Chapter I Introduction

Fiction, a characteristic and powerful form of literary expression today, has acquired a prestigious position in the literary world. Although as a distinct

literary form it is new, it is the most dominant form in the twentieth century. A novelist through his novel presents the

truths of the world around him as he conceives and comprehends. It is often regarded as an elaborate and

careful presentation of life and it reflects the experiences and ideas in the context of time. D.H.Lawrence in his essay,

Why the Novel Matters eulogises that the novelists are superior to saints, philosophers and scientists. He claims

that a parson talks about soul in heaven; but a novelist knows that paradise is in the palm of his hand, and on the end of his nose because both are alive. He opines that the

novel is one bright book of life that makes the whole man alive. The beginning of the Indian Fiction in English could

be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century.

Though the

novel in its present form had its beginning in the eighteenth century England, the socio-cultural revival that was taking place in our country as a result of its encounter with the west may be considered as one of the main factors for the beginning of Indian Fiction in English. Two contrary views concerning the legacy of the Indian fiction in English are pointed out by M.K.Naik. Dr.S.Karanth

was of the view that our early novels were inspired by the early English novels and not by Indian epics, puranas,stories or fables. such as According to Karanath, all our literary works

epics, puranas,tales, and fables could not, by their

very nature, provide the seeds for this particular literary form nor exercise any healthy influence on its development because of their highly moralistic, didactic and idealistic pre-occupations which militate against a more realistic and humanistic interest in the spacio-temporal realities of existence such as was necessary for a novelist. On the other

hand K.Krishnamurthy's paper on The Makings of the Indian Novel sought to maintain that the novel was not entirely new to Indian literature which contained many of the ingredients of the modern novel.

Controversies aside, it is well known that Indian writing in English has now gained worldwide acceptance and recognition. It is remarkable to note that if international

claim is any literary merit, almost every second Indian novel of the eighties had either been awarded a prize or shortlisted for it. Until the nineteen thirties the Indo-

English novelist wrote for a readership largely Indian and was unmistakably nationalist. The novels showed its concern From the 1960s onwards Writers

with social and national problems.

Indian writings in English witnessed great changes.

like kamala Das, Nissim Ezekiel, and others who were free from the social and political overtones of a nationalistic variety were able to dwell on newer themes, ideas and forms of writing. They were frank and candid in their thought,

language and form, sometimes to the extent of disturbing the established pattern of thought and shocking one's sensibilities like Shoba De's Starry Nights. The post-colonial world was a new and emerging world of literature. The writers noticed the gradual erosion of Independence brought in its wake

social and moral values.

some traumatic experiences; the changes in society caused a lot cultural and emotional rootlessness. The writings of the

period reflected the individual's search for a personal meaning in life. After the 1980s there has been a

commendable change in the expression of Indian writers writing in English. One can easily discern the persistent

influence of materialism and consumerism that has taken a firm grip on the life styles of urban Indians. Viney Kripal

in his Introduction to The New Indian Novel in English: A Study of the 1980s opines: ...the earlier apologia and flabbiness are gone The language is energetic, rich, and trim. novels have a vast emotional, political, cultural, geographical and historical sweep. They seem to have the ability to face life in the harsh, to confront it unflinchingly and yet to laugh at the lighter side.... The individual is at the centre now, his sensibilities modern, the provisional qualities of life known to him. The novels are introspective and have individual's quest for a personal meaning in life as its main theme.(124) The contributions by women writers cannot go unnoticed. In fact the works by women writers constitute a major segment of the contemporary Indian writing in English. Today women are seen establishing their identity in almost all walks of life and they have heralded a new consciousness The

in the realm of literature too.

Anees Jung in her book

Unveiling India states her ideology in the following words: In the complex pantheon of diversities, the Indian woman remains the point of unity unveiling through each single experience a coll ective unconscious prized by a society that is looked in mortal combat with the power and weakness of age and time. She remains the still centre, like the centre in a potter's wheel, circling to create new forms, unfolding the continuity of a racial life, which in turn has encircled and helped her acquire a quality of concentration. (48) Women writers, starting with the contribution of Toru Dutt to the latest writer, have always attempted to give the audience a qualitative and quantitative literary work. Many

of the women writers focus on women's issues; they present the world to the reader from a women's perspective. works of writer's like Kamala Markandaya, Ruth Pawar Jhabvala, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, and many others have left an indelible impression on the readers of Indian fiction in English. In the past few decades the emergence of a new The

area of study and research on Women's Studies has given a great impetus to the growth of creative writing in English by women writers. These women writers through their fiction

have attempted to free the female minds from the age long idea of male domination. They attempt to herald a new The call

consciousness in the realm of traditional thinking.

here is not to tear oneself off from social order but to breathe in a free and independent manner. In this legacy of women writers presenting the world through the Woman's eyes is the limelight of Anita Nair's contribution. Aita Nair's career as a writer started in the

beginning of the 1990s with novels and articles published in newspapers and journals. Her first book is a collection of

short stories Satyr of the Subway and Eleven Other Stories published in 1997. It is a work fused with metaphor, myth,

and montages of life and is rich with rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration. The work has no sort of coyness in it, and is

an unembarassed writing by a woman who is looked and considered secondarily with her gender. She published a

collection of poems entitled Malabar Minds in the year 1997. In this collection, she explores the landscapes and mindscapes with a rare fluid ease. Love, failure, humour,

irony, wit, lust, hope, anguish just about every aspect of human existence finds a place in this collection. after followed the novel The Better Main in 1999. There It is not

a usual thing a woman writing on a woman's cause.

Instead

it is a woman writer exploring an unusual territory-- the man's world. She has attempted to reflect the moral fibre of

a society, it appears to be a victory of human will over human weakness. It is an attempt to fathom the deepest There is sharp characterisation, a

recesses of man's psyche.

purposeful narrative that is free of any artifice or judgement, thereby the author takes the readers through the remaking of a man in a quiet manner. Her second novel Ladies Coupe is the story of a woman's search for strength and independence. It focusses on In this

the inner strength that every human being possesses.

novel the women are fleshed out to the last detail. One can visualise their faces, their bones, their desires which Anita Nair has achieved by her lucid style-made possible with sensual and surprising details. The book was selected as one This was

of the five best books of the year(2001) in India.

followed by Where the Rain is Born- Writings About Kerala. This is the work that she has edited. Puffin Book of World Myths and Legends published in 2004 is a collection of timeless stories from all over the world Africa to Japan and Thailand to Alaska that have been

brought together.

Charming and simple, yet profound in their Some recount

wisdom, the stories encompass a diverse range.

unforgettable tales of love and adventure, of dutiful sons and scheming Gods, others tell us how the world was created, why the sun and the moon never ever meet eachother though they live in the same sky, etc. for the young and old alike. Her third full-fledged novel entitled Mistress was published in 2005. adultery. This is a searing novel of art and It is interesting in reading

This is a brilliant blend of imaginative story

telling and knowledge of art used in bringing about a deeply moving exploration into the search for meaning in art and life. An interview report reveals that she is presently

working on two books and conceptualising the third. The first book is the second part of World Myths And Legends; the second a children's book, and the third a light, frothy, and bubble novel. She believes in artistic integrity in art and

literature and her strength as a writer is in the remarkable grace, unforced humour, and elegantly descriptive prose. style and content bring alive the everyday thoughts and experiences in the most effective telling manner. The present thesis is an attempt to have a contextual Her

insight into the three novels of Anita Nair and its effective role as a mirror of the modern day society. The books under The

study are Ladies Coupe, The Better Man, and Mistress. three novels depict deep serious issues often seen or experienced in our day to day life.

