Chapter III

Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee’s Fiction- an

Analysis

Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee is one of the prolific writers in India

and also an Indian –American author. She was born on 29th July 1956 in
Calcutta who was only girl in a family of four children. She came to USA
for studying Master Degree at Wright State University in Ohio and she
enrolled in the University of California, Berkley to receive her PhD and
after doing so lived and taught in Bay area for many years.

Divakaruni has interest in the issues involving women in host

country. So, she started helpline for woman immigrants in SanFranscisco.
This organization named as MAITRI, she became president of the
organization that works for the South Asian women in difficult
conditions. It also helps to South Asian women facing domestic violence,
emotional abuse and cultural alienation. It works with some other
organization to raise their help towards woman. Divakaruni has more
attachment with organization and it influenced her writings. Divakaruni is
also member of advisory board of Daya: A Huston based non-profit
organization that works to protect woman from violence. It helped to
Chitra Divakaruni have healthy relationship within the South-Asian
country. She also working in PRATHAM, a worldwide non- profit
organization. It works for removing illiteracy in India. This organization
mainly works in urban slums, rural out posts, and poison’s labour sites
where children are being employed. These organizations are influenced on
the writing of Chitra Banerjee. She says that it made her think a lot more

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about issues and she was seeing how it related to the lives of immigrants
and then she wanted to write about that. It is the secret of her writing.
Her interest in women began after she left India. She has to hear the
problems and experiences of women in hostland. Much of her writing
moves around the immigrant feminine experience. She says that women
in particular respond to her work because she has to write, women in love,
in difficulty, women in relationships. She wanted people to relate to her
characters, to feel their joy and pain, because it will harder to project
when they meet them in real.

Chitra Divakaruni lives in America and she is woman of Indian

sub-continent. She is good story-teller and represents the double tradition;
this is both Indian and American. She uses the fictional autobiography as
the form of writing and her writing raise a interest in reading and move
readers emotionally, reader also share his or her experience of emigration
in the fiction. She gave a voice against the problems of immigrants
through her writing.

Her writing mainly highlights the post-colonial and minority

writings. Their texts are particularly generated different migrant and post-
colonial condition. Though, she is not a feminist writer but she wrote
about the feminine problems of exile and problem of women, quest for
identity both within the own land and community by the host land.
Divakaruni not only a novelist but also poet. She has written poems based
on variety of themes. She wrote four volumes of poetry, Leaving Yuba
City (1997) it is fourth volume of poetry, other three are Dark like the
River (1987) The Reason for Nasturtiums (1990), and Black candle
(1991). The main theme of her poetry has immigrant woman experience
and their troubles.

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 Divakaruni has published more than fifty magazines which includes
Atlantic Monthly and New Yorker. Her writing has been included in
several Asian American anthologies such as Best American Short Stories
and The Pushcart Prize anthology. Her works are translated into eleven
languages including Dutch, Hebrew, Portuguese, Danish, German and
Japanese.

Awards and Recognition:

Divakaruni wrote more than dozen of short stories. Her collection
of short stories, Arranged Marriage, won Critical Acclaim, 1996
American Booker Award, bay Area Book reviewers Award and PEN
Josephine Miles Award for Fiction. The Mistress of Spices was on several
Best Books lists, including the San Francisco Chronicle’s Hundred Best
Books of the twentieth century. The Conch Bearer was included in Best
Books of 2003 by Publishers Weekly. The Lives of Strangers was
included in O’Henry Prize Stories, 2003. The Vine of Desire was included
in Best Books of 2003 by Los Angeles Times and San Francisco
Chronicles. “Mrs Dutta Writes a Letter” was included in Best American
Short Stories in 1999. The Mistress of Spices was included in Best
Paperbacks of 1998, Seattle Times and in Best Books of 1997, Los
Angeles Times. For Black Candle she received Honourable mention,
Paterson poetry Prize, 1992.

Divakaruni also received California Arts Council Award, in 1998.

C.Y. Lee Creative Writing Award (1995), Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize
(1994), Pushcart Prize (1994), Pen Syndicated Fiction Awards (1993 and
1994), Gerbode Foundation Award, California (1992), Santa Clara Arts
Council Award California (1990 and 1994) Editor’s Choice Award by
Cream City review (1990), Barbara Deming Memorial Award, New York

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(1989) The Hackney Literary Award, Birmingham- Southern College
Alabama (1988), Cultural Jewel Award by Indian Culture Centre Houston
(2009). She received the Pushcart Prize (2003), International House
Alumna of the Year award by University of California at Berkeley (2008),
South Asian Literary Association Distinguished Author Award (2007).

Divakaruni has judged many prestigious awards such as National

Book Award and the PEN Faulkner Award. Two of her books, The
Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart, have been adopted in to movies
by filmmakers Gurinder Chaddha and Paul Berges ( an English film) and
Suhasini Mani Ratnam (a Tamil TV Serial) respectively. In this way,
Divakaruni has been described as an award- winning author and great
talent who have been deal with trouble lives of immigrant women from
feminist point of view. Through her work of art, she has represented the
several issues of immigrant women and their struggles, pain and suffering.

Divakaruni’s Literary Contribution, Black Candle (1991) it is a

Divakaruni’s earlier collection of poetry and it made a significant
moments in the lives of South Asian Women. It has reference to Indian
films. The movie Spices is based on Marker of Chilli-Paste poem. In this
poem Divakaruni represents the restricted existence of women in society.
She shows that women struggle, lot of hardship and hope in life. Two
Women outside Circus, Restroom and Bengal Night are the other
collection of poem.

Leaving Yuba City: New and Selected Poems appeared in 1997. It

includes new poems as well as old ones from Dark Like River, The
Reason for Nasturtiums and Black Candle. These poems deal with women
from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Themes of these poems are similar

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to the subject matter of her novels that is women’s life, problems, family,
ethnicity, exoticism, exile, land and Romance.

Leaving Yuba City covers the area from author’s adventure of going
to a convent school in Indian and that school is run by Irish nuns and the
history of earlier Indian immigrants in America. This collection includes
six sections of poems and has same characters and features. These poems
explore variety of themes. This collection of poem based on and inspired
by various art forms including painting by American painter Francesco
Clement, photographs by Indian photographer Raghubir Singh And
specific Indian films, such as Mira Nair’s Salam Bombay (1988), Satyajit
Ray’s Chare-Baire (1984). Through her writing, Divakaruni portraits that
how boundaries could be destroyed and how different art form are not
independent objects, but it can influence and inspire each other. This
collection has deal with the experiences of immigrant women and their
struggle for identity. Pradnya Deshmukh comments on the writing
technique of chitra Banerjee:
Chitra Banerjee’s texts as a narrative try to bridge not only distinct
national identities but also find a place within for the dislocated
gender. The stories narrated in her text have two threads one of
dominant culture and other ethnic sub-culture. As one undergoes
emotional, cultural and geographical displacement, these two
threads may inter mingle and it becomes difficult to identify ‘ours’
and ‘theirs’ (Deshmukh 147)

Divakaruni’s texts are narrative of an immigrant experiences.

Immigrants have loss something for transition and gain something in alien
land. It is like the equation of pluses and minuses depicted by in narrative
the story of Chitra Banerjee. She writes about South Asian woman

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experience in America and struggle of middle-class house wives and
working women. Sau-Ling C. Wong writes about the Asian women in the
United States:
Nevertheless, by the 1990s, granting extreme heterogeneity within
the Asian American population and continued dominance of white
men in the wage scale, certain segments of middle class Asian-
American women have done well enough for impressions of
superlative success to emerge. Often middle- class Asian
American women are simultaneously positioned to be the
powerful in some situations. (For Ex, when they perform
managerial roles) and the marginalised in other (for Ex. When the
same women suffer workplace racial discrimination) A range of
interpolative possibilities, have opened up for middle-class Asian
American women in master narratives of immigrant success (For
the foreign born), ethnic assimilation, feminist liberation, capitalist
consumerism, liberal multiculturalism, global mobility and others.
(Wong, 205)

Ethnic women writers like Toni Morison, Glori Naylor, Maya

Angleoue, Jumpha Lahiri, Bapsi Sidhwa and Chitra Banerjee are using
their own cultural practices in their texts and create the own ‘Space’ in the
united State. Their writings re-construct the narrative of cultural
institution. Pradnya, Deshmukh points out that, “Chitra Banerjee uses
different story-telling techniques- the first person narrative, the third
person narrative, interior monologue, epistolary exchange, diary entries
and stream of consciousness, dream sequences.” (Deshmukh, 148) These
various techniques of narrative’s help to convey the pain and confusion of
Indian immigrants during their assimilation with host land. Commenting
on the narrative art of Chitra banerjee, Jeff, Zalski says:

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 Divakaruni combines a gift for absorbing narrative with the
artistry of a painter. Her lyrical descriptions of the characters inner
and outer worlds bring a rich emotional chiaroscuro to an uplifting
story about two women who learn the make peace with the
difficult choices circumstances have forced upon them. (Zaleski,
38)
Narratives are special technique to express and represent the live
experiences of the writers. Writer narratives the real life story or imagined
story with innovatively. Narratives essentially link with real life form of
art. The Diasporic writers have different in nature of writing. Diaspora
writers narrate the story of immigrants. As a diasporic writer Chitra
Banerjee also have different style of techniques in her writing.Sukalpa
Bhattacharjee comments on the identity crisis and various subjects
represented by the diasporic writers:
....caught in the exchanges between the local and the global, the
centre and periphery, the citizenship and the cultural membership,
the private and public, the subjects here are experiencing manifold
challenges to locate their self- definition and the narratives of self-
identity characterized by this existential dilemma, the narratives of
mixed-blood displaced expatriate and identity here is siege from
within in a transition seeking to link late modern cultural and
social capital with tradition. A look at the self and the other,
therefore, constantly poses a crisis in terms of having a stable
definition and hence a stable narrative. (Battacharjee, 46)

Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee as a diasporic writer, she writes about

the life of immigrants and their experiences in host country. Most of her
fictions have the theme of diaspora. This study analyzes the Chitra
Banerjee’s fiction in diasporic perspectives. She tries to find out the

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 whether the immigrated status brings any change in the fate, attitude and
life of women. Most of her novels deal with the roles of women in India
and America, dilemma to adapt to new way of life. Her most of stories are
set in California near where she lives. Present thesis crically analyze the
contemporary issues such as nationalism, Transnationalism, Hybridity and
cultural dislocation from women’s perspective through the selected fiction
of Chitra Divakaruni. Her novels are explorations of contemporary
histories-western, sub-continental and contemporary societies that are in
state of transition. The term Diaspora which is emerging rapidly all over
the world and it is need of time as it helps to develop the skills of
assimilation among the migrants.

Bond of Sisterhood and Female Friendship in Sister of My Heart

In Chitra Banerjee’s latest novel Sister of My Heart, explore the

theme of sister bonding and female friendship, which makes them special
and different. This extends a story, ‘The Ultra Sound’ from the short story
collection of Arranged Marriage. Anju and Sudha both are main characters
in this novel and both grow up in same house and know each other very well
and pure bonding between them, no one have this type of bonding each
other. Divakaruni considers friendship as her main theme. Urbhasi Bharat
writes about the ‘Women Friendship’ in the western fiction: “Women
friendship in western fiction has undoubtedly suffered when women have
weighed them against feminine duties and responsibilities towards parents,
lovers and husbands and children. Thus, in Jane Eyre the protagonist must
outgrow her friendship with Helen Burns, before she can enter the world of
adulthood; and Helen must die, and Mr. Rochester’s other women, Bertha
mason, Celine Varns and Blenche be silenced, Marginalized and defeated in

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order that Jane triumphantly take her position as his wife and mother of his
children.” (Bharat, 53)

Chitra Banerjee’s novel, Sister of My Heart, shows the loveless

partnership in India. She deals with inner world of Indian women as well as
immigrant feeling of women in her novels. The sisterly bonding between
Anju and Sudha in Divakaruni’s Sister of My Heart. She focused in her
writing on female friendship; women are trying to balance that bond
between them as daughters, lover, wives and mothers. She believes the
female friendship is unique because of they have more experience in life and
faced many problems and crossed the ages; they shared feelings with each
other. Female have sentimental bond between them. In an interview she
states that, “the force behind her writing... is the desire to put women in the
centre of stories, to have their voices be the voices of interpretation, their
eyes the ones that we see through. There just hasn’t been enough of that in
the world, if you look back at literary history”. (Qtd. In Lalitha, 23)

The Emotional bond between two women at the heart of the Sister
of My Heart is narrated an artistic manner of the two main characters Anjali
and Sudha. In this Novel Chitra Banerjee creates a new conventional myth
and using in interpretation to existing that new myth. Novel is divided in to
two books and each book has twenty chapters. The chapters are alternatively
named after Sudha and Anju. The First book in the novel is titled as ‘The
Princess in the Palace of Snakes’. In this novel both the protagonist
characters Anju and Sudha dominated by Male hegemonic society. this
novel divided into two books; i) The Princess in the Palace of Snakes, here
Anju and Sudha belongs to traditional Hindu family and who grow up as a
representatives of tradition and culture of India. They are growing up as a
princess in the palace and here snake means disciples of patriarchal

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institution. Snakes are not allowed princess to come out from patriarchal
system. And ii) Queen of Swords. Both Anju and Sudha narrate their
incidents alternatively and the reader can see the life through the eyes of
each of them separately. The protagonist characters, both are born in
culcutta, Bengali family. Anju, who is from a high caste in India, and Sudha,
who is more beautiful than Anju. Both are grew up in same house and
finally married on the same day. Both their fathers had died and their fathers
had been cousins. So, their mothers living together in same house and both
girls grew up as sister. Over the years their relationships grow up so strong
and it gives trouble to understanding of their relatives. The story begins with
scene of Sudha listening her aunt Pishi’s mythological story; she says that
Bidhata Purush (A God) comes to earth.

Patterns of writing, which brings out the internal feelings of the

protagonists. Each character is not only telling their own stories but also
invest them with the power to interpret and shape their reality. The plot of
the novel begins with Chatterjee family already lost male figures and
economic status in the society. There are three widows (Pishi, Gouri and
Nalini) and two young girls (Sudha and Anju) in that family and they facing
the problems like marriage, motherhood, divorce, widowhood etc. Each
stage brings them to be strong to face the problems and strong their bond of
sisterhood and friendship of Sudha and Anju. Divakaruni comments on the
theme of Sister of My Heart, it has particularly nature of women friendship,
that relationship makes them special and different. The two character Sudha
and Anju were born in same house and grew up in same house and also
knew well each other and they believed that no one ever know this way.

The Sister of my Heart is specific concern in writing of Chitra

banerjee. In this novel, she used the word ‘Sister’; it is used in the sense of a

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universal sisterhood, a female universe by itself. Anju and Sudha were born
and brought up in same house after their fathers died in pursuit of rubies.
Anju is intelligent and obedient daughter of Gouri Ma, she is interested in
reading English novel and her dream of higher education. But Sudha is
beautiful girl. Her mother Nalini didn’t allow her to get higher education and
her interest in sewing and homely made work and she has a dream to be
become a perfect wife and mother. Once Pishi Ma told the dark secrets of
their life and that break slightly the relationship between Anju and Sudha.
Sudha starts to maintain distance from Anju because the guilt of Anju’s
father death. But Anju find out the sudden changes in Sudha and tell her
that, don’t be like this?. Days go on Sudha was fallen in love with Ashok, he
belong to lower caste. She saw him in theatre. Sudha sacrifices her love on
Ashok for the sake of Anju and accepts to Arrange marriage. Both are not
born in same day but their wedding was happen in same day. But in their
childhood, both Anju and Sudha didn’t live separate from each other in
fractions of seconds. Anju Says:
I could ever hate Sudha. Because she is my other half. The Sister
of My Heart, i can tell Sudha everything I feel and not have to
explain any of it. She’ll look at me with those big unblinking eyes
and smile a tiny smile and I’ll know she understands me perfectly.
(SMH-24)
Anju explains how the bondness created between them; in
childhood we bathed together and ate together, often from the same plate,
feeding each other our favourite items: “At night we lay in twin beds in my
room”. (SMH, 25) That circumstance creates the sisterly bond and
friendship between Sudha and Anju. After their marriage, Anju lives in
America and Sudha lives behind in India. In first book ‘Princess in the
Palace of Snake’ Divakaruni beautifully portrayed the childhood life of Anju

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and Sudha. Neighbourer’s also have jealous to saw the bond between them.
Anju Says:
One time a neighbour lady said to me, you’d better not waste all
your time with that sudha. You should be making friends with
girls from other important families, especially those who have
eligible older brother with whom your mother could fix up a
match for you. (SMH-27)
Heard that word, Anju became very angry and told that, it was none
of their business and she gives the reason for, why did she never hate
Sudha? Anju made the list and points that:
Because she is the most beautiful person I know, just like the
princesses in the fairytales Pishi tells us, with her skin that’s the
warm brown of almond- milk, her hair soft like mansoon clouds
all the way down her back and her eyes that are the softest of all.
(SMH-30)

When Anju and Sudha turned sixteen, they feel tired of being treated
them like children and they also get bored from their family restriction,
traditional way of life and always wore traditional clothes. Once in their
home town new film has arrived. Then Anju decides to skip the classes and
go to watch the film. But they didn’t take permission from their mothers
because thought that they would not allow them to go. They are not only
skipping the classes but also brought new dresses. After they realised that
the new outfits show off their womanly figures and makeup highlights their
maturing features. Where Sudha met Ashok and fell in love with him. Every
where both went together. Finally Sudha married with Ramesh because she
doesn’t want to annihilate the life of Anju. Female bonding is different from
male bonding. The love for each other is equal but their socio- economic
background is different. Anju’s family is socially and economically good but

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Sudha’s family is not. Because of that Anju gets support to continue her
studies and build the career. But Sudha’s family depend on good graces of
Anju’s family for survival. So, Sudha discontinued her studies. Finally
Sudha sacrifice her love for Anju and married with Ramesh. First part of the
book end with marriages of both Anju and Sudha. Marriage is cause for their
first separation from their childhood. So, they separate each other not for
competition of material possession but of heart. From their birth they have
better understanding with each other.

