ABSTRACT
Globalization seems to have brought a sea change in many post-colonial nations. Cultural hybridity is a positive consequence of globalization. Consequently there is a conflict in the diasporic communities between the majority and minority cultures. It is difficult to be estranged from one’s native culture. A desire to establish an identity in a new culture appears to be desirable and difficult. Bharathi Mukharji focuses on the quest for identity of the diasporic women and shows the varied concept of identity among the sisters of the same family. The fact that disassociation from culture is not necessary to resolve identity crisis, and a woman can establish an identity of her own within the cultural framework is highlighted.
Key Words:…show more content… The focus and concern of the post colonial Indian women writers has been the quest for identity of the Indian Women in India and in the western socio-cultural milieu. Diasporic experience, globalization and cultural hybridity lead to conflict of the women in relation to their tradition and self identity. The women characters question the traditional Indian values but at the same time feel that the majority culture to which they belong to has become intertwined with and inseparable from their…show more content… She even considers the mishap (of giving birth to a child) as a “little mishap” and thinks “No one will ever know about my little mishap.” She even declares proudly “we were perfect little innocent even with a … mishap” (P.237). After a ten year struggle for existence in the U.K. and the U.S. Padma turns out to be a “multicultural performance artist for local schools and community centres, staging Indian mythological evenings, with readings, slide shows recitations and musical accompaniment’ in New Jersey. (P.94). She marries Harish Mehta, a non-Bengali businessman, who was married and has grown up children. Harish has an admiration for the Bhattacharjee family and remains a mere shadow and follower of Padma without interfering in her active life. She becomes Padma Mehta only because no one in the U.S. can pronounce Bhattacharjee. Padma finally makes New York her home and enjoys the privilege of participating in the activities related to the visits of Indian dignitaries and film stars. Ironically she assumes the role of a promoter of Indian culture, and civilization, in the U.S. “Her inalienable attachment to her home makes her the sustainer and preserver of Bengali tradition in America” (1). Thus Padma establishes a niche for herself by reconstructing her cultural identity and seems to face no identity