2009) and the Associations of Small Bombs (2016) are few other notable examples of this kind. Communal fanaticism is another major cause of social unrest. Violence in the name of religion may sometime yield traumatic experience. Its impact on women has been movingly depicted in many novels of this time. The narratives have faithfully captured the Shah Bano case of Gujarat or the traumatic impact of partition of the Indian subcontinent. Shashi Tharoor’s Riot (2001), Raj Kamal Jha’s Fireproof (2006), Amandeep Sandhu’s Roll of Honour (2012) and Jaspreet Singh’s Helium (2013) are penetrating fictional reconstruction of communal violence in India. Revival of past or remote history could be seen in the mythological Indian fiction. Resurgence of myth and legends is one poignant feature of the 21st century Indian novels. To quote India Today, “Indian publishing is awash in a tide of inventive mythological literature” (Sattar 2017). ‘Ashok Banker's groundbreaking seven-volume Ramayana and his more recent writings from the Krishna cycle of stories, Amish Tripathi's chart-busting Shiva trilogy and the success of the first book in his Ramayana series, Devdutt Patnaik's innumerable bestselling books on Indian myth and his newspaper columns, Anand Neelakantan's passionate partisanship of the so-called villains from the epics, Kavita Kane's and Anuja Chandramouli's excavation of the minor women characters from myth and epic, Amruta Patil's exquisite and subversive graphic texts that reach deep into the Mahabharata and the Puranas, Samhita Arni's delightfully dystopian The Missing Queen, which takes the end of the Ramayana as we know it further.... These are but a handful of writers and books who are busily rewriting, rethinking and re-visioning, through words and pictures, the stories our grandmothers told us or that we encountered in our beloved Amar Chitra Katha’ (Sattar, India Today, 2017). The use of myth and history transform the works of fantasy to the writings of serious and higher order. Jaal (2011) by Sangeeta Bahadur and Govinda (2012) by Krishna Udayshankar are few recent authors of this mode. The reason behind the popularity of mythological novels is global and material factors governing both the authors as well as the society. Myths are the most fulfilling form of storytelling: they serve to document events; explain the unexplainable; to operate as manuals for morality (Singh 2019). ‘Against a de territorialized globalism, since 2000 a number of Indian novelists have been exploring an aesthetic that melds the theme of globalization with a deep attention of place, Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 5 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal and the ways in which history-ancient and modern –continues to extent itself in the contemporary moment. Amitav Ghosh’s Ibis Trilogy contains an ‘idea of globality’ (Singh, 2016: 12). In River of Smoke (2011) and Flood of Fire (2015)- Ghosh transports his characters to new lands in China. While discussing globalization, one may refer also to the tradition of diasporic novels by Indian authors such as Bharati Mukherjee, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Jhumpa Lahiri, Kiran Desai and others who express Indian sensibility from locations abroad. Indians settled in countries outside form a rich diaspora community whose experiences and aspirations are continuously being expressed in the narratives produced by these authors. Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake (2003), Divakaruni’s The Vine of Desire (2002) and Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss (2006) take Indian immigrant fiction to global height. The writers have played a remarkable role in the theorization of Indian feminism with its distinct focus on the marginalization, subordination, and empowerment of women in different walks of Indian life. The novels written during the last twenty years meticulously contextualize gender related issues and articulate them keeping in view the Indian scenario. The concept of femininity and definition of women’s role in our society has also gradually changed. It is not to say that gender discrimination has been completely eliminated but a consciousness about women’s rights and a need to their dignified status has found a room in the psyche of people. Women authors and activists have made unprecedented efforts to redefine their identity and position besides addressing pain, pleasure, dreams, aspirations, sufferings, challenges and marginalization. The traditional moral values are under critical examination particularly the changing concept of women’s role and