The title of the second part is ‘Queen of Sword’, it means lives move
on different perspective and their life is in full of struggle marriage can
changes the life of Sudha and Anju. After marriage, they lived a different
life. It related to their experience after marriage Sudha married with Ramesh
and she is become typical Indian woman. Anju went to America and
assimilate with new culture and environment. Both are suffering from
homelessness and nostalgia and both are quest for their own identity in their
husband home. Diaspora means not only migrated to abroad but it within the
country. Indian woman migrate to other house and face the same features of
diaspora problems. It’s not easy to assimilate with new house and with
strange people. Indian typical woman faced this problem. Sudha says:
But the early morning, before I am plunged in to responsibility,
allows me time to remember the Sudha I used to be. It seems
impossible that I was the girl who ran panting to the terrace to
wish on a falling star, who begged Pishi for stories of princesses
and demons and saw herself in those stories. Who loved a man
once, so deeply that when she pulled him out of her heart, like a
golden throne but no, I have promised myself I will not think of
that any more. (SMH-189)

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 Both Anju and Sudha missed each other. Men separate them
effectively in cause of geographical displacement. The story continued with
Anju and Sudha get pregnant. Cause of pregnancy again their life take a
twist. Sudha is told to get an abortion by her mother-in-law because she is
carrying a baby girl. Then she comes out from her husband house to protect
her baby life. Sudha becomes Queen of Sword or Rani Jhansi to protect her
unborn baby life. Anju shattered with aspects of miscarriage. Then Anju
invite Sudha to starts a new life in America. Then Ashok is ready to married
Sudha. But Sudha avoided and decides to go to America for the sake of
Anju. She thought that only female bond can solve their problems. Anju
couldn’t control her joy, excitement at the arrival of Sudha:
Sudha’s coming, Sudha’s coming! She’ll be here in a week! I am
buffeted between joy and panic- there’s so much to be done to get
the apartment ready before she arrives. I hadn’t expected the visa
to come through so fast. I suspect it’s because Sunil went to my
doctor and made him write a letter about how Sudha’s getting here
is crucial to my recovery. And of course it is not just getting here,
but her staying here. The visa is only valid for a year, but I’ve
heard those things can be arranged. May be Sudha can go to
college here. May be we’ll get that business started. Maybe she’ll
meet someone who’ll make up for what she’s giving up to come
here

C. N. Eshwari comments on Anju’s recovery from depression after

listening the tale told by Sudha, ‘By writing Sudha’s favourite tale
Divakaruni tacitly undermines the notion of men being the preserver of
women. Simultaneously the folklore acts as a sustaining mechanism for
Anju who is floundering in an alien environment and serve to encode the
novels message that for a rootless immigrant the native tradition provides

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the much needed anchorage.’ (Eshwari, 337) Divakaruni focused the Indian
tradition and myth in her fiction, it helped to Indian immigrants to establish
their roots in alien land. Then Sudha arrives to America with her daughter
Dayita join to Anju. Sudha thinks that her presence in Anju’s life, it causes
the Anju’s personal life and raise the unhappiness, something that Sudha had
anticipated long before in an old dream:
If only Anju and I like the wives of the heroes in the old tales,
could marry the same man, our Arjun, our Krishna, who would
love and treasure us both and keep us both together. (SMH-123)

Anju has interested in reading books, she thinks that her husband
also interested in reading novel. Divakaruni interpret the character of Sudha
and Anju. Anju is more rebellious than Sudha and she has to annihilate the
western myth of superiority and validity. Anju was fascinated by the western
literature Virginia Woolf’s novel A Room of One’s own becomes a prized
possession. She records her feelings for the book:
Woolf has been a favourite of mine since the time i stumbled upon
one of her books at the store. It was beautiful, old, leather bound
volume, printed in England, with an intriguing title, A Room of
One’s Own. When put my nose to thick pages, they smelled unlike
Indian books with their rice-glue bonding. I thought of it as the
smell of distance, of new thinking. That smell stayed with me a
long time. It stood for something I wanted but didn’t know a name
for. (SMH-134)

Bonding between them always support with each other in different

incidents faced in their life. Writer of Chinese descent warned of this danger
to the project of sisterhood in 1995. She suggested “the failure of
communication between feminists should be accepted as the starting point

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for a more modest feminism, one which is predicated on the fundamental
limits to the very idea of ‘sisterhood’. We would gain more form
acknowledging and confronting the stubborn solidity of “communication
barriers” than from rushing to break them down in the name of an idealized
unit. (Qtd. In Walters, 117)

End of the novel it reunion the sisters in America. Sudha didn’t tell
her problem to Anju because she doesn’t want to give her trouble to Anju.
But Anju was intelligent and always stood behind Sudha. Anju is also ready
to sacrifice her life with Sunil to reconstruct the life of Sudha in America.
The novel end with Anju’s thought:
We have formed a tableau, two women, their arms intertwined like
lotus stalks, smiling down at the baby between them. Two women
who have travelled the valley of sorrow and the baby who will
save them, who has saved them already. Madonna’s with
child...But for now the three of us stand unhurried feeling the way
we fit, skin on skin on skin, into each other’s lives, a rain
dampened sun struggles from the clouds to frame us in its hesitant,
holy light. (SMH-347)

Toni Morrison novel Sula is the first novel dealing with the theme
of female friendship. Like Anju and Sudha in Sister of My Heart, the
protagonist Sula Peace and Nell Wright grow up together in Medallion,
Ohio of small city. Both are the close friends and they have same in
nature and different in many ways. Like Sudha, Nel marries and settle in
conventional family. Like Anju, quest of identity. Sula’s experiment with
her life. Nell’s husband like Sula, but Nel thinks that it is the mistake of
Sula. Then Sula is shocked by the behaviour of Nel, and they always
shared love and affection with each other. After the death of Sula, Nel

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 realised that without Sula her life is incomplete. Here Morrison shows that
female friendship is deeper and stronger than other relationship.

Chitra Divakaruni present this different character with the new

identity of immigrants and show the circumstances cannot the bond
between protagonist character and bad incidents make strong bondage
between Anju and Sudha. Novel ends with the happiness of assimilation.
But both characters get the new identity and new home. Both are together,
help with each other to face a new life.

Bi-cultural conflicts in Vine of desire

Chitra Banerjee with the strength of her creative imagination in her

novel, she has to focus the life of immigrants, who caught between past and
present life of Western and spiritualism in east effect on the life of
immigrants. Cultural conflict is a type of conflict, which occurs, when
cultural values and belief clashes. Divakaruni has interest in tell fairy tales
through her work. Thought the Vine of Desire characters tell the fairy tales.
While explaining the fairy tales Divakaruni says, ‘the fact is that these tales
have been very interesting and important to me and I have often thought
about how we relate our modern lives to these tales that still call us? Not just
the tales out of my culture but mythic tales from every culture have such a
hold on the human imagination, certain realities that come up over and over
in our lives.’ (Ann, 25)

Chitra Banerjee is an Asian American with her ancestral root in

Bengal, India. She tries to focus on the clash between tradition and
modernity, cultural differences, multiculturalism. Her characters are
balancing two worlds. Particularly on Indian immigrants struggle through
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their life in America. Divakaruni’s most characters are belonging to Bengali
culture. Main character is on female point of view and lived in America.
Divakaruni has awareness about difference in culture which has to explore it
in all its essentials.

Chitra Divakaruni’s novel Vine of Desire, innovatively explore the

conflict between Western and Eastern culture and dislocation of Indian
immigrants Sudha and Anju. The novel Vine of Desire is a sequel to the
novel Sister of My Heart. This novel is fall into two parts. The first parts of
the novel concentrate on the woman immigrant lives, quest for identity and
problem of diaspora. Second part of novel deals with the way to solve their
problem of diaspora, find out selfhood and magical realism. This novel is set
between India and America. It is a land of dream, woman come to continue
their life to searching for self identity. Pradnya deshmukh explains, “In Vine
of Desire, Divakaruni has used various narrative techniques. Such letters are
omniscient narrative, the telling folk tales and stories, film narratives,
internal monologues and scholarly papers. Divakaruni uses these various
techniques to breakdown the boundary between realistic, contemporary
inner- city world and the world of magic to show that they do coexist.”
(Deshmukh, 152) Divakaruni begins the novel with physical details:
In the beginning was pain or perhaps it was the end that was
suffused with pain, its distinctive indigo tint. Color of old bruises
color of broken pottery, of crumbled maps in evening light. But, no,
not like them, ultimately. For although men have tried for thousands
of years to find the right simile- and women, too- ultimately pain is
only like itself. (VOD-3)

Divakaruni uses this physical detail to grab the concentrate of the

readers and enter them in to emotional landscape of narrative. Through

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 this physical detail we can only feel the pain and not express. Divakaruni
explain about this physical detail to Sarah Johnson:
It is hard to talk about it, because such thing comes from an
intuitive place in me. That line goes on the stay that none of this is
true because ultimately, pain is only like itself. I was exploring the
idea of how far can you describe emotion and at some point,
paradoxically, emotion can only be felt by the person is feeling.
That becomes one of the major themes of The Vine of Desire. All
these characters, which are entangle with each other, they
understand each other only up to a point. (Anne, 4)

Anju and sudha both are close friends but marriage separate them.
After marriage Anju migrate in to California with Sunil and Sudha marries
with Ramesh and lived in beside of Calcutta. But each time Anju recall her
memory to spend the precious time with Sudha and whom she used to call
‘Sister of My heart’, Because of migration Anju feels nostalgia and
isolation. Feeling of rootlessness Anju lost her child and then she become
sick and highly felt lonely in alien land. That time Sudha also walked out of
her husband’s home to avoid her mother-in-law’s compulsion to abort the
girl baby. Then Sudha gave birth to Dayita, after Anju invite Sudha and her
daughter Dayita to California to live with her and starts a new life. Then
Sudha decides to go to California. In that situation both are need support to
each other and it gives strength to Anju to pick up from the pain of her
miscarriage and to build a confidence to make her life herself to Sudha and
her daughter Dayita without the support of her husband Ramesh. Sudha on
her arrival is excited in the company of Anju but in America, Sudha always
feels the psyche of otherness and displacement. Anju is depressed for the
cause of her miscarriage and ignoring from her husband Sunil. Anju always
sits alone inactive mood. Then Sunil says,

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 I don’t know how to help you when you’re like this. Afterward,
when the depression lifted, she would sometimes say, ‘you don’t
need to do anything.’ Inside her head she added, expect love me.
Inside her head he replied, I do love you. Inside her head she said,
but no enough. (VOD-11)

It shows that Anju wants mental support from her husband. But he
was busy in his work; the culture conflict should raise there. They don’t
have time to care with each other. So, she invites Sudha to America. The
night before arrival of Sudha, Anju became excited and recall her memory
of her old days with Sudha and says,
She is nervous. Why? Isn’t heart? They have protected, advised,
cajoled, bullied and stood up for each other all their lives. Each has
been madly jealous of the other at some point. Each has enraged the
other, or made her weep. Each has been willing to give up her
happiness for her cousin. (VOD-11)

Bond between Anju and Sudha is strong. Cultural differences can’t

change or break the bond between them. Anju always have positive feeling
on Sudha and she didn’t have jealous on beauty of Sudha since her
childhood. Anju thinks that life in America can’t break their relationship.
After the arrival of Sudha, Anju recover from her depression. Sunil also
have special relationship with Sudha’s daughter Dayita. Anju tells to Sudha:
When he’s with Dayita, Anju tells me later, “all the bitterness falls
away from him. He used to be like that when I was pregnant.
Boyish and excited and tender. He’d make a world of plans- all the
things he wanted to do for-“she swallos- “Prem... Anju always
remember her unborn child Prem and tortures herself by thinking

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 about the past. So, Sudha scold her: There is no point in torturing
yourself over what’s happened today. (VOD-30)

When Sudha’s arrival into Anju’s house, Anju recover from her
pain and Sunil says thankful to Sudha. Because he could see happiness in
Anju’s face. After arrival of Sudha to America, Anju again starts her college
degree and begin to find her merit in writing classess. Particularly Anju is
inspired by instructor, who introduces her to the letters and journals of
eighteenth century and nineteenth century women writers.

Divakaruni use letters to convey information about Sudha and

Anju’s lives. Divakaruni explained the reason for using letter format:
The letter format is very interesting because in letter, the characters
becomes the writer and can therefore shape the reality they want to
convey. The letters are not just telling what has happened; they’re
also revealing certain things and hiding other things. Those are the
aborted letters that are never sent. You see them in the text of vine
with lines through them. I was able to play with ideas of what is
really happening/ How far do the characters understand it? How does
the character select which details to give to other character and
which to withhold The letters become an ironic device as well as
powerful emotional too. Sometimes you can write about things that
you can’t tell someone face to face. Letters can be more of a
confession than you would otherwise make. (Anne, 2) These letters
writing from Sudha to Anju, Anju to Sudha, Anju to her mother
Gouri, Pishi aunt to Sudha and Sunil to Anju. It becomes novel very
realistic. Sunil writes a letter to Anju before he leaving for India.
Houston
September 1994.

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 Anju-
I respect your wish to be left alone. I won’t trouble you with any
further communication. However, you are always welcome to write to me.
I’m leaving for India to help my mother put her fiances in order. In don’t
know when I’ll return. I’m going to give up apartment in California- I
guess there is no reason in keeping it, now that you seem to have found a
place that suits you letter. I hope you’ll let me have an address, in case of
emergency.
I ask you for one last favour. Can you pack my things? I’ve called
the manager. She’ll put them in storage, but I just didn’t want her snooping
through them. Of course I am in no position to insist, I know that,
I’m enclosing the package for Dayita. Should you know where she
is, I would be much obliged if you would forward it to her.
Sunil

Then Anju went to college and diverts her mind in to the college
assignment. Because of Anju’s alienates, Sunil diver his attention to Sudha.
So, he shows more care on Dayita. Sudha comes to America for searching
job and take care her daughter Dayita. But she can’t get job because she has
only a tourist visa. Inspite of Anju’s love, Sudha felt herself alienated and
humiliated in the highly progressive society of America. She is in dilemma
for survival in alien land. Bicultural conflicts rise in her mind. Indian women
immigrants who fail to adjust to the atmosphere that clash with their native
sensibility. When Sunil sees Sudha in private he cannot control himself and
kisses her. But sudha feels guiltily for accepting his kiss. She knows that
Sunil attracted by beauty of Sudha. Sudha says:
I pushed him away, yes. But my breasts yearned toward him. The
husband of my sister said my brain. But trembling in my legs sad,
I don’t care. (VOD-80)

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 Then Sudha understands her weakness for Sunil and want to stay
away from Anju. Thus, the first part of the novel ‘ Subterranean Truths’
ends with passion running high and sisters unable to separate from their
wishful world that is from emotions to the reality. Then Anju discovers
that Sunil has attracted by the beauty of Sudha and she also loved him.
Then her soul mate becomes her envy. In Sister of My heart, they had a
sense that they could be everything to each other and in Vine of Desire,
they realised that they can’t. They lost their childhood innocence and
become more complicated as they grow up in different environment. They
never fulfilled their earlier dreams and they become darker characters. In
book two, ‘Remembrance and Forgetting’, Divakaruni projects the
characters of Sunil, Anju and Sudha on a different plane. Anju wait for
her husband to be relieved from Sudha’s attraction. But still Sunil loves
Sudha. It creates difficult to Anju come out from this painful journey. The
she wrote a letter to her mother:
Santa Clara
September 1994

Dear Mother,
I read in your letter about Sunil’s father’s death. I can’t pretend to
be sorry. I’m too unhappy right now to be gracious, even to the dead. He
was a cold and cruel man, and my only memories of bim are unpleasant
ones. He harmed Sunil in ways that I’ve been paying for ever since I became
his wife. What I’m about to write will come as a shock to you? I should have
let you know earlier. But I didn’t want to worry you. Now I feel that was a
mistake. You’re strong enough to handle the truth of anything. Had I told
you, maybe you could have advised me, and matters would have turned out
different. Well, it’s too late now.

