INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY IN THE NOVELS OF MANJU KAPUR
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY IN THE NOVELS OF MANJU KAPUR Manju Kapur has joined the growing number of women writers from India, l?ke Shashi Despande, Arundhati Roy, Githa Hariharan, Shobba De On whom the image ?f the suffering but stoic women eventually breaking traditional boundaries h?s had, a significant impact. They invigorated the English language t? suit representations ?nd narration of what they felt ?bout th?ir women ?nd th?ir lives ?n post modern India. In a culture wh?re individualism and prated h?ve ?ften remained alien ideas ?nd marital bless and th? women’s role ?t home is ? central focus. These modern-day women authors ?r? now expressing thems?lves freely ?nd boldly ?nd ?n ? variety ?f themes without adopting feminist postures. Manju Kapur’s novels acquire ? significant n?w meaning when read ?n the point of view ?f crisscross dogmas ?f cultural critical thinking. Manju Kapur’s novels furnish examples ?f a wh?le range of attitudes t?w?rd? the importation ?f tradition. However, Mrs. Kapur seems aware of th? fact th?t th? women ?f India h?ve ?nd?ed achieved their success in sixty years of Independence, but if th?re ?s to b? ? true female independence, t?? mu?h remains to b? done. The conflict for autonomy ?nd separate identity remains and unfinished combat. Women under the patriarchal pressure and control were, subjected t?o mu?h m?re burnts and social ostracism. They w?r? discriminated and w?re biased ?n lien ?f th??r sex. The life women Lived and struggled under the oppressive mechanism ?f a closed society were reflected ?n the novels of Manju Kapur. Taking ?nto account the complexity ?f life, d?ff?rent histories, cultures ?nd d?fferent structures of values, th? women’s question, de???te basic solidarity needs t? b? tackled ?n relation t? th? socis-cultural situation. The impact ?f patriarchy ?n th? Indian Society varies fr?m the ?ne in th? west. Manju Kapur h?s her ?wn concerns, priorities ?s well ?s th??r ?wn ways ?f dealing with the predicament ?f th?ir women protagonists. My purpose is to study individual ?nd society ?n th? novels ?f Manju Kapur. I h?ve t?ken three novels of Manju Kapur entitled “Difficult Daughters Married Woman and Home” f?r thi? purpose. JUSTIFICATION Manju Kapur’s female protagonists ?re m??tly educated, aspiring individual caged w?th in th? confines of a conservative society. Their education leads them to independent thinking for which their family ?nd society b??om? intolerant ?f them. They struggle between tradition ?nd modernity. It ?? the?r individual struggle w?th family ?nd society thr?ugh wh?ch the? plunged int? ? dedicated effort t? carve ?n identity for thems?lv?? ?s qualified women with faultless backgrounds. The novelist ha? portrayed h?r protagonists ?? ? woman caught in th? conflict b?tw?en th? passions ?f the flesh ?nd ? yearning t? b? ? part of th? political and intellectual movements of th? day. MANJU KAPUR LIFE & WORKS Manju Kapur teaches English literature ?t Miranda House College, Delhi University. Her first n?vel ‘Difficult Daughters’ received huge international acclaim. This novel w?? published in 1998. Her s?cond novel ‘A Married Women’ w?? published in 2002. Her third n?vel ‘Home’ w?? published ?n 2006. ‘Difficult Daughters’ w?? awarded the Commonwealth Writers Prize f?r the b?st first book (Eurasia) ?nd w?s a number on? b?st seller in India. She i? married t? Gun Nidhi Dalmia ?nd lives in New Delhi. The portrayal ?f woman in Indian English fiction as the silent suffer ?nd up holder ?f the tradition and traditional values of family and society h?? undergone a tremendous change and is no longer presented ?? a passive character. Kamala Markandaya, Nayantara Sehgal, Anita Desai, Shashi Despande and man? women a? an individual rebelling ag?inst the traditional role, breaking the silence ?f suffering tr?ing to move out of the caged existence ?nd asserting th? individual self. This women ?s tr??ng t? b? h?r?elf and yet d??s n?t wish t? break u? th? family ties. Since Gandhiji helped the women to cross th? threshold ?f family life ?nd move ?ut ?nt? the outer world ?f freedom struggle ?nd social reform, th? woman ?s presented with varied opportunities n?t onl? today but ?lso yesterday during freedom movement. Yet writing ?n 1998, Manju Kapur, ?n h?r novels presents women wh? try t? establish th??r own identity. The women ?f India h?ve ?nd?ed achieved their success in half a century ?f Independence, but if th?r? i? t? b? a true female, independence, mu?h remains t? be done. The fight for autonomy remains an unfinished combat. I In h?r quest of identify, Virmati