ORIGINAL ARTICLE

ISSN No : 2230-7850
Monthly Multidisciplinary
Research Journal
Indian Streams
Research Journal
Executive Editor
Ashok Yakkaldevi
Editor-in-chief
H.N.Jagtap
Vol 3 Issue 2 March 2013
Mohammad Hailat
Dept. of Mathmatical Sciences,
University of South Carolina Aiken, Aiken SC
29801
Abdullah Sabbagh
Engineering Studies, Sydney
Catalina Neculai
University of Coventry, UK
Ecaterina Patrascu
Spiru Haret University, Bucharest
Loredana Bosca
Spiru Haret University, Romania
Fabricio Moraes de Almeida
Federal University of Rondonia, Brazil
George - Calin SERITAN
Postdoctoral Researcher
Hasan Baktir
English Language and Literature
Department, Kayseri
Ghayoor Abbas Chotana
Department of Chemistry, Lahore
University of Management Sciences [ PK
]
Anna Maria Constantinovici
AL. I. Cuza University, Romania
Horia Patrascu
Spiru Haret University, Bucharest,
Romania
Ilie Pintea,
Spiru Haret University, Romania
Xiaohua Yang
PhD, USA
Nawab Ali Khan
College of Business Administration
Flvio de So Pedro Filho
Federal University of Rondonia, Brazil
Kamani Perera
Regional Centre For Strategic Studies, Sri
Lanka
Janaki Sinnasamy
Librarian, University of Malaya [
Malaysia ]
Romona Mihaila
Spiru Haret University, Romania
Delia Serbescu
Spiru Haret University, Bucharest,
Romania
Anurag Misra
DBS College, Kanpur
Titus Pop
Pratap Vyamktrao Naikwade
ASP College Devrukh,Ratnagiri,MS India
R. R. Patil
Head Geology Department Solapur
University, Solapur
Rama Bhosale
Prin. and Jt. Director Higher Education,
Panvel
Salve R. N.
Department of Sociology, Shivaji
University, Kolhapur
Govind P. Shinde
Bharati Vidyapeeth School of Distance
Education Center, Navi Mumbai
Chakane Sanjay Dnyaneshwar
Arts, Science & Commerce College,
Indapur, Pune
Awadhesh Kumar Shirotriya
Secretary, Play India Play (Trust),Meerut
Iresh Swami
Ex - VC. Solapur University, Solapur
N.S. Dhaygude
Ex. Prin. Dayanand College, Solapur
Narendra Kadu
Jt. Director Higher Education, Pune
K. M. Bhandarkar
Praful Patel College of Education, Gondia
Sonal Singh
Vikram University, Ujjain
G. P. Patankar
S. D. M. Degree College, Honavar, Karnataka
Maj. S. Bakhtiar Choudhary
Director,Hyderabad AP India.
S.Parvathi Devi
Ph.D.-University of Allahabad
Sonal Singh
Rajendra Shendge
Director, B.C.U.D. Solapur University,
Solapur
R. R. Yalikar
Director Managment Institute, Solapur
Umesh Rajderkar
Head Humanities & Social Science
YCMOU, Nashik
S. R. Pandya
Head Education Dept. Mumbai University,
Mumbai
Alka Darshan Shrivastava
Shaskiya Snatkottar Mahavidyalaya, Dhar
Rahul Shriram Sudke
Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore
S.KANNAN
Ph.D , Annamalai University,TN
Satish Kumar Kalhotra
Editorial Board
International Advisory Board
Welcome to ISRJ
ISSN No.2230-7850
Indian Streams Research Journal is a multidisciplinary research journal, published monthly in English,
Hindi & Marathi Language. All research papers submitted to the journal will be double - blind peer reviewed
referred by members of the editorial Board readers will include investigator in universities, research institutes
government and industry with research interest in the general subjects.
RNI MAHMUL/2011/38595
Address:-Ashok Yakkaldevi 258/34, Raviwar Peth, Solapur - 413 005 Maharashtra, India
Cell : 9595 359 435, Ph No: 02172372010 Email: ayisrj@yahoo.in Website: www.isrj.net
Title :
Source:Indian Streams Research Journal [2230-7850] yr:2013 vol:3 iss:2
GURCHARAN DAS A WRITER OF GLOBALIZED INDIAN CULTURE
KULKARNI VIBHATI VASANTRAO
Volume 3, Issue. 2, March. 2013
Indian Streams Research Journal
KEY WORDS:
Globalization, culture, monoculture, liberalization, PEST analysis.