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 Sunil and I have separated. He wants a divorce. He told me he loves
Sudha, has loved her a long time. (Did you suspect this? Was I the only one
who refused to see?) He’s gone to Houston with a new assignment, and I’m
staying in a nearby city with a friend, a woman I met at the university, who
took me in when I was at the end of my rope. (My new address is above).
That’s why there was no one to pick up the phone when you called. Sudha
has taken up a job, I think. I suspect it had something to do with Sunil;
maybe they’re together in Houston right now. I don’t know, and I don’t want
to know, though I do wish I could see Dayita once in a while.
My life feels like there’s gaping hole at the centre of it. I tiptoe
around it. One misstep and I’ll plunge in.
I can’t write any more now. But mostly, I want you not to worry. I
was worse before. I wanted to hurt myself. Now I’ve decided otherwise. I
want to show them that I can survive in spite of what they’ve done to me.
Your daughter
Anju
Then Anju decides to leave alone in America and to go on a happy,
lonely journey through life. Sudha, of the possibilities of assimilation in
American life, Culture and civilization, with the support of Lupe, Sudha has
got job as caretaker to oldman. She comes out from the home and without
give information to Anju. Then Sudha comes to know that Anju’;s divorce
with Sunil and she tries to talk with Anju about her unwillingness to marry
Sunil. So, Sudha sends Lalit as a messenger to meet Anju. Sudha suffers
from the dislocation and cultural change, she finds difficult to carry her
native cultural values with Westernised American living. She is not easy to
assimilate with Western culture. Sudha perceive American culture as a
gateway to escape from the burden of single parent, she wants to redefine
her new identity in America. She thinks that, America is best place for
independent life to live.

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 In dilemma of two cultures Sudha declares that she didn’t go back
to India as helpless dependent and she want to brought up her daughter to
think that, how woman was needed to live. Anju, Sudha and Sunil all are
suffer serious humiliation and indignation in America. Sudha after get a job
she comes in contact with Lalit an Americanised Indian. Lalit tries to meet
Anju and explains about Sudha’s feeling and eagerness to meet Anju. But
Anju is upset by the behaviour of Sudha. So, she doesn’t want to know
anything about Sudha and she felt that Sudha is responsible for her breakup
with Sunil. Anju says to Lalit, she is not interested to talk with Sudha and
she rediscovered old Sudha. Sudha is successful in balance her bond with
old man. End of the novel Sudha decides to relieve the old man from
America. Because he is suffering from homesickness in Western land.
Sudha’s life in Trideep’s family gives a chance to think about disparities
between two cultures. She has courage and that is essential for her to alone
survive in the alien land. So, she never goes back to India, especially to her
old home. But she search job for live independently and starts new life in
new place. Lalit force her to live in America but Sudha refuse that and she
doesn’t have enough money and her visa will run out in less than a month.
So, she cannot live in America. Sudha receives letter from Ashok and he
wrote that he come to visit America. But Sudha refuses to meet him. She
tells that doesn’t come to America and asks him to forget her. Again the
cultural conflicts and breaking relationship with Anju that changes the life of
Sudha. Before her leaving America Anju sends a final message to Sudha:

Santa Clara
Octomber 1994,
Sudha,

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 If you really want to see me before you go, take the 4:00 P.M.
BART train to Daily City Saturday. I’ll wait for you in the parking lot.
Come alone.
Anju
(VOD-252)
Next day Sudha stands on the North Berkley station and she is
shivering and thinks that, How to convince Anju of her regret? After a long
period of separation Anju and Sudha come together. Then Sudha asks
apology for make mistake in Anju’s life. Anju says:
I don’t want to hear it. It took me a long time to close that door.
Don’t start opening it again. (VOD-362)

Anju further states that whatever happened in their life it’s like a
dream and she doesn’t care whether it is good dream or bad dream because
that will not help her to lead her life in present. At the end of the novel,
before Sudha’s departure to India, Anju, bring her to the first place they
visited in America. Sudha says: How manmy things have changed. (VOD-
368) Anju has news for her, “You won’t believe it, Sudha . Anju says, I’ve
learned to fly. (VOD 368).

End of the novel both Anju and Sudha discovered their new life. A
culture conflict has changed the both life. Divakaruni says that no journey is
common place. Each person’s journey is unique and changes that person in a
special way. Through her characters, she beautifully portrayed the
immigrants venture to set an identity and cultural differences exhibit
resilience. Cultural conflict affecting on the human consciousness in the era
of globalization. Indian immigrants faced the problem of cultural change and
suffered from psychological alienation and emotional bonding with cultural
roots and that gives a distinctive richness to the immigrants.

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 Between two world and magical realism in The Mistress of Spices

Magical realism is one of the main themes in Chitra Banerjee’s

fiction. She is one of the remarkable innovative story- tellers. Through her
novels, she has to shows the richness of Indian culture and tradition to the
world. She has to use dream as a technical event to prove magical elements
in her novel. Divakaruni reconstructs the long forgotten Indian myth, belief,
tradition, culture and dreams. Which she has to use in her novels and only
reality is mixture of all in magic realism. She has tried to create a new myth
or de mystification in her novels. According to Divakaruni, she has to
explore the feminine world. Women rescue from men and come out from the
old beliefs and tradition, and create her own world outside from patriarchal
institution. Her novel portrays the bi-cultural identity of woman in host land.
Magical realism has the capacity to innovative the idea of real and it gives a
new dimension to our imagination. Particularly as expressed in magic, myth
and religion. In magical realism, the writer tries to discover the mysterious
things in life and in human acts. As a writer Divakaruni gives sense of
reality with magical element and also her writing mainly focuses on women
perspectives.

Divakaruni’s first novel, The Mistress of Spices, is unique and it has

written with a blend of prose and poetry. After her youngest son was born
almost Divakaruni had a near to death experience. The Mistress of Spices
(1997) is the outcome of her near death experience. When she strongly
recovered from her serious pain, then she feels that strongly she returned for
a purpose. She says the experience, It was very positive, actually and it gave
me the sense that we are here in this body only for a little while, and then we

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go on to other existences and may be other worlds that we don’t know, and
wanted to write about this fictionalize it in some way. (Jeff, 61)

After this complication in her life she realises that, we all have
many identities and many likes and we move from one place to another. But
after death, we don’t know where we have to go? So, decided to write
supernatural or magic in the fiction. She says, it was very important for me
to try and work that into my writing. But I didn’t know how to far a long
time, until I began to have these very strong mental images of this old
woman in an Indian grocery who had many lives and who would perhaps go
on to have many more. (Frederick, 6)

Through this novel, Divakaruni presents a wide spectrum of life

and experiences of immigrants. Tile is protagonist character in the novel,
The Mistress of Spices. Tilo is a mistress of spices. Tilo is narrator in this
story. Tilo born in India, is shipwrecked on a remote island inhabited by
women. She becomes trained in spices and called, The Mistress of Spices
and after that she lives alone in California. She has power to heal the
problems of immigrants. So, she is away from his family and personal
desires with the help of supernatural power. Tilo can heal the sorrows and
pains of immigrants and fulfil the hopes in them. She says that various
spices are mixture of superstition and homeopathic medicine. She says:
Yes, they all hold magic, even the everyday American Spices, you
loss unthinking in to your cooking pot. You doubt? Ah. You have
forgotten the old secrets your mother’s mothers knew. Here is one
of them again; vanilla beans soaked soft in goat’s milk and rubbed
on the wrist bone can guard against the evil eye. And here another
measure of pepper at the foot of the bed, shaped into a crescent.
Cures you of nightmare... But the spices of true power are from

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 my birth land, land of ardent poetry, aquamarine feathers, and
sunset skies brilliant as blood. (MS-3)

According to Divakaruni, each day is representative of special

spices. For turmeric is Sunday. When she holds the turmeric speak with her:
I am turmeric who rose out of the ocean of milk when the Devas
and Asuras churned for the treasures of the poison and before the
nectar and thus lie in between. (MS- 13)

Each chapter in this story contains a short description about an

individual and their cultural encounter. Debjani Banerjee highlights on the
form of The Mistress of Spices:
The form of the fable is effectively used in the novel, The
‘fabulous’ world of the mistress imparts a surreal quality to the
novel; the order of the mistresses is and is not patriarchy: the
structures overlap and specific histories coincide, one advantage
of this literary model is that it continually confounds the category
or realism; therefore the events in the novel cannot be processed
as information. This is significant in situation where writers from
South Asia and the Third world in general are mined for “
evidence” of oppression, which can then be provided as “ Proof”
of the regressive nature of these societies, written for a largely
cosmopolitan audience, mistress does not provide accessible
histories that can provide grist to the mill of First world racism.
(Banerjee 28)
Divakaruni uses the magical realism technique in her novel and it
scope to exercise her imagination. Divakaruni never lose her control over
structure of fiction. Divakaruni says about writing the mistress of spices that,
she has to working with different kind of boundaries and first is boundary

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between prose and poetry. She told that in her language and in her literary
tradition, these were not clear-cut boundaries between those. She has to mix
prose and poetry in her modern works and the stories have sections in
poetry. She did various experiments in The Mistress of Spices and became
successful.

In this story Tilo, an immigrant woman, who runs a spice shop in

California. She sells masala and gives free advice to Indian immigrants.
According to their problems she has to suggest different kind of spices to
them. For ex: Cinnamon for strength, ginger for courage. Tilo get trained of
spices by old mother and she tells several conditions on using the spices.
The important this is that, the mistress should not involve in others problem
and she should leave it to spices. Spices can heal the problem of immigrants
the first mother Mistress says:
Ultimately the mistresses are without power hallows reads only for
the wind’s singing. It is the spice that decides and the person to
whom it is given, you must accept what they together choose and
even with failure be at peace. (MS-139)

In this novel Chitra Divakaruni has tried to division between the

realistic world of twentieth century America and Indian spiritualism, myth
and magic. Combining these different worlds, she has to create modern
fable. Tile, have controlled on Indian spices and her stories is filled with
different kind of spices. Tilo was born in India and had sad history. By birth
she is silent girl and her birth is described with bitter remembrance:
They named me Nayantara, star of the eye, but my parents faces
were heavy with fallen hope at another girl child...wrap her in old
cloth, lay her face down on the floor... is creaming until they fed me
milk from a white ass. Perhaps that is why the words come to me so

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 soon. Or was it the loneliness, the need rising angry in a dark girl
left to wander the village unattended. (MS-7-8)

Then Nayantara throws herself in discovering the magical is land of

spices. Then she adopted by the old, fraud ancient figure and gives training
to uses the spices for healing the pain. After training each apprentice choose
a new name. That is not only symbolic of their new identity in new world.
Nayantara chooses the name Tilotamma. Every spice has medical remedy,
connecting on the uses of ‘til’ and meaning of ‘Tilotama’ she says:
Til is the sesame seed, under the sway of planet venus, gold brown
as though just touched by flame. The flower of which is so small
and straight and pointed that mothers pray for their girl children to
have noses shaped liked it. Til which ground in to paste with
sandalwood cures diseases of heart and liver, til which fried in its
own oil restores lustre when one host lost interest in life. I will be
Tilottama, the essence of til, life giver, restorer of health and hope.
(MS-42)

Tilo, her background makes her to perfect, resilent candidate to face

life as an immigrant woman in twentieth century California. Her store
attracts a large group of immigrant people, who live far away from their
homeland in little oasis in their diasporic lives and have full of problems.
The store represents a space for self indulgence dangerous for a brown
people who come from elsewhere, to whom real Americans might say why?
(MS-5)
Tilo feels that Indian comes to her store for searching their
happiness and the felt like connection with their homeland:
All those voices, Hindi, Oriya, Assamese, Urdu, Tamil, English,
layered one on the other like notes from a tanpura all those voices

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 asking for more than their words, asking for happiness except no
one seems to know where. (MS-78)

But the problem of mistress is that she feels hesitate when lonely
American person come to her store and she easily communicate with Indians
but not with the Americans. The first mother warned her to not communicate
with Americans and says:
To help your own kind, and them only. The others, they must go
elsewhere for their need. (MS-68)

Tilo’s first customer is Ahuja, a young and beautiful Indian

immigrant woman. Her marriage with American person and she struggles
with her own feelings of isolation and homelessness. Tilo understands the
Ahuja’s wife is a victim of male domination and she records her inner crisis:
All day at home she is so lonely the silence like quick sand sucking
at her wrists and ankles, tears she cannot stop, disobedient tears like
spilled pomegranate seeds, and Ahuja shouting when he returns
home to her swollen eyes. (MS-15)

In her immigration Ahuja become more sensitive and suffered from

homelessness. Ahuja survive in American society with insecurity. So, she
never able to get her roots there. Then Tilo help to Mrs. Ahuja with special
spice- ‘Fennel’, which is the spice for Wednesdays. Tilo assures that use of
that spice Ahuja become normal:
It is a wondrous spice. Take a pinch of it. Raw and whole, after
every meal to freshen the breath and aid digestion and give you
mental strength for what must be done...Give some to yours
husband as well...Fennel cools the temper as well.(MS-104)

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 The spices helped to Ahuja to become Lalita. Then Lalita leaves her
husband and seeks refuge at a battered women’s shelter. It is easy to take
this step in America. In America the Indian immigrants feel themselves as
marginalised. Her store is becomes centre for immigrants to relieve their
pain and reconstruct their position in America. Tilo helped to immigrants to
come out from their problems and suggest them to different kind of spices
for different problem. There is clash between two different worlds and two
different cultures. Tilo declared herself as ‘Architect of American dream.’

In this story, Geeta’s grandfather complains Geeta’s behaviour

because he is an Indian. Geeta and her parents are represents the two
extreme sides of American life. Geeta belong to Indian diasporic family,
where a clash between first generation and second generation South Asian
immigrants. Her parents give plenty of freedom to Geeta. But they are not
ready to accept her boy friend, Juan. Geeta shock for her parent’s reaction
about Juan and make racism. Geeta’s grandfather told that her parents gave
freedom to her that will spoil her:
But mental peace I am not having, not even one iota, since I crossed
the kalapani and came to this America; But i tell you, better to
have no granddaughter than one like this Geeta. Maybe ok for all
these firing women in this country. Chee, chee, back in Jamshedpur
they would have smeared dung on our faces for that. And who
would ever marry her. But when I tell Ramu (Geeta’s father). He
says Baba don’t worry they’re only friends. (MS-85)
The second generation Indian like Geeta, challenges to away from
patriarchal institutions. If Geeta marries with Juan, the entire family is
shattered. So, Geeta’s mother begs her but Geeta didn’t change her decision.
Then her grandfather declares:

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 Do what you like; your father and I will think we were children’s.
Then Geeta declared that Very well. I’m going to move in with
Juan. Then he’s been asking me for a long time. I said no, thinking
of you guys all this time, but now I will. (MS-90)

Tilo tries to give advice to Geeta’s grandfather and she suggested

some spices to restoring harmony within family and Tilo told to Geeta:
Your grandfather loves you a lot..She tried ‘to stop the poison
eating at her heart. (MS-134-135)

Divakaruni explore the clashes between first and second generation

Indian immigrants. Geeta’s reaction to the love of her grandfather:
Love, hah! She spits out the sound like a sickness. He doesn’t know
what the word means. For him it’s all control. Control my parents,
control me. And whenever he doesn’t get this way its Ramu send
me back better I die alone in India. (MS-135)

End of the story Geeta’s silence speaks of a necessity to chart her

own life through cultural experimentation. Here Divakaruni weaves different
stories. Some of the stories reflect the struggle within the Indian Diaspora of
North America, like domestic violence, racism, assimilation and absorb in
new environment. The chapter ‘Asafoetida’ presents the story of Indian
woman. Who is depressed by her household work and her job? Daksha
works as a Nurse in US and when she comes for the job, she has to prepare
food like Indian typical woman. Serve food to everyone in her family. Later
it becomes big difficult to Daksha to perform in double duties. So, she wants
to tell her family that she unable to work in home but she can’t tell. Then
Tilo, suggests spice that help her to say No:

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 Daksha here is seed of black pepper to be boiled whole and drunk to
loosen your throat so you can learn to say No, that word so hard for
Indian women. No and hear me now. (MS-81)

Tilo also suggest amla, it has different resistance power and healing
the pain. Tilo tries to solve the problem of diasporic people but some time
she can’t solve because some problems are more complex. Tilo cannot
protect Mohan from racist attack on his store, which leaves him emotionally
and physically. Divakaruni tells that most of the immigrants suffered from
‘Divided Identity’ and also pain of inferiority. At the end of the story, Tilo
thought that because of her supernatural power she has to forget her personal
life and desire. Tilo falls in love with handsome American Raven and
decides to transform in to a young woman to fulfil her desires. Then she is in
dilemma whether to selfless or selfish. At the end of the novel Tilo, becomes
Maya, the young woman;
She has left her job as mistress of spices. She says: I who now have
only myself to hold me up. (MS-317).

