Changdev Chatushtayasambandhi

The novel tetralogy by Nemade is an exceptional literary achievement of such outstanding quality that, when viewed with an unbiased and healthy critical sensibility, it should invite no resistance. In fact, from the perspective of its structure, this tetralogy is epic in scale. It encompasses a wide range of thematic strands that offer penetrating insights into the human mind and human life, social structures and customs, cultural life and cultural practices.

These novels cover an extensive geographical landscape, including Mumbai, Western Maharashtra, Northern Maharashtra and Marathwada. At the same time, they provide an intimate understanding of local life, capturing its distinctive linguistic characteristics and regional identity.

The present tetralogy is the result of the novelist’s immense imaginative range and his ability to weave together numerous aesthetic concepts into a cohesive literary structure. Through this remarkable body of work, Nemade has created a distinctive, epic-like form for the Marathi novel.

Another reason for the resistance to his work lies in the mindset of a section of literary critics. The generation of writers and critics active before 1960 had largely embraced the values of middle-class life, shaped by conventional morality. Nemade’s novels challenge traditional middle-class values, its complacency and its sense of superiority towards others. They expose the hypocrisy underlying this outlook. Critics belonging to this class may have felt that Nemade’s novels were, in a way, exposing them themselves.

In reality, a careful understanding of Nemade’s novels reveals that he does not write with prejudice or with the intention of attacking any particular social class. In keeping with the credo of a great writer, Nemade believes that, as a novelist, he writes for the entire world.