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Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, NandedCollectivism endorses the idea that theindividual has no free will. <strong>Multiculturalism</strong> is aversion of collective. This encompasses one’sculture-culture of components like one’s skincolour or sex and clothing, food, geography,language, philosophy and religion. Thefundamental area is that one’s actions andbehaviour are dictated by one’s blood. Thesecond component is Egalitarianism which isthe idea that all units of the society must equallyin all respects. According to multiculturalism,the primary unit of society is the group. It holdstherefore, that all groups are to be treatedequally in all respects. Thus, multiculturalism isagainst all kinds of discrimination. The lastcomponent is Diversity which is loggerheadswith its concept of Egalitarianism. We can thussay that multiculturalism is reduced to theperpetual level where all groups are to be treatedequally on the basis of skin colour, sex-ratherthan conceptual i.e. ideas and values.Mulk Raj Anand, the novelist of greatrepute and short story and art critic writer inEnglish, was born at Peshawar on December 12,1905. He came from a family, which wasslightly superior to the untouchables. His fatherwas a coppersmith by birth and later joined theBritish-Indian army; his mother was an illiteratepeasant woman from Central Punjab.Ananddrew a realistic and sympathetic portrait of thepoor of his country. The culture and ethos of anycountry is mirrored in its literature.Expressinngvarious cultures of a country in an alienlanguage is indeed a very challenging task whichIndian authors in English have endeavoured toperform. Mulk Raj Anand is a name related tomodernizing the Indian novel and stories. I shalltry to analysis the multicultural aspects in a fewselected works of Mulk Raj Anand.With RajaRao and R.K. Narayan he has been regarded asone of the "founding fathers" of the IndianEnglish novel.And he had soon become possessed withan overwhelming desire to live their life.He had been told they were sahibs,superior people. He had felt that to puton their clothes made one sahib too. Sohe tried to copy them as well as he couldin the exigencies of his peculiarly Indiancircumstances. (From Untouchable,1935)Besides being a novelist, Mulk RajAnand is also a short story writer of great repute.His short stories are full of pathos and saga ofhuman sufferings. He not only deals with thesufferings of the destitute and the downtroddenbut he also depicts the psychological behavior ofadolescents, and the deep feelings of the delicatewomen. His short stories are the treasure houseof genuine feelings, unimaginable humansufferings, empathy and understanding of humanlife against the Indian socio-economic andcultural background. The following short story‘The Tractor and the Corn Goddess’ is anattention-grabbing story in which one comesacross the authentic picture of the superstitioussociety in the contemporary time. Nawab Sahibis the chief of the village. Abdul Hamid, theengineer and a proponent of the moderndevelopment in the village. Chhaju, DhunniBhagat, Phagu, Shambhu Nath, Tirath are thepeasant class or working class characters in thevillage. Abdul Hamid has brought the tractor forthe fast cultivation of the land. But the villagersassumed that tractor would rape their motherland and corn Goddess. Uncle Chhaju a leaderand other peasants thought that the tractor hasmagic power and is like a ghost which is sign ofinauspiciousness. Therefore, opposed it initiallythe tractor because it will snatch the jobs of thevillagers and the axe of the unemployment willappear in their life. Lastly they convinced by theNawab and the villagers admitted the tractor isnot a curse but bless for them.This story is about the gap between twogenerations one is Hindu and another is Muslim;Muslim generation is looking forward positivelyfor better development in future and is preparedto adjust to the changing scenario of the world.But, the other segment of the society sticks tothe conventional values and is not ready tochange its life style to accommodate or face newchallenges. The assumption of the conventionalsegment of society is that;The invention is the devil and religion andtradition is in danger’(The Tractor and thecorn goddess’ p.41)495 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, NandedThe story has a sub-plot .The Muslim Nawab(Jamindar) and his forefather died due to curseof god, because they had adopted the Europeanhabits of bad company and drink. Howevervillagers are against both the British and MuslimRaj. The conversational pieces are veryinteresting to analyze in terms multiculturalaspect. The narrator of the story is Chajju(Hindu), who is the ring-leader of the ‘goondas’(caste) and has been allow to return offer somedays exile. This story is an excellent example formulticulturalism.The Villagers; ‘after all the Zamindar isin the position of a ma-bap, to us.’ tobatoba!’Chup Kar etc.(The Tractor and the corn goddess’.pp45)The use of these hybrid linguistic items servesthe purpose to insert a feel of culture into thetext. Mulk Raj Anand describes Hindu andMuslim culture and the use of the language formaintaining cultural flavor. The story opens witha description of features of the villagers and theZamindar. The actual incident takes place onemorning under the banyan tree just outside thebig home. The giant tractor is fetched aroundeleven o’clock from the Railways Station byComrade Abdul Hamid the Engineer (Muslim).Abdul Hamid has brought the monster enginenot across the main road, as the machinefurrowed the earth deeply. At this junctureChajju (Hindu) takes the lead in the crisis. Thefollowing linguistic exchange between theHindu peasants are not at all ready to admit theauthenticity of the development and newinventions, whereas the Muslim religion’ whichmeans they are ready to change themselves byidentifying the steps of the development theworld. It is noted that Hindu characters in thisstory wanted to remain on the same position andtherefore, they opposes the development of theMuslim. The above conversation is anamalgamation of two cultures and their speechhas indicated the same. Here, the utterance madeby the Villagers (Hindu) is nothing but themulticultural study at the lexical level takesplace in this story. The following of collectivismmake our doubt clear that religion, earth and oldtradition of Hindu.The Hindu Peasant; rape –mother,even as he sat smoking the hubblebubbleunder the banyan tree.The Phau said; that’s right, “I hear ittore up the earth as it came alone” TheSambhu Nath; The earth then deserted!The Dhunni Bhagat; that the corngoddess has been raped, then thisInstrument ought to be send back acrossthe sea t the perverts who have inventedit……The Tirath: ‘our religion hasbeen despoiled…’(The Tractor and the corn goddess’pp45)According the first component collectivism theinterlocutors are talking about the ‘Earth’ and‘religion’. They are stick to the conventionalphilosophy and not prepare to face the newchallenges in life. The threat is of destruction oftheir traditional routine of life. The speakers arefrom economically non-developed categories.Chajju, the leader of the farmers is really angryhe fears that the question of unemployment maystand up the village in the future. They think thatthe tractor will rape the earth and their cornGoddess will be destroyed and nothing willremain for them who have been nourished fornumberless of generation by the land. Thisrepresents or symbolizes the religion, andeconomical lower strata of society. ‘The Tractorand the Corn Goddess’ is a multidimensionalshort story which highlights many aspects orlayers of Indian society. Mulk Raj Anand hashighlighted the ever-burning issue in Indiabefore and after independence, namely that theIndians are followers of the traditional ways oflife. The villagers doubt the intention of theNawab, who has brought the tractor to thevillage as the specimen of new invention, ofwhich the villagers are totally in ignoranceutterance. Nawab tries to convince the villagersabout the tractor, saying that it is a newdevelopment and might bring much constructivechange in the villagers’ life. Thus, ‘The Tractorand Corn Goddess’ is a story depicting the496 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
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