Shashi Deshpande’s Fiction

Shashi Deshpande’s Fiction

Editor

Dr. Vishwanath Bite

Assistant Professor,

Department of English,

Bharati Vidyapeeth's

MBSK Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Kadegaon,

Dist. Sangli, (M.S.) 415304.

vishwanathbite@gmail.com

  

Publisher

Avishkar Publishers and Distributors

BLURB

Shashi Deshpande’s Fiction: A Study consists of essays by distinguished academicics and scholars on variety of topics. The book introduces the contemporary debates comprising the vast aspects of Shashi Deshpande’s Fiction. Though Shashi Deshpande always lebelled as feminist writer scholars have brilliantly argued to prove the merit of her fictional world. Her works explored with focus on postcolonial theory, modern criticism, feminish, human relations, quest for identity and variety of othere themes. Shashi Deshpande is the critically acclaimed writer of nine novels, a number of short stories, children’s books and essays. Her novel, That Long Silence, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990. Trained as a journalist, Deshpande’s work focuses on the reality and truth of the lives of Indian women. Deshpande has described her literary style as “really a very simple and stark style, which rarely draws attention to itself.” She received the Padma Sri award in 2009. Shashi Deshpande is of the view that in calling her novels feminist, one straitjackets the works; imprisons them with the label. She feels that while she is feminist, her novels are novels. She hasn’t written the novels as a debating voice, to develop a thesis in a debate. She feels her novels are open examinations of the experiences of people in specific setting. Shashi’s writings are complex but seamlessly woven narratives which explore the lives of people, especially women. Unconsciously her writing is informed by feminism, which she finds a source of strength, though unfortunately this sometimes results in her work being slotted into this one category.  The present anthology edited by Dr. Vishwanath Bite consists twenty-two well researched articles throwing flood of light on variety of aspects.

          The present volume will prove an ideal reference book to students, researchers and teachers of Indian Writing in English in general and Shashi Deshpande in particular.

   

About Author

Dr. Vishwanath Bite, (b. 19th April 1983) is working as Assistant Professor in English in MBSK Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Kadegaon, Dist. Sangli. (M.S.). He is Editor-In-Chief and publisher of The Criterion: An International Journal in English, ISSN (0976-8165). He is on the editorial board of Lapis Lazuli and Thematics Journal of Indian English Literature. He has delievered lectures in many seminars and conferences and presented papers. He has published more than dozen qualitative research articles in national, international journals and books. He has completed his Ph.D in 2009 from Shivaji University, Kolhapur. His published books are Indian Writing in English: Critical Perspectives and Booker Prize Winner Indian English Novels: A Kaleidoscopic Study and Some of his forthcoming books are Basavraj Naikar: Critical Perspectives, Indian English Historical Drama, Critical Response to Mahesh Dattani,  Indian English Drama: Thematic Reflections, Indian English Poetry: An Appraisal and Indian English Fiction: Postmodern Considerations.

Dedicated to my father Shri K. S. Bite

Friend, Philosopher and Guide in true sense

Who tought me to SURVIVE, LIVE and RISE………

-        Dr. Vishwanath Bite

C O N T E N T S

1.      Man-Woman Relationship in Shashi Deshpande’s Short Stories

Vishwanath Bite

2.      Who Is Deceived In Shashi Deshpande’s In The Country Of Deceit

Arti Nirmal

3.      From Despair to Hope: Shashi Deshpande’s A Matter of Time

Mukesh Yadav & Shalini Yadav

4.      The Dark Holds No Terrors: A  Postcolonial Reading

Ramana Devika

5.      Intersection of Class and Community in Shashi Deshpande’s Novel: The Binding Vine

Grishma Khobragade

6.      Love, Sex, Opportunity and Remorse: In The Country of Deceit

Dalvir Singh Gahlawat

7.      Changing Image of Woman in the Novels The Dark Holds No Terror and That Long Silence of Shashi Deshpande

Dalvir Singh Gahlawat

8.      Female Characters In Shashi Deshpande: A Psycho Analysis

Neerja Mishra 

9.      Domestic Relations in Shashi Deshpande’s Short Stories

Madhuri Bite

10.  Owning One’s Life: A Woman’s Existential Angst in Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence

Minakshi Kaushik

11.  Impact of Urbanization and Personal Mobility In the Novel of Shashi Deshpande’s The Dark Holds No Terrors.

Grishma Khobragade

12.  Indu in Dilemma: A Critical Analysis Shashi Deshpande’s Roots and Shadows

Smita Jha

13.  Interpretations on Masculinities in That Long Silence and The Dark Holds No Terrors

            C.G.Shyamala

14.  Jaya’s Quest For Self In Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence

            S.Somasundari Latha

15.  Repression, Repercussion and Resistance – A Psychoanalytical Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Moving On

