Gunahon Ka Devta (novel)
| Author | Dharmveer Bharti |
|---|---|
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Bhartiya Jnanpith |
|
Publication date
|
1949 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 258 |
| 891.433 | |
| Followed by | Suraj ka Satwan Ghoda (1952) |
Gunahon Ka Devta by Dharmveer Bharti (Hindi: गुनाहों का देवता, English: The Deity of the sins) is a popular 1949 Hindi novel by Dharamvir Bharati. Over time, it gained historical importance and a cult following of readers, specially among urban Indian males whose first language is Hindi. The story is about a young student (Chander) who falls in love with the daughter (Sudha) of his college professor. It was published by Bhartiya Jnanpith Trust., and its 55th edition was published in 2009.
This is Dharamvir Bharati's most famous work, and it earned him a huge fan-following especially in the contemporary youth, as well as several awards and accolades, thus making him one of the most recognised names in Hindi Literature following Munshi Premchand.
Romance and love which a young heart cherishes are present in this novel with their various shades and colour. It is primarily the story of "non expressive love and romance between two characters (Chandar and Sudha)...", showing various trappings of love in urban middle-class, pre-independence India and mental conflicts of an enthusiastic, ambitious but idealistic youth. The portraying of characters is beautiful, particularly the female protagonist of novel, Sudha touches the heart.
In the novels foreword, the author says, "While writing this novel I experienced the feeling one has during depressing moments when he prays ferevently, with full faith.... It appears as if the very same prayer has been ingrained in my heart and I am still repeating it..."
The novel tells the passionate love story of Chander and Sudha. The plot is simple and devoid of any distracting thrilling moments. Instead it is driven by the interaction of the central characters that is in many ways innocent as well as naive. What makes this novel so unusual, and one of the biggest bestsellers of its time, is the author’s ability to present his characters with conflicting choices that have fatal consequences.
The story is set in Allahabad just after Partition; we are introduced to a young research student, Chandrakumar Kapoor, an orphan, who has a mentor in Dr Shukla, a widower, and who is very close to Dr Shukla’s daughter, Sudha. The two share a relationship that is deep and strong, and their attraction for each other increases with the passage of time. That Sudha is in love with Chander soon becomes clear to the reader and other characters such as Sudha’s best friend, Gesu, and Sudha’s cousin Binti. Chander is from a lower caste than Sudha and that is why he doesn’t dare ask for Sudha’s hand in marriage from her father. While Sudha seems to be fairly 'modern', she cannot stand up to the social pressure to get married to the man of her father’s choice; Chander also forces her to abide by the wishes of her father. This, then, is the turning point in the novel but it is also through this tragedy that Bharati has made the story appealing to readers.
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