Then she found her new identity and new home through an act of
cultural translation. Divakaruni succeeds in presenting the consciousness of
South Asian diasporic women and the process of identity formation.
Through this novel Divakaruni explore the idea of diasporic literature
convey two dimensions of relationships, one is to its motherland, which
raise problem of Nostalgia and homelessness and second relationship with
new land and its raise problem of dilemma and cultural conflicts and split
personalities.
In The Mistress of Spices, Divakaruni focuses on dislocation. Tilo,
the protagonist, learns to be mistress of faraway Island that cannot be
located on regular globe:

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 The island has been there forever, said the snakes, the old one also.
Even we who saw the mountains grow from buds of rock on the
ocean bed, who were there when Samudrapuri, the perfect city, sank
in the aftermath of the great flood, do not know there beginning. The
island ...what does it look like? And She? (MS-23)

Quest for Identity and cultural Dislocation of woman in Queen of

dreams

Women novelists in diasporic literature expressed their own

experience of Diaspora and have concern on women bi-cultural spaces. Each
society is representative of different identity of woman. In Indian society
women are symbol of peace and pillar to the family. They represent the love,
dedication bond of relationship, sacrifice and morality. But in American
society women focused in different dimension. Woman immigrants survived
in two spaces simultaneously one is sharing native experience of
womanhood to the alien culture and second one woman quest for identity
and status in host society. Bharati Mukherjee says about ‘female identity’
that depends on colour, race, class, social position, economic status and
nationality. In Diasporic life affected on the identity of woman and struggle
for quest identity in host society. If woman visit to another land, she is an
outside and that is not her native land. There woman has struggle for quest
their own identity and it creating new feeling of nostalgia in her mind.

Chitra Divakaruni’s novel, Queen Dreams is post modern text.

Through this novel, Divakaruni focuses on reality with the blending of
magic. It has a strong narrative and dreams of journal entries. Divakaruni
united the two space experience with magical realism. Most of Divakaruni’s
novel have theme of magical realism and also focused on the woman
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perspectives. These novel talks about the trouble, trials of Indian immigrants
experience in America. The novel is contrast between India and USA.
Although the entire story is take place in America. The novel mainly portrait
the quest for identity and sense of emotional completion. This novel is about
inner alienation of Rakhi, who experiences only heard about her origin land.
Her mother doesn’t much share about her origin. Here, Divakaruni used
dream through enter into real world and there things are very difficult to
understand but behind that it’s have value and reality. Characters have
feeling of diaspora and they away from their homeland for getting better life
and future prospects. The dream journal of Mrs. Gupta is helpful to
understand her thought, later it used as a tool for rediscovery. The main
intention of this novel is mystery and changing realities. Queen of Dreams, it
focuses on Indian immigrant experiences of diaspora and them balancing
two worlds. Particularly woman struggled in their life in America, through
this novel Divakaruni and an Indian immigrant mother. In this story mother
have special power of interpret the dreams and the daughter eager to
understand her mother’s behaviour and her work.

Queen of Dreams, it is a tale of self-discovery. In this novel Rakhi is

second protagonist character and she is an American born girl. Her mother
Mrs. Gupta is second generation an Indian immigrant and has special skill of
interpret the dreams. The novel opens with the character Mrs. Gupta is in
dream. She in the ‘Queen of dreams’, who is first generation Indian
immigrant and her work is reading the other people’s dream and warning
them of future. Rakhi is young artist and single mother in Berkley,
California. She has strong connection with Indianess and her mother doesn’t
speak much about India. So, Rakhi tries to understand the reason behind that
Rakhi, who lives in California with her daughter Jona and her husband
Sonny. Later she got divorce from sonny, and then she started to open the

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tea shop named The ‘Chai house’, through this she has to earn money for
living and provide it to her six years old daughter Jona. After her mother
death, Rakhi tries to reconstruct her life. Rakhi struggle to quest for identity
in America after her mother death. Belle, she is second generation Indian
immigrant, and business partner and best friend of Rakhi. She is comfortable
in California with the help and support of Belle. Rakhi is fond of Indian
culture and tradition, she earn money from her ‘Chai House’. Once she has
problem in her coffee shop and customers turned to go other low priced
shop. If she doesn’t earn money then she handover her daughter to her ex-
husband, Sonny.

Meanwhile Rakhi get the good news of her work is accepted in

prestigious art gallery. Unfortunately they returned from the art gallery their
car involved in accident. Her mother died on spot and her father has injured.
Her mother’s death is making a turning point in the novel. Before her
mother’s death her father was silent and insignificant person in the house.
Then her father becomes a star and he shows his talent in cook and singing.
He helps to run ‘Chai House’ with his daughter. Then rakhi has more
curiosity to know about her mother’s past and Indian heritage. After with the
help of her father, Rakhi reads the dream journals of her mother. She left
that journal for her husband and child. In this novel without the help of her
father, Rakhi cannot open the secrets of her mother’s journal. Commenting
on the father- daughter relationship Divakaruni says:
As with much of my work, it isn’t that I set out to do this, it’s just
where the story evolved organically. The mother is mystery to the
daughter from the beginning and it’s only after she dies that her
words come to the daughter through the journals. But they have to
translate by the father. More than the male or female relationship I
think what I was looking at was how in leaving our home culture

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 we lose a lot of it and often we need help, we need translators.
(Bridget, 229)

Rakhi desires for India, so, she has tries to more connect with her
mother. But that connection denied always. Because her mother profession
is dream teller. She says:
My mother always slept alone. Until I was eight year old, I didn’t
give it much thought... My discovery occurred on an afternoon
when I’d gone to play at the home of my classmates...why don’t
you sleep with dad? I kept asking... Don’t you love us...? I do love
you...I don’t sleep with you or your father because my work is to
dream. I can’t do it if someone is in bed with me. (QD-6-7)

Rakhi has interest in India so her paintings are representatives of

Indian heritage and she pointed her imagined India and never gone to India.
She admits:
I hungered for all things Indian because my mother never spoke of
the country she’d grown up in... Just as she never spoke of
mysterious and helpful to the world to be an interpret of the inner
realm seemed so Indian. (QD-35)

Rakhi is not happy with her married life with Sonny an

Americanised India and she stayed separate with her daughter Jona. Her best
friend helps her to maintain desire on India and support her dream of vision
on India through her paintings. Once with her tremendous skill of
imagination she points the sunset on the peaks of Kanchanjunga. Belle and
Rakhi both are Indian origin. So, they share common experiences of
diasporic life. But Rakhi support Rakhi provide her interest on India. Rakhi

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didn’t recognize why Belle reject the idealism of Indian womanhood. She
asks:
Belle you don’t know how to make a roti- or any Indian food for
that matter and I’ve never seen you wearing anything remotely
resembling a salwar kameez (QD- 27)

But Belle negates the word of Rakhi and she has to retain her native
sensibility. She decides to open the Indian system of shop known as ‘Chai
House’ and it serve food to Indian community living in California. Rakhi’s
mother migrate from India and her displacement for her cultural roots, she
finds herself ‘nervous’ and incomplete. She criticises her mother for
forgetting the glory of India with the help of her mother’s dream journal.
Rakhi knows that her mother has interested in Indian books and also Rakhi’s
relationship with Sonny. Because she thinks that both of them are Indian
origin. Her mother says that both of them are Indian origin and both love
spicy food preferably Asian. Rakhi not only like Indian food but also fond of
Indian music, Indian songs and Indian mission, it keeps her conscious about
India and Indian sensibility to alive. In association with Sonny, she make
popular by Indian culture of dance and music in America. But her idea is not
worked there but Rakhi is mentally suffered from cultural dislocation and
cultural differences. So, she tries to get her own identity in California
through her painting. Her passion for India and Indianess become so strong
and it become a matter of her own existence. She confesses:
I think that before I die I would like to go to India. If only to lay to
rest the ghosts that dance in my head like a will o’ wisp over a
rippling see. (QD- 82)
She closely related to Indian soil. So, doesn’t like the image of
America. Before the death of her mother had tried to convince to Rakhi that

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it was a method to grant her ‘completeness’ without the heard the half story
about her origin. Her mother once admitted:
It is my fault I see now that I brought you up wrong I thought it
would protect you If I didn’t talk about the past. The way you
won’t be constantly looking back hankering like so many
immigrants do I didn’t want to be like those other mothers
splitting there between your life now and that which can never be.
By not telling you about India as it really was... (QD 89)

Later Rakhi and her father extend the ‘Chai Shop’ into a snacks
shop named as ‘Chaer dokan’ through this shop her father tries to
reconstruct his lost national identity. The second half of the novel
concentrates on dreams, nightmares and of reality. Rakhi start reading the
dream journals after her mother’s death. But she cannot understand the
words of her mother with the help of her father. Rakhi read the dream
journal and his father translate the Bengali words in to English. Through this
reading rakhi tries to understand her mother’s life. After that Rakhi also
suffered from business, personal relationship and ruined events relating to
9/11. Rakhi says:
We see clips of fire fighters heading into the blaze; we see the
buildings collapsing under the write of their own rubble... We look
at them all, then at each other in disbelief. How could this have
happened... here, at home, in a time of peace? In America. (QD
196)

Rakhi runs Indian style of coffee shop in Barkley. Because of

certain differences of opinions Rakhi gives divorce to Sonny. She didn’t
discuss the reason for her divorce. After she search for the meaning of life
and also attempt to understand her relationship with her father, her friend

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belle, her husband Sonny and her daughter Jona. Rakhi always fight with her
mother for different kind of opinions about India. The conflict between them
is shows like battle between first generation Indian American and second
generation Indian American. After reading the dream journal, Rakhi attempt
to understand that her mother refused sadness in her life and which she
considered as useless emotion. Mrs. Gupta’s dream journal has a full of
mistry and superstition. Rakhi born in America and didn’t understand this
world of supernatural and suspense:
Mrs. Gupta believed that being a lonely is strength to survive in
alien land. Rakhi describes her mother as the one who is beautiful
and sad, like a princess from one of the old Bengali tales. (QD-200)

At the Chai House’, she is not only provide Indian food but also for
Indian music in there immigrants come to shop not only for food but on the
songs of Indian classics like Anand, Guide and Sholay. After this Chai
house becomes mini india for all Inadian immigrants. Through this ‘Chai
shop’ Rakhi asttempt to reconstruct lost of Indian identity and save
immigrants from depression. On 9/11 two American men attacked on rakhi
and her family. Then Rakhi have feeling of treat her as hostile alien and
unemotionally said:
If I am not American, she asks, who am I? We haven’t done
anything wrong... we’re Americans just the way you are we all
feel terrible about what happened. Such behaviours and honest
argument is not enough to fight against to get their own position in
American society. Then their national identity is questioned. They
are condemned, you didn’t know American? It is fuckers like you
who planned this attack on the innocent people of this country.
(QD 205)

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 Same time Sonny is unemotionally beaten with iron rods then he
has fear of loneliness and insecurity. Rakhi calls the other
immigrants for their help...” we’re left on the empty street to take
care of ourselves that best we can. (QD 207)

In this novel Divakaruni uses the magical, in lyrical, poetic prose

and expose the individual and communal identity with equally shaped by
loss and creation. Through this novel, Divakaruni attempt to bring out from
the problem of identity. She asks a question to immigrants. How can
diaspora live in the country where they considered as terrorists? And how
can they continue to live in America as Americans? These are basic purpose
of her writing. She tried to mix the both world. In this novel Divakaruni tries
to justice to both protagonist character to get their own identity. She also
shows the wherever we are that is our native land and common ground
which lies in a world that is alien. She also presents the consciousness of
South Asian diasporic women and process of identity formation. In this
novel Divakaruni portrayed both culture and she also makes a bridge
between two cultures. She lived in United State and her work is focus on the
Indian culture and sensibilities. Queen of Dreams is a story and mainly focus
on family, relationships, quest for identity, pride for one’s own heritage and
thinks differences.

Through this novel Divakaruni depicts the Bengali culture, tradition

and sayings. Which help the protagonist’s characters to face their life?
Identity crises are one of the major issues facing by the diasporians and
struggle for to get this through their lives. It is connection between
wakefulness and the subconscious in the backdrop of diasporic life.
Immigrant Psyche Nostalgia and Cultural change in Arranged
Marriage
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 Divakaruni is one of Indian prolific writer after three volumes of
her poetry; she decided to write prose and fiction. Her collection of short-
stories, Arranged Marriage appeared in 1995. It included eleven short
stories and most of them deal with immigrant psyche of nostalgia and
dilemma of identity. In this collection character faced the problem of
cultural change and issues of survival. It explores the cross- cultural
experiences of womanhood on the view of female perspective. Time
changes the life of immigrant woman and how it affects on the Indian
institution of arranged marriage. It is the main theme in all eleven stories
in this anthology. Most of the stories protagonist character is Indian
immigrants to the United States from author native place of Bengal.

Divakaruni wrote stories on the female point of view. In 1991,

Divakaruni started help line in America with her friends and this help line
provide service to Indian American woman. Through this help volunteers
heard the problem of immigrant women. Inspired by this story,
Divakaruni published short story collection Arranged marriage. It was
published in 1995 and received considerable critical acclaim and the 1996
American Book Award, The Bay area Book Reviews and PEN Oakland
Awards for this fiction. In this fiction Chitra Banerjee portrayed wide
variety of themes including racism, inter- racial relationships, economic
disparity, abortion, divorce, cultural change, nostalgia, cross the
patriarchal bond etc., in these stories Divakaruni explain the picture of
immigrants and Indian couples settled in American society with their
unchangeable bonding with their national identity and their desire to
redefine the man- woman relationship in trans-cultural space. Through
these stories Divakaruni explore the contrast between Indian Spiritualism
and Western triumph of money and technology. Each story takes place in
various parts of the United States.

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 Divakaruni’s works are focus on the experiences and struggle of
women and trying to find their own identities in host land and cross-
cultural change affect on the life of women. Women suffered from
rootlessness and nostalgia in alien land. In these stories are told by the
female narrator. There are several immigrant brides, who are emancipated
and trapped by the cultural change and they are struggle for finding their
own identity. In these collections, Divakaruni explains the life of middle
class women, house wives and professionals. The stories are about women
struggle for avoiding an arranged marriage, assimilating with western
marriage, women in relationship. In these stories few women characters
find themselves in trouble and defeated. Woman tries to adjust with
Western culture and take full advantage of their lives in America.

Debjani Banerjee comments on the stories in Arranged Marriage.

In these stories are the challenge to normative narratives of nationhood is
launched through the explorations of female subjectivity. The diasporic
community valorises an unquestioned perpetuation of tradition through
even the most anal signifiers in the name of combating the colonizing
influence of the dominant culture on the one hand and the contaminating
influence of other minority groups on the other. When confronted with the
threat of co- operation and assimilation by discourses regarded as Western
or Other, South Asian communities use women as historic signifying
objects who are made to be the bearers of culture. Women, on whose
body cultures are mapped and re- mapped become the targets of
protection read enhanced patriarchal controls. So, that they continue to
function as stable signifiers of womanhood for a community anxious
about preserving its identity in foreign soil.” (Debjani, 15)

In the first collection of story entitled “Bats”, which portrays the

woman suffered from the Indian institution of marriage and who becomes

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prisoner in an arranged marriage. Divakaruni is portrayed that Indian
woman is like Bats, who are always hanging on custom and tradition of
Indian society and they never cross the patriarchal system. But in this
collection a girl narrate the story of her mother. Mother is typical Indian
woman, who have trapped in patriarchal society and she find difficult to
come out from that beliefs and moved toward a renewed life and vision
from patriarchal system. In India, many women are suffering by physical
abuse and though their lives adjusted with grief. The girl is caught
between cruel father and helpless mother. Girl says about brutality of her
father:

When I was little and he used to pick me up suddenly and throw

me all the way up to the ceiling, up and down, while mother
pulled at his arms, begging him to stop, and I screamed and
screamed with terror until I had no breath life. (AM-2)

Every night girl heard the sound of her mother crying and she
didn’t understand the pain of her mother. Divakaruni vividly portrays the
child incapacity to understand grief of her mother but afraid of her father,
who never gives any affection for her. Each night, her father scolds her
mother and physical abuse on her. For this once her mother decided to go
to grandfather’s house without informing to her husband. Divakaruni
portrays that here woman cross the patriarchal system and quest for
identity in another place. Through this escape is short lived and life is
become unending happiness. Girl became close with her grandpa and
always went with grandpa to taking care of Zamindar’s orchard. One day
mother went to market; she heard the gossip of her life. Then she sends a
letter to her husband and he gives responses to her letter and makes
promises, “It won’t happen again.”(Am-11)

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 In patriarchal society, if women cross the customs and never
allowed her to come back to home. Then mother is in dilemma, which has
to cross the culture or to be emancipated. The writer compares the wife
life with bats, both are hunted for being in the wrong places. But after
coming back to home that physical assaults on her, do not stop. Arranged
marriage provides neither any relief nor any sense of respectability to the
mother.

