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A Double Vision in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake
1. Mavidi Papinaidu Asst. Prof. of English, Bs & H-Dept, Aditya Institute of Technology And Management, Tekkali, Srikakulam, A.P
2. Kasina Narsimhamurty Asst. Prof. of English, Bs & H-Dept, Aditya Institute of Technology And Management, Tekkali, Srikakulam, A.P India
ABSTRACT: Double vision is another important theme in Lahiri‟s novels. It depicts cultural conflicts and cultural dilemmas of first and second generation immigrants in the alien land. Lahiri describes the themes with the characters very beautifully in all the novels. She expresses the deep sense of fascination towards the attached culture such as strong family relationships, gratitude to the arranged marriage system, life style, eating habits, passion for mother tongue. At the same time she explicates the alien land language, livelihood, food habits, individual life style, mismatched marriages and fragmented family system in her literary works makes the Indian origin immigrants feel great confusion between two diverse cultures, sometimes conflicts among multi cultures.
Key words: Cultural conflicts- cultural dilemma-fascination-immigrants-fragmented family-multicultural- acculturation.
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Jhumpa Lahiri‟s Pulitzer Prize winning short story collection The Interpreter of Maladies is also the first master piece of cultural conflicts, cultural dilemmas, struggles in the multicultural world and their troubles in the process of acculturation. With these Diaspora themes, Lahiri has become world popular writer and she has got into the place of renowned writers of English in the world. As a coin has two sides, she has got applaud from the western part of the world and at the same time lot of criticism from the other part of the world. All her literary master pieces seem to be over emphasis, beyond the realities, exaggeration of the lives of Indian immigrants make her to be criticized by the eastern part of our world. However she must be appreciated for her novelty in her writing and the close observation of the lives of Indian immigrants in the alien land. She has sentimentally sketched the various characters in her works. It is understandable for even an ordinary reader that Lahiri has strong affection towards the Indian culture and customs. She takes the hidden conflicts of the immigrants to limelight with her wonderful art of writing. She not only depicts the autobiographical elements in her literary works but also interpretations of her keen observation from the world outside in the alien land. In her Diaspora identity, Lahiri has expressed her personal background and Indian lineage of her eastern origin. The nine stories in her collection offer a wonderful variety of experiences gathered from the cultural clashes rippling in many directions. Lahiri has attempted to present the trauma of the Indians and successfully balances their native and acquired cultures in their home and foreign land. Lahiri wears different hats of cultures, the Indian, the British and the American. Sometimes her descriptions are with the Indian way of thinking and at the other she presents a wonderful multi-cultured world with the forces of universalism, presenting the native traditions and languages, she has internationalized her own culture. Of course in the diverse forces of the world, she has hard time in selling multiculturalism. In the words of Bhagabat Nayak, “by deconstructing the self of her tormented souls she has become a cultural broker and a cultural breaker. (p-184)” 1.1 Cultural Conflicts Especially in her debut short story collection The Interpreter of Maladies, Lahiri shows her thoughts. There are nine stories in The Interpreter of Maladies. Of which except the last two of all the characters in all the stories are the symbols of cultural conflicts and multiculturalism. Take for instance, the first story temporary matter is an appropriate one to explain the themes of cultural conflicts and the lives of immigrants in the alien land, how
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 they acculturate the host culture and their problems during the process of contra acculturation. Shoba and Shukumar are newly married couple live in New England conflicts in the bicultural society. They are unable to accustom the new culture. Even though they are living in the alien land, they remind the mother culture. When Shoba is pregnant, she along with her husband dreams of their baby, what name to be given, first feed by her brothers for her kid which is a tradition of Indian culture. Unfortunately, the baby has been dead in the hospital and all the dreams of these parents have been unfulfilled besides it brings miserable situation in their lives. They are dreaming to do in the alien culture which cannot be possible to do all the rituals related to our Hindu culture in the alien multicultural society. But, as they are habituated the Indian culture, Indian immigrants are not able to avoid the attachment with the culture of our mother land. At the same time, innocently they are thinking about the traditions. It is not possible to