If one deals with the

sufferings of women, the other deals with the problem of inferiority complex. The third novel Mistress has a parallel

between the life of a woman and the status enjoyed by art in the present time. The three novels are very different in Ladies Coupe presents the

content, form, and technique.

novelist as a representative of the feminist movement with the protagonist of her novel literally and mentally setting out in search of her true identity in overtly patriarchal society. The novel The Better Man reveals her ability to

understand the emotional turmoil of a man who grew up with constant reprimands for inefficiency. In this passionate yet

introspective story Anita Nair tries to bring to us every individual's attempt to find a degree of inner peace and inner happiness. This same search for peace and inner

happiness is extended to the third novel Mistress with this search being the integral element of the novel. Koman

tries to find solace in art and Radha in the hands of Chris.

The complex human relationship and the complexities of the art form Kathakali are extensively and exhaustively employed by Anita Nair to bring out the subtle realities of life and living. As regards the scope of this study it confines to a meticulous and careful analysis of the novels with no stress given to analysing it in the light of any isms. No

exhaustive syudy of Anita Nair's works has been undertaken by critics and this has enabled me to have the freedom to read the primary sources and draw conclusions without being influenced by the opinions of earlier other writers. The

observations are put forth with relevant situations that support the claim, quoted from the primary source. The study The

has enabled me to trace some similarity in her works.

three novels have one central concern inability to realise the status of self in the intricate web of human relationships. The problem of identity either at the

conscious level or the subconscious level that is experienced by individuals at various levels and situations. At one level a postcolonial reading of Ladies Coupe is possible, and at another, the novel may be considered an attack on the patriarchal society thereby a book with

feminist outlook.

The novel The Better Man on the other hand

is the influence the patriarchal society has on the male member. It has no tinge of feminism but has enough scope to Compromise

consider the novel for a psychoanalytical study.

has become the order of the day and this has made man lose his individuality and art lose its sanctity. The threat to

life and art has been very well portrayed by Anita Nair in Mistress.

Chapter II Ladies Coup A Close Study

Anita Nair's Ladies Coupe depicts the problem of selfapprehension and self-identity. She presents the extreme

situations arising out of a conflict in the inner configurations of the individual the conflict between reason and instinct, desire and reality, involvement and detachment. Though a novel gets its sustenance from the

story it intends to tell, its success depends on how it is narrated. The novelist usually strikes a chord of

understanding with the reader by choosing a particular mode to present the truth of life as the novelist sees it. Thereby the method adopted by the novelist namely, the narrative technique, plays a pivotal role in deciding the success of the novel. There needs to be compatibility

between the plot or narration and the narrative technique. Percy Lubbock in his work Craft of Fiction observes that, the whole intricate question of method in craft of fiction, I take it to be governed by the question of point of view

the question of the relation in which the narration stands to the story(34). Going by the above opinion a novelist's narrative technique is very important to bring in the quality of readability which is a desirable quality of a novel. A

novelist may adopt the first person narrative or the third person narrative. It is often observed that it is easier for

the novelist to use the third person omniscient narrative method as it allows the novelist the scope to go deep into the minds of the characters. It enables the author to

explain their acts and also present views on men and matters in an objective way. Although this method gives the novelist

the scope to be objective and have a panoramic view it is often criticised, for, the narration will lose its emotional intensity and involvement on the part of the reader. But if

the narrator is one of the characters in the novel and the narration is carried on in the first person, the novelist usually has the advantage of lending authenticity, immediacy as well as scope for shifting the responsibility to the narrator. In Anita Nair's Ladies Coupe, the narrator is a middle aged spinster, Akilandeshwari, shortly called as Akila. The

central theme of the novel is the existential predicament of the woman as the individual. Forty five and single, an

income tax clerk not by choice but by chance is now out to find her true identity. Akila is the narrator heroine and in Always the

her lays the central consciousness of the novel.

daughter, the sister, the aunt or the provider, she had no time to actualize herself, until one day she bought for herself a one-way ticket to the seaside town of Kanyakumari. She is gloriously alone for the first time in her life and is determined to break free from all that her conservative Tamil Brahmin life had forced on her. In the coupe she meets

Janaki, the pampered wife and confused mother; Margaret Shanti, a Chemistry teacher married to the poetry of elements and an intensive tyrant too self absorbed to recognise her needs; Prabha Devi, the perfect daughter and wife, transformed for life by a glimpse of a swimming pool; fourteen year old Sheela, with her ability to perceive what others cannot; and Marikolanthu, whose innocence was destroyed by one night of lust. The protagonist's position

is projected through incompatible couples actually sensitive wives, dutiful but husbands. not undestanding, insensitive

As she listens to the most private moments of

their lives, she seeks the answer to the question that has tormented her for a long time can a woman stay single and be happy or does a woman need a man to feel her life complete? It may be interesting to note how the motif of journey is aptly used by Anita Nair. The idea of journey is

inevitably linked with the quest motif and this is evident in the opening section of the novel. The novel opens with a

desire in Akila to escape -- of leaving, of running away, of pulling out, of escaping(LC 1). Akila had never done

anything that she desired to, but only what she was expected to do. But now she has a strong desire to be free and want She decides to

to experience the real happiness of freedom.

go to the land's end to make a new beginning of experiencing the real meaning of freedom. An antithetical situation

which heightens the climax like situation in the beginning of the novel. reader. This in fact sets the mood and tone of the

Although she desires to set herself free she is

tormented time and again by the inability on her part to know the answer to an ever pertinent question -- Can I live myself? She hopes to find the answer at Kanyakumari, where the three seas meet. There is a parallel drawn between the

yearning in her and the yearning that led swami Vivekananda to and beyond the seas. read about Vivekananda: He flung himself into the churning waters and the salts of the three seas and swam to a rock upon which he sat resolutely, waiting for the answers that had eluded him all his life. had read that at Kanyakumari, the goddess, like her, had put her life on hold. And that She She recollects the lines she had

the beach there was made up of multicoloured sand; the fossilised remnants of a wedding feast that was never served or eaten. (3) The usageschurning water and salts of the sea are very much symbolic in its usage. These usages depict the

turbulence in the mind of the protagonist but at the same time the possible unpleasant experience the act could cause to her. The similarities draw Akila to Kanyakumari and this

journey that she believes will help her know herself. Anita Nair narrates the story of Akila with utmost precision and directness. The personal story of Akila acts

as a commentary on the impact of the customs and traditions that are imposed on women in society. Her keen interest and

insight into the socio-cultural aspects of society is revealed abundantly in the novel. At the age of forty five,

having achieved near anonymity, working as a clerk in the income tax department a life pattern is already set in the life of the protagonist of the novel, Akila. But the inner

strength that has always remained suppressed by the need to abide by the norms of the society, struggles its way out. Akila is suddenly filled with the idea of freedom, individuality, and independence. At the outset, the reader

is introduced to the single woman's decision to break free from the claustrophobic traditions and multiple identities. The novelist prepares the reader to accept the unexpected, to accept the unthought and unpredicted. Although she is an

integral part of the family and society she belongs to, she feels strangely alienated. She decides to go through phases

of construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction to fit herself in the right place in the society, to rehabilitate herself. The decision to alter her position could be

considered the construction phase, the travel to the self is the deconstruction phase, and building or planning a new life order for herself is the reconstruction phase of her life pattern.

Being a part of the society Akila never dared to oppose the system. The tales of the other women she meets on

her journey to Kanyakumari also complement her experiences in life. Her tale and the tales of others is the tale of any Some of the norms of society that are From time Man

woman in the society.

laid down by the male are questioned in the novel.

immemorial the woman has existed in the shadow of man. decides and the woman obeys.

