Post-Independence Indian Fiction Flashcards

A comprehensive collection of 100 question-and-answer flashcards reviewing Post-Independence Indian Fiction, covering major authors, themes, characters, plot points, awards, and historical context.

Which prominent Indian novelist in English is depicted in this photo, known for 'The Untouchable' and referred to as 'India's Charles Dickens'?

Mulk Raj Anand

Who wrote the Introduction to Mulk Raj Anand's debut novel 'The Untouchable' (1935)?

E.M. Forster

In Mulk Raj Anand's 'The Untouchable', which character tells Bakha that the introduction of the flush system will end the caste status of scavengers?

Iqbal Nath Sarshar

Who is the 14-year-old orphan protagonist of Mulk Raj Anand's 1936 novel 'Coolie'?

Munoo

In Mulk Raj Anand's 'Two Leaves and a Bud', which British soldier/master represents the brutal authority over the exploited tea plantation coolies?

Reggie Hunt

Which 19th-century Russian epic poem by Nicholas Nekrassov inspired Mulk Raj Anand's novel 'The Old Woman and the Cow'?

The Peasant Woman

In Mulk Raj Anand's story 'The Barbers' Trade Union', who is the barber boy protagonist who brings the upper-caste villagers to their knees?

Chandu

Who is the protagonist prince of Shampur presented with all the vices of pampered royalty in Mulk Raj Anand's 'Private Life of an Indian Prince'?

Victor Ashoke Kumar

Which three novels comprise Mulk Raj Anand's Marxist epic Lalu Trilogy?

The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1940), and The Sword and the Sickle (1942)

What is the overall title of Mulk Raj Anand's planned 7-volume autobiography, and who is its protagonist?

Seven Ages of Man, with the protagonist Krishnan Chander

Which famous Indian author, depicted here, created the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi on the banks of the river Sarayu?

R.K. Narayan

Which three novels form R.K. Narayan's famous trilogy of novels?

Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts, and The English Teacher

Which British author helped R.K. Narayan find a publisher for his debut novel 'Swami and Friends'?

Graham Greene

In R.K. Narayan's 'Swami and Friends', which character is the Police Superintendent's son and a symbol of colonial power who becomes Swami's friend?

Rajam

In 'The Bachelor of Arts', who does the protagonist Chandran fall in love with initially, and whom does he eventually marry?

He falls in love with Malthi initially, and later marries Susila

Which ancient myth is employed in R.K. Narayan's autobiographical novel 'The English Teacher'?

The Satyavan-Savitri myth

In R.K. Narayan's 'The Guide', why is Railway Raju sentenced to two years in prison?

For forging Rosie's signature

In 'The Guide', which villager mistakes Raju for a holy man upon his release from prison?

Velan

In R.K. Narayan's 'The Man-Eater of Malgudi', who is the aggressive taxidermist who rents a room from Nataraj and accidentally kills himself?

Vasu

Which mythological story serves as an allegory for Vasu's self-destruction in 'The Man-Eater of Malgudi'?

The Bhasmasura Myth

In R.K. Narayan's 'The Dark Room', where does the submissive housewife Savitri retire whenever her husband Ramani's harshness becomes unbearable?

A dark room in their house

Who are the two main characters in R.K. Narayan's political love story 'Waiting for the Mahatma'?

Sriram and Bharati

Which Indian writer and philosopher, shown here, wrote 'Kanthapura' (1938) and 'The Serpent and the Rope' (1960)?

Raja Rao

How did literary critic K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar compare Raja Rao's 'Kanthapura' and 'The Serpent and the Rope' to classic epics?

He called Kanthapura Raja Rao's Ramayana and The Serpent and the Rope his Mahabharata

Who is the grandmother narrator who tells the story of 'Kanthapura' to a group of female listeners?

Achakka

Which local goddess protects the village of Kanthapura and is invoked in every chapter?

Kenchamma

Who is the central Brahmin protagonist in 'Kanthapura' who leads the villagers in non-violent Gandhian satyagraha?

Moorthy

In 'Kanthapura', how does Jayaramachar arouse cultural and political awakening among the villagers?

By performing Harikathas that turn religious stories into allegories of the Gandhian freedom struggle

In 'Kanthapura', what character traits and social evil are symbolized by Bhatta?

Usury (lending money at high rates), false orthodoxy, and low cunning

Who forms a women's volunteer group (sevika sangha) in Kanthapura when Moorthy is arrested?

Rangamma

Who is the young widow in 'Kanthapura' who rejects traditional widowhood customs and forms a romantic association with Moorthy?

Ratna

Who are the two main intellectual spouses in Raja Rao's semi-autobiographical novel 'The Serpent and the Rope'?

Ramaswamy (Rama) and Madeleine

What do the terms 'The Serpent' and 'The Rope' represent in Raja Rao's 1960 novel?