The second collection of story is “Clothes”. It potrays the Red sari

is symbol of goodness and white sari is symbol of window. It is the
tradition in India. In this story Sumita is Indian woman after married she
went to America to stay with her husband Somesh. Beginning of her
marriage days, she is happy with Somesh and enjoys the life in America.
Narrator in this story Somesh died and Sumita is in dilemma for staying in
America or going back to India to live within laws. Sumita contemplates:

`That’s when I know I can’t go back. I don’t know yet how I shall
manage, here in this new, dangerous land. I only know I must.
Because all over India, at this very moment widows in white sari
is bowing their veiled heads, serving tea to in-laws, doves with
cut- off wings. (AM-33)

Divakaruni shows how young Indian bride life is shattered when

her husband murdered by racial attack in his shop and how she decided to
run his shop. Her husband always wants to Westernised her and brings
dresses of American style and tells to her, “I want you to go college,
choose a career”(AM-31).After death of her husband Sumita decides to
live in America and retaining her culture in dress and values and
assimilating with American culture for personal growth. She wants to stay
in America for fulfilling the dream of her husband, which made her

160
confident. She thinks that the widow life in India is horrible. So, she better
to be stay in America to escape from the traditional law of India.
Divakaruni shows that immigrant constitutes their new routes in alien land
and who doesn’t have necessary to live in their origin country. Here, the
cultural change shows in Sumita’s life.

The third collection of story is entitled as “Silver Pavement,

Golden Roof”. It explores the diasporic experience in terms of racial
discrimination. The protagonist character Jayanti, an Indian immigrant to
America. She comes to America for higher education and lives with her
aunt Pratima in California. As soon as Jayanti narrate how her life is
different in Calcutta. Jayanti get inside the aeroplane, the air smell
different than what she enjoyed her life in Calcutta. She experiences:

The air is dry and cool and leaves a slight metallic after taste on
my lips. I lick at them, wanting to capture that taste, make it part
of me forever. (AM-36)

When jayanti comes to California, she feels that their house is no

different from the India that she left. Her thinking about America is
different from her dreams. As soon she realised that differentiate. Jayanti
says:

The Apartment is another disappointment not at all what an

American home should be like. I’ve seen the pictures in good
housekeeping and sunset at the USIS Library. (AM-40)

Then she feels for nostalgia in life in California. She recalls a song
that she used to sing in her childhood. “Will I marry a prince from a far
off magic land, where the pavements are Silver and the roofs all Gold.”
(AM-46) but when she see the apartment, her dream should be changed.
Once Jayanti and her aunt walking around their neighbourhood street then
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they were attacked by the young boys with racist assaults. In America her
aunt doesn’t have permission to walk openly on the pavements. Then they
are humiliated by young boys. As soon as Bikram uncle know about that
attack on them and scold his wife:

Haven’t I told you not to walk around this trashy neighbourhood?

Haven’t I told you it wasn’t safe? Don’t you remember what
happened to my shop last year, how they smashed everything?
(AM-53)

Then Jayanti has developed feeling of immigrant and she will catch
between two cultures. But in India things are different. Upper classes
people harassed on lower class people but in California racism is there.
His uncle says:

The American hate us, they’re always putting us down because

we’re dark-skinned foreigners, ‘kala admi’ blaming us for the
damn economy for taking away their jobs. (AM-43)

As soon Jayanti also realised this after the incident of young boy’s
attacked on them. She has feeling of nostalgia and becomes impatient to
back home. She reveals her anxiety, “Home I whisper desperately, I want
my room in Calcutta, where things were so much simpler. I want the high
mahogany bed in which I’ve slept as long as I can remember the
comforting smell of sundried cotton sheets to pull around my head. I want
my childhood again.” (AM-55) Feeling of nostalgia and existence of bi-
cultural spaces ruin in the sensibility of Indian immigrants. Divakaruni
focuses on the feminine sensibility and cultural change of female
character in alien land and it affect on the life of woman.

Fourth collection of the story is entitled as “The Word Love”. It

focuses a protagonist character live with American boy friend Rex. She
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defined that love is magical word and it’s not easy to define it. She
accepts the Westernization and she started to live with her boy friend in
outside the institution of marriage. Narrator is caught between tradition of
Indian ethos and Western understanding the word of ‘Love’. Here narrator
struggle with dual identity and values. Narrator lives in America with her
boy friend and she didn’t tell to her mother about her foreign boy friend
and she recall her memory of how her mother foster her from the pain
after her father’s death. Mother and daughter relationship is different in
Indian culture. In this story Divakaruni explore the issues like extra-
marital affair. Living in sin, struggle for search of identity. Search the real
meaning of Love, she has feeling of sin for hiding her relationship with
American man. Finally she decides to lose her relationship with man. Her
boyfriend on knowing her relation and says:

It was never me, was it, never love. It was always you and her, her
and you. (AM70)

It is tradition of India, children are always attached with their

parental love and that love makes her decision to live alone. Indian culture
is different from Western; in India it is difficult to accept relationship
outside the institution of marriage. Cultural change affect on the life of
woman in this story. Eastern society is family oriented and gives
importance to their family but Western society people are individualistic
and they never do any compromise with their families.

Another story is entitles as, “A Perfect Life”, is the story of Indian

immigrant Meera living in America with her boyfriend Richard.
Beginning of the story she told that before the boy came in her life, her
life is good. Meera shows that how assimilation with Western culture is
difficult in America. Beginning of the story she feels that have perfect life

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in America and enjoying to got job in bank and enjoy with boy friend
Richard. She says about her boy friend:

Richard was exactly the kind of man I’d dreamed about during my
teenage years in Calcutta. (AM-73)

She enjoys her life in America and has freedom she says: what I
liked most about Richard was that he gave me space... Richard continued
to be passionate without getting possessive. He didn’t mind If I went out
with my other friends...Thanks to the Pill and his easy going attitude ( it
was California thing, he told me once), for the first time in my life I felt
free.(AM-74)

Every month Meera’s mother send a photograph of Indian boy but

Meera rejects the parental attempt at arranged marriage. She becomes
completely American to get Richard in her life. Beginning of the story,
she is completely become an American. When a mysterious boy entry into
her life, it changes. She didn’t ignore the boy and she taught him, how to
live in ‘Civilized society’. Her life completely changes after the boy enter
in her life:

Mother love, that tidal wave, swept everything else away.

Friendship, romantic, fulfilment, even the need for sex. (AM, 98-
99)

Uncivilized boy name is Krishna; he didn’t pronounce a single

word. She teaches him to become civilized. She decided to adopt him
legally. It’s not easy process to adopt a orphan boy in America. It needs
birth certificate; medical records, travel papers and other proofs of
identity are required for adoption. Meera’s boyfriend Richard stays away
from this conflict of adaptation. She has more attachment with Krishna.

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After coming from Orphan home, she has feeling of sin and grief and she
says:

Bigger better apartment...with white carpeting and bleached

Scandinavian furniture to match; and planning to marry Richard
on condition that they will not have any children. (AM-107)

Feeling of motherhood has existed within her and she never tells
about this to anyone. She says, “When I come back to my apartment, I
close my eyes before the last bend of the stairs that lead to my door. I hold
my breath and imagine boy in a red Mickey Mouse T-Shirt sitting on the
topmost step. If I can count to twenty, thirty, forty, without letting go, I
say to myself, he’ll be there... I stand there halfway up the darkening
staircase feeling the emptiness swirl around me, my lungs burning, my
eyes shut tight as though in prayer. (AM-108)

It shows that Indian immigrant live in America only escape from

the burden of custom and tradition, and also assimilate with alien culture
is not easy. Divakaruni through her character portrays the immigrant
feeling of Indian woman and struggle to assimilate with host culture and
feeling of nostalgia.

Next collection of the story is entitled as “The maid Servant Story”.

It organised in two cultural backgrounds, the traditional society of
Calcutta and the progressive society of California to stay with her aunt
and her aunt excited of Manisha’s marriage. But manisha tell that she like
Bijoy, who is a professor at California University. None of her family
members support her on this relationship. Because of this reason she come
out from the house and stays with her aunt. Mashi decides to make marry
to Manish. And Manisha in Bijoy’s company find that ideal image of life
is entirely different from the life of Americans. One day she expresses her

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desire to wear a saffron sari but her aunt told that saffron is sorrowful
color. Manisha Says,”I always thought of it as rather festive- the color of
beginnings”. (AM-115)

Her aunt told that behind that colour a sad and bad luck story is
there and it belong to her mother. During the pregnancy her mother assists
a maid servant in her house hold duties. She gives name to servant as
‘Sarala’ and the servant also like as her name. But her husband and old
aunt didn’t accept to a maid stay with them in their house. Divakaruni
revised the hidden agenda of maid and says:

The maid loved the wife in the way intelligent animals love their
keepers, with a ferocious and total loyalty, a forgetting of self.
(AM-124)

Her sister had jealous on her elder sister because she treated her
maid as her own sister. One day the wife told to servant to choose from
one of her old saris and maid pick the saffron silk sari with gold border.
By the encouragement of wife, the maid wears that sari and also combs
her hair. The sari episode is the turning point in life of wife. One day wife
has been hospitalised for final stage of pregnancy, suddenly an old woman
come to their home and told that, she is the mother of maid servant. But
maid refuses to go with her mother. When wife is hospitalised, the whole
home is managed by the maid and sister. Both sarala and Wife’s sister
lead a life as marginalised after the absence of wife. Again sarala’s
mother attacked on that home and then she decides to come out from
home. This is the story Manisha’s aunt told to her. After Manisha thinks
that this is her mother’s story. In this story Divakaruni tries to explore the
geography dislocation affect on the personal relationship. Manisha thinks
that Indian culture is quite different from Western. Whatever happens in

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their life, woman silently assimilates with grief. But in foreign the
situation is changed. Woman rebel against the harassment on them.
Immigrants not easy to come out from their cultural background, their
custom and culture and it always affect on the life on immigrants.

Another collection of story is “The Disappearance.” This story

portrays the cross-cultural experiences of a woman and story is told from
the husband’s point of view. He didn’t realise that his continuous
abusement on his wife, so she was disappear. Husband is portrayed that,
he is a very traditional Indian male. Being an arranged marriage he has
dreamed about his future wife. But she doesn’t have her choice but always
obey the rules of her husband. He first saw his future wife and says:

She’d glanced up there had been a cool, considering look in her

eyes. Almost disinterested, almost as though she were wondering
if he would make a suitable spouse. (AM-171)

These lines show that she is not kidnapped or murdered. But simply
she didn’t love her husband and decides to go out from home. He says
that she always ignored to his desires. Cross-cultural life affecting on her
and she torn between two cultures are essentially very different. After his
wife’s disappearance in America, her husband reflect on his conjugal life
and take care of his son. The Indian male’s cultural obsession vis-a-vis the
wife and revealed his reflections:

He was good husband. No one could deny it. He let her have way,
indulged her, even... Once in a while. Of course, he had to put his
foot down, like when she wanted to get a job or go back to school
or buy American clothes. But he always softened his no’s with a
remark like, what for, I’m here to take care of you, or you look so
much prettier in your Indian clothes, so much more feminine. He

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 would pull her onto his lap and give her a kiss and a cuddle which
usually ended with him taking her to the bedroom. That was
another area where he’d to be firm Sex. She was always saying,
please, not tonight. I don’t feel up to it. (AM171-172)

Divakaruni asserts that in arranged marriages, female not assimilate

with husband especially their husband was foreigner. Typical Indian girl
not easy to assimilate with foreign culture. Her husband forced his wife to
live like Americans. So, end of the story wife disappear from home and
leaves with her jewellery set up her economic unit and reformulate her
own identity. She suffered from cultural change and leaves her husband
and son and didn’t care about her motherhood and patriarchal laws.
Cultural change affect on the life of Indian woman of immigrant.

Another collection of story is entitled as “Doors”. It is a story clash

between two cultures. Deepak and Preeti, both couples lived in California.
In this story Preeti is narrator, who she has fall in love with Deepak, who
came to US for university education. Preeti brought up in America but
preeti’s mother argued preeti’s wedding with Deepak:

Here you are, living in the US. Since you were twelve and Deepak
he’s straight out of India. Just because you took a few classes
together at the University and you liked how he talks, doesn’t
mean that you can live with him. (AM-183) Her mother says: it’s
never too late to stop yourself from ruining your life. What do you
really know about how Indian men think? About what they expect
from their women? (AM-184)

Indians are usually brought up in joint families and there is not

private and personal spaces like Westerners. But the Foreigners are more
private persons. Here the word ‘Door’ is used as metaphor. Door is used

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to maintain the separate and private space and that are not part of Indian
identity. Deepak’s Indian friends also warned him when they knew about
Deepak’s wedding with Preeti:

Yaar, are you sure you’re doing the right thing?...and you know
how these American women are, always bossing you, always
thinking about themselves...it’s no wonder we call them ABCDs-
American- Born- Confused -Desis.(AM-185)

But Deepak is confident that cultural differences are not break up

their married life and he told that their marriage is going on the basis of
mutual respect. They lead a happy life before arrival of Raju, Deepak’s
cousin in US. He came there for higher education. But hospitality is quite
different in both societies, which creates big clash between the couple.
Preeti always like her doors be closed and she needs private space and she
is not ready to share even with her husband. She is irritated by the
Deepak’s behaviour after arrival of Raju. Deepak could not understand
the reason of Preeti’s locking the door of bedroom:

Isn’t that being a bit paranoid? May be you should see someone
about it. (AM-198)

Then Preeti recall her mother words and she realised the cultural
difference exist in their life. She can’t control her emotions and told to
Deepak that she is not ready to live with Raj in that home and he can’t
control her emotions and told to Deepak that she is not ready to live with
raj in that home and he can’t live with us forever and until he leaves then
everything will be perfect again. Deepak become nervous to hear this
word of Preeti. At the end of the story Deepak says to Preeti:

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 Raj would be staying at hotel till he found a room on campus.
Hope you’re happy, now that you have the house all to yourself.
(AM-201)

In this story, both Preeti and Deepak represent not only individual
identity of two persons but two sensibilities are clashes in the process of
acculturation.

The collection of story, “The Ultrasound”, it is same as the story of

Sister of My Heart. It is the story of Anju and Runu. Anju is lived in
America and Runi marries with Indian man. Anju enjoy the life in
America and Runu staying in India bears the burden of conventionality.
Both are pregnant, Runu is abused by giving birth to girl child and she
decides to move out from home. Anju invites her to America in order to
refresh for her ill fated life. Anju thinks that, if she have girl child her
condition become same as her friend, Runu. Anju thinks:

It feels like when I have pins and needles in my legs, except now
it’s all over my body. Does Sunil love me, or only the mother-to-
be of his son? Would he have cared for me as much if we had
been in India and the baby had turned out to be a girl? What if I
hadn’t been able to have a baby at all? Would be asking his
parents to look for another wife for him (AM-228)

Both Runu and Anju’s life is different. In the context of these two
dimensions of the stories of Divakaruni. Reena Sanasaram comments that
the author explores India and America as two different world epitomising
two different cultures and for the immigrant Indians new life in America
was like being thrown in to the sea even before leaving how to swim.
Though various social reforms and awareness programmes are not quite
common in India and not much ever changed. Here Divakaruni focus on

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the cultural differences and feminine sensibility and Anju have feeling of
nostalgia to have an American life.