            S. Ambika & M.Vaijo Latha

16.  A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women Characters: Feminism in Search of Identity

            Trayee Sinha

17.  Women in the Literary Corpus of Shashi Deshpande

             L. V. Padmarani Rao

18.  A Matter of Time: The Quest for Female Identity

Ashish Gupta

19.  Shashi Deshpande’s Roots and Shadows: Articulation of Feminine Voice

            P. Madhurima Reddy

20.  Unhappy Women: Caught in Identity Crises in the Novels of Shashi Deshpande

            Neerja Sachdev

21.  Tradition Vs Transition: A Psychological Study of Shashi Deshpande’s The Binding Vine

            S. Ambika & M.Vaijo Latha

22.  Woman Empowerment in The Dark Holds No Terror

             D. G.Thakor

CONTRIBUTORS

Vishwanath Bite

Assistant Professor in English, MBSK Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Kadegaon, Dist. Sangli, (M.S.) India. 415304.

 Arti Nirmal

Assistant Professor in English, Vasanta College for Women,Rajghat, (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi-221001,U.P.,India.

Mukesh Yadav

 Associate Professor in English,  Jaipur National University, Jaipur.

      Shalini Yadav

Associate Professor in English, Jaipur National University, Jaipur.

Ramana Devika

No:45/16, Gurukkal Street, Back To Easwaran Temple, Kadaperi, Madhurantakam,  Kancheepuram District, Tamil Nadu.

Grishma Khobragade

Assit.Professor, Dept.Of English, Birla College Of Arts,Science & commerce

Kalyan, Dist:-Thane- 421301

Dalvir Singh Gahlawat

Research Scholar, Department of English, Singhania University, Jhunjhunu,

Rajsthan, India.

Neerja Mishra

75,Sarswati Nagar,  Dhar M.P.454-001

Madhuri Bite

Research Scholar, Department of English, Shivaji University, Kolhapur.

Minakshi Kaushik

AG-501, Ground Floor, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi-110088.

Smita Jha

Assistant Prof. Department of Humanities & Social Sciences,  IIT, Roorkee.

C.G.Shyamala

Research Scholar, Dept. of Studies in English, Kannur University, Kerala.

             S.Somasundari Latha

            R.V.Govt Arts College, Chegalpattu, Kancheepuram District, Tamilnadu.

          

S. Ambika

Asst. professor of English, S.T.Hindu College, Nagercoil – 629002, Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu

           M.Vaijo Latha

Asst.Professor of English, Arignar Anna College, Aralvoimozhi – 629301,       

Kanyakumari Dist. Tamilnadu.

           Trayee Sinha

           Ph.D scholar at Women’s Studies Research Centre, University of Calcutta.

           L. V. Padmarani Rao

Assistant Professor, P.G. Department of English, Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya           Nanded.

           Ashish Gupta

           Asstt. Professor(English), Deptt. Of Research & Post Graduate Studies,           

J.H.Govt.P.G.College, Betul(M.P.)

           P. Madhurima Reddy

           Prof In English, CBIT, Hyderabad – 75.

           Neerja Sachdev

           Associate Professor, Department of English, S.S.K. Girls’ Degree College,           

Allahabad.

           D. G.Thakor

           Associate Professor in English, Shah N. H. Commerce College, Valsad. (Gujarat)

PREFACE

Shashi Deshpande is one of the novelists whom you can read with seriousness. She is never after gimmicks. There is an earnest voice, very serious about the story being told and its manner. She is one of the writers with little posturing. Her novels usually have women as the protagonists. This has led readers to call her a feminist writer. She has often complained against this title. Shashi Deshpande is of the view that in calling her novels feminist, one straitjackets the works; imprisons them with the label. She feels that while she is feminist, her novels are novels. She hasn’t written the novels as a debating voice, to develop a thesis in a debate. She feels her novels are open examinations of the experiences of people in specific setting. Shashi’s writings are complex but seamlessly woven narratives which explore the lives of people, especially women. Unconsciously her writing is informed by feminism, which she finds a source of strength, though unfortunately this sometimes results in her work being slotted into this one category.

Shashi Deshpande is the critically acclaimed writer of nine novels, a number of short stories, children’s books and essays. Her novel, That Long Silence, won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990. Trained as a journalist, Deshpande’s work focuses on the reality and truth of the lives of Indian women. Deshpande has described her literary style as “really a very simple and stark style, which rarely draws attention to itself.” She received the Padma Sri award in 2009. Her latest book is the novel, In the Country of Deceit (2008).