th? central character of th? novel, rebels ?g??n?t tradition. She i? impelled by the ?nn?r n?ed to feel loved ?s ?n individual rather than as a responsible daughter. The title ?f th? novel ‘Difficult Daughters’ ?s ?n indication t? the message that ? woman, wh? tr?es in search ?f an identity, is branded ?? a difficult daughter by the family ?nd the society ?? well. ‘Difficult Daughters’ ?? the story ?f ? young woman, named virmati born ?n Amritsar int? ?n austere and high mined household. The story tells h?w sh? ?? torn b?tw?en family duty, th? desire f?r education and ellicit love. This ?? a story ?f sorrow, love and compromise. The major portion deals with Virmati’s love affairs with professor ?nd rest part describes fighting struggle f?r freedom. Virmati ?s the elderest daughter ?f Kasturi and Suraj Prakash. Kasturi ha? eleven children. One ?fter ?n?ther sh? g?v?s birth to children and thus th? wh?l? burden of household work increases ?v?r Virmati, b?ing the elderest daughter. Due to her busy routine ?he d??s not d? w?ll ?n her studies and fails. She falls ?n love w?th ? professor, a man who i? ?lr??d? married. He sublets ? portion of Virmati’s house. Thus professor develops ?n intimate relationship with Virmati and decides an a?pr??riat? place f?r regular meeting. Here Virmati’s parents decides t? marray her t? an engineer Inderjeet but due t? the death in h?s family marriage i? postponed for two years. During this period Virmati passes her FA exam ?nd denies f?r marriage. Professor insists Virmati on b?ing firm. Now Virmati be?om?? mentally disturb ?nd goe? t? Tarashika ?nd drowns herself. She i? escaped by the servants ?f h?r grand father Lala Divan Chand and returns to her house ?t Lepel Griffin Road. Everybody inquires th? reason ?nd finally ?he declares th?t the d?e? n?t l?ke the boy ?nd want? to study further. So marriage i? settled with Indumati, th? ?ec?nd daughter. Now Kasturi h?s to g? with Virmati t? Lahore f?r g?tting h?r admit in RBSL college and principal assures Kasturi that ther? will b? n? problem ?nd ?he has her eye fixed firmly on ?a?h one. Sakuntala wh? has be?n ? source of inspiration for Virmati, visites h?r regularly. Professor’s ?ours? ?f meeting t? Viru ha? yet n?t stopped ?nd dur?ng th?s period ?he b?c?mes pregnant. She b?c?m?s restless ?nd w?th the h?lp of h?r room mate Swarnlata ?he g?ts abortion. After completing her B.T. she returns to Amritsar ?nd ?s offered th? principal ship ?f ? college, ?he joins ?t but ?n Sultanpur t?o Harish visits her and th?re meetings ?re observed by Lalaji. She is dismissed ?o sh? decides t? go to Nariniketan but on the wa? ?he meets Harish’s close friend Poet wh? is alr??dy aware ?f th?ir intimate relationship. So h? d?e? n?t l?t her go ?nd calls Harish. He performs all the rituals ?f marriage. Professor with Virmati returns home. During h?r conjugal life Virmati feels that ?t would h?ve been better if she h?d n?t be?n married with Harish. After ?om?time she give? birth t? a daughter Ida. And at th? beginning of th? nov?l thi? girl Ida ponders over her mother’s life. Virmati h?s to fight against the power ?f the mother a? well ?s the oppressive forces of patriarchy symbolized by th? mother figure. The rebel ?n Virmati might have ?ctu?lly exchange ?ne kind ?f slavery for another. But toward? th? end ?he b??om?s free, free ev?n fr?m the oppressive love of her husband. Once sh? succeed ?n doing that, sh? g?ts her husband all by herself, h?r child th? reconciliation w?th h?r family. In th? patriarchal Indian Society marriage i? ? means ?f deliverance from being socially condemned and it relieves ? woman fr?m the sense of insecurity and uncertainty. To th? older generation marriage ?s n? reason to rebel, ?t w?s accepted ?s ? part of life’s pleasere ?nd w?s ? phase ?f initiating ?erta?n Dharmas ?ss??iated w?th social and religious institutions. Off course love was n?t th? prerequisite or ? desired basis f?r marriage. If Virmati’s mother, Kasturi ?nd Ganga (Prof. Harish Chandra’s first wife) seeks pleasure ?n domestic up doings. Virmate struggles b?tween th? physical and moral, th? head ?nd th? heart. Finally she g?ves w?y to her heart ?nd body. II In her novel ‘A Married Woman’ Manju Kapur h?s taken writing ?s a protest, a w?y of mapping from th? point ?f ? woman’s experience. Kanpur negotiates d?ffer?nt issues emerging out of a socio – political upheaval ?n her country. In ? realistic way, ?he has d?s?r?bed th? Indian male perception of women ?s ? holy cow ev?n though women are n?t ver? interested ?n history ?nd thos? ?n power trying t? twist and turn historical facts t? serve their ?wn purposes. Ms. Manju Kapur’s ?e?ond n?vel ‘A Married Woman’ i? th? story ?f Astha ?n educated, upper middle class, working Delhi woman. As a girl, ?he w?s brought up with large supplements ?f fear. She wa? her parents only child. Her education, h?r character, h?r health, her marriage thes? w?re her parent’s burdens. But lik? ? common school g?ing girl ?he often imagines ?f romantic ?nd handsome Young man holding her in h?s strong manly embrace. In her adolescence ?he falls ?n love w?th ? boy ?f h?r age. Day ?nd night th? though ?f h?m kept h?r insides churning. She wa? unable t? eat, sleep ?r study. In the main time sh? i? emotionally engage w?th Rhan and th?y enjoy physical relationship. This relationship ?s finished within a few days a? Rohan moves t? Oxford f?r furth?r studies and her marriage ?s settled w?th Hemant wh? belongs to ? bureaucrat family. They live ?n Vasant Vihar, ? posh colony ?n New Delhi. They start th?ir married life ?nd s?on Astha ?s fed up w?th it. Astha starts teaching in a public school ?fter mu?h resistance from h?r husband and h?r parents. During h?r staying ?n this school ?he participates in ? workshop on communalism wh?ch is b?ing led by an intellectual artiste Aijaz Akhtar Kha, the founder ?f ‘The Street Theater Group’. Aijaz teaches history ?nd dur?ng the holidays he performs plays ?n school, slums, factories, streets small town ?nd villages to create empathy and t? generate social awareness. Although Astha ?nd been ? mother ?f a son and a daughter by th?s time. She is festinated by th? multifaceted personality of Aijaz. But ferocious ?o?n this relationship is over ?s th? workshop finishes. After a f?w days Astha reads th? news of Aijaz’s murder. Babri Masjid ?s demolished in Ayodhya ?nd there i? ? lot of turmoil through?ut th? country. To establish religious harmony and social integration processions ?re organized by ‘The Street Theatre Group’. In ?ne ?f ?uch processions Astha meets Pipeelika and ?he ?om?s to know th?t sh? ?s th? widow of Aijaz. She feels great empathy to Pipeelika ?nd a powerful physical relationship i? establish betw?en them. This relationship is a challenge f?r her husband ?nd family. They b?th live t?g?ther and deep emotional attachment develops betw?en them. Astha ?s ?n th? verge of loosing her conventional marriage. Pipeelika leaves India to study abroad and Astha returns back t? her family. ‘A Married Woman’ is beautifully, honest ?nd seductive story of love and deep attachment, set ?t ? time of political and religious turmoil. III ‘Home’ i? the third novel, by Manju Kapok. This is fast moving story wh?ch makes an ordinary middle class family’s life ?n Delhi. The main character or th? patriarch of a cloth business, Banwarilal lives in New Delhi neighborhood of Karol Bagh. Banwarilal believes ?n the ?ld ways ?nd ?s the firm believer ?f th?t men work out ?f th? home, woman within. Men carry forward the family line, women enable the?r mission. His two sons unquestioningly follow the?r father but their wives d? not. Both brothers carry the?r lives ?s well ?s business ?ccord?ng t? th? wishes of their father. As th? time passes Banwarilal dies and the wh?le burden of the family ?om?s t? Yashpal, be?ng th? elder one. He h?s on? sister who bec?me? widow ?n her early life. She h?s ? child named Vicky. They ?ls? join them in th?ir house in Karol Bagh. At th? beginning ?f th? story Sona and Rupa b?th sisters ?re childless. They c?uld n?t conceive for ? long time. Sona k?e?s but ?t ?s ?f n? use. Sona belongs to ? rich family in comparison of h?r sister Rupa. Rupa’s husband ?s ?n educated man. They passes th?ir lives happily. After ? long time Sona giv?s birth t? Nisha and th?n t? Virat. Nisha is physically tortured by Vicky, her cousin. She feels mentally disturb ?o sh? i? s?nt th? Rupa’s home for a change. Here ?he gets education well. After some time ?he returns to h?r home wh?re n? one pays mu?h attention tow?rds her studies ?nd sh? g?ts compartment ?n tw? subjects. She i? guided by Premnath. She passes in ?t ?nd enters in college for gett?ng higher education. She meets ? boy and decides to marry h?m ignoring his caste ?nd creed. Thus th? n?vel depicts how family norms ar? i? ?gn?red by th? n?w generation. Manju Kapur’s novels present the changing image ?f women moving ?wa? fr?m traditional portrayals of enduring, ?elf sacrificing women t?w?rds ?elf assured assertive and ambitious women making society aware ?f their demands ?nd ?n thi? wa? providing a medium for s?lf expression ?n the works of Manju Kapur. It will be interesting to note man woman relationship ?n the thre? novels of Manju Kapur. As an element of feminism e?p??ially in the realm ?f biological, sexual, cultural and racial aspects w?ll also be probed in th? thre? novels. ?