Another collection of story is, “Affair”. In this story Divakaruni

reflects on the issues like cross-cultural problem and extra marital
relationships. Abha and Ashok, both Indian immigrants live in America.
The central character meena have an extra marital relationship because of
her husband’s infidelity. Divakaruni explains that the financial structure
changes the mind of woman, when she leaves home and begins to work
that changing the traditional power of arranged marriage. But Indian
women’s thinking is different than Western woman. Indian woman see’s
their career us to lead their family in good way. Abha thinks that husband
have affair with Meena. Meena feels herself humiliated in unconscious
manner and she argues that Abha’s intension and says:

Abha, the man I was talking about works in my office. He’s

American. His name is Charles; we’re going to get married as
soon as my divorce comes through... How could you think I’d get
involved with your husband? How could you think that of me?
End of the story Meena says: the old rules aren’t always right not
here not even in India. (AM-268,270)

She searches her own identity in America and crossed the

patriarchal system of India. Divakaruni reflects on the feminine sensibility
through her writing. Both Meena and Abha suffer from the cultural
differences and they have searched their own identity in America.

The last collection of the story is, “Meeting Mrinal”. In this story
Asha, a divorced mother with her teenage son in America. Mohan
divorces Asha, after more than ten years of their marriage and he marries
with Jessica. After that Asha lives with her son Dinesh. He also avoided

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her mother because Dinesh is American born child and he want to lives
separate with his mother. Asha doesn’t tolerate against her husband
mischievousness. She is typical Indian woman like woman in the story
“Bats”. Asha always touch with her childhood friend Mrinal, who is
unmarried, she didn’t told the truth about her husband and son to her.
Once Mrinal says that she has conference in San Francisco and she comes
to attend. Then Asha says the truth to her. Then Mrinal replies:

Why couldn’t you just tell her the fucking truth that he got tired of
you and left you for another woman? (AM-283) Asha told the
hardness in her life and says: How hard I always tried to be the
perfect wife and mother, like the heroines of mythology I grew up
on patient, faithful Sita, selfless Kunti. (AM-298)

Wherever go the identity of woman is cannot change whether they

are in eighteenth century or twentieth century. At the end of the story
Asha realises that perfection is co-related with her efforts to assimilate
with traditional values. Asha is unable to being the perfect wife and
mother. But Mahesh left her to get real happiness with Jessica. Sethi R.C.
comments on the relevance short story collection, Arranged Marriage:

Her experience with poetry (three worth) endows these stories

with imagery and emotion that linger long after the book has been
read. Divakaruni joins Bharti Mukherjee, Anjana Appachana and
others as a chronicles of this new wave of immigration. In so
doing she creates a book highly appropriate for courses on
women’s studies as well as multiculturalism. These stories will
enrich any course in contemporary literature or the short story, and
will, most importantly, continue to open up the world of Indian
women to the American reader. (Seth, 287)

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 According to Divakaruni, life of Eastern and Western is different.
Eastern culture, tradition, way of living style is totally different from
Westerners. As a diasporic writer Chitra Banerjee portrays the deepest
fear and trauma faced by women in India and America. In this collection
of stories, she focuses on the battered wife, single mother, a divorced
woman, Westernized Indian woman and human relationship in Arranged
marriage and extra- marital relationship. Through her stories Divakaruni
shows that, no one has a perfect life but we struggle for have perfect life.
But perfection is only a mirage. Feeling of nostalgia and cultural changes
affect on the life of woman. Even she is in India or in America. She
focuses on the dilemma of emigration, haunting nostalgia for the
homeland.

Diasaporic elements in Unknown Errors of Our Lives

Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee is an innovative story teller and creates

a innovative imagination in her short stories and her stories portrayed
crucial movements of immigrants and their life caught between east and
western culture, past and present life in alien land. Through her stories,
Divakaruni interpret the immigrant psyche of nostalgia, rootlessness,
dislocation, multiculturalism and clashes between home land and host
land. In the short stories, Divakaruni reflects on the human emotions
related with geographical location and environment affect on the human
emotions. Human emotions are depending on the family relationship and
that relationships are broke up by the dislocation of human and cultural
differences of the immigrants. Jasbir Jain described about these
expatriates, “Writers who have moved away from on culture to another
are caught between two cultures and are very often engaged either in a

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process of self- recovery through resort to history and memory or in a
process of self- preservation through an act of transformation.” (Jain, 101)

Chitra Divakaruni’s collection of short-stories, The Unknown

Errors of our Lives (2001), introduces the diasporic experience and
problems of Diaspora of the Indian immigrants. In this short-story,
characters are representative of both Eastern and Western culture and
expose the different thinking of two different worlds. Through this short
stories, Divakaruni has exposes the South Asian immigrants and their
survival within Indian restrictive society in both urban and rural area. In
this collection, some stories are set in India and some are in America. But
most of the stories have the theme of alienation, homelessness, nostalgia,
cultural differences, pain and loss of immigrant experiences. Divakaruni’s
celebration is not a romantic nostalgia but realisation of the life of
immigrant experiences. In the nine notable stories in this collection, “Mrs
Dutta Writes a Letter,” “The Intelligence of wild things,” “The Lives of
Strangers,” “The Love of a Good man,” “What the Body Knows”, “The
Forgotten Children”, “The Blooming Season for cacti”, “The Unknown
Errors of Lives” and “The Names of Stars in Bengali.” Divakaruni
interpret the structural pattern of family relationship for the cause of
migration and dislocation reshapes the human relationship and gives new
meaning to their life.

The first collection of the story is entitled as, “Mrs. Dutta Writes a
letter’. It has been selected for best American short stories in 1919. In this
story Mrs. Dutta is a protagonist widow, who staying with her son sagar
in California. Divakarnu expose the feeling of elder people, who come to
abroad to staying with their children and who forget their Indian life style.
The behaviour of Mrs. Dutta is irritated to her son and her daughter-in-
law. Once she fixes the alarm at five o’ clock, it get disturbed to everyone

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in the family. Mrs. Dutta says,”Good wife wakes before the rest of the
household”. (UEL-2)

Then, both sagar and Shymoli cricise the behaviour of Mrs. Dutta.
In this story Divakaruni interprets the emotional crisis of the ‘divided self’
of the immigrants through their bonds and relationship. Sagar convinces
his mother:

We want you to be comfortable ma. To rest that’s why we brought

you to America. (UEL-3)

But artificial life in America can never give satisfaction to the

immigrants. Beginning of the days in America, Mrs. Dutta struggle for
dislocation and cultural differences. In America Mrs. Dutta didn’t have
freedom to her routine habits like early rising and chanting of mantras, it
irritated to sophisticated life of Indian immigrants and it also disturbed
their morning sleep. Mrs.Dutta has feeling of nostalgia and mis the life in
Calcutta. One day Shymoli felt stressed to do the household work. Then
she told to sagar to wash the clothes. But Sagar refuse her words. Then
Shymoli says:

This is why Indian men are so useless around the house. Here, in
America we don’t believe in men’s work and women’s work.
Don’t I work outside all day, just like sagar. (UEL-15)

Cultural differences are existing in the mind of second generation

immigrants. Mrs.Dutta has feeling of nostalgia because of this change in
American life and she is not ready to get rid of her past. When she first
arrival to his son house, she wants to go outside and meet neighbours but
her daughter-in-law refuses that and says:

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 Such things were not the custom in California. Here everyone was
busy, they didn’t sit around chatting, drinking endless cups of
sugar tea because Americans don’t like neighbour to. (UEL-21-
22)

Mrs. Dutta an Indian immigrant unable to understand the life of

privacy because her life in Calcutta totally different. Mrs.Dutta is like first
generation immigrant woman and not easy to assimilate with host culture.
But Shymoli is second generation Indian immigrant and she is tried to
assimilate with host culture. Old immigrants ignoring host culture and
new generation immigrants wished to assimilate with alien culture. At the
end of the story Mrs. Dutta‘s letter reveals the immigrant life and survival
individual in America. She confesses:

I cannot answer your question about whether I am happy; for I am

no longer sure I know what happiness is. All I know is that it isn’t what I
thought it to be. It isn’t about being needed. It isn’t about being with
family either. It has something to do with love, I still think that, but in a
different way than I believed earlier, a way I don’t have the words to
explain. (UEL-33)

Immigrants are suffering from loss of their emotional bonding with

their relationships. Bharati Mukherjee in one of her story she admits that
the experiences of immigrants are split between wish and wished for and
also she said that without entering in to new world, we can’t understand
the experience of emigration. In our first entry in to alien land, we became
invisible, funny and lastly insulted by the alien people and lastly accept
the host culture.

In another collection of story is, “The Intelligence of wild Things”.

Divakaruni narrates how emigration affects on the personal relationship of

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immigrants. The narrator is a young married lady come to America after
her marriage. She tries to re-delineate her past life through the present life
of her brother Tarun. He migrated in to America by the force of her
mother. Behind his migration, he has sympathy on his sick mother,
homeland and adventures childhood. Narrator says that his mother only
mission was “Seeing my children before I die.” (UEL-52) the story begins
with the narrator describe her trip to her brother. She came to America to
know the betrayal between her brother Tarun and her mother.
Immediately her arrival to America, she looks at the framed photograph of
girl, who wears T-shirt and Jeans. In her view, friendship with white girl
in America, it means the death of her native sensibility of tradition. She
enquired her brother, “You never told me you had a girlfriend, especially
a white one.” (UEL-37)

Native sensibility shows in her behaviour and she refuses to sleep

on the bed, she imagined that bed was already used by white girl and says,
“I saw the girls red hair spread over the pillow. Her pale arms tight around
my brother’s brown back” (UEL-38). To saw this present life of Tarun,
she recalls her past life with the company of her brother enjoyed in
childhood. Narrator has emotional attachment with her brother, then her
rejection turn into sympathy and she become uncontrolled her emotion to
feel the pulse of Tarun, “I want to touch my fingers trip to my brother’s
and pulse into his body all emotions that jostled inside mine. (UEL-48)

This story highlights the familial relationship reflects on the

immigrants and shows the longing for love in human life. In the life of
immigrants, not only satisfy their feeling of homelessness but also
recollect the past life and recreate the history of their life in homeland and
their people. The narrator of Shame confesses:

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 What is the best thing about migrant people? I think their
hopefulness...and what is the worst thing? It’s the emptiness of one’s
language... We’ve come unstuck from more than one land. We’ve floated
upward from history, form memory, from time. (Rushdie, 87)

Next collection of the story is, “The Lives of Strangers”. In this

collection, Divakaruni interprets the nostalgia for the homeland and
boring life Indian immigrants in host land. The story is about the
experiences of the pilgrim party from Calcutta to Amaranath Holy Shrine.
Leela an elderly woman, who is suffering as a immigrant in America and
irritated by the American way of life style and come back to India for the
search of peace and spirituality in her retrospection. She recollects the
exciting experience of childhood that of reading books, playing chess on
computer and risk to go long rides on bike. Long back she leaves India for
to take up research project in America. Where she contact with her
colleagues Mr. Dexter, she has failed in this inter-racial personal
relationship. Then she mentally stresses and returns back to India in
search of stable human relationship. Divakaruni portrays the bad
impression about Indians on the mind of Americans or fear about Indian
condition, before she came to America her mother advised her that, “ Just
be sure to take your shots before you go, drink boiled water at all times,
and don’t get involved in the Lives of strangers.”(UEL-61)

The statement, ‘Don’t get involved in the lives of strangers’ is

ironical and its shows that involvement in personal relationship is the
process of un-civilization. After leela’s first staying at Calcutta, who is
fascinated for the cotton saris, groceries filled with odours and the
morning prayers in the temple. She glorifies her images on India:

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 India was a mardi Gras that never ended. Who would have thought
she’d feel so at home here? (UEL-63)

After her conversation with strangers, she realised that human

sympathy is lead a human bonds in sublimation, with the help of Leela,
Mrs. Das continued her journey and doctor advised to Mrs. Das to do
journey in that worst condition. Then Mrs. Das hold the arm of Leela and
continued her journey. Involvement in Mrs. Das’s life, leela develops new
vision of life. Mrs.Das accepts the love of Leela and decides to cross the
hurdles together. That idea of togetherness creates a strong bond between
them. That bond becomes changes the life of Leela and she reconstructs
the dream of her life. That narrator reveals the transformation of the
psyche of Leela:

Back in America her life wants to claim her unchanged impervious

smelling like floor polish. In the dusty window her reflection is a blank
oval. She take off her dark glasses to see better but the features which see
back at her are unfamiliar as though they belong to someone she has never
met. (UEL-88)

In the story Divakaruni highlights the human values and human

relationship are rooted in the soil of India. Disporic sensibility is not more
than human relationship. Bi-cultural experiences are not the matter of
cultural confrontation but immigrants are search for making and re-
making of identities. Prof. Harish Trivedi defines that, transaction is
useful to look for the whole phenomenon and it has two processes like
interactive process and another one is negotiation and exchange.

Another collection is “The Love of Good man”. It is the story of

happily married woman Monisha. Dilip and their son Bijoy. Monish
didn’t like her father and she thinks her father is the only cause of her

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mother’s death. Her mother says many wise sayings to use in different
occasions at Calcutta. She recall that sayings, love of good man saves her
life, anger is greater destroyer, out of the bluest skies, lightening
strikes.etc., she realises meanings of these sayings in passage of time with
the love and care of her husband. She easily faced emotional hurdles in
her life. She thinks that her father is not deserved to be forgiveness but
when she finds that her father is helpless, motherhood is exist in her. She
has developed some saying from her experience:

I think I will start collecting saying of my own, invisible flowers

spread greater fragrance. Home is where you move fluently
through the dark. (UEL-117)

The end of the story, Monisha forgives her father mistakes in her
life. Divakaruni focus on the emotions in human relationship is more
attached with life and personal relationship can change the emotions of
immigrant’s woman.

In “What the Body Knows”, in this story the subject matter is kept
apart from the issue of cross- cultural crisis. It focuses on the different
dimension of familial relationship. In this story Umesh is a good man to
take care of his wife Aparna. During her pregnancy illness for long time.
But in India, husbands are hesitating to help their wives. But in America
both men and women have equal rights and gender liberation is there. In
that sense Umesh helped to his wife. Once Dr. Byron advised to Aparna
and she wants to tell him about her husband:

He will always be unique in her life. The man who opened her up
and touched the innermost services of her body who travelled with
her Orpheus-like, the dusky alley way between life and death.
(UEL-141-142)

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 Here Divakaruni expose the bond of husband and wife. Wherever
they go, unconsciously tradition and culture of India is existing in their
life. Because of the tradition both husband and wife have happy married
life in America.

Another collection is entitled as, “The Forgotten Children”. In this

story young brother and sister, who suffered from fiercely love of their
parents. They fail to protect them in any fundamental way. Here
Divakaruni interpret the narrator recalls her painful experience as a poor
young girl. Her father always changed his job. So, they went to Northern
Indian factory. For the reason of dislocation, they have fear and tension in
strange city. She recalls her childhood days, she cultivates a rich
imaginative life share with her brother and she attempt to preserve shelter
to her brother, causing her to feel that disappear is the next best thing to
being forgotten. Divakaruni explains the condemn of the children in
matter of fact. But she achieves what she wants to do and enrage the
reader before they even realize what is happening.

In “The Blooming season for Cacti”, in this story Divakaruni again

exposes the issue of east-West encounter and brother and sister
relationship. In this story Mira is narrator, who migrates to California with
innumerable dreams. There she neglected by her sister-in-law and she
search for possibilities of assimilation. In California, she recalls her past
in Bombay. Torrential mansoon, the greedy, flooded streets and the whole
Ocean at night necklace with light from Marine drive. She also recalls the
painful shadow of Hindu-Muslim riots. She caught between home and
homelessness in California. Her brother advises her:

It’s not safe in India, how many times I told you and mother this,
more so now that you’re unmarried and alone. (UEL-170)

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 Because of this reason she went to California and search for job and
gets the job in Mukherjee’s restaurant. She was appointed as a cashier and
staying in apartment building. Priya also working in that restaurant and
she says the secret of mukherjee’s double marriage to Meera and she
inspired to Meera for maariage. She says:

Unfortunately, time doesn’t wait for women to recover. Today the

men are buzzing around Meera. Tomorrow, who knows? (UEL-
183)

Inspite of Meera has contact with Radhika, who is Mekherjee’s

second wife. Meera also contact with Ajit. Who is one of the regular
customers to the restaurant? She attracted by the personality of Ajit and
she accepts the proposal of dating with him. Here, Divakaruni refers the
Indian culture, tradition and Indian food, habits. It also reflects on the
cross-cultural issues in Mallik and Radhika’s relationship. Radhika
confesses:

I’ve had enough of silences. But it’s not Mallik I want to talk
about, I learned to live this. (UEL-196)

But Meera neglect the advice of Radhika and she also warned to
not become like her and have faith in men. End of the story Radhika tried
to attempt suicide and being hospitalized. Mallik blamed to Meera for
creating instability in the mind of Radhika. Then, Meera comes to realised
that, “For my mother, who also believed that to save the one you love,
you have to give up your own life.”(UEL-208) Divakaruni reflects the
personal relationship have affect on the life of immigrants. She also
expose that personal relationship is only mechanism for cultural harmony.