INTRODUCTION
Broadly speaking culture consists of beliefs, knowledge, customs, arts, way of living etc. The
African writer, Ama Ata Aidoo, is of the opinion that the culture of a community is the totality of the ways in
which it conducts its life: its birth, growth, work, entertainment and death (1)Marjorie Agosin defines
culture very accurately as 'Culture is who we are becoming'(2).Since our becoming is intrinsically linked in
to the socio economic transformations in the society. So while talking about culture we cannot ignore the
issues related to the social and economic developmental dynamics and vice versa, as globalization means
the expansion of economic activities across political boundaries of nation-states. More important, perhaps,
is that it refers to a process of increasing economic openness, growing economic interdependence and
Abstract:
To satisfy the need of Globalization, Indian society wants the literature which
not only entertains but helps the nation to make further advancement. India requires fast
development to compete with Japan and China. Literature can play important role in this
regard. Literature is always entertaining the society but now literature showing mirror to
the reality is in demand. Various erudite and conscious writers have been writing about
India. Gurcharan Das (b.1943) is Panjabi intellectual who has very powerfully narrated
India with all perspectives such as social, economic, historical, philosophical, political,
technological etc. Being a journalist and management guru, former CEO of Procter and
Gamble, Gurcharan Das successfully appeals the readers. Das attempts to achieve such
excellence in writing where readers can find amusement as well as utility. Post
independent global India has availed his writing for reforming even the government
policies.
Das has discussed developing India after globalized economy. Das provided
knowledge with his every work for the development of modern Indian culture. Gurcharan
Das in his two narratives India Unbound and Elephant Paradigmpredicts that by 2025
India could have increased its share of global output from 6 per cent to 13 per cent,
making it the third largest economy in the world. He has discussed Indian religion in The
Difficulty of Being Good and he applied the philosophy to the practical life even to the
field of management. His The Fine Family is a novel giving the story of Punjabi family
and an illustration of happy social life in India. The Anthology of Playshas historical,
social, philosophical glorious background with interesting themes. Gurcharan Das won
Sultan Padmasee Award for his Larins Saheb (1970) one of plays from anthology. While
writing this play he did not wish to be seen as interpreting history, but as breathing life in
to facts. Thus Das's writing is amazing and useful.
ISSN:-2230-7850
GURCHARAN DAS A WRITER OF GLOBALIZED
INDIAN CULTURE
KULKARNI VIBHATI VASANTRAO
H.O.D. (Assistant Professor in English)
N.E.S Science College, Nanded, Maharashtra
Available online at www.isrj.net
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
deepening economic integration between countries in the world economy.
As every age has its temper, this centuryIndian culture has global temper and writers like
Gurcharan Das are the spokesmen of globalized Indian culture. Every contribution of Gurcharan Das is best
suited in this value added global age of liberalization, technological advancement and information
technology. This paper will discussselected works of Gurcharan Das- India Unbound and Anthology of
Plays and find out successful PEST analysis (political, economic, social, technological analysis) of India
done by Das which is helpful to economists, businessmen, budding politician and policy makers.
1 . INDIA UNBOUND :
This is the narrative account of the transformation of India from birth of the writer. This book is a
part of memoir, part of journalism, part of history and part of management Bible. This book begins from
independence and continues up to the new millennium. It is socio economic history of India.
Das hasmade three major parts of discussion of his narrative -India Unbound.
'The Wise Elephant' is title given to the Introduction of India Unbound. This shows writer's
optimistic view looking towards India. Writer is hopeful about India comparing Indian economy not with
the Asian tigers like Japan developing with speed,but with Buddist wisest elephant that has began to lumber
and move ahead. It will never have speed, but will always have stamina.
Part I- Our Spring of Hope (1942-65): This part covers following main ideas about newly emerged
India after freedom.
'Ranting in English, Chanting in Sanskrit', this I essay discusses that India has preserved its
spiritual heritage and the old way of life continues. Many Indians despair over the divisiveness of caste and
would prefer to wish it away. India is multicultural but due to globalization it can prosper to monoculture.
Knowing English today gives Indians a competitive advantage in the global economy and is an important
factor in our nascent success in the information economy.'Smells of Bazar' the second essay finds out the
reason of failure of Indian Democracy. It suggests that the chief reason for non performance is our wrong
mixed economy model, which allowed our obstructive bureaucracy to kill our industrial revolution at
birth. In further essays he contributes major solution for the development of Indian democracy by analyzing
present political, social, economic, technological situations in India. Gurcharan Das denotes the
importance of nation building in this regard he says 'History teaches that nations ability to absorb these
technological innovations and create an industrial revolution depends on having the right institutions in
place for example, property rights, enforcement of contracts, roads to reach products , schools and stable
government.
