ИСТИНА

Novel by Mannu Bhandari "Apka Banty" presents a new approach to a character of a child in Hindi literature.In comparison with modern European/American writers or Marathi/Bengali literatures in which we come across a child as a main hero, Hindi literature usually depicts a chld as a second plan chararcter. A child can be an object of sentimental love - to stress positive characteristics of a main hero or an author-narrator or an instrument helping to show the development of a grown up protagonist. By these means an author creates a back-ground, gives a history and depth to a main character (like in Hindi stories by Jayashankar Prasad or Agyeya's "Shekhar. Ek jivani"). Manu Bhandari makes a small boy a main hero of the novel, a centre of the author's analysis and description. Banti is not typical for India,being a son of divorsed parents, who started new family lives.All changes in a modern world are given through their son's eyes. The author continues tradition of "Nai kahaanee"- "New story", depicting a lonely hero in modern city with "cut-off" connections.At the same time he shows an inner world of middle class representives who face new problems in a changing world. Banty lives in a semi-fantastic, fairy-tale like world and tries to understand the rules and behaviour of the adult's world. Even his beloved mother is visualised as an actress wearing a mask, who behaves according to the circumstances. The grown-ups, deeply involved in their own problems, often forget that a child has a right for his own world and life. But grown-ups are egocentric and use Banty as a tool which may help them to reach their aims. The author is far from idealisation of the novel's characters, at the same time is not didactic showing a reader what is right or wrong in this complicated world. Narration presented by different characters, but mainlyfrom the point of view of the boy Banty, helps to come to humanistic conclusions and appreciate the author's narrative.