This unquestioned obedience and

acceptance of the decisions made by man can be seen in the life of all the characters of the novel. Janaki, an elderly

and wise woman, comes out with a meaning of life that all women are prone to: I am a woman who has always been looked after. First there was my father and my brothers; then my husband. When my husband is gone, there Women like me end up being will be my son, waiting to take from where his father let off. fragile. Our men treat us like princesses.

And because of that we look down upon women who are strong and who can cope by themselves.(2223) In the words of Janaki there is an advice to Akila. She is alone and she can definitely cope by herself. It is

the fear of not being accepted by the people of her own

gender that has caused the severity of her crisis. The authoritarian influence changes the course of Margaret's life too. married to Ebe. Margaret who excelled as a student was

For his satisfaction she gave up her As if

intention to do research, she had her hair cut short.

all these sacrifices were not enough she was required to abort the baby. Eighteen months after marriage Margaret

discovered that she was pregnant but Ebe, her husband did not share her happiness. aborting the baby. She is forced into the sinful act of It is at this point she is discontented

with her husband but more discontented with herself for easily led by others. Whenever Margaret tried to share her

feelings with her mother she is advised in turn: ...and like I have said many times before, it is a woman's responsibility to keep the marriage happy. Men have so many they might not have the preoccupations that

time or inclination to keep the wheels of a marriage oiled. (112) Repeatedly discouraged by her mother and the fear of the stigma of divorce, she stops short of openly asking questions that torment her mind and soul: What about me? Don't I have a right to have any expectations of him? Don't

I work as hard as he does and more because I run the house as well...(112). Women in the past have, women in the present are, and women in the future will continue living with this dilemma. This struggle remains a silent struggle. Akila hopes to find

guidance from the life experiences of the other women but, Margaret fights a silent battle. She uses the weakness of

her husband as the weapon to fight against the pain -- more mental than physical inflicted upon her. Her hidden strength is brought out in her struggle to find some space for herself. Her condition of this can be

compared to one of the poems entitled, The Sea Turtle and the Shark written by a famous Aframerican poet Melvin B. Tolson: Strange but true is the story of the Sea Turtle and the Shark - / The instinctive drive of the weak to survive in the Oceanic dark. These lines lay stress on the role played by will power in achieving one's end and this is the message that Margaret wants to convey Akila. Fight your battle

yourself and do not wait for things to happen on their own. The novel represents the life experiences of all sections of women in society -- the rich, the middle class, and the poor. Prabha Devi, wife of a business man decides to

lead her life the way she desires.

But the norms of society

stop her from establishing the kind of life that she wants to lead. Society everywhere conspires against women eating away The influence of an incident in her life

all the vitals.

forces to retrace her steps and she withdraws herself from experiencing life. off. All the confidence she had is drained

In the life of Marikolanthu, her poor economic status Raped and helpless she seeks the help of But Chetiar's wife is also equally

takes its toll. Chettiar's wife. helpless.

Women, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, young

or old are at the mercy of men in the patriarchal society. Chettiar's wife advises Marikolanthu to find a job as that would replace a husband's protection, and also give her atleast economic independence. Anita Nair makes use of certain literary devices such as metaphor and imagery to find the objective correlative in an effective manner. comparison: Stirred out of sleep by a tiny housefly,hopelessly lost, vagrant, and restless, humming and hovering above her face, Akila felt within her a queer itinerant sensation. The fly settled on her brow for Akila is restless and she makes a

fleeting second and rubbed its legs briskly. Flies did it all the time; unloading disease and 3) This sense of disquiet immensely helps her know herself. It helps her live her life the way she desires to. despair. But this one, new adult, had nothing to unburden but germs of disquiet. (LC

Before she experienced this disquiet she was ignorant of any suffocation or displeasure. But the realization brings Initially all of

in her a feeling for a new beginning.

Akila's wondrous explorations and magical discoveries were locked within the fragile shell of an egg (LC 90). Marikolanthu was repeatedly warned by her mother because she was easily impressed by people: ...you give your heart too easily, child. They will break it into thousand pieces and

leave it on the ground for others to trample into dust (LC 216). On such occasions she had always teased her mother But

asking her if the heart was a glass bangle (LC 216).

her experience results in her realization of the value of her mother's words. She says:

But you know what, the heart is a glass bangle. One careless moment and it is shattered. know that, yet we continue to wear glass We

bangles.

Each time they break, we buy new ones How silly we women are. We should

hoping that these will last longer than the others did. wear bangles made of granite and turn our hearts into the same. (LC 216) Often we find that acceptance of what exists and resilience is regarded as solutions to the problems faced by women. It is difficult to go against the tide and often Akila does not deviate

women prefer moving along the tide.

from what is expected to do for many years; Margaret employs a treacherous method to take revenge as she knows that an open battle to establish herself would only be a futile attempt; Marikolanthu accepts sufferings in life as fate; Janaki prefers remaining secure and safe in the hands of the family members, and Prabha Devi fears the society and norms of behaviour and decides to acquiesce rather than invite criticism and insult. Ironic situations add to the complexity of the character's status and situational details. protagonist itself is ironic. Mistress of all worlds. The name of the

To quote, Akilandeswari, She

Master of none (LC 2).

questions the worth of her name when she finds herself controlled by others at every stage. She, as a girl, was

groomed for the day she was to be married and sent to her husband's home to play the role of woman, wife, and mother. The day her father died changed the course of her life. She

suddenly finds herself burdened with the responsibility of managing a widowed mother and three siblings. Her anger

towards her father enables her to handle the grief of her father's death. Her reply to her brother's question is

something astonishing: Akka, Narayan asked, what are we going to do? Cremate him and then...and then we'll find some way to keep ourselves afloat and alive (57). Wjth her father's death she fits herself into the role of her father and this results in her finding herself caught in the web of responsibility from which she finds no escape. After having headed the family as someone who would chart and steer the course of the family's destiny to safe shores, she ironically finds herself considered a woman incapable of looking after herself at the age of forty five. The taunting

remark made by Akila's sister and brother reflect the attitude of the society towards a single woman. She has

repeated reminders in the words of her siblings, Can a woman

live alone?, What will society say? etc. buy a single bedroom flat for herself. consented by her sister. She says:

she decides to

But this is not

Do you think the brothers will consent to this? Do you think they will let you live alone? Padma asked. I will do exactly as I please and I don't give a damn about what you or anyone else thinks. That's what you think. the family. (CL 204) They are the men of

They are the men of the family, groomed, trained, fed, clothed, and provided for by Akila and now she is expected to take their consent before actually taking a decision in her life -- about herself. male voice says thus: It's improper for a woman to live alone. Besides there will be a whole lot of questions that will pop up about your reputation. come up with six. You know how people put two and two together and Nalini's family will be Have you scandalised if they hear about this. be?(LC 205) Narsi,her brother, with an authentic

thought of how embarassing my position will

In spite of being the breadwinner and occupying the centrist position for twenty six years, she still continues to remain on the periphery because her needs are never

considered important enough to take precedence over the needs of the other members of the family. The advice of her friend Karpagam who was

Karpagam changes the course of her life. her schoolmate is now a widow.

Although Karpagam is a widow

she faces the society as an individual, bold, and confident, and she ignites in Akila the desire to experience freedom. Karpagam tells her, I am who I am. And I have as much right as anyone else to live as I choose (LC 202). Akila decides to break from the hold of the family and society which have long been tormenting with a tantalizing sheer force. The family and the society could no more ploy with her forcing her to adhere to the traditional values. Their lives were sacrificed at the altar of conventions and traditions. In a conglomerate of extreme despair and desire,

she wants to be Nobody's daughter, Nobody's sister, Nobody's wife, Nobody's mother (LC 207). The life of Margaret is intriguing. An achiever all

through her student life, confident and hardworking, desirous of achieving great heights in life, she is confronted with a

disappointing future after marriage.

