There is an apparent divergence from the first generation and second generation diasporic Indian Woman Novelist. The first generation writers such as Anita Desai, Shashi Despande and. Bharathi Mukharjee project the issues of racism, nostalgia, and rootlessness whereas the second generation writers like Jhumpa Lahiri, Kiran Desai and. Manju Kapur attempts to smash the literary and social norms of the prejudiced society. An Indian Diasporic writer such as Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, Shashi Tharoor, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Sunetra Gupta, Rohinton Mistry, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Manju Kapur has won the prestigious award for their writings. They describe their encounter in foreign countries. One such experience of Manju Kapur being away from India when she was a student in Canada has portrayed in her novel ‘The Immigrants’
Manju Kapur is one of the renowned contemporary Indian novelists of English literature and whose writings based on transition in a woman. She was an English lecturer in Miranda House, a noninterventionist arts and science college for the woman at Delhi. She was born in Amritsar, a town in the northern Indian state of Punjab and lives in Delhi. She pursued her B.A at Delhi University and did her graduation at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her major themes are feminism, immigration, identity, isolation, assimilation, and corruption. She plainly focuses on female sexuality, infertility, pre-marital and extramarital affairs in her works. She depicts women who confront a significant challenge in her life and ponders her identity. She exhibits woman passion, mother-daughter love, and man and woman relationship in her writings. She has been criticised for a pessimistic portrayal of Indian men. She has contributed five works to literature namely Difficult Daughters in 1998, A Married Woman in 2002, Home in 2006, The Immigrant in 2008, and Custody in 2011.
difficult daughter sketches the enlightens of Kapur’s mom towards life. She acquaints about the illicit romance in an educational institution. she additionally conceals the part up of India. the student virmati withstands hurdles to a great extent. she was offended by the society for bearing married man`s child. she resided in with bizarre feelings. an educator harish is a self-seeking man. he is upset by an uneducated wife. he dodged her. he tries to get hold of a soothing consort virmati. At the instance of pursuing wisdom, she is in love. she likes her educator. the protagonist is affronted in her life by the illegal love affair. she struck in the midst of family lifestyle and dreams. she opts not in favour of her customs she was failed to acknowledge by both of families. she felt insignificant in the world. she faces too many disregards. when she got a girl baby Ida her family accepted her. she lived in tranquillity with harish. it won commonwealth writers prize eurasia in 1998. she brings two similar frameworks in this novel. the protagonist grabbles in accomplishing her fantasies. she challenges taboos. india strives to attain their liberty. in the end, two attains their desire by losing them.
‘A Married Woman ‘shortlisted for Encore Award centres the life of Astha. Kapur uncovers lesbian relationship through this novel. At the beginning of the novel, Astha was happy with her husband Hemant. As time moves on things began to unravel, he was hectic with his business so he fails to pay attention to his wife. She begins to reflect her frustration by writing poems and painting. Though she diverts herself into writing she feels deserted. To overcome his sudden change she develops the lesbian relationship with her friend, Pipeelika a widow. When she knows about his illness, she begins to care for him. Gradually, she understands him and the firmness of marriage so she gives up her lesbian relationship.
Her third novel, ‘Home’ is enveloped with Indian culture, family values, and religious custom. The endeavour of a married woman in day-to-day is illustrated in this novel. Nisha, the protagonist fails to tie a knot with her boyfriend due to family circumstances. Even her boyfriend suggested marrying according to her family desire. She undergoes psychological problems because of the abrupt changes in her life. Later, she marries a cloth merchant according to her family wish on condition that she can do business after the marriage. Unfortunately, she is unable to establish her business. She scrambles between her dream business and family. When she got twins, she got back to her business. This novel was shortlisted for the Hutch Crossword Book Award in 2006.
Her first novel after her retirement is ‘Custody’ holds forth lives of two dissimilar women whose pain paved way for enhancement within them. Shagun was an independent woman whereas Ishita depends on her husband and she devotes herself to her family. Shagun’s illicit affair paved a way for divorce and Ishita’s infertility pushed her to court. Meanwhile, both of them chose an alternative path at the time of crisis. They found out their passion and desire and moved towards it. Shagun excelled in modeling whereas the other fell in love with a divorcee and lived happily with his daughter. They reinvented themselves and succeeded in their life.
In her fourth novel ‘The Immigrant’, the plot revolves around two characters Nina and Ananda. Nina is an English lecturer in Miranda house, Delhi whereas he is a dentist in Canada. Both had spent their lives building their career. They did not have sufficient time to think about marriage. Fortunately, they tied the knot and departed to Canada. Her dreams about married life began to fade due to infertility. Her frustration with the new life in Canada led her to dodge him. At the end of the novel, Nina undergoes a process of reinventing herself. It is a portrayal of predicament and abandonment of woman. This novel was longlisted for DSC prize for South Asian literature which is initiated by Surina Narula in 2010 as a way to acknowledge the effort of South Asian writers.
Kapur skilfully depicts the life of immigrants in Canada and loneliness of a married woman. Though she does not live in North America, she was a part of the migrant process. She parallels her life in this novel. She sets up the story in Halifax. The major themes in this novel are the experience of immigrants, loneliness, identity crisis, and culture, and infertility, a quest of selfhood, extramarital affair, and marriage. The major character in the novel is Nina and Ananda through whom readers sense the various themes employed in the novel. Ananda was a pampered child in India whereas he has to look after himself in a new land. Isolation and loneliness continue from the beginning to the end. Initially, Ananda feels to be detached in Canada later Nina senses the same. Kapur has brought out sexual dysfunction as a reason to shatter the marriage life of Nina and Ananda. Due to infertility both of them were caught up in relation to white people. They do not seek to overstep any morality. Experience of a refugee is seen in these characters. They toiled to learn the culture, food, and tradition of the new land.
The most current on the outlook of abstract investigation is Ecocriticism. Disengaging ourselves from nature is an impossible idea hence; Ecocriticism tries to the forefront vibes of place and the bond between mankind and nature. It is the exploration of literary text from the natural interdisciplinary point of view. Scholars consider texts with environmental concerns and evaluate the employment of the subject of nature in the text. The term Ecology is related to the ‘green’ movement. Ecocritic is one who points out the merits and flaws of depicting nature in the literary text. Many scholars worked on ‘The Immigrant’ novel in feministic insight, cultural conflict, Dislocation, alienation, isolation and immigrant experience. This project focuses “The Immigrant” novel in eco-centric perspective. It brings out the function, image of nature and natural element utilized in the text.
