Dilemma Of Tradition And Modernity In Bharati Mukherjee’s Miss New India

Abstract

Indian Novel in English today has definitely carved a prominent place for itself in the literary world. Indian women novelists in English like Manju Kapur, Shashi Deshpande, Kamala Markandaya, Gita Hariharan and Shobha De portray the complex, dual and ambivalent identity of women engendered by a clash of tradition and modernity in their women characters. Their works no longer represent woman as a mute sufferer and upholder of traditional values but an individual who fights hard to free herself from the cages of conservative society.  Bharati Mukherjee has also been one of such writers among them and she makes an earnest effort to understand the inner dimension of the female characters.  In Miss New India, the protagonist is projected to shuffle between tradition and modern world. Not only as an epiphenomenon of modern life but also as an interpretation of idealistic woman, the novel tries to spotlight the remarkable situation of India. Confidant and determined Anjali Bose are prepared to undergo the process of racial change. Suffering from a public shame due to Sonali’s divorce, Anjali’s father initiates her groom hunt. This makes Anjali move from Gauripur. She considers marriage as a lifetime imprisonment that controls her and limits her beyond imagination. Her recognition may get buried in the family saga. She wants to be different from her contemporaries in ways of education and job. She gathers strength to endure the agony and pain of leaving her parents and working in an outer place. Anjali endures to assess herself, out of the circle of marriage. This paper scrutinizes the dilemma of Tradition and Modernity in Bharati Mukherjee’s Miss New India.