The Political Journey Of Nayantara Sahgal : Stepping Outside Of The Frame

Abstract

Nayantara Sahgal's work is marked by a strong sense of political awareness and therefore it is of more than passing relevance to raise the question how and what kind of colonial consciousness is projected in her work. To begin with Sahgal grew up in Gandhi's family in India and in a family connected with the freedom struggle and later went to a university in the United States. Both Gandhi's India and the United States of America were outside British imperialism and each in turning away from Britain had defined freedom in indigenous terms. Gandhi had effected a break with the present by turning towards the past, by projecting the idea of a Ram Rajya and by using the concept of non-violence integrated in Jain philosophy. Gandhi also turned to asceticism so necessary to overcome the sense of economic deprivation and made satyagraha a powerful substitute for an armed struggle. America, unlike India, was a land of prosperity and freedom. It was yet not conscious of its own imperialistic stance and looked upon itself as a country which promised equality in full measure. India and America were very different, but they shared their opposition to colonialism.