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him into the past. The actual biographical narrative unfolds chronologically in the next chapter with the description of
Shekhar's birth, his childhood and youth as well as his time at the college in Madras and his social activities for the sake of the untouchables. This is, roughly, the content of the first part of the novel. The second part describes his life as a student, his association with the more militant opposition, and his affection for Shashi. This second part ends with Shashi's death and Shekhar's participation in terrorist activities.
450:
self interest: Ways that affected his upbringing. While respecting his father, the protagonist finds himself hindered by her mother, causing him to resent her and grow closer to his sister. In adolescence, he falls in love with a distant cousin, which helps him grasp the meaning and value of life. He reflects on the conflict between his desire to achieve personal freedom and his social pressures which inhibit its attainment. These conflicts are played out against broader social activities, like his interest in helping the class of untouchables.
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His lover, however, decides upon a conventional marriage, and, on his release from imprisonment, the narrator strives to fulfill the calling of being a writer. As his disappointment mounts up, he is tempted to commit suicide, his lover convinces him otherwise. Their love develops profoundly only to be cut short by her death, which concluded part two.
420:. The camp has been successfully infiltrated by informers and he is arrested on false charges and serves ten months in prison. There he makes friends with Madansingh, Ramaji and Mohasin, who exercise a deep influence on his thinking. While imprisoned, he also learns that Shashi, who occasionally visits, has been betrothed in an arranged marriage.
325:
yet oversensitive, he reacted violently to events he disagreed with, contemplating on his mother's actions. He then developed a deep dislike for his mother, while admiring his father and adoring his elder sister. The narrator also developed an antagonistic attitude to religion, and a rebellious view of social distinction and political slavery.
416:, where he is appalled, not by caste, but by the corrupt manners of Indians mimicking Western ways, especially in the figure of an Oxford trained woman teacher Manika. There he reestablishes contact with Shashi, a girl he met when he was a child. He enlists as a voluntary officer in a camp organized by the
328:
As a young child, the narrator was often violent, attacking postmen and classmates, and defied orders from adults. The narrator recalls having been badly frightened by a stuffed tiger in a museum, when his father brought home a similar fake tiger and discovered that it was filled with straw. Thus, he
449:
The author adopted a style emphasizing how the narrator felt inwardly and disagreement with feelings such as his family, human relationships, women, and the manner of teaching. In personal term,s there is a focus on the protagonist's feelings with three basic instincts — sex, fear and the pursuit of
297:
provides an introduction to the narrative by delineating the intention of
Shekhar's Biography. Shekhar is imprisoned and waits for the execution of the death sentence. In this life-and-death situation, Shekhar asks a questions whether the situation has any meaning. This search for significance draws
453:
With this backdrop explored, the author, in part two, describes the gradual disillusionment which creeps over the narrator as he meets various political figures and engages in programmes of social reform. In prison, to the contrary his faith in man is strengthened by the people he encounters there.
324:
parents. His father, moved from town to town in India, taking his family with him. Because of this, the narrator failed to form an attachment to any location. Furthermore, conflicting personalities of his parents split his personality. Therefore, he grew up as an introverted young man. Intelligent,
445:
is told through the thoughts of a political prisoner recalling his life. Agyeya writes in the introduction that he "strove to give voice to a man’s passionate quest" by the examination of the past. In terms of genre, its distinctiveness lay in the way it melded autobiographical elements from the
351:
Shekhar always harboured strong yet frustrated romantic feelings. After some early and earnest romantic experiences with a girl called Sharda, he fell deeply in love with a young woman called Shashi. After being deserted by her husband, Shashi came to live with
Shekhar, but died shortly after.
232:
Agyeya wrote the first draft of the novel after being arrested, where he contemplated writing about his life before he would be executed. The first part was published after four redrafts, and the second was released in 1944. The third part, which Agyeya said he had written, never appeared.
423:
Once he regains his freedom, he dedicates himself to writing revolutionary tracts without success. Everywhere he turns, friends only cultivate his company to get him to marry one of their
Brahmin daughters. He tells the married Shashi that he is tempted by suicide, and she stays
27:
372:
technique, using vivid flashbacks, that privileges the way reality is experienced in
Shekhar's mind, as he casts his thoughts back, on the eve of his death at the hands of the British authorities, to revisit in his imagination key episodes in his life.
433:
where he pursues his revolutionary interests. One cell entrusts him with arms they intend to use to get a comrade out of prison. Shortly afterwards, Shashi dies of the effects of the thrashing her former husband handed out, and Shekar ends up in gaol.