      Vishwanath Bite in his scholarly article explored Man-Woman relationship in the Short stories of Shashi Deshpande. Shashi Deshpande, though her main concern is the struggle of woman in the context of contemporary Indian society to search for their identity not only as woman but also as human being, giver the central place to this theme in her short stories. The relationships between husband-wife, daughter-father and woman’s relationship with another man in extra marital affair are seen in her short stories. Arti Nirmal in her research article, Who Is Deceived In Shashi Deshpande’s In The Country Of Deceit says that the novelist has been successful in giving a convincing justification to the title In the Country of Deceit but just like the title of the novel the ending too raises several questions pertaining to the issue of disputed land, the role of the actress Rani in the novel, the relevance of series of letters written by different characters to Devayani, and the need of introducing few such characters that seem flat and redundant. In their article, From Despair to Hope: Shashi Deshpande’s A Matter of Time, Mukesh Yadav & Shalini Yadav state that Shashi Deshpande does not give her female protagonists a readymade solution for their problems but develops a faith in hope so that they can change their circumstances from despair to hope through a route of self-searching and self-examination, through valor and resilience. Ramana Devika studies The Dark Holds No Terrors in a postcolonial point of view and she explains that the novel is a metaphorical critique of a postcolonial grammar of thought and it makes an implicit statement about the anachronistic position of Third World women in an influentially male reading of postcolonial theories. Grishma Khobragade in her well researched article discusses intersection of class and community in The Binding Vine. According to her, Shashi Deshpande takes up for study the issues and problems of contemporary middle class women and these women are aware of the social and cultural problems of the male-dominated society. Dalvir Singh Gahlawat in his article focuses themes of love, sex, opportunity and remourse and says that Shashi Deshpande with her extraordinary literary and inventive theoretical power presents human aspects comprehensively in a new light which is beyond supposition to express so well. Through the novel, In the Country of Deceit she depicts a theme of myriad feelings of love. In his another article about, Changing Image of Woman in the Novels The Dark Holds No Terror and That Long Silence he discusses that for the predicament of women, their inner conflict, quest for identity, issues pertaining to parent-child relationship, marriage and sex, and their exploitation and lack of expectation, Shashi  Deshpande has been labeled ‘feminist’. But after analyzing her work it might be said that she is not completely in the favour of overthrowing the patriarchy and establishing the matriarchal system. She has made her utmost efforts to balance the relationship between man and woman.

               Neerja Mishra in her insightful article examines the female characters in Shashi Deshpande’s novels from psychoanalytical point of view. Further she says that in her novels she has given the outer and the inner self of her all male and female characters in a psychological way. Madhuri Bite in her insightful article talks about domestic relations in Shashi Deshpande’s short stories. Deshpande has highlighted the changing relationships amongst the members of the family. Especially the changing relationship of mother and daughter is seen in her short stories. Shashi Deshapnde deals with the middleclass Maharashtrian woman and her problems. Minakshi Kaushik in her well-researched article Owning One’s Life: A Woman’s Existential Angst in Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence, states that Shashi Deshpande, along with other Indian English novelists like Anita Desai and Arun Joshi, writes from an existential point of view. Through such a perspective, the novelist, through fiction, tries to grapple with the existential project that humans undertake – construction of ‘meaning’ to make sense out of life. In her another article, Impact of Urbanization and Personal Mobility in the Novel of Shashi Deshpande’s The Dark Holds No Terrors Grishma Khobragade says that her novels deal with the Indian middle class women’s turmoils, predicament, and frustration and their pregnant silence. Her paper is an attempt to read closely Deshpande’s point of view regarding impact of urbanization on class and community as they are stated and implied in her works. Smita Jha critically analyses Shashi Deshpande’s Roots and Shadows and also highlights Indu’s character who is caught up in a conflict between her family and the professional roles, between individual aspiration and social demands. C.G.Shyamala in her article, Interpretations on Masculinities in That Long Silence and The Dark Holds No Terrors, while defining the concept of masculinity says that traditional masculinity is associated with assertiveness, virility, aggression, competitiveness, ambition, courage, physical strength and vitality, while femininity bears traits as submission, meekness, tolerance, endurance, softness and delicacy.

