March 2002

An International,
Registered & Referred
E nglish Literature

Since
Monthly Journal :
Research Link - 139, Vol - XIV (8), October - 2015, Page No. 52-53
ISSN - 0973-1628 RNI - MPHIN-2002-7041 Impact Factor - 2014 - 1.8007

Marriage ..ia a trap- understanding the Novels of

Shashi Deshpande
Shashi Deshpande is, at her heart, a realist. She presents India of the eighties. As Veena
Shashadri remarks, she believes in presenting life as it is and not as it is should be, and like
Jaya of That Logn Silence many Indian wives keep on perennially groping about their fate, but
unwilling to do anything that could result in their being tossed out of their comfortable ruts and
also into the big, bad world of reality, to fend for themselves (Veena Shashadri, 1988 : 94) The
narrator in If I Die Today declares that these are not characters by Agantha Christie but
Real people (166) The publication of That Long Silence by the Virago press made its own
contribution to this belief. Deshpande herself regards the novel as more meaningful then
any other of the novels, for it deals with a much longer issue the long silence of women.
(Indian Communicator, 11)
DR. ANJAN KUMAR
S hashi Deshpande seems to have fostered a dislike
for the institution of marriage as it obtains in the context of
husband: Remember, Jaya ... a husband is like a sheltering
tree .... Without the tree, you?re dangerously unprotected and
Indian Society. Marriage, she probably believes, is a vulnerable (p. 32). These words keep on echoing in the ears
contrivance to subjugate women. She does not appear to of Jaya and she realizes that since a husband is like a sheltering
endorse the view that marriages are made in heaven and that tree, he must be nourished and nurtured adequately even if
the post - marital life showers heavenly pleasure and bliss the wife has to suffer to give it nourishment.
upon women. Rather marriage legitimizes all kinds of injustices Marriage, which in India is considered to be the most
and violence perpetrated on women. Man looses interest in important relationship, does not have a place in Aru's scheme
wife in course of time. Here we are reminded of Osho who of things. I'm never going to get married. She declares (A
alludes to a term 'objectification'. Osho observes that everyone Matter of Time, 76). Her reading of Erica Jong has made her
nurtures a deep dislike for life and energy. Energy is worshipped perceive new dimensions of betrayal and cruelty in the
out of fear. Enemies are killed because a living enemy is woman-man relationship (145), she expresses her point of
dangerous as it is full of life and energy. When the enemy is view to Premi thus :
killed the fear is gone, the perception of threat is no more I've been thinking about marriage a great deal
there. In the same way, distinguishing between wife and lover, What's there in it? I mean, look at Amma and now Sumi
Osho observes that a person is afraid of his beloved because what do you get out of it? And look at Goda-ajji and
beloved carries a sense of insecurity in relationship, she may Bhauji Kaka they're always scrapping. At their age and
elope, she may be forced out of relationship by some external after so many years of marriage! (138)
pressure. But there is no such sense of threat when the beloved In The Dark Holds No Terrors also Saru finds her marital
marries the person and becomes his wife. A wife is an object. condition unbearable and feels the desperation of a trapped
She is like a killed enemy. She becomes an object and behaves animal. Her grandmother, deserted by her husband Had
like that. Like an object she is at the command of the person never complained and had accepted her plight as her
she married. She is bound to act as the husband wants her to. 'luck'; believing that It was written on my forehead. (70)
She may be compared to a electric switch of a fan which moves And Saru's mother did not have a room of her own and
the fan the moment it is put in on-position. So by marrying a silence had become a habit between her and her husband.
woman, particularly in India women are turned into objects (181) Only the movies can elevate marriage, maintains the
that are bound to act on the whims and fancies of her male latest novel, A Matter of Time, to a pedestal, making in the
counterparts. Shshi Despande's views of marriage appears to culminating event of a lifetime, of several lifetimes. (65)
be analogous to those of Osho. It is not that marriage and married life have lost their
In That Long Silence, Shashi Deshpande puts forward original sanctity and glory and are reduced to the level of a
her view on marriage through Vanitatai. Vanitamami tells Jaya faade of shame. But the institution of marriage, ever since
about the imbalanced relationship of husband and wife after its creation, is successfully serving the purposes of man-
marriage. She tells the importance of woman in relation to her made society the purpose of domination of men and

