Rangbhumi The Arena of Life

Description

In this novel of epic proportion set in pre-Independence India, Premchand treads the tricky ground of tensions between the rulers and the ruled. Capturing the travails and traumas of peasant society, Rangbhumi celebrates the unassailable spirit of the common man. The original Hindi novel, published in 1925, was critically acclaimed for its strong characterization and realistic portrayal of the times. The novel revolves around the blind Surdas, who begs for a living, but is also the owner of a much-coveted piece of land. The land is used as a kind of commons by the fractious villagers of Pandepur–but it is also actively sought by a local industrialist, Sevak, who wants to set up a cigarette factory. Thus Surdas's land becomes a symbolic stage on which are fought issues of diff erent routes to development. In an Introduction to the volume Alok Rai provides the context of the work and shows how Rangbhumi was a product of both personal and political difficulties.