Her choice of a

magnificent looking man as her life partner was highly appreciated by her parents and relatives. Love, she believed

would make her a complete person, it would motivate her to perform better in life but, ironically this same love makes living equivalent to death. She realises she need not have She is complete only She

the company of a man to be complete.

when she trusts herself and makes decisions for herself.

leaves the Coup advising Akila, Just remember that you have to look for yourself. No one else will (LC 40). Prabha

Devi always made herself believe how lucky I am to be me but each time she tells herself this, she is tormented by the memory of an experience that is hard to obliterate. As for the narration it moves forward and backward in time and space. The remarkable aspect of the experience of

all the characters in the novel is that they have the same kind of experience in the patriarchal society in the three periods of time: the past, the present, and the future. Janaki could be regarded the representative of the past, Akila and Prabhs Devi of the present, and the fourteen year old girl Sheela, with her ability to perceive what others cannot, represents the future. All are Indian women

in the Indian scenario seeking to understand themselves. roles into which they ultimately fit themselves are stereotypes.

The

The characters attempt to make sense of their

lives and find a pattern in the past and a direction in the future. As is observed in most of the fictions written by

women even in Ladies Coup we find the problem of identity, the conflict of being both oneself and fitting into a traditional role as good daughter, a good wife, or a good mother confusing these individuals. Although Akila has a partial solution to her problem of identity, she realises that there can be no pat answers, that no one can teach her how to live her life, that she cannot model her life on the lives of others: The other people's lives cannot be used by her as 'how-to' books that would help her find clear cut answers to what she needed to do next (LC 40). All the women characters in the novel, in

the process of revealing their experiences to the protagonist, are in fact reassuring themselves that they are not helpless but yet are doubly marginalised. The novel is well structured and well knit with a perfect connection between the beginning and the end. The

novel begins with a yearning to escape and the novel closes

with her experiencing freedom. Kanyakumari, she finds

Having made it to

herself in a hotel named Sea Breeze,

fully aware of everyone's surprise at a woman on a beach alone. She decides to make her own private rebellion. Much

like Margaret who decides to rebel by feeding her husband into a state of benign fatness, Akila takes desire by the horns. She releases herself from the hold of convention and She feels that she

family expectations, at least mentally.

can go back to her life with the knowledge that she is free from some of the constraints. structure to the novel. and aspirations in life. This story of a woman's search for strength and independence focuses on the inner strength in every human being. Anita Nair has used a partial imitation of one of the Chaucer's heterogeneous crowd of pilgrims are This gives a circular

She goes back with renewed energy

oldest ploys.

singularly life affirming and they tell tales to each other as they travel. life affirming. Here Nair's characters too are singularly Though they do not confess anything about

their life stories publicly to each other, the manner in which she has treated them sharing their experiences with the protagonist invites this comparison.

Akila and her friends are on the threshold of self discovery. The narration is revelatory and redeeming which

relieves the tedium of a long journey and yet is filled with the magical power to burn up the tracks to seek a new destination. Anita Nair in one of her interviews has

revealed that the inspiration for this novel is purely based on her personal expectations. She found a special ladies lne

clubbed with the handicapped and senior citizens at the Railway reservation counter. She was totally disturbed by

the blatant inequality and the novel came into existence as a result of this bitter experience. The words of the sixth

passenger could be quoted as an apt conclusion to the motif of the novel: Women are strong. well as men. herself. (LC 210) Anita Nair evokes experiences that are drawn from everyday life and across the social strata but suddenly they seem to have attained epic dimensions. Each of the women are Women can do everything as But a

Women can do much more.

woman has to seek the vein of strength in It does not shoe itself naturally.

finely and picturesquely drawn each caught in a web relationships partly of her own making and partly one that is

made for her.

The life story of the women characters of the

novel is neatly woven and structured by Anita Nair to establish a truth -- truth that there is a lot of strength in women that doesn't come out naturally, it has to be forced out of them and the cause for the change could be a circumstance or a change in life style. There is a strong

and valid message of hope through change and even the ending is revealed as another beginning.

Chapter III Encounter with the Self The Better Man

The novel The Better Man is an astonishing book that is tender, lyrical, humorous, and insightful. The Pioneer

describes it as a work which is about every human being's attempt to find a degree of inner peace and happiness. Chapter III Encounter with the Self The Better Man The novel The Better Man by Anita Nair is an astonishing book that is tender, lyrical, humorous, and insightful. THE PIONEER describes it as It is about every humans attempt to find a degree of inner peace and happiness. The tale is a straight forward account of the remaking of a man in a quiet manner. An elderly bachelor and a retired government

employee, Mukundan is forced by circumstances to return to Kaikurussi, the village he was born in, a village that he fled when he was eighteen. And now back in his ancestral He is haunted by a For not father

house, he finds himself unable to cope. sense of failure. measuring up to

For having abandoned his mother. his still alive and domineering

Achuthan Nairs expectations. without really living it.

For having gone through life

It is a tale st in contemporary

India in a little fictious village called Kaikurusi in the northern during part the of Kerala which was once known as Malabar has no

British

regime.

Though

Malabar

geographical boundaries, no presence on the map of India, it still exists as a state of mind: laid-back, slow, with an air of live and let live. The first fictional village Malgudi

was made literally famous by R.K. Narayan in his works and in kaikurusssi, Anita Nair has created on that could become just as well known. Kaikurussi the village, is a little hollow As Bhasi describes it in the

surrounded by several hills. course of the novel:

There is nothing here that would make anyone come looking for it. It is

neither the birthplace of a Mahatma nor a movement. There are no craft

forms originating from here to fill Government Cottage Emporia Shelves. No Miracles have ever In fact, nothing of

Happened here.

Significance ever happens here to

Anyone.1 Nairs Kaikurussi is calm on the surface but has

undercurrents that cause ripples, at times to the intensity that it is unbearable. description of the The novel gives a very realistic and conflict underneath the

violence

deceptively calm surface of village life.

Anita Nairs work

is rich in social details and the language used is direct and simkple. profound gradually From losses the in beginning her as of the novel, she hits that The at are

characters the novel

past,

losses

revealed

progresses.

first

chapter is titles A Reason to Be.

Here Be may be, at the

literal level, understood as the reason for Bhasi seeking refuge in Kaikurissi, deciphered as Being. being, existence. But on the second plane Be could be In other words, the very question of

The

narrator

character

is

Bhasi

and

not

the

protagonist of the novel Mukundan.

Bhasi left his village

and came to Kaikurussi to creat for himself a new persona. He had buried his past and started a new life in Kaikurussi while Mukundan had stayed away from the village and had now returned to know and experience his being, as an integral

part of his home village.

He returns to his native village

but remains a reluctant native for quite some time. It is a meandering tale where the protagonist Mukundan Nair who was traumatized in his childhood by the tyranny of his brutal father is now traumatized by his very own way of life. Mulk Raj Anand in an interview told Rejesh K. Paltan that the most negative influence on him as a growing boy was that of his father and he attributes it to the practice in society where father is treated like God and everything is dictated by him. My To quote his words: had just been a for patriarch many in the old

father

tradition.