Professor & Principal, G. R. Patil College, Dombivli, Dist.- Thane (Maharshtra)

Research Link - An International Journal - 139 Vol - XIV (8) October - 2015 52
subordination of women. Marriages have compartmentalized
men and women. Women have been assigned an inferior
place and the institution of marriage has been aimed at
keeping this arrangement intact and undisturbed. Now, the
futility and meaninglessness of marriage are beginning to be
understood by the womenfolk. They have begun to realize
the worthlessness of husbands. To cite a concrete case from
The Binding Vine Sakutai, who had often wished to have her
mangalsutra made of gold, finally realizes the futility of the
endeavour The man himself is so worthless, why should I
bother to have this things made in precious gold. (110)
According to the novelist a woman is only meant to be
married and procreate children. We are reminded in The
Binding Vine If a girl's honour is lost, what is left? The girl
doesn't have to do anything wrong; people will always point
a finger at her. (59) The role of wife in the present times is
nothing less than walking on the razors edge. Realizing this
fact, Saru was obliged to give the following ironical imaginary
advice to future wives in Nalu's college.
A wife must always be a few feet behind her husband
That's the only rule to follow if you want to happy marriage.
Don't ever try to reverse the doctor, Nurse, executive secretary,
principal. Teacher role Women's magazines will tell you that a
marriage should be equal partnership. That's nonsense rubbish.
No partnership can ever be equal. It will always be unequal, but
take care that it's unequal-in favour of your husband. If the
scales till in your favour God help you both of you. (137)
What makes matter worse for Indian women is that
there are no choices before them. Like marriage, their
decisions are made in the heaven of their husband's mind.
As it is written in Roots and Shadows :
Millions of girls have asked this question millions of
times in this country What choice do I have? Surely it is
this fact that I can choose, that differentiates me from the
animals. But years of blindfolding can obscure your vision
so you no more see the choices. Years of shackling can
hamper your movement so that you can no more move out or
your cage of no choices. (125)
But marriage, we are reminded in A Matter of Time is
not for everyone. The demand it makes a lifetime of commitment
is not possible for all of us. (69) It is no longer a sacrament; it
is a convenient arrangement always to the disadvantage of
woman. The central character in Roots and Shadows observes.
What was marriage after all, but two people brought together
after a cold-blooded bargaining to meet, make and reproduce
so that generations might continue. (3) It is a trap That's
what marriage is A trap? Or a cage a case with two trapped
animals slaring hatred at each other and its not a joke but a
tragedy (59) to Urmila of The Binding Vine, the back of the
bird's neck nervously awaiting the first-night onslaught, looks
like a lamb's waiting for a butcher's knife to come down upon
it. In That Long Silence also, a married couple is compared to
a pair of bullocks yoked together. (8)
Matrimony is often regarded in India, as the
summumbonum of woman's life. In many cases, however, it
serves as a woman in hands of patriarchy to coerce and
silence. Manju in If I Die Today summarizes the common
Research Link - An International Journal - 139 Vol - XIV (8) October - 2015 53
predicament sufficiently : A marriage you start off expecting
so many things. And bit-by-bit, like dead leaves, the
expectations fall off. But two people who have shut
themselves off in two separate glass jars. Who can see each
other but can't communicate. Is this a marriage? (24)
Shashi Deshpande is, at her heart, a realist. She presents
India of the eighties. As Veena Shashadri remarks, she believes
in presenting life as it is and not as it is should be, and like Jaya
of That Logn Silence many Indian wives keep on perennially
groping about their fate, but unwilling to do anything that could
result in their being tossed out of their comfortable ruts and
also into the big, bad world of reality, to fend for themselves
(Veena Shashadri, 1988 : 94) The narrator in If I Die Today declares
that these are not characters by Agantha Christie but Real
people (166) The publication of That Long Silence by the Virago
press made its own contribution to this belief. Deshpande herself
regards the novel as more meaningful then any other of the
novels, for it deals with a much longer issue the long silence of
women. (Indian Communicator, 11)
Shashi Deshpande seems to have been referring to the
point that the physiological features of women have always
proved detrimental to their claims of equality in the society.
The physical functions of women such as menstruation,
pregnancy and procreation have continued to keep them
tethered to subordination. She has remarked the following
on this issue. I have a very strong feeling that until recently
women in our society has been looked upon just as breeding
animals : They had no other role in life. I have a strong
objection of treating any human being in that manner The
whole chronology of their life centres on childbirth The
stress laid upon the feminine functions, at the cost of all
your potentials as an individual, enraged me may be too
much of thinking has made me express a sort of dislike for
the purely physical aspects of feminine life, making it seems
as if I am totally against all feminine functions, which is not
the truth at all. (Indian communicator, 20 November 1994)
She depicts the Indian society of the eighties. She
neither idealizes nor paints her characters with emotionalism
and sentimentalism. As Veena Sheshadri remarks, she
believes in presenting life as it is not as it should be. (1988:
94). Deshpande is a realist. She draws a real picture of
contemporary women's world in her novels.
The novelist desires that married women should live
on equal footing, Man and woman are like two pillars of the
society on which rests the entire structure of the society. An
imbalance among the pillars may prove quite disastrous for
the whole structure of the society.
References :
(1) Deshpande, Shashi : Roots and Shadows. Penguin Book,
New Delhi.1983, 125. (2) Deshpande, Shashi : The Binding Vine ,
Penguin Books New Delhi.1992. (3) Deshpande, Shashi : The Dark
Holds No Terrors, Penguin Books, New Delhi, 1980. (4) Raman,
Seldom. A Reader's Guide to contemporary Literary Theory, New
York : Harvester Wheat Sheaf, 1989. (5) Venna, Sheshadri : That
Long Silence, Literature Alive 21, 1, 1988. (6) Vimala, Rama Rao
: A Conversation with Shashi Deshpande The Journal of Indian
Writing in English 25/1-2 (January-July 1997.
 March 2002
An International,
Registered & Referred
E nglish Literature