In another collection of story is, “The Unknown Errors of our

Lives”, it is the title story of this collections. This is a story of young
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woman Ruchira struggle to come to terms with her fiancé’s past
imprudence. Divakaruni expose the personal relationship with different
dimension.

In last collection of story is entitled as, “The Names Stars in

Bengali”. In this story, Divakaruni expose the problem of assimilation
affect on the relationship between mother and daughter. This story
focused on the longing for homelessness. In this narration lady visits to
India as an American immigrant after a considerable pause of time. Her
first arrival to Calcutta, she finds that her two sons were fascinated by
bamboo forest jumped up and down with a wild adrenaline and thrilled on
the chanting of old rhyme. Children have problem of pronouncing the
Bengali words. Children have more enjoyment in their life in village that
laughter add new dimension to their thought and it gives a new thrill of
life:

Then they’d laugh again, they hadn’t laughed so much in their

entire lives, they’d never thought India would be this much fun,
they wished they could stay forever. (UEL-239)

Children were not able to understand the meaning of the stories

narrated by their grandmothers. Seeing this excitement of children,
grandmother regrets for Indian woman being married to a foreigner.
Children like Indian stories, Indian foods and Indian tradition. In this
stage, Divakaruni portrait the two sides of ideology contrast between the
lives of immigrants. When children fall in sick, grandmother thinks that
their life in India is affected on them. Then the narrator confesses:

Oh, she should never have brought them to India, just to assuage
the guilt she felt at depriving her mother of her grandchildren.
(UEL_257)

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 Emigration is the process of transformation on the native culture to
alien culture, assimilation is only solution for to accept the alien culture
and come out from the problem of cultural alienation. Then Divakaruni
gives the whole picture in this following word:

But in their case they had stepped in to a time machine named

immigration and when they fell from its ferocious spinning it was
in to the alien habits of a world they had imagined perfectly. In
this world they could not inhabit a house together in the old way.
They could not be mother and daughters in that way again. (UEL-
261)

Through this, Divakaruni develops the process of assimilation in

alien culture and in that process they have to lose their own native cultural
identity. The narrator expresses her helplessness and concludes that,

“May be there’s a book in there, listing the names of stars is

Bengali and explaining how to identify them, which she can read
to her husband and children.” (UEL-268)

Jeff Zaleski writes about the various themes in the short story
collection, The Unknown Errors of Our Lives, “Divakaruni writes
intensely touching tales of lapsed communication, inarticulate love and
redemptive memories. This is a mixed collection, then but one worth
reading for the predominance of narratives that ring true as they
illuminate the difficult adjustments of women in whom memory and duty
must co-exist with a new, often painful and dislocating set of standards.”
(Zaleski, 61) Divakaruni with this collection of short stories to expose
diasporic experiences of immigrants. With her sensitive imagination,
innate sympathy for human relationship, relationship with national
boundaries. Awareness for gender prejudices and innate personal

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relationship have created the new era in Indian Diasporas. Short- stories
are explore the idea of assimilation and mainly focused on the cultural
backgrounds of India. Indian immigrants with this vision of relationship,
Divakaruni expose the cultural clashes affect on the life of immigrants
and it also affects on the human consciousness in globalization period.

Quest for real identity of girl in Oleander Girl

Woman always struggle for getting their own identity in within and
outside the country. Since from olden day’s women suffer from quest for
identity. Identity means individuality, self respect and value of their
thoughts, want to have liberation. Chitra Divakaruni’s latest novel,
Oleander Girl, it was published in the year 2013. Divakaruni beautifully
portraits the diasporic element of identity crisis in this novel.

Oleander Girl is the latest novel of Chitra Banerjee. Karobi is

central character in this novel. The whole story revolves around Korobi,
she is an orphaned, seventeen year old girl. She is grown up in her
grandparent’s home. Her grandfather Prasad Roy is a famous lawyer and
grandmother is Sarojini is a house wife. Krishna swamy states that:

There are always two ways for girl to act and to choose between.
He says that, she is torn between tradition and modernity, between
India and Western values and ways of living, between her dignity
as a human being and her duty as a daughter, wife and mother,
between marrying for love and marrying for family, between her
desire for autonomy and her need for nurturance. (Krishnswamy,
99)

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 Oleander Girl is a novel set in India and America. It explores the
feminine identity and question of women freedom. It mainly highlights
three generations of women. Korobi the youngest, Korobi’s mother Anu
and korobi’s grandmother Sarojini. She spends her whole life in India and
living and living only for following her husband demands. But Anu and
korobi are different. Once they go to US and then they realised that visit
to abroad is cause of displeasure for people around them. Through this
novel, Divakaruni highlights the changes between two cultures and that
causes affect of displacement on the life of Anu and Korobi. Korobi starts
her bi-cultural identity and find out her unknown father in alien country.
The whole story is revolves around Korobi’s quest for identity and her
struggle to find own identity in unacceptable social conditions. According
to Michelle Seperle affirms that, “In many novels, particularly those by
Indian women in many novels, particularly those by Indian women a
writer, girlhood is generally imagined as an empowered state. The source
of power is both girl’s bodies and their control over those bodies: fictional
new Indian girls use their bodies, voices and clothing to perform
individual versions of Indian girlhood as a state of power.” (Superle, 151)

In the beginning of the novel, korobi in her dream thinking that

forewarning for her dead mother:

Has she come, like a ghost in tales, to warn of an impending

disaster?” and in another example of this superstitious belief is
described...the commentator on Akashbani...over fifty people dead
in a train fire in Gujarat. Sarojini thinks...A pity that one had to
happen today, a day of more happiness than their family has seen
in a long time. (OG, 4)

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 It shows that Sarojini is a narrow minded person. Novel begins with
classic of Indian theme of wedding, on the eve of Karobi’s engagement;
she asks a question to her grandmother, “Why did she name me
korobi?”(OG, 8) Sarojini replied that she loved oleanders so much. That’s
why Anu keep that name to her daughter. Korobi named for the Bengali
word for ‘Oleander’- a beautiful, but tough flower as her father told her
later. Beginning of the novel Korobi has dreaming about her fiancé, Rajat.
Suddenly she wake up and see shadow in the corner. She whispers:

Mother, My fear replaced by a yearning that’s as old and illogical

as anything I can remember. I know so little about my mother only
that she died eighteen years ago, giving birth to me. (OG, 2)

Korobi says that she is unable to speak with her but that image
warning her to search her real identity in the society. this novel deals with
other issues like religion, politics, immigration, ancestry and race and
class. Her grandparent’s tells her that korobi’s mother was died and her
father also died in an accident so, she is became orphan. After eve of
korobi’s engagement, she got to know that the secrets of her father may
still be alive; living in America. He is an Afro- American. She only once
reminder of her parents, when she got a letter of her mother. Her mother
wrote that letter to her husband. After korobi meets Rajat, she finds him
the perfect match, just like her parents were. On the eve of her
engagement Korobi’s grandfather died on the cause of heart attack. Then
she knows the secret of her life that her father is still alive. Then Korobi
decided to go to America to find out her real identity.

In America Korobi’s friend Seema gave mental strength to korobi

and helps her to fight against difficult situation of life in alien land. Seema
also lives alone in America and she learns the ways to escape the trap she

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is in. Both are in same path and try to find their identity and freedom.
Korobi tries to find her true identity and gets help from other woman. In
her dream, she starts the quest of her life. Korobi brought up with
immense affections and care by her grandparents. But when she knows
that true identity of her father and her racial inferiority, she finds herself
worthless. Korobi on the other hand makes all the people around to accept
her as she is, not as she has to be. Korobi says:

Today I was looking at myself in the mirror, my skin, my hair-

I’m seeing everything differently now. Every detail has taken on a
new meaning. (OG, 226)

Here, Korobi is in stress and transition has affected on her life.

When her search got completed then her father told reason of named her
as Korobi:

She did actually, because the oleander was beautiful but also
tough. It knew how to protect itself from predators. Anu wanted
that toughness for you because she didn’t have enough of it
herself. (OG, 253)

Divakaruni revealing this secret almost end of the novel. Through

this novel Divakaruni gives new out look to girl and in fact new way
towards the exploration of selfhood and identity in Indian girl. This novel
mainly highlights the changes between two cultures and that affect the life
on korobi. The twists and turns to the story will raise interest in leader.
She has crafted a beautiful, complex story in which caste, class; religion
and race are significant factors informing people’s world views.

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 Bridging Cultural Ethnic diversity in the novel One Amazing
Thing

Chitra Divakaruni is an innovative story teller and also award

winning writer. One Amazing Thing is in the true sense a novel which
recollects and brings out the amazing part of the characters life. It was
published in 2010. It was first published in United States in voice by
Hyperion 2009 and later published in Hamish Hamilton by Penguin
Books India 2010. This novel compares with Chaucer Canterbury Tales.

This novel is set in India Visa Office in California and nine people
traped there due to earthquake and they are waiting for rescue. They have
little food and all of them belong to different countries including African-
American, Caucasim, Chinese and Indian along with variety of beliefs.
Such as Islam and Hinduism. Prejudice is major theme in the opening
scene of this novel. Only two of them are Indian origin. In this novel all
characters are protagonist, Divakaruni gives equal importance to all
characters. Novel begins with Uma, who is come to Visa office and that
office is in the basement of Indian consulate building in an unnamed city
in the United States. Most of the people waiting for travel visas. Uma is
also waiting for an hours. So, she started reading Chaucer’s work
Canterbury tales. Uma needs a visa to visit her parents who have returned
to India and she is living with her boyfriend Ramon who is scientist at the
University. Suddenly earthquake took place on near visa office and nine
people got struck in an Indian visa office. All of them struggle to survive.
The office in which they are trapped begins to flood. In that moment, all
people became stressed and emotionally depressed. In that dead ending
situation, Uma Sinha and Cameron both played an important role as
catalyst and help them to get rid of their fear of death for the time being.
Uma got idea to get involved all of them in telling their life stories and it
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helps to turn their concentration on another side. Uma suggests that each
of them should tell a personal story, one amazing thing about their lives
and as well as reason for needs a travel visa to India. Uma says:

We’re in a bad situation. It looks like the earthquake was serious

one. We don’t know how long we’ll be struck here... with a little burst of
excitement she sensed the power behind it. She said, we can each tell an
important story from our lives. (OAT, 65)

The nine characters as follows:

i)Uma Sinha- an Indian young college student stayed in America.

ii)Cameron- He is a retired army officer and belong to African-American.

iii and iv) Mangalam and Malathi – both are visa officers.

V and vi) Mr and Mrs Pritchett-

vii) tariq- a young muslim raised in America.

viii) Jiang- Chinese old lady

ix) Lily- Jiang’s grand daughter

Uma suggested them that they have to tell the stories, which they
have never told to anyone before. First Jiang, told her story before that
Uma makes rules and informed:

No interruptions, no questions, and no recriminations, especially

by family members between stories, they would take breaks as
needed. ( OT, 67)

Divakaruni tries to compares this novel with Canterbury tales. In

Chaucer’s work, twenty nine pilgrims are journeying from London to visit
the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Each pilgrim has

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challenge to tell two stories on the way to Shrine and two on the return
trip, with the prize of a free meal given to the best story teller. In this
novel, the main character Uma has get idea from Canterbury Tales. But
here, people came to visa office to get their travel visa and here journey is
different from pilgrims in Canterbury Tales.

Uma suggests that each one share their life stories, it helps to keep
away from their pain and suffering because of their injuries. First the old
Chinese lady Jiang volunteerly agrees to tell her story. She talks about her
beautiful childhood in Chinese quarters of Kolkata. She was in love with
Indian man Mohit but in that moment China has announced war on India.
Mohit says, “Forgive me, I love you, but I can’t fight a whole country.”
(OAT, 76) But Jiang’s father decided to shift to America. Then Jiang
marries with Chinese dentist Curtischan, during journey she gets
pregnant. In America Jiang and her husband move from city to city but at
last she sold all her jewellery and brought departmental store. After days
ago that store grew in to a supermarket. After long years back she met her
brother, who lived in Australia.

One day her husband has fever then she gave medicine to them but
she thinks that, “He’s dying”. She says, don’t die, don’t die, I love you.”
(OAT, 85) after heard this word, next day he become normal. Jiang thinks
and excited, “I thought I had said those words out of fear, or because that
is what they say in movies to dying men. But I had not been afraid. I knew
I could take care of the store and the children, with or without a husband.
And movies are foolish fancies. Then I knew I really loved him.... I could
not point to one special time and say, There! That’s what is
amazing.”(OAT, 85) and it was the amazing incident in her life. After the
death of her husband for the first time she thinks about her past life and
decided to visit Kolkata and that was the reason she was at the visa office.

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 Mrs. Pritchett was next to told his terrible abused childhood story.
He is a Caucasian accountant, he remember his childhood days was so
terrible. His mother was an alcoholic waitress who had no time for him
but he loved her mother. So, he was busy in his work. Because of his
loneliness he asked to his teacher for extra worksheets:

That brings home, fractions and decimals, and word problems

about aunt Anna who’s driving from Boston to Philadelphia at a
certain speed, or a bathtub where the stopper doesn’t quite fit, and
how long would it take to fill. (OAT, 95)

But his mother boyfriend killed that kitten and there after the boy
could never tolerate any pets. After heard this story Mrs.Pinchett know
that why her husband refused to allow her to keep a dog. Mr. Prichett is
upset by recent behaviour of his wife and hope of trip to India; it will help
them to starts new life. Divakaruni tries to bridge between two cultures.
India is a tourist place and has many historical places, which changes the
mood of foreigners and gives relief in their life.

Next Malthi starts to tell her story. She says, “I will give you my
story. But my English is not so good, and I want you to understand
everything properly. So, Mr. Mangalam must translate it from Tamil.”
(OAT, 102) she lived in a small town in India. When she was failed in
Tenth standard her parents decided to marry her. Then she started working
in beauty parlour to avoid getting married. Once her owner Lola’s absence
she has to attend the richest lady in town. She apply chemicals on her hair
after that lady’s hair falls in bunches. Then Malathi had fear of that
incident she avoided to show her face to Lola. Because Mrs. Balan told
that, “I would never set foot in lovely ladies or any other beauty parlour in
Caimbatore again.” (OAT, 117) After Malathi met Lola and finds job to

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Malathi in Hyderabad. Then Malathi moves to Hyderabad and from there
she got job in Indian consulate in America. She told this story because she
believed that was the only time she did something brave.

After that Tariq starts to tell his story. He is a Muslim man and he
has grown up in America. One day his mother’s friend daughter Farah
came to America. He started to like her. In 9/11 police arrested Tariq
father for no reason. In that moment they have struggle to appoint a
lawyer to get out his father from police station. Although he is released
after four days and after that everything was change. Before this incident
Tariq ignores his Muslim heritage but after this incident he adapts the
Muslim way of life in his clothes, his appearance and his thought process.
All his family decided to go to India and shifted there. He hopes that
Farah will accept the new life of him. He was in dilemma and thinks, “I
wouldn’t fit in India after having been raised here... Apart from lifestyle
differences, there was another issue: this was my country, I was an
American.... if I stayed in India, and it would be a great support for my
parents...” (OAT, 131)

Latter Lily has a chance to tell her story. She is Jiang’s

granddaughter and she talks about how her life dominated by black and
her parents had no time for her. Her brother Mark always to take care of
her. Her parents think that Mark was the perfect child; he was polite,
obedient and serious about his studies. Most of his friends were from
Chinese School. He wanted to become a Scientist specializing in cancer
research. In his Ninth Grade he wrote a paper that won a National Science
Award. Her brother always busy in his work then Lily discovered Music
and started playing the flute. She is going to the park for practising of
playing the flute. Her brother went to another city for his higher
education. She started compromising music by her and participated in

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competition. One day she feels that she can no longer play the flute that
the same day she learns that her brother has been failing in his exams. End
of the story she went to park and play the flute and there she met a boy
with Down’s syndrome who was fascinated with her music. Divakaruni
highlights the changes occur in every human life through this story.

Next Mr. Mangalam has opportunity to tell his story. He is working

in Indian Consulate office. He told that marriage he broken his life and he
was born in poor family in a small South Indian town and he was the first
son after three daughters. He was brave child because of his intelligence
he got scholarship to one of the leading Universities in Delhi. He thinks
that because of his family background he didn’t get higher education and
job is necessary to him for giving economical support to his family. After
he get job in Film Club, where he met Naina, who is daughter of rich man.
After they get marry but Naina doesn’t adjust with her husband family
even she refuse to attend her husband’s sister marriage or allowing her in-
laws to visit them. Mangalam told her that his parents come to meet them.
But Naina refused to says, “They could come if I really wanted it, but she
wasn’t going to have them staying with us. I could put them up at a hotel.
Not to worry, she would pay for it.” (OAT, 157) then he get job in Indian
Consulate office in America but still he trapped in an unhappy marriage.
Here, Divakaruni portraits the difference between class and how it affect
on the family of poor people.