Part II- The Lost Generation (1966-91):Das presents the dreams which were visualized by
socialist leaders of India and are not fulfilled because of some drawbacks like monopoly of Brahmins and
Bania class, lack of entrepreneurship in India due to Inspector Raj of bureaucracy, corruption and License
Raj. Das gives examples of successful entrepreneurs like Tata, Birla, Sam Pitroda etc. And he explains the
need to work in an American style with optimism, teamwork, flexibility, simplicity.
Part III- The Rebirth of Dreams (1991-99): This chapter is fine resultant of the PEST analysis done
by Das. At the beginning of 21 st century total change occurred and E- Commerce, E-business, E-
government due to liberalization and Foreign Direct Investment came in the global economy. So we should
define our mission early and with vast ambition 'To build a new India by inspiring and nurturing passionate
entrepreneurs'
2.Anthology of plays: A literary text has more than one thing to offer. Here applies the principle of dynamic
approach in studying a literary text because a literary text is just not a simple text rather it is a web of
valuable and knowledgeable ideas.
I. Larins Sahib:
In This regard Larins Sahib is not as an historical play but as other contemporary dramatists do,
Gurcharan Das has used the history for its contemporary relevance. This age of 1960s and 70s in Indian
politics was the post Nehruvian age, infamous for its economic and political instability and failure of
idealist dream. Amidst such circumstances, Gurcharan Das had something to share with the economists,
politicians, social reformists and many others through his masterpiece work of Larins Sahib, which was
staged in 1968. In this regard Gurcharan Das has said something:
We lived the innocence of the Nehruvian age when we still had strong ideas. We believed in
GURCHARAN DAS A WRITER OF GLOBALIZED INDIAN CULTURE
2 Indian Streams Research Journal Volume 3 Issue 2 March 2013
socialism, democracy and the UN. We were filled with excitement of building nation. Even though the
dreams soured, Nehru's idealism left a next permanent mark on us'.
Larins Sahibhas something for everyone; be it politician, economist, social reformist or even
philanthropist, to offer. Politicians of the day have before them the politician like Henry Lawerence to have
an ideal for themselves. His life, his experiences and policies of reform are all to be followed by modern
politicians if they really want to be the politicians of the poor and for the poor in real terms. Every Indian
should be proud of having such as Indian king like Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Larins Sahib.They should also
take proper care of the marginal and poor farmers making the policy for them. If they are really serious
about the betterment and uplifting the poor people, they certainly have to uplift themselves in standard and
keep themselves away from the evils of power politics. For them history offers a lot to learn and follow.
Power corrupts the man is the other important theme in the play. Power has more than one faces
and one may be powerful in terms of politics. Gurcharan Das explored this theme once again, through the
central figure of the play, Larins Sahib. When one looks back into history, the thing that strikes most is that
under the impact of Industrial Revolution some European countries like Britain and France became
economically powerful and they sought the way of colonisation to make more and more profits on the cost
of human values. Now in our day, though the scene has totally changed, the power is there, the corruption is
there.
The theme of East-West divide in terms of ideology constitutes the next perennial theme in the
play Larins Sahib. In the play, Indian society represents east and Expect Lranis Sahib and other Englishmen
represent west. Western people came to India for maximum profit, exploited India economically as well as
politically. It is the reason why Indians hate the British. In a nutshell, Larins Sahib is rich and vast in the
thematic approach. Though, the play has its weight for being a famous historical play almost universal in
theme. Larins Sahib has a lot of contemporary relevance. It reflects the ugly fight among political leaders. It
seems that the political leaders waste their all energy in just maintaining themselves.
II)Mira:
The action of the play, Mira takes place in the early 16th century Mewar, a princely state in the
North Western India. Mira is successful play as a non- natural theatre with a lot of songs and dances. The
play interprets the popular Indian Legend concerning Mira, a saint poet. Like other plays it also covers the
wide range of themes. It has its stake as a play that raises the issues of many contemporary concerns like, the
issue of women empowerment, conflicts in husband wife relationship, disillusionment in institutions of
marriage, question of identity and search for completeness, assertion of feminine values in patriarchal set
up of the society, the value of devotional love and faith, etc. By making an Indian legend the base for his
play, Gurcharan Das has also tried to uphold the traditional and mythical values of in the play, i.e., Mira's
transformation from a woman into saint.