428:
overnight with him to ensure he does not kill himself. On learning of this, her husband gives her a severe beating and kicks her out of his house. She goes to live with Shekar, though the relationship never develops into a sexual one. They move to
253:
in Hindi). Seven of these eight parts are headed by two general terms connected by conjunction 'and', which, according to
Angelika Malinar, might indicate opposition as well as affinity. The four parts of the first volume are entitled:
405:, especially when his only acquaintance there, Kumar, exploits their friendship to get money from him. He tries to set up a school for children in the slums, forms a debating society, and travels all over the south, almost drowning at
384:
where he encounters, and suffers an early disappointment with, a westernised girl, Miss
Pratibha Lal. During his formative years of education he evinces a rebellious temperament. When the family moves back south to
393:, he falls in love with Sharada whose family break their association by abruptly moving away. He then befriends a girl, Shanti, who is afflicted by tuberculosis. After her death his family send him to
317:. The narrator is a revolutionary who has been sentenced to death. Shortly before his execution, he reflects on his life. He recounts his memories of social rebellion and passionate love.
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the Hindi term for execution. Shekhar the protagonist of the eponymous novel, reflects back on his life as he is awaiting his own execution. Rather than writing a
476:, was concerned with etching the portrait of a self-analytical, introspective soul, and was interested in discovering how such a person became a terrorist."
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when he was imprisoned for his rebellious activities against the
British colonial government, in particular, for his participation in the attempt to help
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became convinced that all fears were imaginary. As he grew to lack fear for even death, he would bathe in the river despite his inability to swim.
1227:
896:
Malinar, Angelika (1997). "Multiple
Perspectives and the Problem of Identity in Ajñeya's Śekhar: ek jīvanī". In Bhatti, Anil; Turk, Horst (eds.).
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336:. From childhood, he demonstrated an intense dislike of slavery. At college, he abandoned the Brahmin hostel in favour of the
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344:. He was also anti-English, and would set fire to foreign clothing and refuse to speak English. He grew to be an active
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186:, also known by his pen-name, Agyeya. Published in two parts, with a third part that has yet to see the light of day,
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novel of Hindi literature due to its focus on thematising the gap between the external world and internal states.
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Shingavi, Snehal (2016). "Agyeya's
Unfinished Revolution: Sexual and Social Freedom in Shekhar: Ek Jivani".
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Trivedi, Harish (January–February 2011). "Agyeya — and his "Shekhar" The Second Greatest Novel in Hindi?".
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The Quest of Ajneya. A Christian Theological Appraisal of the Search for Meaning in His Three Hindi Novels
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566:. The experimental nature of the novel gave it attention, and many critics recognized it as the first
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703:"Chapter 34 : Sachchidanand Hiranand Vatsyayan ["Ajneya"/"Agyeya" ('Unknowable')]"
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Agyeya; Kumar, Sharat; Sen, Geeti (December 1983). "Interview with Ajneya (S.H. Vatsyayan)".
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From an early age, the narrator rejected social norms which he disapproved of, including the
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in its narrative of a variety of experiences. Indeed, it is recognized as being the first
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History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, Struggle for Freedom : Triumph and Tragedy
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Kulturelle Identität. Deutsch-indische Kulturkontakte in Literatur, Religion und Politik
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270:(man and circumstance). The first three parts of the second volume are entitled
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In the second volume, to round off his education he enrolls in a college in
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714:. De Gruyter Handbook. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. pp. 1762–1776.
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mentions that the novel indicates a new beginning in Hindi literature.
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1142:. Berkeley: Center for South Asia Studies, University of California.
472:, the French novel in ten volumes. He wrote that "like the author of
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380:, the son of an archaeologist, and spent part of his early life in
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and literary formulations of other modernist Western writers like
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249:(struggle). Both volumes are further subdivided into four parts (
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Agyeya also quoted or mentioned Romantic and lyrical poets like
386:
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is semi-biographical in nature and is considered to be Agyeya's
834:. Vol. V. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. pp. 4007–4008.
1005:. Vol. 2. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. pp. 338–339.
140:
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party volunteer and eventually, he became a revolutionary.
340:
hostel as a sign of rejection of strict interpretations of
1086:. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 96.
608:. Vol. IV. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 2973.
605:
Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Navaratri To Sarvasena
397:, where he lives in a Brahmin hostel. He is disgusted by
360:
The novel starts dramatically, the very first word being
282:(Shashi and Shekhar). Only the first preliminary chapter
320:
The narrator was born in a ruined Buddhist monastery to
286:(entry) and the last part of the second volume entitled
197:
Reviewers have remarked on the novel's subtle uses of
515:. In the preface of the novel, Agyeya has referenced
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Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti
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Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot
775:"Western Influences in Agyeya's Shekhar Ek Jeevani"
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900:. Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag. pp. 231–251.
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290:(threads, ropes, knots) departs from thus scheme.
1140:Hindi Modernism: Rethinking Agyeya and His Times
352:Shekhar felt that he was haunted by her memory.
1003:Modern Indian Literature: an Anthology: Fiction
31:Cover page of English translation; 2018 edition
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562:is considered a unique and landmark novel in
313:, with the narrator telling their story in a
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1032:. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 1654.
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1059:. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 284.
930:. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 104.
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16:Novel by Sachchidananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya'
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446:author's life with imaginative fictions.
961:(1). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi: 78–83.
209:approaches to the workings of the mind.