            S.Somasundari Latha in her research article, Jaya’s Quest for Self in Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence while focusing Jaya’s character says that in her attempt to rediscover her ‘true self’, Jaya finds herself as an unfulfilled wife, a disappointed mother and a failed writer. In their contributory article, S. Ambika & M.Vaijo Latha discusses repression, repercussion and resistance in Shashi Deshpande’s Moving On from psychoanalytical point of view. They further examines that Shashi Deshpande’s novels are concerned with a woman’s quest for self; an exploration into the female psyche and an understanding of the mysteries of life and the protagonist’s place in it. Trayee Sinha in her insightful article, A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women Characters: Feminism in Search of Identity, explores that Deshpande’s fiction focuses on the women characters trapped up in a conflict between tradition and modernity. She has clearly pointed out the gap between the prejudice stricken traditional women who prefers her daughter’s marriage to career and the modern, educated, empowered women who prioritizes her personal opinion and empowerment.

L. V. Padmarani Rao in her well-research article, Women in the Literary Corpus of Shashi Deshpande, comprises that the heroines of Shashi Deshpande strive for and obtain certain autonomy and there by realize their immense potentialities for action and self-actualization. Their return home is not defeatism but the triumph of the independence of women. She further says that they learn to live in the modern society with self-identity and self-realization. Ashish Gupta’s article deals with the quest for female identity in Shashi Deshpande’s A Matter of Time. According to him, Shashi Deshpande tries to project the fact that tales about women, which so far had been narrated from man’s point of view, should be retold from women’s point of view. His paper tries to bring out this idea of woman explicating herself and emerging out of the cocoon of self-pity to spread her wings of self-confidence. P. Madhurima Reddy in her article about Shashi Deshpande’s Roots and Shadows: Articulation of Feminine Voice discusses the struggle of the protagonist, Indu, an educated middle-class woman, in a male-dominated tradition bound society. According to her, the novel tells the story not of an individual but of the institution of marriage, which is threatened by the forces of change and faces dissolution. Neerja Sachdev in her well-researched article, Unhappy Women: Caught in Identity Crises in the Novels of Shashi Deshpande , portrays the picture of tradition- bound woman. According to her, for centuries, Indian traditions, social norms, culture and customs have been leading men to feel that they are superior and different and forcing women to think that they are inferior human beings who are not expected to play any role other than the traditional ones of each being a wife to her husband, a mother to her children and a caretaker of the house. In their another article, Tradition Vs Transition: A Psychological Study of Shashi Deshpande’s The Binding Vine, S. Ambika & M.Vaijo Latha examine the position of woman in Indian society. They further explore that in a patriarchal society, woman is supposed to be an ideal wife, a mother and above all an excellent home maker with multifarious roles in the family. A creation of patriarchy that serves the male flair for domination is not based on mutuality but on oppression. In literature, a woman is ‘marginalised’ or ‘silenced’ and as a result she has to suppress her real self and lose her identity in a male dominated society. D. G.Thakor’s paper presents woman empowerment in Shashi Deshpande’s well known novel The Dark Holds No Terror. While explaining the concept of empowerment he says that, empowerment is envisaged as an aid to help women achieve equality with men, or at least reduce the, gender based discriminations considerably.

The concept of feminist literary criticism has been broad and varied from 19th century women authors such as George Eliot and Margaret Fuller to cutting-edge theoretical work in women's and gender studies. Feminist criticism, started as part of the international women's liberation movement, studies and advocates the rights of women. Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique', Kate Millet's 'Sexual Politics' and Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own' contributed to the emergence of the new women's movement. These writers had started a new consciousness-raising movement. In this era Shashi Deshpande has emerged as one of the more sensitive and versatile Indian woman writers with her novels 'The Dark Holds No Terror', 'That Long Silence', 'The Binding Vine' and ‘ROOTS AND SHADOWS'. This book attempts an analysis of the female characters in Deshpande's fiction that tries to reconcile the basic tenets of feminism with contemporary Indian reality. In addition, the book briefly examines the depiction of Deshpande's male characters, for contrast. It also focuses upon her perception and attitude towards the human condition in general and her contribution as a writer. 

The Present anthology has strictly followed blind peer-review procedure while selecting the papers. I am thankful to Dr. R. S. Zirange, Associate Professor and Head, Department of English, Yashwantrao Mohite College, Pune. (M.S.), Dr. D. R. More, Principal, Shri Shahaji Chh. Mahavidyalaya, Kolhapur. (M.S), Prof. Dr. J. A. Shinde, Former Head, Department of English, Shivaji University, Kolhapur. (M.S.) and Dr. P. A. Attar, Professor and Head, Department of English, Shivaji University, Kolhapur. (M.S.) for reviewing, selecting papers, making suggestions and sharing with me critical arguments.

