Longing for Indian Sensibility in Raja Rao's Kanthapura

Abstract

This research makes an intensive study of Raja Rao'sKanthapura. Set in Colonial India and written as a diasporic immigrant writer, Raja Rao faces a peculiar problem of creating an Indian consciousness. In the Novel,we find the religious reforms and social upliftment. The heroic struggle and self-sacrifice of the protagonist to eradicate social evils prevailing in Indian society is a persisting demand for "home rule" of a diasporic writer, like Rao. Moorthy, the protagonist in the novel, is a Gandhian man who preaches brotherhood, equality and abolition of untouchability for the glorious India. Through him Raj Rao expresses his deep concerns and desperate longing for his native land and culture. The persisting demand for a home rule that functions as a thematic component in the text is the manifestation of a diasporic writer's desire to subvert the hegemonic colonial rule.