Dear Natwar by Mulk Raj Anand

K. Natwar Singh

On my copy of his first novel, Untouchable, Mulk Raj Anand, wrote, 

 “Dear Natwar,

As you know this book written in Gandhiji’s Ashram in 1927 was turned down by 19 publishers in the U.K. The 20th published it because EM Forster agreed to write a preface…”

Three Indian novelist appeared on the Indian literary scene in the 1930s — Mulk Raj Anand, RK Narayan and Raja Rao. Mulk died at the age of 99, RK Narayan at 96 and Raja Rao at 97.

I first set eyes on Mulk Raj Anand in 1950 in Teen Murti House. He was wearing a green corduroys suit and a red tie. We did not exchange a word. He was waiting for Jawaharlal Nehru. I, for his younger sister, Krishna Hutheesing.

We corresponded before getting to know each other well. On January 1, 1964 fell EM Forster’s 85th birthday. Mulk, Raja Rao, Ahmed Ali, Santha Rama Rau and I decided to do a book of tributes to honour our distinguished friend. The book was published in New York (where I lived at the time) on the same date. It was an immediate success and well and widely reviewed.

Mulk was a compulsive letter writer. I preserved most of those. Their literary quality is uneven. One obvious reason is that Mulk wrote too much.

For a number of years, Mulk lived in England and was drawn to Marx. Whether he was a card-carrying member of the British Communist Party remains a mystery. I have always believed that he was. In the 1930s which intellectual was not! 

Mulk’s personal life was a mess. As a person, he was loveable. As a friend, loyal. He was a genuinely disorganised individual. That was a part of his charm. He wrote three first-rate novels, Untouchable (1935), Coolie (1936) and Two Leaves and a Bud (1937). All are in print today.

The letters published here throw some light on his sterling character and literary integrity.