I must record my deep sense of indebtedness to Mr. Akshay Jain and the whole team of Avishkar Publishers and Distributors, Jaipur for pursuing me to bring out present volume. I must not forget to express my deep sense of gratitude to my respected father, Shri. K. S. Bite, My beloved wife, Madhuri Bite for her help in editing and her constant support in my literary activities. I must thank My Brother Ramdas Bite for his love, affection and constant support.

-         Dr. Vishwanath Bite

Change in Address

I have joined Govt. College in Mumbai please do not send any book for review to my previous address. For all sort of communications my address is

Dr. Vishwanath Bite
Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
Government of Maharashtra's
Ismail Yusuf College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Jogeshwari (East),
Mumbai, 60.
Maharashtra, India.

Back in Business

I have been through countless riddles last few days, constantly performing number of duties on my own. I am very much obliged and thankful to contributors, readers and scholars for their affection, love and constant support. Running an eJournal is not easy task it demands for ample time and space along with 24/7 availability for any sort of communication. To be honest I failed to fulfill some of these last year. I have strong reasons too. I was staying in very remote place where State Transport Bus reaches once a week. No provision for internet connection, 12 Hours of power failure, in short as if i was living in 16th Century India. I had to drive four hours a day for college, and the remaining time was always dull and unproductive. But I never quit, I tried honestly and worked hard for the service to literary fraternity. I am not trying to safe-side myself, it’s my confession. Perhaps things should have gone off well if someone would have helped me in doing things. But i was all alone editing an International eJournal, constantly editing anthologies and much more despite all above mentioned problems. Many blames me that i am not much Mature and can’t handle it, and this is my explanation to those. Yes I am just 28 not have much experience but i am determined, persistent, hard worker, fighter doing all alone. 

I had countless dreams and i have nourished them in the core of my heart. I believe that everyone has a potential and needs an atmosphere to boost with. Some are destined to face obstacles and the one who defeats them is a conqueror. I take this opportunity to say that I assure you better service and response as now I am shifted to Mumbai, economic capital of India. I am damn sure if i was doing this all from a very distant and remote village, i will be able to multiply my speed in metropolitan city. Please forgive me for the inconveniences and let’s start afresh.

Will be Keeping in Touch Forever.

CFP: Indian English Poetry: An Appraisal

Call For Papers:

Indian English Poetry: An Appraisal

Editor

Dr. Vishwanath Bite

Dear All,

I am pleased to forward this call for my 7th book tentatively titled Indian English Poetry: An Appraisal Scholarly articles/ papers are invited from Scholars, Critics and Academicians before 25^th Feb. 2012 The book will be published by well-known publisher with ISBN.

Editing requirements:

·     Paper size: A4, Font & size: Times New Roman 12, Spacing: Single line, Margin of 1 inch on all four sides.

·     Title of the paper: bold, Sentence case (Capitalize each word), centered.

·     Text of the paper: justified. Font & size: Times New Roman 12.

·     References: Please follow MLA style (Only Author-Date or Number System) strictly. Don’t use Foot Notes, Use End Notes

·     Titles of books: Italics.

·     Titles of articles from journals and books: “quoted”.

·     Articles should be submitted as MS Word 2003-2007attachments only.

·     The paper should not usually exceed 11 pages maximum, 6 pages minimum in single spacing.

·     Each paper must be accompanied by

i)                    A declaration that it is an original work and has not been published anywhere else or sent for publication

ii)                 A short bio-note of the contributor(s) indicating name, institutional affiliation, brief career history, postal address, mobile number and e-mail, in a single attachment. Please don’t send more attachments.

The papers submitted should evince serious academic work contributing new knowledge or innovative critical perspectives on the subject explored.

Mode of Submission:

Each contributor is advised to send full paper with brief bio-note, declaration and abstract as a single MS-Word email attachments to email addresses: vishwanathbite@gmail.com  up to 25th Feb. 2012

No Need to send hard copy of your paper

Selection Procedure:

All submissions will be sent for blind peer reviewing. Final selection will be made only if the papers are recommended for publication by the reviewers. The details of the selection of your paper will be informed to you telephonically or on your email. The editor has the right to make necessary editing of selected papers for the sake of conceptual clarity and formatting. Non-selected papers will not be sent back to the contributor in any form. So, all contributors are advised to keep a copy of their submission with them.

Plagiarism Alert:

All submissions should be original. Contributors are advised to adhere to strict academic ethics with respect to acknowledgment of original ideas borrowed from others. The editor(s) / publisher will not be responsible for any lapse on part of the contributor. If plagiarism found an author will be blacklisted and will be disclosed publically.