marriage in these novels. Addressing a wide range of feminist issues, these novelists talk both about the predicament as well as the empowerment. Confident, self reliant, and progressive women could be seen in the fictional narratives of Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe (2001), Manju Kapur’s A Married Woman (2002), Home (2006), and A Scandalous Secret (2011), Namita Gokhale’s Priya in Incredible Indyaa (2011), Simran Singh’s Origin of Love (2012)- on surrogacy, Meher Pestonji’s Parvez (2003), Chitra Divakaruni’s The Pallace of Illusions (2008)- re telling ‘The Mahabharat’ from woman’s perspective and Oleander Girl (2012), Namita Devidayal’s Afterside (2010), Sunetra Gupta’s So Good in Black (2009)-exploreing the market of ethical imperialism, Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017)- on the displaced people of Godhra massacre and Kashmir insurgency, and others. Samina Ali’s Madras on Rainy Days (2004) documents the isolation of women in the contemporary Indian Muslim community. It centers on ‘Triple Talaq’, arranged marriage etc. Gita Hariharan’s In Time of Seize (2013), Manju Kapur’s A Married Woman (2013), and Sandip Roy’s Don’t Let Him Know (2015) reflect on the growing discourse of LGBTQ. The Half Mother (2014) by Shahnaz Bashir talks about one woman’s battle for life, dignity and justice set in Kashmir whereas Sudha Murthy’s Three Thousand Stitches (2015) explores the lives of Devdasis. Mahasweta Devi is yet another towering personality among Indian fiction writers. Her prolific yet thought provoking novels continue to appeal the hearts of the readers both in late 20th century as well as early 21st century addressing the marginalized status of dalits, women and tribal communities. After Kurukshetra (2005), Outcast (2002), Till Death Do Us Part (2001), Agnigarbh (2008) are some of the recent fictional works from the pen of this highly sensible and socially concerned novelist. Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 6 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal Ismat Chughtai’s Lihaaf (1942), the oft quoted first lesbian text in India, evoked huge uproar among people for its articulation on female sexual desires because speaking or writing on sexuality or queer or transgender was a social taboo those days. Vijay Tendulkar’s play A Friend’s Story published in 1980s was another audacious attempt in this direction. A gradual yet striking change may be identified in Indian society in this regard with certain reservations. Talking about female sexuality or LGBTQ is still not easy despite legal verdict on homosexuality. In such a scenario, female novelists namely Arundhati Roy, Shobha De, Amruta Patil, and Manju Kapur give uninhibited and candid expression to their take on the subject. Neel Mukherjee’s A Life Apart (2008), Hoshang Merchant’s The Man Who Would Be Queen (2011), Kunal Mukherjee’s My Magical Palace (2012), Rahul Mehta’s Quarantine (2011), Mahesh Natrajan’s Pink Sheep (2010), R. Raj Rao’s The Boyfriend (2003) and Hostel Room 131 (2010), Abha Dawesar’s Babyji (2005)-a lesbian tale of a brahmin girl, Bindumadhav Kire’s Partner (2005), Indradhanus (2009) and Antarang (2013) are some of the noteworthy attempts. India’s well known mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik added a new angle to the queer story in his book The Pregnant King (2008). ‘Through uncommon tales from Indian mythology, he underlines the fact that homosexuality was no crime in ancient Indian culture’ (Chanda Vaz). In an impressive anthology by Ruth Vanita and Saleem Kidwai’s Same Sex Love in India: Reading in Indian Literature the literary history of gay writing in India from ancient Hindu epics to contemporary works has been meticulously chronicled. Concern for differently abled people is another important feature of contemporary Indian novels. This concern gave birth to a new form of creative writing- ‘disability studies’. This branch of critical inquiry takes into account the previously ignored subjects related to physical or mental impairment. In this inventive area, emphasis has been made to enable people to develop a humanitarian attitude towards people with disability. Though the initial practice of writing such novels in English could be seen in Anita Desai’s Clear Light of the Day (1980), Rohinton Mistry’s Family Matters (1989), and Firdaus Kanga such as Trying to Grow (1991), yet the novels of Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People (2007), Sowmya Rajendra’s Wings to Fly (2015), Kanna Panna (2015) by Jai Whitakar, and Pramila Balasundaram’s Sunny’s Story (2016), offer recent trends and