retain the mother culture in the multicultural society. That is why one hand Shoba and Shukumar conflict between bi-cultures on the other hand unwillingly adopt the alien culture. They want independent living so that even though they live in the same house, they never share anything whole heartedly. They are sharing their physical pleasures only at night which is the culture of alien land. As they are the immigrants of the alien land, they are unknowingly accept the host culture by retaining the home land culture. As an immigrant, one has to acculturate either to the alien culture so that they can enjoy the fruits of multicultural society, or else they must be ready to conflict between the dual cultural system in the lives of some characters, the same thing happened. In some other characters, acculturation, contra acculturation are happened. What Jhumpa Lahiri wants to suggest here is that it is always not so easy to reconcile the conflicting claims of two different mindsets suffering from the strange disease of modern life; especially, when the only point of reconciliation in the form of a baby is lost. It is not only the conflict between two cultures but also the psychological conflicts in the characters. Language is another symbolic expression of any culture. There is so much of pleasure in the conversing in the mother tongue. Sometimes language which is spoken by the people shows which country they are from and their traditions and attitudes. So, in the alien land, when an immigrant meets another immigrant from the same country, really happy to converse the language from which they get lot of contentment. In the second story from The Interpreter of Maladies, Mr. Pirzada, who is professor in Dacca, has shifted to New England and often
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 visits the Bengali family from India. Even though he is from Bangladesh, his origin is India. He is a Muslim but he loves to speak in Bengali with the Bengali couple. 1.2 Nostalgia 1.3 Another example in the same story shows how Indian immigrants have nostalgia towards Indian culture. When Lilia asks to see the American history by her teacher, she shows lot of interest in Asian history is another example how Indian immigrants are contra acculturated in the multicultural society. In this story either Lilia or Mr. Pirzada expects identity for their culture in the land of alien culture. In fact, it is rather difficult for her to make any sense out of it:” It made no sense to me. Mr. Pirzada and my parents spoke same language, laughed at the jokes, looks more or less the same. They ate pickled mangoes with their meals, ate rice every night for supper with their hands. Like my parents, Mrs. Pirzada took off his shoes before entering a room, chewed fennel seeds after meals as a digestive, drank no alcohol, for dessert dipped austere biscuits into successive cups of tea.(p-25). According to Rashmi Guar, “The portrayal of Mr. and Mrs. Das is a testimony to Lahiri‟s maturity in handling the craft of fiction. Their alienation from their cultural roots and bondages to the conventions of a different society is presented with a strong under- current of irony. Their external glamour is contrasted with their inner claustrophobia and emptiness. This contrast, at times, becomes comic and the pathos of that comedy arises from their inability to grasp, in broader or profounder terms, what nit is which significantly constitutes freedom and happiness in life. This contrast also conveys the gravity of the static, haunted loneliness which Mrs. Das had endured half consciously” (p.14). It is not at all the culture of having extra marital relationship. Especially Indian woman is not expected to do so and it is great sin on the part of Indian women who imbibed the culture right from their birth. Due to the influence of western culture, Indian immigrant women also do the same which causes breaking of the marital relation as well as lead to become the family system and bond between the members weak. This is what Lahiri clearly showed in the title story of The Interpreter of Maladies. Mrs. Das lives in New Jersey with her husband, Mr. Das is working as professor in the university. Mrs. Das is the perfect example of acculturation. She has extra marital relationship with a Punjabi friend of her husband. Her infatuation towards host culture is not a serious issue for the Americans, for the
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Indian immigrants, a great conflict in the multicultural society. In this manner, the mental trauma runs here on two levels-one in the personal relationship of Mr. and Mrs. Das and the other, in the too brief emotional exchange between Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das.