After this story Mrs. Pritchett tentatively starts to tell her story. She
says, “I apologize in advance for my story. I know it will cause my
husband pain...you’ve been speaking of events that shatter lives in a day’s
time: wars, betrayal, seduction, death. In my case, my life was turned
around by a man I didn’t know helping his wife take off her coat.” (OAT,
166) She feels emptiness in her life in the result of not having children

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and not feeling a deep love for her husband. Because of this she tries to
commit suicide and had to be hospitalized. She has to recovering in
hospital, the nurse advise her that if she goes to India she might find the
peace and happiness she is looking for. After they come back to home Mr.
Pritchett shows picture of Tajmahal. So, both couple decided to visit
India. Mrs. Pritchettt wishes lose herself in India and starts again alone.
Place of dislocation can changes the mood. Indian tradition and culture
can gives the peace and happiness in life.

Next Cameron starts to tell his story. He met the holy man Jeff at a
hospice where he used to volunteer. He is working in army. In his high
school days he aborted child of his ex- girlfriend and since from that he
has guilt for that. So, he wants to visit India because he finds an
orphanage and he has to sponsor a child called Seva. He is on way to meet
her and truly hopes he can come out from this disaster.

At last Uma, suggests to telling her story. She talks about her
Indian life in America. After two decades her parents went to India and
settled there. So, she wants to meet her parents. She thinks that her parents
happy in India. But one day her father calls her and told that he would like
to give divorce to her mother. She is shattered because of heard the word
divorce. One day Uma takes off with her friends on a binge. Suddenly
they stop the car and see the sky lit up with different hues. Someone says
that it is aurora. But next day they realize that it was chemical factory that
had an explosion.

Through her idea of telling their stories she has to come out from
fear of earthquake. The tales keeps the survivor’s hallucination and being
afraid and also help bring them together to reach a common goal. All of
them from different background and countries and each of them have

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chance to reveal their humanities through stories and those stories help to
bridge between two cultures and different people. In end of the story
telling, down parts of the building attacked by flood and water supply was
damage and it causing a gas leak. That moment Uma tells the final tale.
But all survivors heard the noise of building parts go down. When the
building becoming unstable to rescue survivor hear the sound of crew
approaching people from hazard. When the final tale ends, all survivors
wait patiently to see what will happen next.

Divakaruni through this story she has to bridge between different

cultures. In this story all characters are protagonist and give equal
importance to all. Diasporic identities like within a story and living a
story. One Amazing Thing is the novel of untold stories to bring out the
significance of humanity.

Bond between Multi -Generations in Before We Visit the

Goddess

Chitra Banerjee is one of the remarkable diasporic writers in twenty

first century. Before We Visit the Goddess is early novel of Divakaruni.
This novel is also set in two countries, India and America. But this story
is different from other novels of Divakaruni. In this novel, the story is
narrated by three leading characters through time and place. This is the
story of three women, Sabitri, Bela and Tara. In this novel, Divakaruni
mainly focuses on grandmother, mother and daughter relationship. Three
women in this story are not only having blood relationship but their
actions, their views and their behaviours also affected on each other life. It
is a story of three women of different generation and countries. The novel
explores the issues like poverty, literacy, freedom and quest for self-
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realization of women. Divakaruni highlights the different diasporic
natures of two countries and construct the different cultures, civilization,
language and feeling for belongingness. It aims to focus on cultural
difference from the past to present and present generation human never
visited their home country. Connetion between home and host country is
main theme of this novel. Through this novel Divakaruni explore her
origin place of Calcutta and her current residence place in USA.

The first protagonist of this novel is, Sabitri. She is a daughter of

poor sweet vendor in Bengal, India. She is not educated because of her
family background makes impossible to fulfil her dream. Her dream is to
become a Teacher. But Sabitri life has take a turning point and she
attracted by her benefactors son Bijan and he tempt to marrying her. Then
she realised that she is falling in love with Bijan but he refuse her. The
year’s later Sabitri’s daughter Bela followed the actions of her mother and
influenced by her mother’s choices, runaway with her lover Sanjay. He is
in America. This incident again breaks the heart of Sabitri. Bela finds that
world is different from her dream. And she is not ever happy with her
married life. Divakaruni interpret that our mistakes follows us till our
death like Bela breaks the heart of her mother and later Bela’s daughter
makes a same things to her.

After fifty, Bela takes divorce and lead life in her own path. Then
she teaches a lesson to her daughter about freedom and loyalty that will
take away from problems. After her divorce Bela addicted to alcohol and
her daughter Tara blames her for the divorce. Once Tara says, “One day,
in the kitchen at the back of the store, I held in my hand a new recipe I
had perfected, the sweet I would on to name after my dead mother. I took
a bite of the conch-shaped dessert, most elegant mango colour. The
smooth, creamy flavour of fruit and milk, sugar and saffron mingled and

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melted on my tongue. Satisfaction overwhelmed me. This was something
I had achieved myself, without having to depend on anyone. No one could
take is away”. (BVG) Divakaruni said that her sensibility as a writer has
been shaped by living in India and America, Bengal and Assam,
California and Texas.

Divakaruni’s character always have complicated life and put them

in a complicated situation. The three women of this novel are mentally
strong and they don’t hope to alive and end of the story the life become
better and melancholic. In this story the characters are appeared one by
one. She used different type of technique in her writing. In the story once
highlight the important incident of one protagonist life and explanation
about that situation is explained in the another story and that is narrated
by another protagonist gaps and end of the novel it fits in to the big
picture and apart some incidents. This story creates a bridge between three
different generations and their way of thinking also differs and it affect on
the each other’s life. This is a gracefully written story and highlights
generation by generation, all they set for independence and connection.

Re-interpretation of Mythmaking in the character of Draupadi in

Palace of Illusion

Chitra Divakaruni says about reason to the need of retelling epics.

Myths and epics speak to the something deep and unchanging in the
human soul and that’s why we return to them again and again in an effort
to solve the riddle of existence. Perhaps in times of rapid change such as
India is undergoing currently. We are particularly attracted to the timeless
elements in myths. The Mahabharata is one of the India’s greatest epic.
This ancient epic maintains its status as a culturally foundational text.
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Epic deals with many characters and those characters are ubiquitous in
literature. Literature explores the women in different ways in Indian
patriarchal setup.

Chitra Banerjee latest novel The Palace of Illusion was published in

the year 2008. Re- interpretation of the myth of Indian great epic The
Mahabharata in author’s view. This is the era of retelling epics. Indian
epics are becoming popular in all over the world. India has gained
confidence in almost all fields. Divakaruni wrote the popular feminist
retelling of Indian epics. The Palace of Illusion is different because of
Draupadi’s story. It focuses on the protagonist Draupadi, her struggle of
survival in male dominated society and it also portraits the different areas
of Draupadi’s life. While growing up in patriarchal society it analyses
how Divakaruni has reconstructed the image of Draupadi and female life
during ancient period. It also explains the famous tale of war between
heroes of two kingdoms and their devoted wives. Divakaruni has uses
feminism in western philosophy and retells the Indian myth in new
perspectives.

Divakaruni portrays Draupadi as a powerful, strong and

independent woman and she has equal power to the men around her. She
wrote this story on female perspective and it is the story of millions of
women who are fighting and unconsciously battling to find out their self
and own identity. Draupadi was considered to be responsible for the war
of Mahabharat all most reader of epic told that eighteen days war was
happen only because of the revenge of Draupadi. She is daughter of
Drupada. The novel opens with three narrators (Panchali, her brother and
her nurse). Presenting different versions of the tale of Panchali’s birth and
destiny. Draupadi recollects the epic from the time. She and her brother
Drushtadyumna are born out of the sacrificial fire and adopted by king

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Drupada. Panchali says, `“He held out his arms but for my brother alone.”
(PI, 17)

In this novel Divakaruni uses a very simple lucid prose style.

Draupadi through her words conversation carefully unfolds the different
layers of the Mahabharata. In authors note, Divakaruni has written that
she would be often wonder if indeed there was more to existence that
what logic and her sense could gasp. The locale and the setting is ancient,
the characters and events are legendary, the episodes and stories are
mythical but the entire emotions is real, the struggle is modern and the
spirit to fight against all odds is human. In her words, she would uncover
the story that lay invisible between the lines of men’s exploits. Better
now, she would have one of them tell it herself, with all her joys and
doubts, her struggles and her triumphs, her heart breaks, her
achievements, the unique female way in which she sees her world and her
place in it. Panchali’s life self- perception of her characters is constructed
around a dual struggle.

These all novels have diasporic elements and protagonist characters

of these novels have experiences of diasporic features like
nostalgia, homelessness, alienation, and multiculturalism, quest for
identity and immigrant problems. Through these novels Chitra
Divakaruni Banerjee had made a tremendous development in
diasporic literature and also in Indian English literature. Other
novels she has wrote on different issues like children book, myths
and on feminist perspectives. These are also dealt here.

Neelu:Victory song It is Chitra Divakaruni’s first children book. It

was published in the year 2002. It is a historical novel. In this story Neelu
is twelve years old girl and protagonist of this novel. Divakaruni explores

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two different characters in this novel in the independence movement. She
has to gives new image to the woman. Neelu raise her voice when her
father arrested by British people. This novel is included in ‘Girls many
land series’ featuring books based on young girls from various historical
periods and cultural traditions.

Neelu is a village girl; novel begins with marriage of her sister

Usha. Divakaruni has to explore the difference between Neelu and Usha
in the same period. Usha is silent girl and typical Indian girl. But Neela is
bold and strong girl. She has to raise her voice against the violence and
patriarchal restriction on woman. Neela caught up in the independence
movement. Instead to be typical Indian girl, she has to plunge in to a
Independence movement. But her mother wants Neelu should be like
traditional Bengali girl like her sister. From her childhood Neelu character
is different than Usha. Once her father attended March Movement in
Calcutta, that movement British police arrested all freedom fighters. Then
Neelu got to know this news and she has plan to go to Calcutta and tries to
release her father from prison without informing to her mother. Neela
went alone to Calcutta and she disguises herself as a boy and faces many
adventures. Finally Neelu release her father from the prison and come
back to their village. End of the story her father says, “You were also
brave and quick- witted, that’s really what saved us! I’m proud of you;
daughter and so will your mother be, when I tell her.” (NVS, )

Divakaruni through this novel, she has to portray two difficult goals
and to give new image to woman in Indian society. She has to present the
Indian independence movement and also presenting the character of
Neela, raised her voice against tradition and blind belief of India.

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 Another children book of Chitra Divakaruni is Conch Bearer. It
was published in 2013. It is while giving reason behind writing this book
for children. Divakaruni says, “This book is very important for me. I
started thinking about it right after 9/11 because I felt that we were living
in a world where we really needed cross- cultural understanding in the
paranoia and hate crimes that occurred across the nation right afterward.
My community was affected, among many other communities. I wanted
to do something to open children’s minds to other cultures, because I was
feeling that by the time people are adults, it’s too late.”(Ann, 20)

It is series book of Brotherhood of the Conch. For this work Chitra

got the gold medal Blue Bonnet award and it was chosen as publishers
weekly best children book of the year and a booklist editor’s choice. It is
the three books of the Conch Bearer trilogy. The story opens in a poor
section of Calcutta. Anand and Nisha both are central character in this
story. Anand lives in the slums and Nisha lived in street and they become
the heroes in this book. Anand is twelve years old boy. His father had left
them two years before this story starts. Anand believe in fairy tales and
magic. So, he didn’t go to school. His sister Meera, she was mentally hurt
when she witnessed a murder. So, Anand and his mother must work for
their family. Anand is working in tea shop and he got very little money
from his work.

The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming (2005) is a second novel of the

Brotherhood-trilogy.it set in several hundred years back in the past to the
time of the Moghal rulers. Here, the storyteller takes us from the original
beauty of Himalaya to the world of an ancient kingdom; it has colourful
valleys and aromas. The protagonists Anand encounter powerful
sorcerers, spoiled prices, noble warriors and evil Jinns. An evil magician
Jinni has planning to downfall the royal family. However, Anand defeat

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the evil magician and his search for become a full member of the
Brotherhood of the conch. There he continues to learn the secret arts of
the Brotherhood.

Shadowland (2009) it is Divakaruni’s young adult novel. In this

story Anand the hero of the Brotherhood of the conch series, now fifteen,
there he continues to learn the secret arts of Brotherhood. Bu his magical
conch is stolen by an unknown force and suddenly his adopted home is
reduced to a barren wasteland. Anand with his friend Nisha begins the
dangerous mission journey of his life in shadowland. His attempt to
restore the conch to its rightful place, and his home to its original
splendour. Divakaruni Says about this series book. She always loved
magical Indian tales and she grow up with heard those types of tales. So,
she wanted to write a similar story that had Indian characters and an
Indian setting that used some of the elements of the Indian folk or fairy
tales. She says that she wanted to write children books and such story to
be available for her sons as well as other children of different ethnic
backgrounds in America for them to relate to and enjoy India character.

Thus, Chitra Divakaruni has developed herself among the leading

writers of Indian heritage writing in English. Her fictions have the theme
about India. Though she born in India, at present, in America that’s why
she has been telling the stories of Indian immigrant women trying to
accommodate and assimilate with the free socio-cultural environment of
America. Women depicted by her exploited, suppressed and marginalized
due the male domination. These women have experienced of sufferings
and if they cross the patriarchal rules and systems by their home culture.
Women struggle quest for their identity out of their immigrant existence.
Divakaruni writes about how a woman views herself and her problems, as
well as other women and their problems. Her female protagonists are

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deeply rooted in India. Though they struggle for freedom, independence
and attempt to share their individuality. All fictions of Divakaruni’s
portray the diasporic problems and diasporic issues in life of immigrant
woman in alien land.

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 Works - Cited

1.Banerjee, Debjani. “Home and US: Re-defining identity in the South

Asian diaspora through the writings of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and
Meena Alexander”, diasporic Imagination asian- American writing. Vol-
2. Fiction: Novels and Shport-stories Ed. Somadatta Madal. Prestige
Books. 2000. P-15

2. Bhattacharjee, Sukalpa. “The text as narrative: Reading ideology,

Ethnic literatures of America Diaspora and inter-cultural studies.” Ed.
Somadatta Mandal, himadri lahiri, Prestige Books. 2005. P-46

3.Bridget, Kinsella. “Being American in today’s world” publisher weekly,

New York. Aug 9, 2004. Vol. 251. P-229

4.Deshmukh, Pradnya. Ed, ‘Nationalism, Transnatrionalism: Diasporic

Experiences in Bapsi Sidhwa and Chitra Banerjee,’ Discovery
Publishing, New Delhi. 2013. P-11,147,112,152
5. Eshwari. C.N. ‘Post- colonialism and Chitra banerjee’s Sister of My
Heart, Contemporary Literary criticism. Theory and practice. Vol. II Ed.
N.D.R.Chandra, Author Press, 2003. P-337
6. Fedrick, Aldana Luis. “Unbraiding tradition: an interview with Chitra
Divakaruni” journal of South Asian literature. Vol. 35. No.192. 2000. P-6
Johnson Sarah Ann, “Writing Outside the Lines”, The Writer Boston:
March 2004 vol, 117. P-25, 4, 2
7. Jain, Jasbir. “Introduction: writers of Indian Diaspora, Jaipur, Rawat
Publication 2003. P-101
8. Krishnaswamy, Shanta. The woman in Indian Fiction in English,
Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi. 2001. P-99

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9. Lalita, R. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, ‘A rising star in the Diasporic
Literature; The common wealth revies, Indian society for common wealth
studies.2009. 17.2. p-23
10. Rushdie, Salman. Shame, New Delhi, Rupa and Co., 1983. P-87
11. Sarah Ann, Johmson. The Writer, March 2004. Vol.117. p-20
12. Sethi, R.C. Arranged Marriage: Stories, studies in short- fiction, New
Berry: Spring 1996. Vol. 33. P-287
12. Walters, Margret. Feminism: A very Short Introduction, New York:
Oxford University Press. Inc., 2005. P-117
13. Wong, Sau-Ling, C. “ Middle class a Global frame: refiguring the
status pf Liberty in divakaruni and Minatoya” MELUS. The Journal of the
Society for the study of the Multi-ethnic literature of the United States.
Guest Ed. Amritjit and C. Lokchua, Vol, 29, No-3 and 4, fall/Winter
2004. P-205
14. Zeleski, Jeff. The Unknown Errors of Our Lives, Publisher weekly,
New York, March. 12, 2001, vol-248. P-61

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