Pariksha guru
Pariksha guru is the first proper novel in Hindi. It was written by Lala Srinivas Das who belonged to Delhi[1] and it was published in the year 1882. Considered a landmark in Hindi fiction, it was reprinted in 1974 with an introduction by Ramdaras Mishra. This novel did not achieve great success because Bengali novels of those times were love sagas wrapped in fantasies.
About
Srinivas Das's pariksha guru was the first, proper, modern, Hindi, novel published in 1882. It cautioned young men of well to do families against the dangerous influence of bad company and consequent loose morals. Pariksha guru reflects the inner and outer world of the newly emerging middle classes. The characters in the novel are caught in the difficulty of adapting to colonised society and at the same time preserving their own cultural identity. The world of colonial modernity seems both frightening and irresistible to the characters. The novel tries to teach the reader the 'right way' of living and expects all sensible men to be worldly wise and practical, to remain rooted in the values of their own tradition and culture, and to live with dignity and honour. In the novel we see the characters attempting to bridge two different world through their actions; they take to new agricultural technology,modernise trading practices, change the use of Indian languages making them capable of transferring both western sciences and Indian wisdom. The young are urged to cultivate the healthy habit of reading the newspapers. But all this must be achieved without sacrificing the traditional values of the middle class household. With all its good intentions, Pariksha Guru could not win many readers as it was perhaps too moralising in style.
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