“The self- absorbed Mrs. Das stops polishing her nails and removes her sun glasses the moment she hears Mr. Kapasi‟s part-time job as an Interpreter of Maladies. He explains the symptoms of Gujarati patients to a local doctor who does not know the language. So far, none has taken his profession seriously. His own wife looks down upon this job and when other woman asks her, she tells them that he is the doctor‟s assistant. Mr. Das is too quite unimpressed by Mr. Kapasi‟s profession; he rather likes his job of a guide since he himself has to bring his students periodically to museum and explain things to them”. (p-53) However, when she visits Orissa, she has met Mr. Kapasi, whose profession is an interpreter at the doctor. It is also not the part of Bengali culture that being a Bengali woman, she never share the family issues with the others. But in this story Mrs. Das reveals her mistake with an unknown stranger Mrs. Kapasi which causes for the Kapasi‟s attraction towards her, not only that she has said one of her offspring is born with her illegal contact with a Punjabi friend of her husband. Of course, it shows that one hand she has realized, she wants remedy for her mistake, on the other hand conflicts between the diverse cultures. According to Indira Nityanandam, “in the alien land with constant cultural collisions, caused by cultural transplants and leading to cultural alienation, these protagonists find it difficult to adjust to cope, and to come to terms with the reality around them. Moreover, they are always mourning for the homeland left behind. They need to adjust socially, economically as well as culturally”. (p-35) With the words of Indira Nityanandam, we can understand that in the process of their transition state, immigrant Indian woman struggle a lot. One category of these easily accustom to the new culture, the other category fails to adjust to the alien culture. The most important thing in the Lahiri‟s short stories is that cultured Indian immigrants realize the richness of their culture through the Native Americans. It is happened in the life Dev in “Sexy”. He is an orthodox Bengali in America, having extra marital relationship with a Native American girl Miranda in the absence of his wife by ignoring the values of his culture. They enjoy physically. She is impressed with calling her sexy by Dev. As it is the nature of woman, without thinking whether Dev is married or not she has relationship with him.
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However, Miranda, at the end she has realized that it is not good on her part expecting a married Indian man for her company where as Dev could not make out of it. Miranda has an experience in her child hood days, whenever she visits an Indian family, observes all the slippers left outside. She understands the rich culture of India so early. So she gradually neglects Dev which causes rebuild the great relation between Dev and his wife Laxmi. In this context, reverse acculturation is happened. As Dev infatuated to the strange American culture, Miranda, an American by origin trying to understand the Indian culture, not only that she has made Dev to realize what he has done is wrong. Jhumpa Lahiri‟s stories are the impressive exploration of the human conditions as it shapes and is shaped by the varying sexuality of the human personality and offer testimony to her interest in creating an organic evolvement of both the content and the form. For example,‟ sexy‟ voices existential despair, more painful than the physical hardships in the emotional trauma of separation. Her tragic lot lies in her willingness to fail as a beloved of a married man. The story is a powerful rebuttal to the commonly held notion that youthful girls are nasty familial home wreckers.
Mrs. Sen is the perfect example of his words. She is another Indian immigrant who conflicts a lot in the multicultural society in the process of acculturation. She has made many attempts to be part of alien culture, but she fails to achieve. Even though she is there in the alien culture, she always looks back at her rooted culture behind her. Her husband is professor of mathematics in the university and he is always busy with his work. Because of miserable isolation, Mrs. Sen is not willing to accept her Americanism in every conversation with her American friends, mentions about her inherited culture. She often says to Eliot that every Bengali eats fish from the breakfast to dinner. Here she misses to eat Bengali fish curry which is delicious. Food habits also indicate the culture of the people of different nations; Mrs. Sen shows her strong fascination towards Indian dishes even in the alien land. When a shopkeeper has called her availability of fish, she immediately has driven the car to collect, but she met in an accident. This is an appropriate example for her contra acculturation. 1.4 Multiculturalism Lahri‟s protagonists are the continental immigrants but they suffer from their cultural introspection. They have their conflict of consciousness between two selves, the native and acquired, the real self and the community to which they belong. She has presented her experiences through the protagonists of how to live in a multicultural milieu. It is as vital as