Illusion and Reality in Vedantic philosophy

What do the 'marjara kishora nyaya' (kitten) and 'markata kishora nyaya' (baby monkey) analogies symbolize in Raja Rao's 'The Cat and Shakespeare'?

Ways of devotion and divine grace: how the Lord protects the devotee versus how the devotee holds onto the Lord

Who is the protagonist of Raja Rao's story 'The Cow of the Barricades' who walks up the barricade tearfully and is shot dead?

Gauri the cow

Which Bengali-origin Indian author, depicted here, wrote 'So Many Hungers!' and 'He Who Rides a Tiger'?

Bhabani Bhattacharya

Which historic crisis forms the backdrop of Bhabani Bhattacharya's 1947 novel 'So Many Hungers!'?

The Bengal famine of the early 1940s and the Independence Movement

In Bhabani Bhattacharya's 'He Who Rides a Tiger', why is the poor blacksmith Kalo jailed at the beginning of the novel?

For stealing a bunch of bananas

Which Kenyan-born author, pictured here, wrote the famous 1948 comic novel 'All About H. Hatterr'?

G.V. Desani

What does the 'H. Hatterr' in G.V. Desani's book title stand for?

Hindustanwallah Hatterr

Which Lucknow-born author and journalist, shown here, wrote the autobiographical novel 'Sunlight on a Broken Column'?

Attia Hosain

Which novelist and former Lieutenant Colonel, pictured here, authored 'Distant Drum' and 'A Bend in the Ganges'?

Manohar Malgonkar

In Manohar Malgonkar's 'A Bend in the Ganges', which three young men represent contrasting beliefs regarding violence and non-violence?

Gian Talwar, Debi Dayal, and Shafi Usman

Which film director, screenwriter, and novelist, pictured here, wrote 'Inquilab' as well as screenplays for films like 'Awaara' and 'Shri 420'?

K.A. Abbas

What is the title of K.A. Abbas's autobiography published in 1977?

I Am Not an Island: An Experiment in Autobiography

From which poem by S.T. Coleridge is the title of Kamala Markandaya's 1954 novel 'Nectar in a Sieve' derived?

Work Without Hope (1825)

Who are the two main characters whose married life and struggles against a village tannery are central to 'Nectar in a Sieve'?

Rukmani and Nathan

In Kamala Markandaya's 'Two Virgins', who are the two sisters with contrasting views on village life and film stardom?

Saroja and Lalitha

In Kamala Markandaya's 'Possession', who is the promising South Indian painter possessed by British aristocrat Lady Caroline Bell?

Valmiki

What is the main theme and opening conflict of Kamala Markandaya's 1966 novel 'A Handful of Rice'?

The protagonist Ravi's desperate struggle with hunger

Which Indian author, pictured here, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1986 for her novel 'Rich Like Us'?

Nayantara Sahgal

In Nayantara Sahgal's 'Mistaken Identity', who is the playboy protagonist arrested for treason on a train journey in 1929?

Bhushan Singh, son of the Raja of Vijaygarh

Who are the two upper-class female protagonists in Nayantara Sahgal's novel 'Rich Like Us'?

Rose and Sonali

Which Chaman Nahal novel won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977 for its depiction of the Partition of India?

Azadi

Which four novels make up Chaman Nahal's 'Gandhi Quartet'?

Azadi (1975), The Crown and the Loincloth (1981), The Salt of Life (1990), and The Triumph of the Tricolour (1992)

What unique international achievement distinguishes Ruth Prawer Jhabvala in the literary and cinematic world?

She is the only person to have won both a Booker Prize and an Oscar

In Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's 'Heat and Dust', who is the step-grandmother whose 1920s letters inspire the narrator's journey to India?

Olivia

Which Shashi Deshpande novel won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990?

That Long Silence

In Shashi Deshpande's 'The Dark Holds No Terrors', who is the doctor protagonist trapped in a marriage with her sadistic husband Manohar?

Saritha (Saru)

In Shashi Deshpande's 'Roots and Shadows', why does Indu return to her ancestral home after 11 years?

She is summoned by the dying matriarch Akka, who makes her sole heiress to her property

In 'That Long Silence', who is the central protagonist who struggles with marital friction and her past failures as a writer?

Jaya

In Shashi Deshpande's 'Small Remedies', who is the rebellious classical singer whose biography Madhu Saptarishi is commissioned to write?

Savitribai Indorekar

In Shashi Deshpande's 'The Binding Vine', who is the central protagonist grieving the loss of her one-year-old daughter Anu?

Urmila (Urmi)

Which Anita Desai novel won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978?

Fire on the Mountain

In Anita Desai's 'Cry, The Peacock', who is the sensitive protagonist who pushes her husband Gautama off a parapet?

