''Maila Aanchal'' (; ) is a 1954
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
novel written by
Phanishwar Nath Renu.
After
Premchand
Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known as Munshi Premchand based on his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani language, Hindustani literature.
Premchand was a pioneer ...
's
Godan, 'Maila Anchal' is regarded as the most significant Hindi novel in the
Hindi literature
Hindi literature () includes literature in the various Central Indo-Aryan languages, also known as Hindi, some of which have different writing systems. Earliest forms of Hindi literature are attested in poetry of Apabhraṃśa such as Awad ...
tradition.
It is one of the greatest examples of "Anchalik Upanyas" (regional novel) in Hindi.
Significance
It was the writer's first novel and immediately established him as a serious writer in Hindi literature. It radically shifted the prevalent narrative styles in Hindi novels and changed the structure of Hindi novels. It has contributed towards the study of Hindi as a language and also constitutes the major curriculum of Hindi course.
Phanishwar Nath Renu was subsequently awarded one of India's fourth highest civilian honours, the
Padma Shri
The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
.
Contents
This
social novel
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives fro ...
details the trials and tribulations of a small group of people in a remote village of North-east
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
during the
Quit India Movement. It also has the reference of a young doctor (dagdar babu) who took care of the masses at that time, which was inspired by Dr. Alakh Niranjan, the first MBBS doctor in the locality.
It is a regional novel in true sense as local colour is reflected in it by means of dialect, life style, superstitions and beliefs, festivals and culture of the rural people. The characters are fit to the region and they are guided by the regional characteristics . The region becomes to be a living character and plays a great role in leading the characters to the catastrophe .
Adaptation
''Maila Aanchal'', a television adaptation of the novel aired on
DD National
DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...
, the Indian national public broadcaster, during the 1990s.
References
External links
* {{cite web , title = ''Maila Anchal '' in translation, url = http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/01glossaries/smith/index.html#
Hindi-language novels
Culture of Mithila
Books on Mithila Region
1954 Indian novels