CHAPTER DIVISION CHAPTER 1 :Individual ?nd Political Arena CHAPTER 2 :Individual and Social Space CHAPTER 3 :Individual Dynamic ?f Family CHAPTER 4 :Use of Language CHAPTER 5 :Conclusion ?
BIBLOGRAPHY (A) PRIMARY SOURCES : 1.Kapur Manju :’Difficult Daughters’ New Delhi : Penguin, 1998. 2.Kapur Manju :’A Married Women’ New Delhi : India Ink, 2002. 3.Kapur Manju :’Home’ New Delhi : Random House, 2006. (B) SECONDAY SOURCES : 1.Beauvaur, Simonde, “The Second Sex” Tran H.M. Parshley Harmondsworth 1971-London Pan Books 1988.Carbyn Heiburn : Marriage and Contemporary Fiction, Critical Inquiry, 5 No. 2 (Winter 1978). 2.Grimke, Sarah Letters on th? Equality ?f th? sexes and the condition ?f women New York, Burt Franklin 1970. 3.Gur Pyari Jandian : Manju Kapur’s Difficult Daughters : A Study i? Transition fr?m chaos to integration : The Common Wealth Review Vol. 12 No. 1, 2000-2001. 4.Hasin, Attia. Sunlight on A Broken Column, New Delhi : Arnold Heinemann, 1987. 5.Jaidev “Problematizing Feminism Gender and Literature, ed. Iqbal Kapur, Delhi, B.R. Publishing Corporation, 1992. 6.Jandial Gur Pyari “The Novels of Shashi Deshpande and Manju Kapur. Atlantic Literary Review. 7.Kakar, Sudhir “Feminine Identity in India” Women ?n Indian Society A Reader, Ed. Rehana Ghadially, New Delhi : Sage Publications, 1988. p.44-68. 8.Millett, Kate, ‘Sexual Politics’ (Garden City, New York, Double Day, 1970). 9.Mukul Kesavan : 50 Years ?f Indian Writing Edited by R.K. Dhawan, New Delhi : Indian Association f?r English Studies 2000. 10.Nahal, Chaman, “Feminism “Feminism in English Fiction : Forms ?nd variations” Feminism ?nd Recent Fiction ?n English ed, Sushila Singh, New Delhi Prestige, Books, 1991. 11.Palkar, Sarla. “Beyond Purdah : Sunlight On A Broken Column, Margins of Erasure Ed. Jasbir Jain ?nd Amina Amin, New Delhi : Stcrling Pub Pvt. Ltd. 1995. 12.Seema Malik “Crossing Patriarchal Threshold : Glimpses of the Incipient New Woman In Manju Kapur’s Difficult Daughters” Indian Writing in English ed. Rajul Bhargava (Jaipur, Rawat, 2002). 13.Suman Bala ?nd Subhash Chandra, “Manju Kapur’s Difficult Daughters : A Absorbing Tale of Fact and Fiction : In 50 years of Indian writing edited by R.K. Dhawan, IAES, New Delhi, 1999. 14.Sumita Pal “The Mother : Daughters Conflict ?n Manju Kapur’s Difficult Daughter’s in Indian Writing in the n?w Millenium (Edited by R.K. Dhawan) IAES, New Delhi 2000.
15.Sushila Singh “Recent Trends ?n Feminest Through” Indian women Novelist ed. R.K. Dhawan (New Delhi, Prestige 1991) Set I. 16.Uma Paramaswaran Review of Difficult Daughters : World Literature Today No. 2 Spring 1999. 17.Veena Das : Critical Events : An Anthropological Perspective On Contemporary Indian OUP Delhi 1995.
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