concerns in the field of disability studies through their writings. Firdaus Kanga’s novel Trying to Grow (1991), though precursor of its kind, is a story of a young man Daryus Kotwal born with the disease Osteogenesis imperfect. Set in the Parsi community in Bombay, the young protagonist of the novels fails to grow beyond four feet. He is called Brit because of his brittle bones but his name signifies much more than this. He defies the fond memories of British regime and all that is (Brit)ish. Indra Sinha’s narrator in Animal’s People (2007) is a 19-year old orphan victim of 1984 Bhopal disaster in which he “reveals not a paradise but a blighted city” (Mishan 2008) and “carves out his territory with a vengeance” (Hales 2013). His spine is twisted and is bound to walk on four limbs. People refers to him as mere animal but he rejects any sympathy offered to him and dares to live life without any feeling of being disabled. Interestingly, it is not merely about the disability or struggle against it by the protagonist, instead, it is a strong attack on westernization and western materialism which objectifies everything. The novel concludes with a thought provoking question on who is animal in real terms? And thus, ruminates seriously on the question of human identity and existence in the irresponsible material govern world. Hari Kunzru’s novel Gods Without Men (2011) is another authentic study of an autistic child. Mental disorder is one poignant aspect of inefficiency in the victims and this Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 7 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal has been sensibly handled by Pramila Balasundaram in Sunny’s Story (2005) and Jerry Pinto’s debut Em and the Big Hoom (2012). Pinto’s novel details the life and challenges faced by a mentally retarded mother and intelligent father whose child feels perplexed to comprehend his own life. Chick literature or Chick-lit is also a popular form of fiction in present time largely written for and marketed to young women in twenties and thirties. It “consists of heroine- centered narratives that focus on the trials and tribulations of their individual protagonists” (Smith 2008). Rajashree’s Trust Me (2006), Swati Kaushal’s Piece of Cake (2004) may be seen in the context of regional forms of chick lit. The Zoya Factor (2008) by Anuja Chauhan is another example of this form of novel which attained much success and popularity. Trust Me is set in the Bombay film industry and makes ample use of ‘masala’ Bollywood movies. It is a comic story dealing with love, friendship and break up. The book caters well to the interest of the teenagers and young girls and boys as one can imagine that it sold 25,000 copies in the first month after its release. Similarly, semi autobiographical novel The Zoya Factor by Chauhan is about a woman who meets the Indian Cricket Team while her job in an advertising agency and becomes the lucky charm for the team which won the Cricket World Cup in 2011. The book received huge admiration and in 2019 it got adapted into a film by Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment. The Times of India appreciates the novel by writing, “it is a fun read which takes the Indian chick-lit much beyond mush and smut, right to freakily naughty… Her themes of cricket, love and politics are smartly topical” (Blurb of the book, Harper Collins). Concern for the elderly people and the loneliness of senior citizens in India is indeed seeking space in Indian literature in the form of Gerontological fiction. Upamanyu Chatterjee’s The Last Burden (1993), Chaman Nahal’s ‘The Womb’, and Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines proved an innovative step in this regard. In fiction, it has still a long way to go but in other genres such as poetry and drama, literary gerontology has been remarkably addressed. Ira Raja in the edited book Grey Areas: An Anthology of Indian Fiction on Aging (Raja 2010) significantly recognizes ageing as an important dimension of identity construct. ‘Maami’ by Ajeet Cour, ‘The Vow’ by S. Diwakar, ‘The Puppet’ by T. Janakiraman, ‘Unseasonal Pineapple’ by Bijay Prasad Mahapatra, ‘Transgression’ by Pratibha Ray, ‘Death of Grandmother’ by Dilip Chitre, ‘Old Woman’ by K. Satchidanandan, ‘Aged Poet’ by Buddhadev Bose awaken a better understanding of the pain and challenges of elderly people and evoke a more humanitarian feeling towards them in our society. This new approach of research considers aging body as “a social text, something that is both formed and given meaning within culture” (Hapeworth 2000). A very recent volume on Caring for Old