ANAND, MULK RAJ

born Dec. 12, 1905, Peshawar, India [now in Pakistan] prominent Indian author of novels, short stories, and critical essays in English who is known for his realistic and sympathetic portrayal of the poor in India. The son of a coppersmith, Anand graduated with honours in 1924 from Punjab University, Lahore, and pursued additional studies at the University of Cambridge and at University College, London. While in Europe, he became politically active in India's struggle for independence and shortly thereafter wrote a series of diverse books on aspects of South Asian culture, including Persian Painting (1930), Curries and Other Indian Dishes (1932), The Hindu View of Art (1933), The Indian Theatre (1950), and Seven Little-Known Birds of the Inner Eye (1978). A prolific writer, Anand first gained wide recognition for his novels Untouchable (1935) and Coolie (1936), both of which examined the problems of poverty in Indian society. In 1945 he returned to Bombay to campaign for national reforms. Among his other major works are The Village (1939), The Sword and the Sickle (1942), and The Big Heart (1945; rev. ed. 1980). Anand wrote other novels and short-story collections and also edited numerous magazines and journals, including MARG, an art quarterly that he founded in 1946. He also continued to work on a projected seven-volume autobiographical novel entitled Seven Ages of Man, four volumes of which were published from 1951 to 1984.