III) 9 Jakhoo Hill:
Through the story of 9 Jakhoo Hill, Gurcharan Das tries to reflect the great economic and political
questions of the time, the play set in, were to eliminate poverty through economic reforms and social
changes. As happened in the European countries after the Industrial Revolution, So is experienced in post
independent India in terms of socio- economic changes. As the consequences of economic reforms,
introduced by India in 1960s-70s, there was the rise of new middle class in Indian society. Middle class is
famous for its materialistic and money minded approach to life, brought drastic changes the socio economic
set of Indian society and in turn, also affected the human relationships.
It discusses ranges of themes the changing social order, the hold of mothers on their sons etc.It
was received very well in India not only by the critics but more importantly, by the audience and it has
enjoyed many successful runs. This play gives solution to the changes happened due to transformed
economic condition in India. One can find roots of globalization in this play. Rise of middle class and
decline of aristocracy is the major theme discussed and old class of aristocracy is given a solution to save
their estates by the new class. The solution is based on 'cross commercialization' 9 Jakhoo Hill was written
in 1990's and first performed in 1996 when liberalization was sweeping India. In many ways it presents our
response to globalization.
CONCLUSION-
Scientific method can be applied to the literary research.PEST analysis method is useful for detail
study of Das's literature. Anthology of plays is interesting and has contemporary concern. 21 STcentury
3 Indian Streams Research Journal Volume 3 Issue 2 March 2013
GURCHARAN DAS A WRITER OF GLOBALIZED INDIAN CULTURE
Modern people just read books which are of some value and knowledge; it is proved by the examples of
world's best sellers. India Unbound could get such popularity and became bestseller. Indians can read such
literature to know globalized Indian culture and try to contribute in building a nation, withmono-culture to
prosper in global economy.
BIBLOGRAPHY
Primary Sources:
Das,Gurcharan. The Difficulty of Being Good, New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2009.Print.
Das,Gurcharan.India Unbound, New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2000. Print.
Das,Gurcharan. The Fine Family, New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 1990. Print.
Das, Gurcharan. The Elephant Paradigm, New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2003. Print.
Das,Gurcharan. The Anthology of plays, New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2003. Print.
Secondary Sources:
1. As quoted in What is Culture and why does it matter?, <www.wworld.org/publicatiion /power>
2.Das,Gurcharan.Divergent Destinies for India and China.Financial Times8.8 (2004): n. pagWeb,June
17, 2005.
3.Das, Gurcharan. They Respect They Deserve. Time Magazine2.7 (2008): n. pagWeb, Dec 6, 2004.
4.Das, Gurcharan. Inglish as She Spoke.Outlook4.3 (2003): n. pagWeb,May 2, 2005.
5.Das,Gurcharan. Bureaucracy Crippling India.Financial Times2.5 (2006): n. pag.Web,August 17,
2009.
6.Das, Gurcharan.India's New Self Assuredness.WallstreetJournal4.1 (2000): n. pag. Web. May3, 2004.
7.Das,Gurcharan.Inglish as She Spoke.Outlook2.7 (2000): n. pag.Web, May 2, 2005.
8.Das, Gurcharan.Privatise Secularism.Outlook6.3 (2003): n. pag.Web,April 12,2009.
9.Sen,Amartya.Comment On India Unbound.UK Edition May7, 2002.Print.
10. http/www.asianwindow.com/Ramayana.
4 Indian Streams Research Journal Volume 3 Issue 2 March 2013
GURCHARAN DAS A WRITER OF GLOBALIZED INDIAN CULTURE
Publish Research Article
International Level Multidisciplinary Research Journal
For All Subjects
Dear Sir/Mam,
We invite unpublished research paper.Summary of Research
Project,Theses,Books and Books Review of publication,you will be pleased to
know that our journals are
Associated and Indexed,India
?
?OPEN J-GATE
International Scientific Journal Consortium Scientific
Associated and Indexed,USA
?Google Scholar
?EBSCO
?DOAJ
?Index Copernicus
?Publication Index
?Academic Journal Database
?Contemporary Research Index
?Academic Paper Databse
?Digital Journals Database
?Current Index to Scholarly Journals
?Elite Scientific Journal Archive
?Directory Of Academic Resources
?Scholar Journal Index
?Recent Science Index
?Scientific Resources Database
Indian Streams Research Journal
258/34 Raviwar Peth Solapur-413005,Maharashtra
Contact-9595359435
E-Mail-ayisrj@yahoo.in/ayisrj2011@gmail.com
Website : www.isrj.net