Her works include 36 novels, 48 short novels, 150 short stories, 15 travelogues, 7 collections of articles, one talking book, 4 volumes of literary research books, 2 volumes of anthologies, and biographies of Smt. Indira Gandhi and Sri. G.D. Naidu. Her stories and articles have been published in prominent Tamil periodicals and many have been translated into English, Japanese, Ukranian and other Indian languages.
Sivasankari’s novels include Ethaṟkkāka, Ēṉ, Naṇḍu, Mella Mella, Ammā, Enakkāka, Vaḷarththa Kaḍā, Oru Maṉiḍhaṉiṉ Kaḍhay, Pōgap Pōga, Dhavam, Mālaiyil Pūkkum Malargaḷ, Pālaṅgaḷ, Poy, Karuṉai Kolai, Athuu Cari Appuram?, Ammā Piḷḷai, Vērillādha Maraṅgaḷ, Āṟṟil Oru Kāl Cēṟṟil Oru Kāl, Cutta Maṇ, Ini, Shyāmā, Nadhiyin Vēgaththōṭu, 47 Nāṭkaḷ,
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Pubertal rituals are viewed as a private affair and widowhood ceremonies are gradually stopped. The individual desires, feelings and wishes of the protagonists Mythili and Padmini are given some priority. However, conflicts of values are shown between the older and younger generations. Anandam’s ideals are objected by her granddaughter Mythili, and Mangalam’s by Padmini. Anandam and Mangalam criticise their daughters-in-law and granddaughters. Sivasankari has traced the rebellion and retaliation of adolescent girls Mythili and Padmini which is the prime reason for the gradual changes in the life of women. The desires and ambitions of Padmini are cherished by Padmini’s parents Venkat and Mythili which is a remarkable change in the Indian …show more content…
The first half of the novel depicts the nuptial bliss enjoyed by Giridhar and Dhurga who are the prototypes of a typical upper middle class family. The later half narrates the change in the behaviour of Giri after his visit to England for a six month training Programme arranged by his company before his promotion. Dhurga loses her equilibrium when she receives no communication from him. She struggles to answer the questions of her sons. When the company manager of Giri conveys the information about Giri’s resignation, Dhurga’s hope shatters. She is handicapped after receiving his divorce notice. She is shocked to read his letter which states that he led a life of illusion with Dhurga and his quest for complacency is fulfilled after meeting a rich widow Linda. Dhurga understands his greediness and meets him to show the real nature of Giri to her sons. The novel portrays Dhurga’s pragmatism and empowerment as a mother and
A traditional extended family living in Northern India can become acquainted through the viewing of Dadi’s family. Dadi, meaning grandmother in Hindu, lets us explore her family up close and personal as we follow the trials and tribulations the family encounters through a daily basis. The family deals with the span of three generations and their conflicting interpretations of the ideal family life. Dadi lets us look at the family as a whole, but the film opens our eyes particularly on the women and the problems they face. The film inspects the women’s battle to secure their status in their family through dealing with a patriarchal mentality. The women also are seen attempting to exert their power, and through it all we are familiarized to
She handled typical Indian themes and has successfully depicted the dilemmas and conflicts of women in their interactions and dealings with their partners. Through the aspects of kindness, tolerance and understanding of human relationships this novel can better be accepted by the readers. The despair and disappointments in the life of Jaya is clearly understood by the readers from the very beginning of the novel. She begins the novel by saying
A Comparison of Two Poems Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan by Moniza Alvi and Search for my Tongue by Sujata Bhatt
Redefining the concept of Third World Feminism, Nair emphasizes on the importance of the female voice. We encounter the bride, Aditi, for the first time, on the sets of Delhi.com as the camera zooms in to focus on an intimate kiss that she has with Vikram. A savvy woman of the city, she does not get sentimental about the possibility of Vikram divorcing his wife for she has read too many magazines to know that it might never happen. She enters into an arranged marriage with Hemant not out of any kind of parental pressure or hopelessness but out of the choice to settle down. She makes rational decisions but not at the cost of curbing her desire. Even as the family engages in the preparations for the wedding, she is found to be repeatedly making phone-calls to her ex-boyfriend. This stands in contrast to the western portrait of third world women, usually idealized as the subjugated subject. Even before the wedding, she sneaks out of the house at midnight to meet him. Through the scene of lovemaking, she emerges as a woman who has power over her body, one who can make her own sexual choices and can also, literally, drive away from the man who leaves her vulnerable among the police to face the consequences. As women who exercise their agency, the film portrays characters who take the risk of transgressing the normative order. Pimmi may transgress by smoking, though behind closed doors while Ayesha will make no mystery of her desire for Rahul. Sexual
Dhowli and her mother were forced into the world of being untouchables because they were widows. It was not from a choice or action; it was because their husbands had died. In India, widows were forced to live a life of isolation and have very limited financial and social opportunities. “Dhowli” by Mahasweta Devi tells the story of Dhowli and the challenges facing widowed untouchables in India. “Dhowli” is about a woman facing a forbidden love that ultimately brings her final downfall of losing her family and becoming a prostitute. Throughout the story, the reader begins to understand the discrimination and hardships that untouchables faced.