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 preserving cultural distinction in the pluralistic society of America. Mrs. Sen is a story on Bengali life, culture and habits. She presents Mrs. Sen‟s struggle to become an American in her pan America situation, while she is not ready to leave her inherited Indianness in America. So, in Lahiri‟s literary master pieces not only contain the characters which easily acculturate but also the characters which struggle a lot to imbibe the alien culture. Those who strongly committed not to be rooted culturally, they retain the values of their religion and region, those who takes the things for granted simply ignores the inherited customs and traditions. However, Lahiri should be appreciated for the glorification of Indian culture by her works. The cultural conflict is also visible in another story The Blessed House in Lahiris The Interpreter of Maladies. Sanjeev, an Indian by origin, Twinkle, an American got married and they have shifted to Connecticut from Boston. They have new house where twinkle arranged all the religious things like wooden cross, key chains of Jesus Christ, dolls and portraits in the hall which is hated by Sanjeev who is basically an Indian Hindu. He wants to throw all these out. The conflict between the couple in terms of religion is the cultural exploration of a person. Sanjeev hates whatever twinkle likes due to the cultural gap between them. The adjustment with foreign culture again surfaces in the third and final continent. The narrator protagonist of his story leaves his home in 1964 for England where he lives with penniless Bengali bachelors. His wife gets the first taste of cultural clash even before she lands up in America. She does not take any meal from Calcutta to Boston because her appetite is killed by the mere thought that she is offered oxtail soup on plane. Themes in Lahiri‟s the name sake shows the great conflict between the Americanism and Indianism. Main intention of the people migrating from India to North America is to fetch joyful Americanism. But, it is not the idea of Jhumpa Lahiri because she was born in London and brought up in New England for Indian origin mother. She experiences diverse cultures. But, she has strong liking to Indian culture that is why in her all works, she prefers to talk about Indianism because her mother has lived outside India for nearly thirty five years. She has made her home in the United States. But there are invisible walls erected around her home. So Lahiri is not interested to behave like American. Sometimes she feels she is neither American nor Indian. Exile in her life stimulates her to write about the struggles of the Indians in the alien land in terms of culture. She portrays the characters Mrs. Das, Mr. Pirzada, Mrs. Sen, Shukumar and Shoba in her first short story
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 collection The Interpreter of Maladies. Ashima in her debut novel The Namesake is really apt character resembles with the life of Lahiri. At the same time, Mirinda, an American girl in The Interpreter of Maladies, Gogol, Sania, second generation Indian immigrants, Maxin, an American girl are the other characters show us how these people conflict between diverse cultures and sometimes among multi cultures. Ashima got engaged with Ashoke. Both the pre wedding rituals and post wedding customs have done according to the Indian Bengali Hindu religion. She is from an orthodox Bengali family so that she must bound to accept the customs of the religion which is followed by her parents. When Ashoke has come to see her, she hides herself behind the door, and she secretly trying to see him which an Indian woman does. She has not looked Ashoke directly. She could not even read his face and understand suitability of Ashoke for her marital life. Everything has been decided by her parents only. Even if she wants to say anything, it is not possible for her to do so. Her parents have accepted so that she did. It is an Indian woman‟s exact culture. Whereas, her children Gogol, Sania who were born and brought up in America completely ignore the traditional marriage rituals. Gogol marries Bengali girl Moushami but earlier he has relationship with Ruth and Maxin which has broken consecutively. Ashima has come to know that Sania has proposed to marry Ben, she is really so sad about it, she conflicts between the two diverse cultures of marriage system. In the west one can choose one‟s life partner where as in our country parents will take care of their children‟s marriage. One hand she is happy because her daughter has selected her life partner whom she has loved and believe she will be happy with him. On the other hand without her knowledge she has maintained relationship with an American boy before marriage is really not at all a part and parcel of our culture. One side she sees the bright future on the other side devastating the ancestral culture makes her to conflict between two divergent cultures. Ben is neither an Indian nor Bengali that to both Sania and Ben proposed and loved for some time really cannot be accepted by a traditional Indian middle aged woman. However in great confusion and conflict, she has accepted to marry them. There is another incident happened in her life in Boston, she became pregnant and she has given birth for baby boy in the hospital. In fact as per Hindu culture, Indian parents where ever they are, they must christen the baby on the day of cradling. This has not happened in Boston. In Indian the pregnant lady should be taken to her parent‟s home to give birth to her first baby. Here, no
