Seeking the Self, a Study of the Female Protagonists in the Novel of Anita Nair's 'Ladies Coupe'
Seeking the self: A Study Of The Female Protagonists In Anita Nair’s ‘Ladies’Coupe’
Dr. Kumkum Bhardwaj
Professor & Head, Dept of Humanities
Skyline Institute of Engineering and Technology
Greater Noida
Anita Nair is a name indelible in the arena of female Indian writers in English. Her books, set in the everyday world of India, mesmerize the reader with evocative language and descriptions. For Bangalore based author Anita Nair Kerala is the source of inspiration, weakness and strength. In her works Nair presents the dilemmas that women face in their relationships with parents, husbands, siblings, friends, employers and children and their struggle towards self-realization. It is not easy to be a contemporary Indian woman. On the one hand she is aware of her rights and the need for an identity. On the other hand tradition dictates that she submerge it in her role as daughter, sister, mother and wife. If a woman starts asserting her individuality then the transition from something else to her own identity is easy. But someone who subsumes herself into the identity of her husband and allows her other roles to contain her will find it difficult and wouldn't even know where to begin.
Nair’s popular work Ladies Coupe (2001) is a tale of the indomitable spirit of contemporary Indian women told with great insight and solidarity. In this novel she reflects the perpetual tension between the predicament of the contemporary Indian woman and the traditional Hindu culture. Nair’s India suffers from a patriarchal system which has tried in many ways to repress, humiliate and debase women. The novel deals with multiple lives and multiple voices, where Nair answers a few questions that every woman would have faced in her life-questions related to her vulnerable position in society. The questions Nair poses in the novel, whether a single woman can really survive all by herself in this world or does she need a man to love her, protect her, and care for her. Nair has a humanitarian
Dr. Kumkum Bhardwaj
Professor & Head, Dept of Humanities
Skyline Institute of Engineering and Technology
Greater Noida
Anita Nair is a name indelible in the arena of female Indian writers in English. Her books, set in the everyday world of India, mesmerize the reader with evocative language and descriptions. For Bangalore based author Anita Nair Kerala is the source of inspiration, weakness and strength. In her works Nair presents the dilemmas that women face in their relationships with parents, husbands, siblings, friends, employers and children and their struggle towards self-realization. It is not easy to be a contemporary Indian woman. On the one hand she is aware of her rights and the need for an identity. On the other hand tradition dictates that she submerge it in her role as daughter, sister, mother and wife. If a woman starts asserting her individuality then the transition from something else to her own identity is easy. But someone who subsumes herself into the identity of her husband and allows her other roles to contain her will find it difficult and wouldn't even know where to begin.
Nair’s popular work Ladies Coupe (2001) is a tale of the indomitable spirit of contemporary Indian women told with great insight and solidarity. In this novel she reflects the perpetual tension between the predicament of the contemporary Indian woman and the traditional Hindu culture. Nair’s India suffers from a patriarchal system which has tried in many ways to repress, humiliate and debase women. The novel deals with multiple lives and multiple voices, where Nair answers a few questions that every woman would have faced in her life-questions related to her vulnerable position in society. The questions Nair poses in the novel, whether a single woman can really survive all by herself in this world or does she need a man to love her, protect her, and care for her. Nair has a humanitarian
Cited: • Literary Review; The Hindu http//hinduonet.com/thehindu/2001/12/02 • The Journey to Ladies Coupe; Posted online; April 09, 2004 • Singh Khushwant; Article: travelling in a Women’s Compartment; Tribune; Saturday March 22, 2002 • Doctor Geeta; She’s Got a Ticket to Write: A Review in India Today