The young Indian female experience in the modern age is characterized by a conflict between Indian tradition and contemporary global culture. Historically the archetype of the ideal Indian woman has been used to build national unity, identity, and pride. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, public imagination equated the ideal woman to ‘mother India.’ This idea was fueled by art, literature, and particularly film. Heroines were characterized as “passive, victimized, sacrificial, submissive, glorified, static, one-dimensional, and resilient” (Virdi, 60). The social expectation of women to exhibit these traits persists in the modern day. Women struggle to reconcile these qualities with contemporary values such as independence, freedom, and gender equality. Therefore young women are still subject to the desires of their fathers, and the unofficial caste system still limits their social mobility; yet simultaneously they dance at nightclubs, and wear short skirts. Conflict between tradition and modernity is exemplified by events like the beer bar girls ban, in which young women who made a living by dancing in bars were banned from their profession on the grounds
By now, R.K Narayan took a turn from his usual way of writing. Moving away from writing books, which were more or less auto-biographical, his exposure to foreign lands would have inspired him to move beyond his world and hone his creativity. Starting right from ‘Mr. Sampath’ (1948) to ‘The Vendor of Sweets’ (1967), this trend was seen in all books written in this period. ‘The Guide’ and ‘The Man-Eater of Malgudi’ is analyzed here, in this context.
Mishra, A.K. “Man-woman Relationship in Sashi Tharoor’s Riot.” Indian English Literature. Ed. Basavaraj Naikar, New Delhi: Atlantic, Vol.III, 2007, p.p. 174-181.
Krishnaswamy, Shantha. The Woman in Indian Fiction in English 1950–1980.New Delhi : Ashish Publishing House, 1984.
She moved to Britain after India had got independence and now she is known for her writing about cultural clashes between urban India and Rural Indian Societis. Her first novel Nectar in a Sieve (1955) is a best seller and highly notable book by the American Library Association. This novel is evolved around a strong but suffering soul Rukmani who has lost her sons and her daughter turns into prostitution. The main character Rukmani suffers a lot, facing poverty, famine, and divorce of her barren daughter, death of her sons, her daughter’s prostitution and finally till the death of her
The relationship with of between a women and her husband tends to hold a great amount of significance to the way they interact with each other and express their desires. However, literature tends to favor the male perspective or even minimize the relationship between a husband and wife. Within South Asian literature, it is hard to see a realistic representative of women desires in a husband wife relationship but short stories such as Wings by Ambai and Band Ghari by Gaura Pant, allows one to see how each wife interacts with her husband and how their desires manifest from given interactions. Ambai’s Wings is about Chaya’s relationship with her penny pinching husband Bkaskaran, who expresses no emotions towards his wife and son. On the other hand, Pant’s Band Ghari explores the relationship between Maya and her tyrant husband Girish. Both women grow unhappy with their marriage in which similarity can be seen through their suffering; however their reaction to their suffering varies.
Cultural Fiction Writer- Writes from the eyes of several different lifestyles in India and the daily struggles that come with living in India
Recent years have witnessed a large number of Indian English fiction writers who have stunned the literary world with their works. The topics dealt with are contemporary and populist and the English is functional, communicative and unpretentious. Novels have always served as a guide, a beacon in a conflicting, chaotic world and continue to do so. A careful study of Indian English fiction writers show that there are two kinds of writers who contribute to the genre of novels: The first group of writers include those who are global Indians, the diasporic writers, who are Indians by birth but have lived abroad, so they see Indian problems and reality objectively. The second group of writers are those born and brought up in India, exposed to the attitudes, morale and values of the society. Hence their works focus on the various social problems of India like the plight of women, unemployment, poverty, class discrimination, social dogmas, rigid religious norms, inter caste marriages, breakdown of relationships etc.
Garg in ‘Hari Bindi’ discusses the story of a common woman and made it extraordinary by the active force she was experiencing in herself to live her life. The husband of the protagonist symbolises the power and control of patriarchy that had restricted her life in such a way
The novel depicts the life of Jaya at the level of the silent and the unconscious. A sensitive and realistic dramatization of the married life of Jaya and her husband Mohan, it portrays and inquisitive critical appraisal to which the institution of marriage has been subjected to in recent years. It centers round the inner perception of the protagonist, a woman who is subtly drawn from inside, a woman who finds her normal routine so disrupted that for the first time she can look at her life and attempt to decide who she really