Since
Monthly Journal :
Research Link - 139, Vol - XIV (8), October - 2015, Page No. 54-55
ISSN - 0973-1628 RNI - MPHIN-2002-7041 Impact Factor - 2014 - 1.8007

Angst of Modern Marriage in Manju Kapur's Custody

It is said marriages are made in heaven but it is also true that for a successful
marriage efforts from both husband and wife is necessary. In the modern age there is
lack of patience, time and commitment. Life allures in many ways. There is a desire to
reach the top with any opportunity that comes in the way. Money, power, pomp and
show attract and are the means to weaken the relationship of husband and wife. Many
crumble under this stress and it leaves a scar in the mind of associated persons,
unfortunately the most vulnerable- children, in most of the cases. This paper is based
on one of the famous fiction of Manju Kapur Custody where the battle of marriage and
divorce creates havoc in the life of the two children Arjun and Roohi. The parents
separation and remarriage with other person ruins the children lives both health wise
and psychologically. The writer is concerned with the fight of Custody of the two children
between the father and the mother. While fighting for their custody the parents are
least bothered about the adverse effects of their action on the minds of innocent children.
This paper is an effort to analyse the trauma and turmoil of Arjun and Roohi who are
the ultimate sufferers because of their parent's deadly dogfight for their custody.
Keyeords : Custody, Feminism, extra-marital affairs, child psychology.

