Rahula Sankrityana was a multi-faceted personality who enriched almost every branch of humanities and social sciences during his long writing career. Since he wrote mostly in Hindi, he is not so widely known to the English-speaking world. He published nearly 140 books, and some manuscripts written by him still remain to be brought out. His writings cover almost every genre of Hindi literature. Besides being an outstanding writer Rahula Sankrityayana was a social and political activist. He actively participated in the peasant movement of Bihar during the late thirties and was one of the founders of the Communist Party in this province.
The essays contributed to the international seminar for celebrating his birth centenary in Calcutta cover a wide range of subjects. It is befitting that they have been written not only by academics but also by social and political workers. They deal with the personality and achievements of Rahula Sankrityayana and assess his contribution to social, political and intellectual life. They show that Rahulaji was imbued with a strong mission of bringing about social transformation and he dedicated his whole life to this cause.
Rahula Sankrityayana left an indelible mark on the intellectual and ideological life of his times. He was one of the foremost protagonists of the ideals of socialism which moulded numerous young minds. Though his books were written in Hindi, some of them such as Volga to Ganga were translated into important Indian languages and underwent many reprints. I am glad that the participants of the seminar have taken account of the valuable and versatile contribution of this great man, and hope that the present anthology of essays will create an awareness about India's cultural and ideological problems.
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