710:Handbook of Autobiography / Autofiction
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706:. In Wagner-Egelhaaf, Martina (ed.).
581:translated the novel into English as
462:Agyeya acknowledged inspiration from
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737:India International Centre Quarterly
636:: CS1 maint: ignored ISBN errors (
227:Hindustan Socialist Republican Army
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1119:Shekhar: A Life: Various Dimension
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798:from the original on 25 July 2018
572:Encyclopedia of Indian Literature
182:-language novel by Indian writer
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278:(confinement and curiosity) and
229:, to escape from jail in 1929.
1228:Indian autobiographical novels
1053:Das, Sisir Kumar, ed. (2005).
872:Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
866:Hooker, Roger Hardham (1998).
656:Journal of South Asian Studies
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1263:First-person narrative novels
1138:Dalmia, Vasudha, ed. (2012).
1080:S H Vatsyayan (8 June 2018).
780:Economic and Political Weekly
668:10.1080/00856401.2016.1197421
577:In 2018, Snehal Shingavi and
376:We learn that he was born in
368:narrative, the author uses a
1258:Novels about revolutionaries
1026:Datta, Amaresh, ed. (1988).
924:Datta, Amaresh, ed. (1987).
772:Singh, Prem (21 July 2018).
1268:Novels about psychoanalysis
1083:Prison Days and Other Poems
241:The first volume is titled
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1248:Nonlinear narrative novels
1233:20th-century Indian novels
1114:शेखर: एक जीवनी: विविध आयाम
700:Malinar, Angelika (2019).
165:[ʃe.khər:ekjiv.ni]
1238:20th-century Indian books
602:Lal, Mohan, ed. (2007) .
130:Published in English
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1125:: Abhivyakti Prakashan.
828:Lal, Mohan, ed. (1992).
346:Indian National Congress
288:dhāge, rassiyāṃ, guñjhar
274:(man and circumstance),
184:Sachchidananda Vatsyayan
370:stream of consciousness
217:Agyeya started writing
1111:Rai, Ram Kamal (ed.).
481:Dante Gabriel Rossetti
51:
1253:Indian bildungsromans
1223:Hindi-language novels
1194:(English translation)
786:(29). Mumbai: 59–62.
266:(nature and man) and
245:(rising), the second
199:psychoanalytic themes
1273:Novels set in prison
874:. pp. 225–228.
680:Taylor & Francis
501:Percy Bysshe Shelley
272:puruṣ aur paristhiti
268:puruṣ aur paristhiti
91:Psychoanalytic novel
489:Edna Vincent Millay
315:nonlinear narrative
276:bandhan aur jijñāsā
262:(seed and sprout),
178:) is an unfinished
47:Original title
21:
20:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
1187:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
1175:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
1164:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
1121:] (in Hindi).
560:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
545:Dorothy Richardson
497:William Wordsworth
485:Christina Rossetti
443:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
401:, obsessions with
309:is written in the
307:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
293:The first chapter
225:, a leader of the
219:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
156:Shekhar: Ek Jivani
1243:Unfinished novels
1149:978-0-944613-26-9
1093:978-93-5305-108-2
1066:978-81-7201-798-9
1039:978-81-260-1194-0
954:Indian Literature
937:978-81-260-1803-1
841:978-81-260-1221-3
721:978-3-11-038148-1
264:prakṛti aur puruṣ
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1218:1944 novels
1213:1940 novels
802:24 November
537:Henry James
525:James Joyce
517:T. S. Eliot
203:Hindi novel
192:magnum opus
1202:Categories
743:(4): 528.
589:References
549:André Gide
509:John Keats
458:Influences
387:Ootacamund
342:Brahmanism
213:Background
161:pronounced
59:Translator
870:. Delhi:
792:0012-9976
676:148338325
632:cite book
624:888970468
555:Reception
237:Structure
188:Ek Jivani
1131:29703721
1123:Ilahabad
967:23341824
880:41095884
796:Archived
749:23001392
438:Analysis
302:Contents
247:saṃgharṣ
207:Freudian
147:19111769
78:Language
1182:(Hindi)
1170:(Hindi)
399:Brahmin
389:in the
382:Kashmir
338:Harijan
322:Brahmin
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170:transl.
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414:Lahore
395:Madras
362:phāṁsī
295:praveś
284:praveś
243:utthān
41:Agyeya
37:Author
1117:[
963:JSTOR
745:JSTOR
672:S2CID
431:Delhi
403:caste
378:Patna
251:khaṇḍ
180:Hindi
124:India
88:Genre
82:Hindi
1144:ISBN
1127:OCLC
1088:ISBN
1061:ISBN
1034:ISBN
1007:ISBN
932:ISBN
902:ISBN
876:OCLC
836:ISBN
804:2018
788:ISSN
716:ISBN
638:link
620:OCLC
610:ISBN
519:and
356:Plot
141:OCLC
134:2018
113:1944
107:1940
1190:at
1178:at
664:doi
466:'s
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