Age: Perspectives from South Asia (2020) edited by Christiane Brosius and Roberta Mandoki expresses transnational cultural dimensions on aging and old people and also signals the birth of literary gerontology in South Asian counties like India. Since the dawn of new millennium, there has been an unprecedented expansion of Campus novels in India. Chetan Bhagat’s novels Five Point Someone (2004), One Night at a Call Center (2005), Two States (2009), Revolution 2020 (2011), Abhijit Bhaduri’s Mediocre but Arrogant (2005) and its sequel Married but Available (2008), Amitabha Bagchi’s Above Average (2007), Kaushik Sirkar’s Three Makes a Crowd (2007), Karan Bajaj’s Keep Off the Grass (2008), Sachin Garg’s A Sunny Shady Life (2010), Siddharth Chowdhary’s Day Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 8 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal Scholar (2010) are few examples of campus novel written in Indian by the authors between the years 2000 to 2020. These novels often detail the life of young men and women studying in the universities and colleges; their educational activities, life, career, challenges, youth romance and frustration in love with irony and humour. Such novels usually have target readers of specific age and taste. Publication houses too encourage the publication of such novels as these have good market and consumption. Commodification and saleability are few dominant markers in this regard. For example, Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger set a record selling with two lakh copies after he became a booker prize winner in 2008 whereas his other novel Between the Assassinations (2008) failed to attract the market in that manner. Literature and Nature have been closely linked since ever. Ecological concern therefore has a room of its own in Indian fiction. Raja Rao, R.K. Narayan, Kamala Markandaya have set a tradition of constructing the plot of their novels and short stories from environmental and ecological perspective. But it will have to be accepted that in this industrialized and commercial age which is witnessing severe environmental threat the need of environmental protection has been realized more deeply and urgently by the contemporary creative writers too. This rising concern could be noticed in the eco-texts of Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai and many others. Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People (2007) narrates the struggles of Bhopal gas tragedy victim and Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide (2004) chronicles the death of thousands of people in the vaulting aspirations of a multinational company, Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss (2006) mentions a deep meaning of home while recounting the exotic exuberance of flora and fauna; Suravi Sharma Kumar’s Voices in the Valley (2012) highlights the topography and culture of Assam and human communities living in communion with nature. Aruni Kashyap’s The House with the Thousand Stories (2013) too highlights the natural landscapes of Assam burning in the fire of insurgency. S.S. Kumar’s Frozen Waves (2015) narrates the hardships of young girls for meagre living in the crocodile infested rivers of Sundarban in India. The literature of North East India has a spendour and profundity of its own. The novels of this region contribute well to the enrichment of Indian literature. In last two decades, the authors from this region have prolifically expressed their cultural milieu; their history, myth and oral tradition. The natural exuberance, extremely rich folk tradition, cultural diversity, and militancy-insurgence of the sister states have been effectively articulated by the authors of this region particularly in the form of poetry; but the fictional world of north east is no less appealing. Indira Goswami’s Pages Stained with Blood (2001) and The Man From Chinnamasta (2005); Easterine Iralu’s Terrible Matriarchy (2007), Mari (2010), Bitter Wormwood (2011), and Don’t Run, My Love (2017); Mamang Dai’s The Legends of Pensam (2006), Stupid Cupid (2008), and The Black Hill (2014); Mitra Phukan’s The Collectors’s Wife (2008) and The Monsoon of the Music (2011); Siddharta Dev’s The Beautiful and the Damned (2011) and The Point of Return (2003); and Jahnvi Barua’s Rebirth (2011) to mention a few, certify the remarkable growth of Indian literary creativity in unique and distinct manner. Conclusion: Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 9 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal Imagination of any society or culture is incomplete without literature and vice