The Great Indian Novel

Here is a short Presentation on the Great Novel by Shashi Tharoor - The Great Indian Novel
It gives its Short summary, Themes involved, style and my views.

1. The Great Indian Nove l - Shashi Tharoor Akshay Paranjape Sushant Verma

2. Biography of Author Indian Politician , Writer, Diplomat He was born on 9 March 1956 in London, United Kingdom He has done his Bachelors from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, Master and Doctorate from Tufts University He is a member of the Indian National Congress and twice elected MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala He was previously Minister of State for External Affairs (2009–2010) and Human Resource Development (2012–2014 ) Shashi Tharoor

3. His other famous novels include - India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond, Nehru : The Invention of India, Riot   etc. Many of his novels are related to the Theme of Politics. His book  The Great Indian Novel   won the  Commonwealth Writers' Prize  for the Best Book of the Year in the Eurasian Region .

4. Summary of the Novel The great Indian Novel is fictional work that takes the story of the epic of Hindu Mythology, Mahabharata and recasts and reset it in the context of our Indian Independence . It’s a satire on I ndian post-independence politics. What’s Mahabharata ? The Mahabharata is an epic tale describing the historical dynastic struggle over the throne of the kingdom of Hastinapur between the Pandavas and the Kauravas , two branches of the heirs of the King Shantanu . What’s The Great Indian Novel? Great- Maha + India-Bharat = Mahahbharata The novel has 18 chapters same as that of Mahabharata which has 18 books and the Battle of Kurukshektra lasted for 18 days Timeline : Roughly around birth of Gandhi 1870 till three decades post-Independence or the rule of Indira Gandhi 1980 .

5. Ved Vyas = Rajagopalachari Amba/ Shikhandin = Nathuram Godse

6. Ganga Dutta serve as the regent of Hastinapur . He embark on his first protest campaign after seeing the people of Motihari suffering. British Resident of Hastinapur Sir Richard. Dhritarashtra and Gandhari get married. Pandu suffers from coronary disease. Kunti the wife of Pandu reveals about her son who was left into the river in a basket, who happens to be Karna , who resemble Mohammad Ali Jinnah the father of Pakistan. Gandhari give birth to just one girl child unlike the real Mahabharata, Priya Duryodhani . The incident of Bibighar Garden Massacre resemble Jallianwala Bagh massacre when Hastinapur is annexed to British Presidency. Gangaji launces Quit India Movement . Pandavas come to birth. Sarah Moore , sister of one the jute mill owner, persuades her brother to offer bonus to the workers. Ask for Gangaji help. Pandu taking the harder path than the Gangaji for the Independence  leaving the Kaurava Party. High tax on Mango lead Gangaji to start Great Mango March (resemble The Dandi March ). Karna becames the member of the Kaurava Party. Gaga Shah invites Karna to form Muslim Group . Summary Cont…

7. Priya Duryodhani tries to poison Bhim but fails. Pandavas meet Dronacharya , here Jayaprakash Drona . Pandu decides to take the Presidency of Kaurava Party and later gets elected, but loses the post due to non-confidence vote. Pandu later form allies with Nazis. Pandu dies of heart attack and plane is shot down. Aswathaman , son of Drona joined as student with the Pandavas . Eklavya refuses his thumb unlike the original Mahabharat and flees away in fear. The absence of the Kaurava Party in the administration (during second World War) benefits the Muslim Group, which later demand for separate Muslim state, Karnistan . Independence : partition of I ndia. Amba assassinated Gangaji . Drona does not revenge Heaslop when he gats chance after becoming Minister of State for Administrative Reform . Georgia Drewpad , who had affair with Dhritarahtra on 26 th Jan 1950 give birth to Draupadi . Issue of Manimir ( Kashimir ). Drona leaves the Government and do contructive work in rural development. Later Pandavas joined him. Meanwhile, Karna dies when he tries to pull a car out of the mud. Vidur helps Pandavas for hiding. Summary Cont…

