Question- Discuss how the notion of self sacrifice is exclusively attributed to a particular gender in Indian society. How they thrive through the difficult situation in life when they are implanted to a new atmosphere.

Or
Explain the Portray Married New-Women of Sudha Murty's Novels Dollar Bahu'.

Answer-

Introduction

Sudha Murty the Padma Shri awarded Indian writer who is also the chairperson of Infosys Foundation is an excellent writer of Indian-English novels who discusses the problems a woman encounter in a micro-cosmic level thereby giving a larger picture of the society and how the women of the Indian society live by their psychological and physical struggles. The women characters we are discussing here belong to the married cult, who struggle to find meaning in life even after the innumerable sacrifices they make to build a happy family.

'New-Woman' was a phrase first used by the Irish writer Sarah Grand and popularized by Henry James. The main thought they propose is such that women should always be free not only physically but also mentally so that they can discover new arenas. Women should participate in various activities and find time to discover themselves. Once they discover themselves it will be easy for them to erase the boundaries drawn around them by the dominating other.

Indian New-Woman movies are nowadays common in the Indian film industry especially the Malayalam film industry of the south. "The Great Indian Kitchen' is one of the movies which gained International reviews and Kerala state Film award for best film recently. Mrs. Murty's works are interesting to read as well as always gives the readers instances to which they can easily relate. Here in these two novels discussed here brings to light the importance of a career or being financially independent,is for a woman.

Sudha Murty brings to her readers such universal character types to which every female reader can relate. Here readers get answers to various indefinable questions that they face in everyday life.

The Choice of Self-Sacrifice Among Women

Sudha Murty's protagonist of 'Dollar Bahu' who has 'dollar' not on monetary basis but in the sense of character' is named 'Vinuta' who is a school teacher who balances her home as well as work pretty well in spite of the taunts she get in return from her new atmosphere of living among the in- laws. Vinuta gets herself compared to the literally rich 'Dollar Bahu' named 'Jamuna' who comes from a rich background. The self-sacrificing nature of 'Vinuta' is vividly portrayed in the fiction:

Vinuta was pregnant and had a tiring day at school. Nevertheless, she did everything as per her mother-in-law's wishes, as the word 'no' did not exist in her dictionary.

Here we could see that she isn't doing anything because forced it upon her but it is her own choice. We can see a blend of traditional and modern women in 'Vinuta', who is a new woman character in the fiction.

'Jamuna' who has entered the groom's house with dollars literally never faces humiliation in any manner even if she had very little regard for her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. While reading the story the writer explicitly states that the dowry system is of course abolished from India but it gets disguised and affects a girl's life in many ways.

'Surabhi' is the sister-in-law of Vinuta' who lives her life on her own terms. 'Surabhi' was in love with a person who was not that financially equal to her status and thus will abide by her mother's wishes to marry a 'well- settled' guy. Here 'Surabhi' doesn't fall into the category of the new women but a lady who gets easily manipulated. Neither does her mother, 'Gouramma' fall into the category of New-women' rather she is a materialistic person who values' love' less than 'money' but towards the end of the novel she understands the mistakes she has made in her life but unfortunately it was too late because 'Vinuta' by the time was far away from her mother-in-law which can be read in metaphorical terms.

Sarah Grand's New-Women' was a woman who expands her spectrum of activities; she would be independent and free but despises the surroundings that make her feel weak. She would not try to make peace with situations rather may break the shackles and fly away. But 'Vinuta' is not like that she is a definition of New-New woman' who would rather than breaking the shackles would wait for a change, who is optimistic that the mindset of the captivator may change with time and if not she would devise other ways to break the chain but never leaves her family like the character 'Nora' of Henrick Ibsen. And one day it does happen that the dominator herself understands her wrong-doings and is guilty of her actions. Thereby the writer is giving a message of peace to her readers.

With a deep sigh, she opened her purse to retrieve the keys to open her suitcase and a hundred dollar bill fell out. It was the bill that Chandru had given her at the airport. But at that moment, it did not hold any charm, any power or any magic. The invincible Dollar had fallen.

Here 'Gauramma' has been portrayed by the writer in such a way that, because of her past experiences of a tough life from the humble salary of her husband who was a school-teacher,she had the misgiving that money was everything for having a happy life. She had understood her mistakes by the end of the novel but still the writer points out that she couldn't understand why her son 'Chandru' helps his wife in household chores again pushing the character into the back-racks of old traditional stereotypical beliefs that household-chores are only for the female members of the family. Jamuna and Chandru had an arranged marriage but the writer through her mouth-piece 'Gouramma' says it's after all his fate!

She was aware that she would never visit America again and she felt sorry for Chandru, who had to put up with such a wife, so far from home. But that again was each person's fate, she consoled herself.

In the story we could see that 'Vinuta"s self-sacrificing nature has added shine to her character when Gouramma thinks good of her daughter in law 'Vinuta'. The ability to self-sacrifice one's wishes and to give importance to the thoughts and feelings of other members of the family can be done only to great minds provided whichever gender it is.

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