Maya

Who are the three main characters in Anita Desai's immigrant novel 'Bye, Bye, Blackbird'?

Dev, Adit Sen, and Sarah

In Anita Desai's 'Fire on the Mountain', what tragic fate befalls social welfare officer Ila Das at the hands of Preet Singh?

She is abducted, raped, and murdered for trying to stop a child marriage

Who are the four siblings in the Das family featured in Anita Desai's 'Clear Light of Day'?

Bimla (Bim), Tara, Raja, and Baba

In Anita Desai's 'In Custody', who is the legendary Urdu poet that Hindi lecturer Deven attempts to interview?

Nur

In Anita Desai's 'Fasting, Feasting', which two contrasted siblings represent female submission in India and male education in the US?

Uma and Arun

In Anita Desai's 'The Village by the Sea', who are the brother and sister forced to act as surrogate parents for their family in Thul?

Hari and Lila

Which Arun Joshi novel exploring Som Bhaskar's existential predicament won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1982?

The Last Labyrinth

Who is the protagonist of Arun Joshi's 1969 novel 'The Foreigner'?

Sindi Oberoi

In Arun Joshi's 'The Strange Case of Billy Biswas', who narrates the story of Billy Biswas leaving wealthy society for the wilderness?

His close friend Romesh

Which Assamese writer and scholar, pictured here, is popularly known as Mamoni Raisom Goswami or Mamoni Baideo?

Indira Goswami

Which publishing company co-founded by Tarun Tejpal published Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things' in 1998?

India Ink

Which author, shown here, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1999 for her debut novel 'Difficult Daughters'?

Manju Kapur

In Manju Kapur's 'Difficult Daughters', who reconstructs the life story of her mother Virmati in retrospect?

Her daughter Ida

What is the title of Allan Sealy's debut novel chronicling seven generations of an Anglo-Indian family?

The Trotter-Nama: A Chronicle

What real-life traumatic incident forms the emotional centerpiece of Meena Alexander's novel 'Nampally Road'?

The gang rape of Rameeza Be by the police

Which Indian poet and novelist, pictured here, authored 'The Golden Gate', 'A Suitable Boy', and 'An Equal Music'?

Vikram Seth

In Vikram Seth's verse novel 'The Golden Gate', how does John Brown first make contact with trial-lawyer Elisabeth Dorati?

Through an amorous advertisement placed in the newspaper on the advice of his friend Janet Hayakawa

From whose 17th-century sermon is the title of Vikram Seth's novel 'An Equal Music' drawn?

John Donne

Which four main interconnected family trees are detailed at the start of Vikram Seth's 'A Suitable Boy'?

The Mehras, The Kapoors, The Khans, and The Chatterjis

Which 1992 debut work by Githa Hariharan won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize?

The Thousand Faces of Night

In Githa Hariharan's 'In Times of Siege', why do fundamentalist colleagues call for professor Shiv Murthy's lecture to be banned?

Because his lecture was on Basavanna, a 12th-century poet and social reformer critical of the caste system

Which classical epic is recast in the context of the Indian Independence Movement in Shashi Tharoor's 'The Great Indian Novel'?

The Mahabharata

In Shashi Tharoor's 'Riot: A Love Story', who is the 24-year-old American volunteer whose death during communal riots begins the investigation?

Priscilla Hart

Which three novels make up Amitav Ghosh's historical 'Ibis Trilogy'?

Sea of Poppies (2008), River of Smoke (2011), and Flood of Fire (2015)

In Amitav Ghosh's 'The Shadow Lines', who is the narrator's adored uncle and mentor who is killed during riots in Dhaka?

Tridib

In Amitav Ghosh's 'The Calcutta Chromosome', who is the LifeWatch programmer tracking the mysterious disappearance of L. Murugan?

Antar

Which historian and novelist, shown here, wrote 'Looking Through Glass' (1994)?

Mukul Kesavan

In Mukul Kesavan's 'Looking Through Glass', what historical period does the narrator fall into after falling off the Mail Train?

The 1942 Quit India Resolution / Movement period

Which book cover is shown here, representing the debut narcotics-focused novel by Jeet Thayil?

Narcopolis

Who is the westernized trainee civil servant protagonist in Upamanyu Chatterjee's novel 'English, August'?

Agastya Sen

Which debut novel by Arundhati Roy won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997?

The God of Small Things

Who are the fraternal boy and girl twin protagonists in Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things'?

Estha and Rahel

What is the name of Mammachi's pickle factory in Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things'?

Paradise Pickles & Preserves

In Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Namesake', why does Ashoke Ganguli select the pet name 'Gogol' for his son?

Because a copy of Nikolai Gogol's collected stories saved his life during a train derailment

Which novel by Kiran Desai set in Kalimpong won the Man Booker Prize in 2006?

The Inheritance of Loss