Our

society

thousand

years,

like most of the societies in the world also, was and is patriarchal society in which God is father and everything is dictated by him because we accept him as Supreme God, a Brahma, a Father; therefore, in all the incarnations also, we find a father . It seemed to me that my father was the incarnation of the patriarch; it showed me the way he played the role of supreme he commander was in to the me of the as army. a So,

unfortunately, colonel; so it

army that

shadow began

seemed

miseries

because of the fact that the patriarchal myth was obsessively society.
2

present

in

all

walks

of

life

in

our

This is exactly the experience of the protagonist of The Better Man. Mulk Raj Anand believed that it was not the consciousness of men that determined their existence, but, it was their social existence that determined their

consciousness.

Mukundan, the protagonist of The Better Man

was traumatized by the tyranny of his brutal father and this had destroyed his self esteem. The life of an individual undergoes a number of changes and transformations through various struggles against the slavery of mind and body. confrontation themselves in of opposites to compels to human the beings higher to This renew of

order

evolve

degree

consciousness. painful past,

Bhasi has to his credit a very disturbing and the confrontation with situations as they

existed for him then led him to change the course of his life. his The childhood of Mukundan Nair under the control of Achuthan Nair and the presence of a helpless

father

mother causes enough stress in the life of the protagonist. He is forced through the patriarchal domination and this

makes Mukundan Nair the insecure person he is.

Mukundan was four years old when he first saw his father. three Achuthan Nair had gone to Burma when his wife was months is pregnant. set on The their tone of the father-son The boy is

relationship

fist

meeting.

incapable of accepting a stranger (to him) as his father. This angers Achuthan Nair. Achuthan Nair, who claims to be a

man of knowledge and wisdom, does not permit the boy enough time to accept him (Achutahn Nair). He all knowing

attitude right at the outset comes in the way of a healthy relationship between the father and son.

Achuthan Nair is bent upon teaching his son the art of survival. the basics. But this very same effort makes the boy forget The qualities in an individual that find

expression as natural instinct are focrced in a methodical way, it is taught in a more cause and effect manner. All

these ways of his father caused the boys dislike for his father. What is even more destructive to Mukundan Nairs

development is his desire to get the approval of his father for every act of his. Though he dislikes his father, he

struggles to satisfy the expectations of his father and in the struggle he forgoes or forgets his desires. Even if he

senses his desires he learns to sacrifice them for the sake of his fathers satisfaction. Here living becomes more for These sacrifices lay the Neither he had The

the other self than for oneself.

foundation to his gradual loss of identity.

the courage nor the ability to reason left in him.

extent to which he had lost his ability to reason things out is explicit in an instance like:

The

lectures

always

ended

the

same

way,

with

pointed accusation and a raised finger that quiveed with the righteous fury of a prophets scepter.

What is the point in your having grown as big as a buffalo? fields. what will All you will be fit for is ploughing the He would bellow and then ask, Tell me, you fit for when you grow up? And

Mukundan would reply, hurt and shame thickening his voice, To plough the field.3

This throws open the poignancy of felings the insult and injury that finally forced Mukundan to seek an escape

from the village and from his father.

There is irony in the

fact that, the art of letter writing gifted to him as a punishment is used as via media to escape from his father and a life that he hated with a single minded passion.4

A pair of wooden clogs which he wore when he was in Burma is retained by Achuthan Nair even when he returned to Kaikurussi. Now this is used by the author as a symbolic

pair of wooden clogs, that which stood testimony to who he was.

Here is a man who has seen the world. Here is a man who is to be respected. Here is a man whose

authority is not be questioned.

The wooden clogs

seemed to echo these declarations with every step.5

When Mukundan Nair earned his first salary he bought for his father a pair of leather slippers. The act was not

appreciated and the pair was discarded without a second wear. Two years later when Achuthan Nair built his own house and moved into it with his new found love he left the wooden clogs behind. Symbolically, his power was still in the house

although he wasnt going to be around. referenced to Mukundans desire to

There are repeated please his father, He hopes

attempts made to receive accolades from his father.

for a better understanding but this hope remains a hope never to be fulfilled. Even as a grown up individual he is unable The fear ingrained

to take decisions for himself on his own.

in Mukundan Nair is so deep that he is unable to experience life or living. He sinks further into his cocooned self

every time he tries to get the admiration of his father and he fails. He remains unmarried fearing what his father would He rejected his mothers plea to

say if he made his choice.

take her along with him to his work place only because he feared his fathers disapproval of his act. The result of this rejection is the death of his mother. This guilt, of he

being responsible for his mothers death, haunts him for a very long time. The characters and actions are so structured

that the reader sometimes begins to substitute the character with himself.

Bhasi, the one=-screw-loose Bhasi, as he is known in the village kaikurussi, is an eccentric genius. Bhasi, who

came to the village eight years earlier, had done it as an

escape from the individual that he was once upon a time. There was a time when he used to be Bhaskar Chandran the sun and the moon a time when he thought he would experience life to its fullest extent with the kind of eduation and enthusiasm he had in life. But an experience of a broken Having

heart had forced him to seek refuge in Kaikurussi.

escaped a major train accident on the way to Kaikurussi, he feels that he has been chosen to bring forth from the

churned up mud of some wrecked psyche a luminous and complete mind. The two individual selves with their strengths and Like a

weaknesses find solace in one anothers company.

refrain when he feels the presence of his mothers spirit in his ancestral home, it is Bhasi who helps him overcome the painful experience. His mother, who had died an unnatural

death, a woman, who was undergoing agony at the ill treatment of her husband, sought the help of Mukundan Nair. But he was

not confident to take a decision and this resulted in her death. Although he is not directly responsible for the death

of his mother, his guilt torments him, the great sadness within the house had seeped deep into the walls. Bhasis He

entry into the life of Mukundan Nair rejuvenates him. decides to help Mukundan Nair realize his worth.

He promotes

in Mukundan Nair the desire to live and live a life of quest. Bhasi seemed to have stepped in and decided to take control of Mukundans life. He was determined to weave the past

experiences of Mukundan Nair and give it a pattern and help him live life, at least in future.

Quite in contrast to the novel Ladies Coupe that has in it female characters this novel has in it only male

characters.

The protagonists of both the novels are mature

and single but have a crisis visually ones own identity. They struggle and strike to relate with the surrounding. In

Ladies Coupe there are multiple voices and multiple lives but in The Better Man the problems are within the individual and not outside him. limited. the story. The man-woman relationship in the novel is

They are more like props and not very essential to The book has been written from a mans point of

view and what his needs are, where women have no important role to play in his life.

Anita Nair has used Mukundans forced return to the village as a means of leading the readers in exploring the undercurrents that run beneath the relationships even in an

idyll rural setting.

Mukundan realizes that he has no role He discovers that what should have had now been usurped by as an upstart

to play in the village. been his rightful who place is

Ramakrishnan Ramakrishnan.

identified

Powerhouse

Powerhouse Ramakrishnan enjoyed a status that He was always addressed as Sir and all

shocked Mukundan. the

important happenings in the village materialized

only in consultation with Power House Ramakrishnan.

In the first few weeks of his exile, Mukundan meets Bhasi who to is deeply the disturbed cracks in by Mukundans anguish and

decides psyche. soon.

mend

Mukundans

much

battered

But the superficiality of the change is revealed Power House Ramakrishnan who realizes the craving

Mukundan has for recognition uses flattery as his weapon to draw Mukundan to work in his favour. often assumed to be free of such The rurual setting is aspects like rivalry,

jealousy, selfishness etc, but this village is an exception. Ramakrishnan chooses Bhasis piece of land as the site to build the community hall. Mukundan objects to it but he is

drawn into the committee as a member and thereby is silenced. This only results in Mukundan being alienated from Bhasi, who

was the only solace for him in the village.

