A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya

of producing the story) is derived from
Sanskrit in Hindi. As mentioned earlier
Katha is supposed to be fiction and akhyan
is supposed to be factual and historical.
The tradition of katha and akhyayika
continues in Hindi Belt in the early phase
of Hindi literature in charit kavya
(narratives of hero in verses) like
Prithiviraj Raso (Story of King Prithiviraj)
by his court poet Chandvardai, Kirtilata
and Kirtipataka by Vidyapati in 13 th
century a.d. In the age of Bhakti movement
also poets like Tulsi Das and Malik
Muhammad Jayasi created epics like
Ramcharit Manas and Padmavat in
story form .These are in one and another
sense seen as different forms of Charit
kavya. These writings have the quality
of both katha and akhyayika. The poet
uses his imagination to depict contemporary
reality by using myths and symbols known
as kathanak roodhiyan (traditional symbols
supposed to be used for telling a story.
For example telling a story through dialogue
between birds is one of the kathanak
roodhiyan). In the beginning of 19 th century
Rani Ketki ki Kahani by Insha Alla
Khan is also an example of continuation
of this katha-kahani tradition. Early Hindi
novels derive many characteristics from
these charit kavyas and katha-kahani
tradition prevalent in India for centuries.
The story is the focal point of the
Novel which also tells a story. Influence
of gadya kavya parampara and champu
(one of the varieties of narratives prevalent
in India where the mixture of prose and
poetry is being used to tell the story)
is clearly evident from the early novels
of India particularly in Hindi. Therefore
it is a misnomer to conceptualize that
the novel in India emerges out of the
direct influence of western novels
particularly English Novels and there is
nothing Indian in it. The style of novel
writing in different Indian languages as
also in Hindi carries the traditional style
of story telling/writing of kissa,
kahani,dastan and akhyan.
The characteristics and essence of the
tradition of novel writing is defined by
its birth and the culture along with which
it grows. The uniqueness and Indianness
of Hindi novel also lies in the circumstances
in which the novel in India emerged. The
birth of novel in India is an amalgamation
of the traditional legacy of story telling
and contemporary circumstances in India
in the 19 th -20 th century.
Besides the factors connected with the
advent of prose and the birth of the novel,
like coming of new technologies in the
form of printing press and birth of a
middle class who aspired to tell its agonies
and aspiration through this new genre the
readers were also mostly from the same
class. These factors also helped in the
birth of the novel in India. But emergence
of the novel in India is totally different
from that of Europe which is said to be
the birth place of novel although the credit
46 :: January-March 2012