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 family members, no acquaintance only Ashoke stays outside her chamber in the hospital. She really almost cried. 1.5 Cultural Dilemma Ashima was sorry for her inability to christen her son which was chosen by her grandparents. She strongly believes that they are visionary people to suggest suitable names to the new born children. She has written letters to suggest suitable name to her son. She has waited for a long time for the reply .But she has not got any reply form Indian. However, in America, parents should give name to the baby before leaving the hospital where as in India new babies can be given names on the day of cradling. It is really strange culture which makes Ashima to conflict between two divergent cultures. However her baby finally compelled to christen the name called „Gogol‟ who is the favorite Russian author of Ashoke whom he strongly believes, he only has saved his life. Because of admiration, Ashoke feels there is nothing wrong to give the name of great writer to his son. Culture of naming a new born is a custom in Indian society. Lahiri narrates this practice with bicultural implications. According to Indian tradition parents feel particularly privileged when the child is given a name by the grandparents and elder members of the family. But in America custom, a name is chosen at baptism or after the name of the family ancestors. The culture of naming is important for the parents in every community and religion. Parents become careful in search of a suitable name for the children which may become symbolic of their action, appearance and beliefs. But in the novel The Namesake, Ashima is in a great dilemma between the two cultures. One hand, she feels so sad about not to name her son on the other hand compelled to name as per the rules of American culture. According to Bhagabat Nayak: “Through cross cultural references, Lahiri delineates with the cultural space available to the nonresident Indians in America. Debating the ideology, language and displacement of characters in The Namesake. She raises the basic issues of cultural sensibility.” (p-35) Sometimes, these cultural conflicts cause for the psychological problems of her protagonists. She lives in Boston where her neighbors are Mr. Montgaomary with his wife Jude and their children. As both the wife and husband busy with their works, ask Ashima to take of their children when they come back from their school. Occasionally visit their home also. But Ashima sees their culture, piles of clothes on here and there all the time in jeans and tea shirts which are contrastive to the Bengali culture where she usually wears traditional sari
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 with vermillion on her forehead which gives the symbolic meaning of her husband‟s safety, never utter her husband‟s name which is followed by all Bengali woman. She frustrates a lot with the calling of American woman to their husbands with their names. She is unable to acculturate in the alien land because of deep addiction to the Bengali culture. In this context Lahri‟s idea of blind believes of the Bengali woman not to be appreciated because in the alien land woman gradually acculturate the new by following the home culture. She exaggerates the life style of Bengali woman in the alien shore. Especially, in case of the first generation Bengali immigrants. Jude, with her children has visited Ashima soon after coming back from the hospital by giving birth to baby boy. They have offered toys and wine. They have celebrated by drinking and eating where as Ashima and Ashoke pretend as if they are also having the champagne. Infact they pour it outside. This is really strange culture to Ashima. Taking wine, at any time, that to by woman is really an embarrassing situation to any Indian woman. Indian woman feels uttering the husband‟s name is a great sin. So, they do not accept wine in presence of their husbands. This kind of situations make the Indian immigrants contra acculturation instead of accustom to the new cultures. The concept of The Namesake indicates the conflict between the Americanism and Indianism. The main intention of the people in the alien culture, this acculturation is really joyful experience. But it is not the abstract of Lahiri. According to Lahiri‟s words: “My mother has lived outside India for nearly thirty five years, since 1969 they have made their homes in the United States. But there were invisible walls erected around our home walls intend to keep American influence at bay. Growing up, I was astonished not to behave like an American, or worse to think of myself as one.” (p.61) Ashima, due to her strong attachment, often meets the people come from Bengal to know about the people who has strong bond with them which is part and parcel of magnificent Indian Bengali culture. She often invites the people of same origin even in the alien land on different occasions, speaking in Bengali language which is injected in every cell of her body to feel comfort. Preparing Indian dishes to eat. Every moment she tries to remind the Indian culture in every action. But inviting the Native Americans also shows her interest in the alien culture and its habituation.