The prevalence of alienation based on caste is also highlighted in the novel. the words of Mukundan. There is a call for equality in

If he suffers from the identity

crisis he relates the experience to be the same in the life of the alienated. Kamban, an untouchable who works in the

post office is avoided by the villagers but Mukundan having lived and worked in the city argues it out in favour of Kamban Has not Kamban eyes? hands, organs, dimensions, Has not Kamban affections,

senses,

passions?

Fed with the same food, hurt with the

same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter as we are? If you prick him, will

he not bleed? If you tickle him, will he not laugh? If you poison him, will he not die?6

The words rattled off his tongue with a fervour he hadnt known he possessed. This, of course , was not the They avoided any

attitude of the people in the village.

possible interaction with kamban and vice versa. of Philipose a senior of the Postmaster

The entry the

heightens

sufferings of Kamban. are brought to by the the

Different levels of social isolation fore by the manner by of reception of and

Phillipose villagers.

villagers,

Kamban

Phillipose

Bhasi, Mukundan, Kamban, Phillipose, Powerhouse

Ramakrishnan are thrown into this struggle of establishing their true strength both within and without. Each has had a

profound loss in the past, loss that is gradually revealed as the story unfolds. Class antagonisms crop up throughout,

threatening to destabilize the villages quiet existence.

The language used has in it a remarkablegrace and the descriptions are elegantly managed. by Anita Nair to the minutiate. The village is described The descriptions of the

benches at Shankars Tea Club, fresh coconut and palm toddy or the other one at Chekutty;s Toddy shop, the temple

ground on the pooram day bring a picture of the still to be corrupted type of a village to the mind of the reader. language readers. also serves to the intensify metaphors the may finfluence seem on Her the and

Sometimes

clumsy

strained, especially when we come across sentences like the

sun took a deep breath and began its morning chores, his throat filled with spider eggs of nostalgia that hatch by the minute, climb up into his eyes, and run down his cheeks leaving behind a watery trail, motor that sucked up water from the intestines of the earth, a necklace of consonants and vowels etc. The text has terms like Mundu,

Ezuthachan, Vidyarambham, Paal Chaya, Puttu and Kadala Curry that give the novel an ethnic touch.

Anita Nairss adept hand brings out the exotic setting alive and the reader becomes familiar with the struggles and triumphs presented in the lives o fthe characters of the novel. The experiences are often not very different from the She has attempted a

readers experience at sometime of life.

deep dive into the deepest recesses o mans psyche with sharp characterization and a visual presentation. Achuthan Nair caused the destruction of his sons

(Mukundan Nair) individuality.

Mukundan Nair lived most part

of his life deceiving himself and blaming others for his condition. Back to his native village he is supported by

Bhasi who is deeply disturbed by Mukundans anguish and helps him mend the cracks in his much battered psyche. Unable to

recognize

the

valuable

service

done

by

Bhasi,

Mukundan

betrays Bhasi when he is in need.

Never respected for the

individual he has been, no, when he is given recognition, he succumbs wisher. to flattery and alienates himself from his well

His greed for recognition and acceptance, importance

and adulation has blinded him to everything else?7

The climax justifies the title.

With the death of

Achuthan Nair, Mukundan Nair realizes the emptiness of his life. He is struck by remorse and guilt. He begins

identifying himself with his father.

He finds himself no

better than his father whom he had despised all his life. This is the beginning of transformation.

One last time he sought the confines of the earthen pot high in the attic. Cradled in its stillness he

called forth the man he knew was there somewhere within him. That being that had eluded him all these years. I will be

who I want to be, he changed again and again, surrounded by blankness. The confusion of his tortured spirit churned

until what rose to the top owas the means to his release an end to the repugnance he felt for himself. This new Mukundan

was plagued by no uncertainties, reined by no inadequacies.8

He decides to be and do only what his conscience tells him is right. makes his choce. Between the individual and the society he This choice is the path that leads to the From a colourless man lacking in

title The Better Man.

courage to take even the slightest of risks, Mukundan becomes a man capable of finding love and happiness. that variant vibrant hues of life. He discovers

He emerges from the

shadow of his fathers personality to become the better man.

Bhasiss

words

to

Mukundan

go

thus:

Man cannot change the movement of the planets with a sweep of his hand. Everyman is guided by a force that is individual Man can heal, but a little. Man can aid of

and unfathomable.

self discovery, but only a little. another mans destiny. are not stars.9

No man is the master

For man is not God.

And fireflies

One may conclude that in the advice by Bhasi, the novelist is trying to draw our attention to the very essence of the book. Change is possible; hope never dies; and

happiness can be found but to experience the change, however little, the individual should strive even if by doing so the rest of the world may turn against you. One may draw a

similarity in the central theme of the two novels namely Ladies Coupe and The Better Man. The novelist takes the

reader through the remaking of a woman and of a man in a quiet manner. She has captured the essence of life and The

characters are drawn with empathy and loving detail.

women and men are caught in a net of relationships partly of their own making and partly one that is made for them. characters end with a certain sense of satisfaction The in

identifying their needs and aspirations and living life as they desire.

Works Cited

1. Nair, Anita. The Better Man. New Delhi: Penguin Books,

1999. p 7&8.

2. Kripal, Viney. The New Indian Novel in English. New Delhi:

Allied Publishers Limited, 1990.

3. Nair, Anita. The Better Man. New Delhi: Penguin Books,

1999. p 70.

4. Ibid., P 70 5. Ibid., P 70 6. Ibid., P 149 7. Ibid., P 349 8. Ibid., P 351 9. Ibid., P 330

Chapter IV

Mistress: A Search for Meaning in Art and Life

Anita Nair has quest as the central motif in the novel titled Mistress. It is a novel of art and adultery where the characters are out on a quest of consciousness. Each tries to weave their past experience into a pattern and find meaning in their present existence. A travel writer

Christopher Stewart arrives at a riverside resort in Kerala to meet Koman, Radhas uncle and a famous kathakali dancer. With this journey taken by him he enters a world of masks and repressed emotions. From their first meeting, both Radha and her uncle are drawn to the enigmatic young man, Chris, with his cello and his incessant questions about the past. The triangle quickly excludes Shyam, Radhas husband, who can only watch helplessly as she embraces Chris with a passion that Shyam has never been able to draw from her. Koman plays the role of observer participant; his life story, as it

unfolds, captures ass the nuances and contradictions of the relationship being made and un-made in front of his eyes. Anita Nair in an interview with Aruna Chandraraju traces the source of this novel to an experience she had in 2000-01. She observed a Kathakali dancer being taken around to various agencies touched like by some the kind of a performing humiliation animal. he She was have

thought

of

must

experienced after giving eight to ten years to learning this complex art. The question What are the compromises that an artist makes in order to survive? becomes the recurring

theme in the novel Mistress. The novelist does not satisfy herself with a question of this kind being addresses to an artist alone but extends it to the life experiences of all the characters in the novel. Each character is taunted by inability to identify the compromises to be made to lead a peaceful life.

To begin with, I consider that the narrative technique adopted by the novelist in the novels clearly sets her apart. It deviates from the common narrative technique adopted by other writers. The novel is divided into three books with each having three chapters. Kathakali lexicon is used to

title the chapters thereby linking the two aspects namely art and life. The art form becomes a metaphor of life. The world of masks and repressed emotions symbolize the struggle of each character of the novel. The novel, begins with the

Prologue which sets the mood of the novel.