SHRUTI SANGAM* & DR.SUNITA TIWARI**

M arriage is considered to be a traditional symbol
and pious relation which exists between two people's life.
People fall in love and at times fall out of love too in the later
part of their life when they realise that their survival in such
a competitive world is quite difficult to maintain. As the world
advances the women too become aware of their rights, their
unfulfilled dreams and desires which were once subjugated
after her married life. Today she is craving to establish her
own identity in this competitive world because of the advent
of modernity. This yearn of hers is fatal both for her own self
and for her family members as her suppressed desire ruins
the whole family. This is because she wants to be free and
gain equal status in all spheres. As the Indians are adopting
the western cultures and tradition of modern outlook they
are rejecting their own values and morals.
In Manju Kapur's fiction Custody one finds two sets
of stories co-related with one another. One will get an easy
glimpse of how a household woman like Shagun becomes
over- ambitious in her life and this urge to gain autonomy
made her ruin her own family completely. This destruction
caused a great set back in the minds of her two children
Arjun and Roohi who got split and shared between their
parents without gaining complete love from any one of them.
On the other hand there is another protagonist Ishita who
being barren in her first marriage becomes the mother of
Roohi and later on fights for the child's custody. In the Rig
Veda it is quoted, about women:
'Woman as a wife is denoted by the words Jaya, Jani
and Patni, each indicating special aspects of wife hold. Jaya
has the special sense of a share of the husband's affections;
Jani, the mother of children; and Patni, the partner in the
performance of sacrifices.'
(Women in Vedic Age,)
In the fiction Custody, one gets an overview of how
Shagun's urge, to gain liberation destroys the life of her two
children. Shagun is the main protagonists of this fiction,
married to Raman Kaushik, a sales manager in one of the
reputed companies. His hard struggle and true devotion
towards his duties provided him great luxury with emptiness.
On the other hand, Shagun spends her each day in the service
of her family with the hope that she will lead a good life with
her husband some day but it never happens. This paves
way for her to get attracted towards Ashok Khanna, Raman's
boss. It was Mr. Khanna, who gave wings to her dreams so
that she can soar high in the sky. This caring love that she
received from him compelled Shagun to divorce her husband.
Shagun's life got distorted with many orifices in it,
I want something else in my life, can't you understand

*Research Scholar, Dr.C.V.Raman University, Chhattisgarh

**Assistant Professor, CMD PG College, Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh)

Research Link - An International Journal - 139 Vol - XIV (8) October - 2015 54
that? We always meet the same people, talk about the same Walfish, BeverlyHills Colif- based psychologist and author
old things over and over. It's boring. (Custody, 47) of The Self Aware Parent. (Web)
Shagun's mother forbade her daughter to stop being It is opined by many psychologists that children go
engaged with an outside man since she is married and a through many adverse effects after their parents divorce.
mother of two children. But love is blind and she continued 'Divorce introduces a massive change into the life of a
with her extra- marital relationship with Mr. Khanna. This boy or girl no matter what the age. Witnessing loss of love
resulted in divorce and destruction of the whole life of their between parents, having parents break their marriage
children. In The Second Sex Beauvoir clearly states for commitment, adjusting to going back and forth between two
woman who are identity-oriented and want to become different households, and the daily absence of one parent
independent: while living with the other all create a challenging new family
Once she ceases to be a parasite, the system based circumstance in which to live. Parental divorce is a watershed
on her dependence crumbles; between her and the universe event. Life that follows is completely changed from how life
there is no longer any need for a masculine mediator. (The was before.' (Web)
Second Sex, 412) The novel depicts the pain and suffering of children in
The tussle between Raman, Shagun and Ishita makes a heart trenching manner that strikes a chord of sympathy
both Arjun and Roohi suffer both mentally and physically for the two of them. The writer is successful in exposing the
because of the hypocrisy played by the adults. In one of the ugliness of divorce in a very sensitive manner. The
book reviews Manju Kapur has herself realised saying; consequence of divorce is that it shatters the life of the
The relationship of a child with his/her parents is children into million pieces that can never be arranged
perhaps the most beautiful one this earth. It defines that a together anymore. Thus, my paper concludes,
child makes him what they are when they grow up. Basking Custody is about the lives, loves and losses of wealthy,
in the love of both the parents is a blessing but having to urban, middle-class Indians and she excels at excavating
choose from either of them is a very traumatic experience. unsettling secrets and exploring dysfunctional relationships.
(Book Review) References :
On hearing the news of their parents' divorce the (1) Altekar,A.S. 'The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation:
children got tensed with the feeling of insecurity. They From Pre-historic Times to the Present Day, Delhi, reprinted 1973.
realised that the cosiness they had been experiencing is no (2) Beauvoir, De Simone.'The Second Sex'. Penguin Modern
more going to be with them. They have the fear that now Classics. Translated and ed. H.M.Parshley. Penguin Books. Print.
their parents will get replaced by 'new ones'. They became (3) Kapur, Manju. 'Custody'. Random House. Print. 2011.
too stressful as they do not want their parents to get
separated. The children moved towards isolation and
depression because of the financial problems that they may
face in future. They seem to develop anger and become
disobedience, paying no heed to their parents' sayings. They
believed that if their parents do not care for them why should
they be bothered. The innocence and care freeness of
childhood was lost forever for them. These fears and trauma
left a scar on the mind of Arjun and Roohi which could be
erased easily.
Divorce is a life-transforming experience. After
divorce, childhood is different. Adolescence is different.
Adulthood with the decision to marry or not and have
children or not-is different. Whether the outcome is good or
bad, the whole trajectory of an individual's life is profoundly
altered by the divorce experience.
(Dr. Judith S.Wallerstein, noted divorce researcher)
Arjun and later on Roohi went through number of
psychological and behavioural changes. A sense of rejection
and insecurity embraced them from all sides. They felt
helpless because they were torn between their parents love
and hatred. They gradually lost trust on other people near
them and were not ready to accept their new parents.
When a child's parents divorce, the experience always
leaving a relationship to be a viable option versus hanging
in and wrestling with working things out, says Dr. Fran

