“Pariksha Guru is considered landmark in the history of Hindi novel.” Justify the statement
with suitable arguments.
Answers
Pariksha Guru- The novel tells a story of the extravagance of Hindu bankers and traders. Its theme is not to adopt Western culture. It propagated the following issues which no other novel did before: i. It cautioned young men of well to do families about the ill effects of bad company. ii. It then shows how to live a practical life that preserves traditional values in honour and dignity. iii. Children are advised to read the newspaper. iv. The author emphasised that modernity should be embraced without giving up middle class values. v. The novel tries to teach the reader the ‘right way’ to live 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 vi. In the novel we see the characters attempting to bridge two different worlds through their actions: they take to new agricultural technology, modernise trading practices, change the use of Indian languages, making them capable of transmitting both Western sciences and Indian wisdom.