Biography of Mulk Raj Anand

(Born: 12 December 1905 - Died: 28 September 2004)

One of the founding fathers of the Indian English novel is Mulk Raj Anand. Anand was among the first writers to render Punjabi and Hindustani idioms in English. He was born in 1905 in Peshawar in present-day Pakistan in a family of coppersmith and soldier. He completed his higher education in Punjab. After that, Anand received his doctorate degree from London University. Later he started lecturing in different national and international universities. During World War II he worked as a broadcaster and scriptwriter in the film division of BBC in London.

Anand's career as a writer started in England. His novels Coolie' and 'Untouchable depict about India's social evils that were perpetuated in the name of religion and tradition. Through his writing he revealed that in addition to the foreign colonialism of Britain, there existed layers of colonialism within the Indian society. He received the Sahitya Academy Award and the Padma Shri from the Indian government. His works include "Two Leaves and a Bud', 'The Village and Across the Black Waters'.