8. The Chakars (China) annexe a piece of Indian territory and the humiliation breaks Dhritarashtra's heart and he dies . Priya Duryodhani is annoyed that Draupadi is drawing the attention away from her lectures and orders Ved Vyas to get Draupadi married. Draupadi Swamvar . Shishu Pal (2 nd PM) dies of heart attack after signing a cease fire when Karnistan again invades Manimir . Priya Duryodhani becomes 3 rd Prime Minister. Arjun is banned from his conjugal rights for a year. Arjun meet Krishna the local Kaurava Party Secretary. He falls in love with h is sister Subhadra , and marries her. Ashwathaman , Drona ' son and the leader of a socialist splinter party, is invited by Priya Duryodhani to join the Kaurava Party Working Committee. Deputy PM as the Yudhishtir . Kaurava party gets split into two group. Jarasandha Khan (military dictator of Karnistan )  election Gelaban People wins and demand for Separate Gelaban Desh (Bangladesh). Duryodhani declare the emergency and arrest her political opponents. Post to emergency declare election. The Janta Party wins and Yudhishtir is honoured as the PM. After much internal controversies on the PM Yudhishtir ( Morarji Desai), Priya Duryodhani again gets elected in the next general election. Summary Cont…

9. Important Themes Politics Family History Preaching Politics Story of Mahabharata is highly political, and so our Indian post independence history. Right from the reign of Nehru to the Indira Gandhi Emergency, the internal politics of INC is described in fictional manner connecting with the characters of Mahabharata . For example: Morarji Desai who was initially in the INC and was given the post of Deputy PM and who later formed his own Janta Party and was elected as 4 th PM of India in the general election after Emergency  same role is played by Yudhishtira of Mahabharata in the novel who is the head of Pandavas .

10. Family All great Mythologies of India are undoubtedly based on the family, it’s internal rivalries; and so the writer has made a family touch . He has shown the Indian Politician as the family member of the Mahabharata the ‘ Pandavas ’ and ‘ Kauravas ’; With Netaji Subhaschandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Valllabhbhai Patel as the Pandu , Dhritarashtra and Vidur . Gandhiji , known as the ‘Father of Nation’ is paralleled by the Character of Ganga Dutta or the Bhisma in Mahabharata who is Father like character in Mahabharata and he is also the main protagonist of the first half of novel. Furthermore, Priya Duryodhani (Indira Gandhi) daughter of Dhritarashtra leads the Kaurava Party after his death.

11. Poetry as a literary device : Many incidents are described by the usage of prose which may be perhaps to resemble the epic Mahabharata but it also adds to the beauty of the literature. Example: Pandu’s Tale Arjun Conversation with Krishna (which is actually the Bhagavad Gita ) Style Arjun saw Fathers, Uncles, Cousins Teachers, Preachers, Grandsons, Friends Arrayed before him in several dozens Convinced their means justified their ends. Pity filled him. He spoke with sadness: 'Krishna, this is simply madness. All this foes are our own kinsmen; Who will wash away their sins, then? My will fails me. My throat is parched. I think of it, and feel a shiver. I've always been for life-a liver. Though I was ready; my bow was arched, My mind 'in a tumult. I can't continue. My resolve trembles in every sinew.

12. Political Satire Satire on the Political Incident mainly 3 decades post to Independence. Narration style Ved Vyas is narrating the story to Ganapati , so it can be said as third person narrative. Its also a partly third-person omniscient narration as Ved Vyas knows almost all facts from his sources. Characterization T he author doesn't have to do much with the characterization aspect - for almost every character of this novel usually stands for a character from the Mahabharata or a figure from India's political history, but he does well to remain faithful to his inspiration by incorporating as many attributes as possible. Some of the politicians are left in the discussions. Fictional names for real places Chakra used for China - ‘chakkar’ H indi synonym for ‘cheeni’ which means China in Hindi Manimir for Kashmir and etc.

13. The suspense maintained in the story time will make you complete the book as soon as possible. Language is difficult but its readable and the story is linear and well connected . Liked the concept of writer’s linking the historical characters to the characters of Mahabharata which is no easy task. This book is a work of political satire, therefore it only makes sense that the reader be fairly knowledgeable about the Mahabharata as well as major events in India's political history. But if you aren’t, try to get aquatinted to them at the same time of reading, which happened in our case; and once you link up the facts you will really appreciate the writing. We strongly recommend this book to be read….. Really it deserves it’s name Our Views

14. Q & A

15. Thank You