Research Link - An International Journal - 139 Vol - XIV (8) October - 2015 55
 March 2002
An International,
Registered & Referred
E nglish Literature

Since
Monthly Journal :
Research Link - 139, Vol - XIV (8), October - 2015, Page No. 56-57
ISSN - 0973-1628 RNI - MPHIN-2002-7041 Impact Factor - 2014 - 1.8007

Search for Roots in Anita Desai`s Novels

Anita Desai`s Where Shall We Go This summer? is her shortest, powerful,
deeply engrossing and disturbing novel with an inner fury which makes one think about
the problems of life, Mrs. Desai convincingly presents the predicament of a lovely married
woman who aspires to triumph over the chaos and suffering of her rather unusual existence,
Sita a sensitive young wife is torn between the desire to abandon the boredom and hypocrisy
of her middle class and ostensibly comfortable existence and the realisation that the bonds
that bind her to it cannot easily be broken. The novel is a skilful dramatisation of an
unusual life situation of an anguished woman who finds herself lonely and isolated from
her husband and children. Sita, the chief protagonist a sensitive, over-emotional middle-
aged woman saddled with four children and now pregnant with her fifth child, feels
alienated from her husband and children, she undergoes unbreakable mental agony because
of her high strong sensibility and explosive emotionality.

DR. DHALESH KUMAR PATEL

I n the post-modern age, the autobiographical touch
is a rendering of the author`s own personality in the truest
sense of the term, certainly autobiography at the best is
engaged with ontological questions with true and false modes
of being in the world .Part of the task of the autobiography is
to locate those moments of being in which the self coincides
with self it intuitively recognises an existential rightness and
an underlying pattern. Byron very nightly observes:-my
passions were developed very early so early that few would
believe me if I were to state the period and the facts which
accompanied it.(1)
Anita Desai`s Cry, the Peacock is one of the most poetic
and evocative Indian novels in English. It gives voice to the
Long smothered wail of a lace lacerated psyche, the
harrowing tale of blunted human relationship(2) being bold
by the chief protagonist herself. The novel presents the story
of a young sensitive girl obsessed with a childhood prophesy
of disaster. The very start of the novel brings out the
husband-wife alienation theme by unfolding the relationship
of Maya and Gautam. Highly sensitive and poetic in
temperament, Maya does not want to have anything in her
married life except that Gautam should be responsive enough
to her sensitive longing for him. Gautam, a busy middle aged
prosperous man fails to respond her demands, thus creating
a distance from her. Gautam is rational and pragmatic while
Maya is romantic and sentimental. Maya`s loneliness and
frustration prompts Maya to look for her roots resulting in
her being neurotic in her behaviour. Maya feels isolated in
her own house and this leads her to further frustration. Out
of desperation, she pushes Gautam out of the Parapet wall
resulting in his immediate death.
Anita Desai`s Voices in the City explores the
alienation of Nirod, Monisha and Amla. The novel is a tragic
exploration of the personal suffering of Nirod`s wounded
self, Monisha`s agonised self and Amla`s insecure self. Anita
Desai calls the novel an exemplification of the terror of
facing single handed the ferocious assaults of existence.(3)
