Coolie

For book lovers from India, there are some few writers who are must read for them considering the kind of role the writers have played in Indian writing over the decades and also considering the quality of their writings. Rabindranath Tagore, R.K. Narayan, Kamala Markandeya are a few of the names that comes to my mind. Add to that the name of Mulk Raj Anand, one of the finest writers of India. His book "Coolie" is a seminal book in Indian literature. Coolie depicts the life of an young boy who dreams of a life in the hills, but is forced to travel out of his village to earn a living as a domestic help, porter, factory worker & rickshaw driver which is basically foot rickshaw. There are pages filled with poverty, filth, loss of dignity, abuse by employers, calling of names in the sense that the early pages of the book is one unending story of depression following deprivation. But slowly the beauty of Mulk Raj Anand emerges in the way he surreptitiously heaps scorn on the ruling polticial class of that time - the Britishers and their cahoots in pre-Independence India. It is an absolutely savage book on par with Kamala Markandeya's "Nectar in a Sieve". The final pages of the book guts you like a sledge hammer. Absolutely highly recommended must read by every Indian book lover.