For any queries contact Editor,

Dr. Vishwanath Bite

Assistant Professor,
Department of English,
Bharati Vidyapeeth's
MBSK Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Kadegaon,
Tal. Kadegaon, Dist. Sangli.
Maharashtra, India. 415 304.
Mobile: 09423278008

Editor-In-Chief,
The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN (0976-8165)
http://www.the-criterion.com/

http://www.facebook.com/vishwanathbite (Find me on facebook)

Indian Villages

India lives in its villages. Although this romantic notion about India has not changed much with rural India still accounting for roughly three-fourths of its population, the village in itself has changed much over the years. Village studies have been central to our understanding of many of the concepts used in modern social sciences. One of the reasons for the centrality of the village in studying rural India has been the fact that it is the lowest level of administrative unit. But even for sociologists and anthropologists, village has often been the object of research notably because the village is not only an administrative unit but is also the smallest political and social unit.
Sociologist, anthropologists and political scientists have often used the technique of village studies where more often the village itself is an object of research unlike the economists who have used village studies mostly as a site for research. The differences are obvious but in a subtle way. It is partly to do with the requirement of the research objective such as caste, class and social relations which are centred on the village and can only be observed through studying the village as an object. For economists, it is the administrative unit of village which facilitates easy validation of quantitative estimates but also the nature of economic relations, notably tenancy, credit, labour which are easily understood in the closed context of a village economy. But in both cases, the village has been the central object of research.
Just as India is fortunate to have a statistical system which is comparable to the best in the world, it has also been fortunate to have large number of village studies starting from the pre-independence days (the Slater villages in Tamilnadu). Some of these have now been resurveyed over the years. Some of these have been used to get insights for formulation and understanding of economic theories while some have been used to validate our existing knowledge of the various actors in the closed setup of a village. This tradition of village studies is again back in fashion with a large number of village studies underway in various parts of India. While some of them are resurvey of old villages which again is crucial in providing a historical perspective on development, some are fresh villages with particular areas of interest such as the suicide prone areas of Vidarbha and Telangana.
But what can we learn from village studies which is not already available from secondary sources? Another obvious question is whether finding from one village out of six lakh villages in India is good enough to generalise on common issues confronting economic theory or development policy. That is, how representative is the village to be generalised over a large geographical unit such as the state or the country. This has often been the bone of contention, particularly if two village studies contradict in their findings about similar issues. Needless to say, such differences are obvious because villages are not homogenous entities. But more often than not, such differences also arise due to the personal involvement of researchers, objective of the research and most importantly the instruments of research.
Coming back to the first issue of what can we learn from village studies? It is definitely not to reproduce the secondary data which is already available and in many cases up to the village level. Secondary data has its own limitation and is certainly incapable of capturing some variables, for example tenancy. And it is precisely because of that, such exercises should be avoided. The objective of using quantitative aggregates is mainly to provide a context in which the insights on the functioning of markets, interaction of various agents and the dynamism of these over time.
These are challenging times for the world because of the financial crisis aggravating in the new year. But more than anything else, and despite claims of the financial mandarins, one must admit the shortcomings of economic theory in dealing with the changing world. And this is not only true for the fast changing world of finance and global capitalism but is also true for the village economies. Not for anything but the fact that the world in one year has seen episodes of spiralling food prices and commodity prices to them nose-diving within a span of six months. The food crisis and riots have given way to the financial crisis not because the vulnerabilities of the rural economies of developing world have been fully mitigated but the enormity of the financial crisis which is spreading like a wild fire. The vulnerabilities have become even more gruesome despite the falling prices and in some cases because of falling prices.
It is this changing nature of the village economy which needs a careful study. Needless to say, the globalised world and the integration of the local village with the global village has altered social, political and class complexities. But more importantly, the village is no more a self-contained closed economy with overdependence on agriculture and limited interaction with outside world. The village and the neighbouring towns and the metropolitan centres are now a continuum and the village is no more isolated from the vagaries of the financial markets of London or Newyork. Agriculture accounts for less than one fifth of the Indian economy. Even within rural areas, agriculture now contributes just over half of the economy. But more than the declining importance of agriculture, what makes studying village economies challenging is the way villages are getting integrated to the neighbouring and distant urban areas through non-farm employment, migration and remittances. This is also true from the developmental perspective where village is also the terrain on which development policies are tested. The NREGA is one example of this. Hopefully, some of the village studies currently underway will enrich our understanding of the changing nature of village economies.