In an interview with Yashodhara Dalmiya, Nirode, Monisha
and Amla are the children of a broken family that suffered
dissociation of the individual members as a result of the
maladjustments in the married relations of their parents. The
children as well as their mother suffered the consequences
of her marital disharmony they never enjoyed a unified happy
family life where each member could offer and reciprocate
love, affection, understanding and adjustments to each other.
In such a hostile atmosphere every member suffered and felt
uprooted and out of place and utter frustration even leading
to neurosis. Anita Desai treats the problem of isolation on
the level of cultural disparity and resolves it by suggesting
two alternatives adjustment and compromise or total rejection
of the alien culture and country and complete identification
with one`s own culture and land.
Anita Desai`s where Shall We Go This summer? is
her shortest, powerful, deeply engrossing and disturbing
novel with an inner fury which makes one think about the
problems of life, Mrs. Desai convincingly presents the
predicament of a lovely married woman who aspires to
triumph over the chaos and suffering of her rather unusual

Assistant Professor (Department of English), Govt. Nagrik Kalyan College Nandini Nagar, Dist. Durg (Chhattisgarh)

Research Link - An International Journal - 139 Vol - XIV (8) October - 2015 56
existence, Sita a sensitive young wife is torn between the
desire to abandon the boredom and hypocrisy of her middle
class and ostensibly comfortable existence and the realisation
that the bonds that bind her to it cannot easily be broken.
The novel is a skilful dramatisation of an unusual life situation
of an anguished woman who finds herself lonely and isolated
from her husband and children. Sita, the chief protagonist a
sensitive, over-emotional middle-aged woman saddled with
four children and now pregnant with her fifth child, feels
alienated from her husband and children, she undergoes
unbreakable mental agony because of her high strong
sensibility and explosive emotionality. Mrs. Desai dramatises
the conflict between two opposite temperaments. Like Shaw`s
female protagonists who present a concept of new woman
specially in Candida and Saint Joan , Mrs. Desai also
presents the two diametrically opposed attitudes through
the mouth of her female protagonist and her counterpart.
Sita becomes quite displeased at Raman`s attitude and so
decides against giving birth to her fifth child, she decided to
move to Manori, the magic island where her father was
reported to have once worked out miracles. Sita has married
Raman not out of choice but out of compulsions. A careful
study of the novel revels that by the time Anita Desai wrote
this novel characteristic change as represented by Sita had
come in her attitude towards life and its challenges Sita is
not very happy for having made a compromise, which she
takes to be her defeat. But as Chesterton remarks, married
life is a perpetual compromise, only by connecting extremes
one can arrive at an acceptable path in life. This is the positive
solution that the novel offers to the present day
temperamental and consequent alienation.(4)
References :
(1) The inner and outer rhythms link 21st April 1985.
(2) Pathak, R.S., of, cit, p.18.
(3) Anita Desai journal of Indian writing in English (July
1977), p. 40.
(4) Pathak R.S. : The alienated self in the novels of Anita
Desai, opcit- p-32.

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