versa. Indian literature with its rich tradition and legacy confirms it that it has been faithfully capturing the socio-political-cultural facets of its society since its birth. The recent advances in every walk of human world have not only been keenly observed by the authors but also articulated in the various genres of creative writing. It is also an accepted fact that of all the literary forms, novels have been loved the most by the readers due to its capacity to portray human life comprehensively and holistically. In the advancement of human society, new trends have emerged, new philosophies took birth, new challenges were posed, and no solutions were also sought. Likewise, the advent of new millennium too brought new hopes, new dreams, and new challenges which the authors of present generation have attempted to handle in best possible manner. Writing in all possible genres, apparently all possible contemporary issues of Indian society have been addressed by these authors. Now a days when cheap talk, lies, deception, and rhetoric are slowly but gradually becoming an integral part of politics in India and abroad, challenges posed by post-truth society are likely to capture the attention of Indian authors of fiction in near future too. At the time when traditional division of knowledge as interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary is facing a real threat from the emerging concept of post disciplinary, fiction writers have intended to get inspiration from this strikingly remarkable development in academia. Written in India by Indian authors or authors of Indian origin residing abroad, the novels of the new millennium are of international character and emerge from a global cultural matrix. The current age refuses all geo-politico-cultural boundaries, hence the influences coming from the diverse corners of the world cannot be overlooked in the examination, assessment and appreciation of these writings. Moreover, the ancient text Rigveda also says, Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah (1.89.1) meaning let noble thoughts come to me from all directions. To conclude in brief, the journey of fiction writing in India by all accounts has been very impressive and the present study endeavors to show that it is going to have an equally bright future too. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. REFERENCES Anjaria, Ulka. A History of the Indian Novel in English, Cambridge University Press, 2015: 13. Boxall, Peter. Twenty-First Century Fiction: A Critical Introduction, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2013: 8 Brosius, Christiane and Roberta Mandoki (eds.). Caring for Old Age: Perspectives from South Asia, Heidalberg University Pub., 2020. Chanda Vaz, Urmi. https://qz.com/india/458160/gay-literature-is-firmly-out-of-thecloset-in-india/ Hales, Dianne R. Animal’s People, “The Barnes & Noble review”. Bnreview.barnesandnoble.com. 23/04/2008, retrieved 12/11/2013. Hapworth, Mike. Stories of Aging. Buckingham: Open University Press, 2000. Mishan, Ligaya. “Poisoned”, The New York Times. 09/03/2008. Retrieved 14/10/2014. Raja, Ira. Grey Areas: An Anthology of Indian Fiction on Aging, Oxford University Press, 2010. Sattar, Arshia. India Today, 17/4/2017, retrieved 22/06/2020, https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/books/story/20170417-mythological-literatureamish-tripathi-devdutt-pattanaik-986145-2017-04-11 Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 10 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI IMPACT FACTOR – 5.61 LangLit ISSN 2349-5189 An International Peer-Reviewed Open Access Journal 10. Singh, Akansha. “How India’s Ancient Myths are Being Re-written”, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190902-how-indias-ancient-myths-are-beingrewritten. 2 September 2019. 11. Singh, Prabhat K. The Indian English Novel of the New Millennium, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishers, 2013: 4 12. Singh, Amardeep. “The Indian Novel in the 21st Century”. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature, USA: OUP, 2016. DOI: 10. 1093/acrefore/9780190201098. 13. Smith, Caroline J. Cosmopolitan Culture and Consumption in Chick Lit. Routledge, 2008. 14. Times of India ‘Review’ on the blurb of book. http://harpercolins.co.in/media_images/Dec08/4/AK%20%28TB%29%20Dec2808.jp g 15. Vanita, Ruth and Saleem Kidwai (eds.). Same Sex Love in India: Reading in Indian Literature, St. Martin’s Press, 2000. Vol. 6 Issue 4 Website: www.langlit.org 11 May, 2020 Contact No.: +91-9890290602 Indexed: ICI, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia.edu, IBI, IIFC, DRJI