Indian Woman at the Cross Roads:A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Heroines

The feminist thought and the feminist movements in the west have had some influence on the women’s movements in developing countries like India. Yet feminism as it exists today in India has gone beyond its western counterpart. As Uma Narayan rightly puts it, “Third World feminism is not a mindless mimicking of ‘western agendas’ in one clear and simple sense-Indian feminism is clearly a response to the issues specifically confronting many Indian women.” (Weeden’1997:13) Although feminism as an organized movement made its appearance in India late in the 1970’s, it existed in spirit long before even the western feminist movement had begun. One may here recall the 15^th century story of Meera Bai and her struggle to remain faithful to her divine love. Besides the Indian women who actively participated in India’s struggle for independence were also guided to a considerable extent by the feminist zeal. However, the Indian women’s struggle for emancipation could not mimic its western counterpart for obvious reasons. Due to historical and cultural specificities of the region, the feminist movement in India had to think in terms of its own agendas and strategies. In the Indian context, several feminists have realized that the subject of women’s emancipation in India should not be reduced to the contradictions between man and woman. The woman, in order to liberate herself and advance, needs to empower herself to confront different institutional structures and cultural practices that subject herself to patriarchal domination and control.