Indian English Drama: Translations

Indian English Drama: Translations

            Indian Drama in English translation has made bold innovations and fruitful experiments in terms of both thematic concerns and technical virtuosities. It has been increasingly turning to history, legend, myth and folklore tapping their springs of vitality and vocal cords of popularity with splendid results. Plays written in various Indian languages are being translated into English and other languages as they are produced and appreciated in the various parts of the country. A closer contact is being established between the theatre workers from different regions and languages through these translations. Thus, regional drama in India is slowly paving a way for a ‘national theatre’ into which all streams of theatrical art seem to coverage. The major language theatres that are active all through the turbulent years of rejuvenation and consolidations are those of Hindi, Bengali, Marathi and Kannada.

            The plays mentioned so far, both under the Pre-Independence and the Post-Independence phase were originally written in English. Among the plays translated into English, there are a few, which were first written in the regional languages and subsequently translated into English by the authors themselves. Though, strictly speaking, these works cannot be called fully English plays, they can be mentioned under the topic, in view of the fact, that at least some of them are transcreations and not simply translations. Rabindranath Tagore, Mohan Rakesh, Badal Sircar, Vijay Tendulkar, and Girish Karnad have remained the most representative of the Indian English drama not only in Bengali, Hindi, Marathi and Kannada respectively but also on the pan-Indian level.

            Full article is deleted because of Copyright 

Indian English Drama: Women Playwrights

Indian English Drama: Women Playwrights 

            Apart from the substantial contributions rendered in Indian English Drama by the noted dramatists like Asif Currimbhoy, Nissim Ezekiel, Girish Karnad, Badal Sircar, Mohan Rakesh, Vijay Tendulkar and Mahesh Dattani, some Indian English women playwrights have also published their plays in the contemporary phase. Mrs. J. M. Billimoria in her play My Sons (1963) presents a picture of five students of Bombay University who, in spite of sharp differences in their religion and language live like real brothers.

            Dina Mehta’s first full length play The Myth Makers (1969) won an award from Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Competition in 1968 and Tiger Tiger (1978) - a play on Tipu Sultan, Brides are not Burning (a play on dowry deaths) won the first prize in a worldwide competition sponsored by B. B. C. in 1979. Getting Away with Murder was on the short list of seven specially commended radio plays out of 902 entries submitted for the B. B. C. World Playwriting Competition, 1989. Her other famous plays are One Plus One Makes Nine and Sister Like You. Her Getting Away with Murder deals with childhood, sexual abuse, infidelity, and insecure relationship. It gives an account of three women friends who pass through their own private hells and finally emerge as strangers to one another. Mrs. Mehta brings to life the extremely parochial mentality of some residents of cities like Mumbai.

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            The Indian drama in English is yet to be flourished but we can predict a rich and fertile soil for the blooming and blossoming of the tree of the same. In fact, there have been serious and sincere efforts for the theatre-oriented plays. The women playwrights have something distinct to offer to the audience. They have given new dimensions by infusing new type into this genre. They focus the issues like violence: physical, mental and several other aspects of it. They have proved through their plays that they fulfil the specific demands of theatre. 

Indian English Fiction: Postmodern Considerations

Indian English Fiction: Postmodern Considerations

Editor

Dr. Vishwanath Bite

C O N T E N T S

1.      Imagery of Goddess in Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra: A Feminist Approach

Dr. Vishwanath Bite

2.      An Exploration of Narrative Technique in Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra

Mrs. Madhuri Bite

3.      An Eco-critical reading of Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide

Sophia Jaychandran

4.      Women’s Empowerment and Personal Mobility in the Novels of Shashi Deshpande and Nayantara Sahgal

Grishma Manikrao Khobragade

5.      Individuality and Space in Salman Rushdie’s Fiction: A Postmodern Perspective

Mohamed Hamoud Kassim Al-Mahfedi

Abdulmonim Ali Ben Ali

6.      Interpreting Anita Desai’s In Custody in the Light of Susan Sontag’s critical essay Against Interpretation

Kirti B. Vitthani

7.      Postmodern Diasporic Sensibility: Rereading Jhumpa Lahiri’s Oeuvre

Pinaki Roy

8.      Salman Rushdie’s Grimus as an Alternative History

Abdulmonim Ali Ben Ali

9.      The Spiritual Sense of Alienation in Diasporic Life: Reading Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, Sunetra Gupta and Jhumpa Lahiri