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In the words of Jyothi Mishra “the novel thereby subtly encompasses the domestic dilemma resulting out of dichotomies between Indian and American culture. One thread that binds the novel is the name Gogol, which itself is an accident caused by the collision between ancient Bengali custom and the American rush into formality at the outset and informality later on.” (p-27) The Indian woman conflicts a lot compare to the man in the alien land with inexplicable agony in the depth of their hearts. One hand, these women enjoy the feeling of equality with the men in the American culture sobs a lot on the other hand, neglecting the rich Indian Bengali culture. An evil of inequality pervaded in every nook and corner of this world. In the name of culture Indian women lose an opportunity of enjoying the fruits of this world. So, being an Indian immigrant, Ashima freely moves in the streets of America along with her son with some sort of anxiety and fear in the beginning of her arrival. But, at the same time her heart aches with the unintentional adaptation of American values and formalities. In the Bengali tradition, after the birth of a baby, different kind of ceremonies to be done by the Indian Bengali families right from the naming of the baby to death. According to the culture of Bengali parents should not allow the baby to eat anything till the Annaprasana. A day to be decided for Annaprasana with consultation of the priests is not happened in the life of Gogol. In the land of diverse cultures makes the Indian immigrants in a dilemma what to follow and what not to follow. If they want to do the ceremony they must have all the relatives specially uncle and aunt of the baby. However, in great confusion ask the neighbors of Ganguly family act as uncles and aunts to Gogol which brings so much of grief for a traditional Bengali mother. It breaks the strong cultural bond of family relationships in the alien land. So search for artificial bonds which is the culture of Americans habituated by the Indian immigrants. There is no one to share their miseries and pleasures. Let us understand clearly about the cultural dilemmas in the words of Bani Brata Mahanta. “The second generation diaspora, in its attempts to assimilate, suffers a dual vision. On the other hand, they lose their cultural moorings and become outsiders within their own home and foreign to relatives in their homeland, on
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the other, they remain outsiders to the mainstream into which they try so desperately to merge. Caught between two worlds one unacceptable, the other accepting, they ultimately become outsiders to themselves.” (p-68) Culture suggests arts, language, traditions of certain countries. So that we can understand the culture of a nation by the language they speak and attitude of people. This also helps us to distinguish people of a nation to another country. Culture is the symbolic expression of individual as well as a nation. Culture shows the different shades of a nation. America is a multicultural country where everyone is to explore their own culture. Lahiri‟s The Namesake depicts how Indian culture is glorified one hand and acculturation of new culture, the first generation immigrant‟s great dilemma and conflicts in the multicultural society. Ashima in The Namesake imbibes American culture reluctantly. But her children are compelled to imbibe Indian culture because the second generation immigrants are born and brought up in the alien land. For them, Indian is a foreign land despite their Indian origin. They are almost imitators of Native American culture in terms of their English language they speak with American accent. Culturally they are Americans either by their dressing style, attitudes. Eating habits are similar to the Native Americans. It is really a miserable situation which feels the second generation immigrants in great dilemma. Whatever the satisfaction they are getting with the Bengali culture is not for the second generation immigrants. It is not only a great conflict between two cultures but also cultural struggle between first and second generation immigrants. Gogol and Sania never accept the Indian Bengali culture that is why they have affairs with their girlfriend and boyfriends. They secretly maintain relationship with them and finally Sania got married against to the Indian Bengali tradition. These children neither influenced nor motivated by their parents. Lives of Bengalis in America, especially the first generation immigrants highly dissatisfied with the lack of families accelerate cultural identity. According to Banibrata Mahanta, “The novel is neither a nostalgic reminiscence of India nor a celebration of acquired cultural identity. It deals with the real life question of finding a balance. The Namesake thus makes an important turn in the depiction of diaspora consciousness.” (p-73)
