Owing to the inordinate emphasis on English writing in India, there has been hardly any perceptible recognition of writings in other Indian languages. Recently, Sahitya Akademi has published two big volumes comprising selected writings of individual authors. One of them contains portions from the novels, short stories, and prose-writings of Mulk Raj Anand. During his long life spanning almost a century, Anand wrote a lot in magnitude. Whether this magnitude is commensurate with variety is however doubtful. Or so it seems when we compare it with the other volume comprising the writings of Sant Singh Sekhon, termed “the most innovative writer” by Tejwant Singh Gill, its editor, who has produced an indispensable collection from Sekhon’s enormous repertoire of Punjabi literature.
January 2007, volume 31, No 1