Look at me. Look at my face. The naked face, devoid

of colour and make-up, glitter and adornment. What have we here ? The forehead, the eyebrows, the

nostrils, the mouth, the chin, and thirty-two facial muscles. These are our tools and with these we shall fashion the language without words. The navaraasa : love, contempt, sorrow, fury, courage, fear,

disgust, wonder, peace. In dance, as in life we do not need more than nine ways to express ourselves. You may call these the none faces of the heart.1

The Shyam and

action uncle artist

of as

the the is

novel

alternates of

between

Radha, The the

centres on

consciousness. quest and in

Kathakali

Koman

aesthetic

processes of narration brings forth the pangs of identity crisis that he has lived with. Here we don not have the omniscient narrator, but the reader is given the progress in plot by the characters within the framework. The narrative is neither pedantic nor sentimental but presentations ate made by different characters based on the general observations. The reader is repeatedly drawn to the past, brought to

present or moves to the future within a single characters presentation. Each book ends with the story of Komans past

as revealed by him to Chris. The sub-section of each chapter takes the reader away from the present to the distant past namely the experiences of Koman in the early years before and after he became an artist. The narration moves in time and space and the reader is required to continually adjust

himself to the different time frames.

Man woman relationship in most Modern Indian English novels has acquired varied dimensions. Social norms and

conventions are side lined and it is now the age of the gogetters. Traditionally, the image of woman has been what men have thought it should be. A good woman is one who is meek, docile, passive, kind and self-sacrificing and a bad woman is one who is bold, adventurous, active, articulate and

questioning. Radha experiences the problem of fitting herself in either of the broad band. There is conflict in the inner configuration of the self a conflict between reason and instinct, the will and reality. The first chapter of the novel entitled Sringaaran means love for the unknown. From the first meeting Radha is drawn to the enigmatic young man Chris. The man she sees for the first time in her life is able to draw her towards him but the man she has known for

many years as her husband has not been able to bring this yearning in her. She finds no answer to the cause of this feeling of love for the unknown. From the very first meeting with Chris she begins living outside the protected world her husband Shyam, liked to keep her.

Anita Nairs treatment of love and marriage does not limit itself to the old fashioned Indian attitude but has in it the influence of the western outlook towards life. For a long time, it has been ingrained in the mind of an Indian woman that marriage is the ultimate in her life and her husbands home her only abode. Although things have changed partially Indian society is still conventional and does not approve pre-marital or extra-material relationship. Modern

Indian women in their attempt to free themselves sexually and domestically from the role bondages sanctioned to them are now caught trying to grapple with their interpersonal

problems with or without success and they often end in some kind of truce. Radha, by Indian standards, cannot be regarded a good woman as she is guilty of both pre-martial and extra-martial relationship. Her pre-martial relationship with a married man posed a threat to the familys reputation and

her father, eager to safeguard the status of the family, requires her to marry Shyam. When Shyam was brought forth as husband material she hesitated, but conceded only because she longed to flee from her own conscience. To her, relationship with her husband was all a part of a ritual and routine of marriage. She understands the relationship as I cant say that I am unhappy with Shyam. If there are no highs, there are no lows, either. Some would call this content, even2. She identifies her position in the life of Shyam, as only as much cherished possession. She says: . . . I think that for Shyam, I am a possession. A Much cherished possession. That is my role in his life. He doesnt want an equal; what he wants is a mistress. Some one to indulge and someone to indulge him with feminine wiles. I think of the butterfly I caught and pinned to a board when it was still alive, its wings spread so as to display the

markings, obvious that somewhere within, a little heart beat, yearning to fly. I ma that butterfly now.3

Only a day after Chris arrival Radha finds her mind

filled with the picture and words of Chris. He had moved into two places at once cottage No. 12 and her soul. She is disturbed and is unable to understand her own feelings. She reminds herself the promise she had made to herself when she marries Shyam. . . . I swore never to flout the rules of custom again. How have I become so disdainful of honour, so contemptuous of convention?4 .

The question in her mind tells the reader that she is aware of the expectations of the society from a married woman, a wife. The confrontation of opposites leads her into a state of helplessness. Her desire overrules her

responsibility towards her husband and respect for the norms of the society. She plays Mistress to Chris, satisfying his sexual desires and in turn her own.

Radha, Koman and Chris are tormented by their past and seek temporary solace in one anothers company. Koman prefers to bury his past, as he was advised by his father. Koman says:

. . .It is wise to bury the past. It was his way of

coming to terms with life. To suppress remorse and regret. Forget, forger . . . We must do that if we want to cling to our dreams and hopes.5

Radha

and

Chris

have

one

thing

in

common,

an

uncertain paternity. Radha was told by her mother that she wasnt sure who Radhas biological father was and Chris

believed that Koman was his father from the relationship his mother had with Koman when she had come to the school to learn the dance form. Koman plays a role in solving this uncertainty. The truth of Radhas biological father and Chris nor being his son is revealed as the narration progresses. In the story presented by Koman the doubt in the mind of Radha and Chris is cleared but with the relationship Radha has with Chris she invites the position of her mother on herself. In this manner the solution in ones life leads to a new

problem. Although Chris came to the resort as a travel writer, ha had taken up this long journey only to fine the answer to a question that disturbed him for a long time. The journey signifies the quest motif. He is eager to know the truth of his parentage. His mother had come to the art school to learn

Kathakali and he suspected that the fruit of the relationship shared by Koman and his mother Angela, was himself. But he returns with the knowledge that he isnt fathered by Koman and in the process leaves Radha with this state of doubt for the child to be born. Although experiences of the characters of the novels ate incidental, like a refrain, the experiences come back in a new form as a new beginning. As the story unfolds it captures all the nuances and contradictions of the relationships made and quickly unmade.

Going

back

to

Radha

and

her

ability

and

mental

strength to fit herself back in the right place in the scheme of things in the conventional social set up she is solely held into. responsible She begins for the situation herself she by had drawn herself of

judging

Indian

standards

morality and ends with a sensation of guilt. The accusatory tone in Chris words prove this.

Is this a game, perhaps ? Something you (Radha) need to do to I prove dont a point? want to To be yourself. involved To in your this

husband.

deception. It makes me feel sordid.6

He washes his hands off any kind of responsibility in the kind of relationship they have shared. Helpless and

remorse Radha desires to get back into the fold of accepted living. She despises herself.

You invaded my mind, my body and while I had to suppress my desires and dreams and even forfeit my freedom previous pattern, to live the at way I wanted that I to, under ha am the a a

regime, a

least What do

existence now? I

method.

have

country that has to rebuild itself from nothing.7

The word regime reveals the type of life she was forced to live. But now, she regrets having moved out of the earlier life because at least it has a pattern in it, in the sense that she had a defined role. In an attempt to know, realize and live life, she is now led into darkness. She has tread into the area from where she has no easy return.

On

another

plane,

the

novel

can

be

regarded

as

comment on the compromises that an artist makes in order to

survive. When Koman was in Paris he saw a poster advertising Sundarans performance. Words that described the performance went thus:

Dancer

Extraordinary

Pundit

Sundar

Varma.

Hailing

from a royal family in Kerala, Sundar ran away from his noble ancestry and palatial life when he was

twelve, seeking to express himself in a language of gestures and expressions.8

Koman

who

knew

the

family

history

of

Sundar

was

shocked at the blatant lie of oneself. He was present at eh performance and when the performance was over Koman was

aghast and said:

I couldnt comprehend the Performance. It was pretentious and false.It made a mockery of what we had given most of our lives to . . . If I had stayed on in London, would this have happened to me as well? Would I have compromised in order to

survive? Would I have changed the tenor of all that I respected and loved, to make it accessible and popular?
9

This reflects the sense of betrayal Koman feels when he sees the pure tradition of Katakali, being corrupted to give it popular appeal.

