Bakha is a young sweeper who cleans the public latrines of a town in colonial Punjab. He is strong, proud of his work and fascinated by the clothes and manners of the British soldiers in the nearby barracks. The novel follows him through a single day, from waking in his father's mud house in the outcastes' colony to nightfall.
Over those hours Bakha is slapped for accidentally touching a caste Hindu, sees his sister harassed by a priest, is thrown scraps of food and listens to a Christian missionary's offer of salvation. Late in the day he hears Gandhi speak and encounters a poet who argues that the flush toilet could end the work of scavengers, offering three very different answers to his condition.
Mulk Raj Anand's first novel, with a preface by E. M. Forster, was rejected by many publishers before appearing in 1935. Short and direct, it was one of the first English novels to give an untouchable protagonist an inner life, and it remains a key text on caste.
Book details
| Author | Mulk Raj Anand |
|---|---|
| First published | 1935 |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Classic |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 157 |
| Setting | Bulashah, a cantonment town in colonial Punjab, 1930s |
Themes
- Untouchability
- Caste discrimination
- Dignity of labour
- Gandhism
- Social reform
Who should read it
Readers who want a short, powerful introduction to caste through the eyes of those who suffer it.