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VOL. 11, ISSUE 4 (2025)
Socio-political allegory in Neelakantan’s Asura and Ajaya I & IISocio-political allegory in Neelakantan’s Asura and Ajaya I & II
Authors
Sudhakar Sardar
Abstract
The article “Socio-political Allegory in Neelakantan’s Asura and Ajaya
I & II” is basically intended to state the significance of allegory, having
a long tradition of being useful in propagating contemporary socio-political
issues, in providing certain literary propaganda with a kind of aesthetic that
ultimately helps the said works transcend time or clime and yet disseminating
certain messages, here caste-related anomalies, with an intention of realising
a change in the society. Anand Neelakantan’s Asura:
Tale of the Vanquished: The Story of Ravana and His People (2012), Ajaya: Book
1: Roll of the Dice [Epic of the Kaurava Clan] (2013), Ajaya, Book II Rise of
Kali [Duryodhana's Mahabharata] (2015), the recreated versions of the Ramayana
and the Mahabharata, are basically propaganda in the sense that the novels, set
in the context of anti-Brahminism or anti-caste stance, propagate indirectly,
through allegory, the correlation of caste and class basically because of the
prejudiced policies of the ruling conglomerates in India, mainly belonging to
the privileged castes. They also connote the malpractices of the political
leaders, belonging to both the privileged and underprivileged castes, to use
the victims of caste to their advantage. One finding relates to the tendency of
the state to brand dissenters as terrorists or traitors giving further
sustenance to those, like Takshaka or Durjaya, in their efforts to mobilise
people like Ekalavya, Jara, against the state. Intra-caste divisions, standing
in the way of the annihilation of caste, can be seen in Takshaka, the Naga
leader’s inherent hatred against Ekalavya, Jara, the untouchables. The
perception reminds one of the intra-caste hierarchical consciousness among the
untouchables in Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable (1935). Thus, certain
socio-political issues, primarily related to caste and Brahminism and their related
issues, standing in the way of the realisation of the constitutional ethos of
justice, equality and fraternity, are dealt with in the novels with the help of
the aesthetic of allegory thus saving the novels from being mere propaganda
that would have inflicted transience upon the literary works.
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Pages:61-66
How to cite this article:
Sudhakar Sardar "Socio-political allegory in Neelakantan’s Asura and Ajaya I & IISocio-political allegory in Neelakantan’s Asura and Ajaya I & II". International Journal of English Research, Vol 11, Issue 4, 2025, Pages 61-66
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