True ease in writing comes from art and not by chance. True ease in art comes by constant practice and not by

shortcuts. Life is metaphorically compared to art. Life is a complex art form and one is going to be blessed only when one tries to realize self.

When one tries to realize self in a half-awake, halfasleep state one is led nowhere. It becomes more of a one dimensional picture of self. Koman was led into revealing his past as answers to queries raised by Chris. At a certain point Koman, who didnt like talking about himself, finds that he was doing exactly the opposite. He attributes the act of talking about himself as a means of finding himself.

He narrates the Katakali version of Ravana Udbhavam and claims that Ravana was not hesitant to sever his tenth head in his attempt to know himself. This was stopped by the creator who appeared to grant him every boon. Koman says that unlike Ravana he did not have ten heads.

I do not have ten heads to offer to this hungry creature called the inner me. But what I am doing is, laying bare my life. Perhaps then I will discover who I really am.10

Consciousness is like a log drifting along the tide and at some point of time the characters, each drifting, try to take initiative. In the process many come into the picture who may or may not cause an impact on the life of the individual. But often the result of this kind of movement is one is left at the threshold of ignorance ignorance of meaning of life in relation with others.

Chris, easily

tourist by

from

the in

materialistic a state of

world

is

received

Radha.

Radha

drifting,

believes

that a

she brief

has

something

to with

hold Chris

on but

to. she

She is

establishes

relationship

ultimately left alone with nobody to turn to. She understands neither the meaning of her action nor its result.

Understanding life is as difficult as understanding the complexities Life is of art. as In life one as masterly art. This leads is to the

another.

exhaustive

realization each character has in life.

The

common

theme

in

most

of

the

novels

by

Indian

writers is the role of the family and the role played by the institution of marriage. Both bind the society to make it an entity. The novel has in it a message that the strong pillars of our society are shaken. Koman does not have a married life to be proud of, Radha is not true to her husband and Chris does not treat the relationship with any kind of sanctity. The novel works on two levels, the turmoil that one may possible witness in art and life. The various traditional art forms are losing their integrity, so are the values of family life seen disintegrating. The pertinent question that runs through the novel is Has art lost its meaning as life

has? Art and life are brought down to being a mockery of its own identity.

Anita Nair has used the art form Kathakali as the form through which truth of life is brought to the fore. She has proves her ability with the use of Kathakali lexicon and has exhibited her awareness of the book not being limited to the Indian audience alone by providing a list of terms of Indian origin with their meanings. This makes the novel more

accessible to larger audience.

The novel does not have a linear progress. There is a playful crisscrossing into different segments of time. The story does not follow the direct manner in time sequence and narration of happenings. The chapters are divided into four parts with no character taking the role of narrator

protagonist. The chapters are subtitles with the names of characters and each persons experience is conveyed through his words and this is followed by the continuation of Komans life story that Chris wishes to present in the travel book. This kind of reading may make the work appear more like a factual documentation rather than a gradual unfolding of

happenings

in

the

life

of

the

characters.

But

what

is

remarkable about the structure of narration is t hat instead of feeling confused as one reads the novel one is confronted with the challenge of self-realisation as is the predominant experience of the characters. One may infer that the novelist has deliberately used this kind of narrative technique. The purpose being of presenting self through the multidimensional narrative technique. The different streams of consciousness coagulate to project the writer to us. The labyrinth of

existence is choreographed through the metaphor of Kathakali.

Chapter V

Conclusion

Anita Nair is an emerging novelist who writes with great ease and confidence. Her style is modern and her views

are universal in appeal. She has the potential to scale great heights of human emotions and mean while keep herself on par with common mans point of view. Her effortless language

creates a certain degree of explicit perfection in her works. In the works considered for close study one may observe her ability to present herself to the reader as a well crafted, positively mature individual who attempts to understand the nuances of human existence. The narrative technique adopted by her differ in all the three novels under study. In The Beter Man she describes the pains and troubles taken by the protagonist to understand himself. The narrative technique is traditional. It lacks any kind of artifice or judgement. She has presented herself as a novelists with a great sense of vivid knowledge of South Indian culture and an eye for

telling detail. Her strength as a writer lies in bringing alive the everyday thoughts, desires and doubts.

Her

themes

are

universally

applicable.

Her

characters

attempt to make sense of their lives, to find a pattern in the past and a direction for the future. She is aware of the particularities of womens experience as is evident in Ladies Coupe but her work is not limited to themes of womens issue

of relationship between the sexes. She has proved her ability to see into a mans heart in a tender and understanding manner in her novel The Better Man. A brilliant blend of imaginative story telling and deeply moving explorations into the search for meaning in art and life forms is the content of Mistress which has been described as a Literary tour de force from one of Indias most exciting writers. All the three novels ate intense and replete with

cultural detail. She is more concerned about characters that are essentially human rather than concentrating on just men or women of the relationship of the two genders. The subject of the novel is almost invariably the relation of the

individual with another and individual with the society. In her novels she has employed traditional narrative modes such as flash back, as in Komans narration, perspectives as in Ladies Coupe, stream-of-consciousness, in The Better Man.

Point of view and associative thought processes centre around the limited number of characters and experiences.

In

Anita

Nairs

debut

novel

The

Better

Man,

the

novelist is only secondarily concerned with gender and the like. Along with the exploration of the under currents that

run beneath Mukundans conscious self a parallel has been drawn to the undercurrents that run beneath relationships even in an idyll rural setting. Her second novel Ladies Coupe upholds the promise of the first. Here each woman is finely drawn, each entangled in a web of relationship unable to identify her true role in the society. It is a novel with an all woman cast and a single womans decision to break free from order claustrophobic to live traditions on her and own multiple terms. identities The in

life

multiple

identities that woman enjoys or rather is forced into, makes it difficult for a woman to lead life on her own terms.

Anita Nair has successfully tried her hand at linking life and art in her third novel Mistress. Her effort has been at three levels: man; woman; man-woman and art. Anita Nair has made an attempt to forge a new metaphor in Radha who can be considered an anti-hero. Radha struggles and strives to relate with the cosmos. She learns that human relationship is like a little bubble which is very fragile and the slightest prick will cause its destruction and it is irreparable. The work is the most complex of the three novels written by Anita Nair. She has adopted a deliberate kind of design with regard

to narrative technique. It is a multi-dimensional narration and she attempts to present herself through the various

characters of the novel.

The three novels present the author as an individual maturing with each written work to her credit. She cannot be classified under a particular genre. The Better Man with its linear narration who and has familiar an content into parents the her as an

individual

insight

psychological

experiences of an individual.

Ladies women in

Coupe

upholds This

her

understanding well quality

of her

life to

of be

society.

could

recognized as a feminist writer. When interviewed she opined that she would not like to be branded so. The third novel infact has the most complex plot, exhaustive description and distinct metaphorical comparison. The gradual growth as seen in the novels proves her mettle as a writer to watch.

Her novels works at a level where the life of the individual is undergoing various changers, transformations, metamorphoses, through various struggles against the slavery

of body and mind. The three protagonist Akila, Mukundan and Radha confront the opposite and it compels them to renew themselves in order to evolve to a higher degree of

consciousness.

The common concern running through the three novels is the problem of identity. The inability, sometimes situational and sometimes imposed, to fit oneself in the right slot in the scheme of thins; the individual and society, the

individual in society; they form the persistent concerns in the novels. Ourney taken by Akila, by Mukundan and by Chris is not just for purpose of relaxation or change, it is more symbolic to the quest of knowing and realizing self. The novelist has successfully weaved a pattern a pattern with a strong message of hope through change and the ending is revealed as another beginning.