Dr. Amit Shankar Saha

10.  Trimetric of Land, Culture and Identity in Indian English Fiction

Dr. G.A. Ghanshyam

11.  Nayantara Sahgal’s Rich like Us: A Thematic Analysis

Dr.Kiranjeet Kaur Bedi

12.  Postmodern Feminism in The Fiction of Indian Women Writers

Dr Vimmie Manoj

13.  Sociological Status of Women in Geeta Mehta’s A River Sutra

Dr. D. G. Thakor

14.  The World of Marginalised in Mahasweta Devi’s Play Mother of 1084

G. Gulam Tariq

15.  Nergis Dalal’s Skin Deep: Sister- Knot In Conflict?

Mrs. G. Sundari and Dr. K. Sandhya

16.  Poile Sengupta’s Thus Spake Shoorpanakha, So Said Shakuni As A Postmodern Text

Dr.L.V.Padmarani Rao

17.  Soul-Body Concept in The Selected Novels Of R.K.Narayan

Jothilakshmi.R & Dr.G.Meenakshi Sundaram

18.  East- West Encounter in R.K.Narayan’s The Bachelor of Arts

Dr. Kapil Dev Sharma & Dr. Pradeep Kumar Talan

19.  Theme of Love in Manjul Bajaj’s Come, Before Evening Falls

Dr. K.K.Sunalini

20.  Shiv K Kumar’s A River With Three Banks: Revisiting Partition

Dr. P.R. Shewale

21.  From Routes to Roots: Diaspora in the Novels of Salman Rushdie.

Janmejay Kumar Tiwari

22.  Salman Rushdie As A Children’s Writer: Reading Haroun And The Sea Of Stories And Luka And The Fire Of Life

Ved Mitra Shukla

23.  Interrogating The Metanarratives On Indian Independence With Reference To Partition Narratives

Raj Sree

24.  Theorizing The Saga of Lost Dreams From The Perspective Of Post Modernism

Nancy S. Rethinam

25.  Culture of Consumerism as Reflected in Chetan Bhagat’s One Night @ Call Center

Yatri D. Dave

26.  The Avante-Garde Experience Of Silence In Ambai’s Yellow Fish

Dr. Paula Hayes

Deadline Extended: Indian English Drama: Thematic Reflections

Deadline Extended Call For Papers:

Indian English Drama: Thematic Reflections

Editor

Dr. Vishwanath Bite

Dear All,

I am pleased to forward this call for book tentatively titled Indian English Drama: Thematic Reflections Scholarly articles/ papers are invited from Scholars, Critics and Academicians before 30^th November 2011 The book will be published by well-known publisher with ISBN.

Editing requirements:

·     Paper size: A4, Font & size: Times New Roman 12, Spacing: Single line, Margin of 1 inch on all four sides.

·     Title of the paper: bold, Sentence case (Capitalize each word), centered.

·     Text of the paper: justified. Font & size: Times New Roman 12.

·     References: Please follow MLA style (Only Author-Date or Number System) strictly. Don’t use Foot Notes, Use End Notes

·     Titles of books: Italics.

·     Titles of articles from journals and books: “quoted”.

·     Articles should be submitted as MS Word 2003-2007attachments only.

·     The paper should not usually exceed 11 pages maximum, 6 pages minimum in single spacing.

·     Each paper must be accompanied by

i)                    A declaration that it is an original work and has not been published anywhere else or sent for publication

ii)                    Abstract of paper about 100-200 words and

iii)                 A short bio-note of the contributor(s) indicating name, institutional affiliation, brief career history, postal address, mobile number and e-mail, in a single attachment. Please don’t send more attachments.

iv)               Give these things in a separate attachment.

The papers submitted should evince serious academic work contributing new knowledge or innovative critical perspectives on the subject explored.

Mode of Submission:

Each contributor is advised to send full paper with brief bio-note, declaration and abstract as a single MS-Word email attachments to email address: vishwanathbite@gmail.com   up to 30^th November 2011 The contributors are also supposed to submit one hard copy of the same i.e. (i) Full paper (ii) A declaration (with signature) (iii) Abstract and (iv) Brief bio-note typed in above mentioned format on any of postal address given bellow. One hard copy is required for our record. Without hard copy no paper will be considered for publication.

Selection Procedure:

All submissions will be sent for blind peer reviewing. Final selection will be made only if the papers are recommended for publication by the reviewers. The details of the selection of your paper will be informed to you telephonically or on your email. The editor has the right to make necessary editing of selected papers for the sake of conceptual clarity and formatting. Non-selected papers will not be sent back to the contributor in any form. So, all contributors are advised to keep a copy of their submission with them.

Plagiarism Alert:

All submissions should be original. Contributors are advised to adhere to strict academic ethics with respect to acknowledgment of original ideas borrowed from others. The editor(s) / publisher will not be responsible for any lapse on part of the contributor.