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After a long stay in the alien culture, hoping to come back to native land really regains energy in the second generation immigrants not because of carrying the unwanted culture to share with dear ones, it is to re attachment with the native culture. When Ashoke has said to Ashima to fly away to Indian, we see a glowing face for the first in the face of Ashima after long exile. It happens in any immigrants‟ life because of strong inclination towards the native culture in the form of speaking in Bengali language with the most affectionate aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents which is our culture. It is not the tradition of Indian people living separately with in the house. No separate rooms for the individual. All has to be there in the same house and to share their earnings not only that pleasures but also pains. Whereas in America, separation among the people and individual life style which is not suitable culture to the Indians. So that in the beginning of the exile of first generation really astonished with the strange culture of American people later forced to imbibe for the sake of their children later on great conflict among multicultural society during the process of understanding and habituation of alien culture. When the Ganguly‟s family flies back to India with their children, Ashoke orders only two Indian meals, though there are four in number. It shows the great cultural gap between the two generations. Second generation people show strong passion for American culture where as first generation conflicts between an ancestral and adopted cultures. This strong sense of commitment and inclination towards the native culture by the first generation immigrants makes them to fall in great dilemma what to be avoided? and what to be adopted? during their journey, Gogol has seated at the back and wants to have wine offered by the steward in the plane. It shows how the alien culture has influenced them. Ashima‟s frustration with the host culture is clearly visible for us when she got a call from the hospital where her husband had been admitted in the Cleveland, as he had colic. Later she came to know that he was dead with severe heart attack. No one is there with her to console from the grief of losing her life partner. Nothing is there in this world is precious as the life of husband for any Indian woman. So that she put the vermillion on her forehead. Once husband died, there will be no custom of putting the vermillion. Indian Bengali woman worships the goddess kali during Navaratras for the healthy life of her husband and prays to the god let her husband to be given long life. This is what the culture of Indian woman. But the American culture has no these kinds of rituals. American woman does not follow these customs. Indian woman has to see her husband‟s face before the dead body is taken for the cremation. And all the post rituals of death of a man should be done by the
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 family members. But in Lahiri‟s The Namesake, Ashima experience is really miserable. At the time of Ashoke‟s death, Gogol only has gone to Cleveland; he has only seen the face of his father, neither Ashima nor Sania. Hospital managements do not allow the dead bodies to be taken away to their places for doing all the rituals. They said, “They will send the ashes to the address.”Then Gogol has gone to Ashoke‟s apartment and informed to the university and vacating his quarters. Being a traditional Indian Bengali woman, she is expected to see her husband last time. But it is not happened in the alien cultural world. Ofcourse, her family follows all the post death rituals such as all these twelve days remain staying at home, not eating non-veg. All the relatives visit them and convey their deep condolences to the family members. The Indian culture shows here that Indian families not only gather together on the occasions of the festivals to enjoy but also meet to take part in the miseries which is little bit contrastive to the western mores. Lahiri in her novel The Namesake introduced different characters. Cultural conflict is not the issue for some characters such as Gogol, Sania and Moushami. She is the best example of acculturation in the west land. She never feels the nostalgia about Indian culture. That is why she has premarital relationships with many and later said about her illegitimacy to Gogol after their marriage that leads to break their marital relationship. All these features are the part and parcel of American culture where American people are habituated. Not only this, Lahiri shows us some characters who lead their lives in great dilemma in the multicultural society. A few other characters, due to the pressure from the first generation parents try to acculturate but they utterly failed because of their strong infatuation towards the western culture. Multiculturalism is another important theme in Lahiri‟s works. After a long stay in the alien land, long struggle between the dual cultures, gradually inculcate the new culture in their lives. For the first generation immigrants culture of mother land is the heart and soul so that they have nostalgia about it even in the foreign land. They try to retain the inherited customs, traditions, and mores along with them in the exile. They never ignore them in their lives. As long as they stay in the immigration, one hand they experience the culture of west on the other hand giving utmost importance for the magnificent treasure of Indian culture. Ashima waits for the Bengali voices in the land of English. She has been waiting to hear either face to face or through letters. Language is the medium to share anything. Culture of a particular person is also reflected in his language. So she is getting excited whenever she
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Volume III, Issue V, July 2015 – ISSN 2321-7065 converses with Bengali speaking people. Her English speaking does not bring the joy what her mother tongue brings. When they come back to Calcutta, it is visible for us that there is a lot of confidence, loud voices, smile that comes from the depth of her heart. (p-86) “within minutes, before their eyes Ashoke and Ashima ship into bolder, less complicated versions of themselves, their voices louder, their smiles wider” they are very much comfortable in their own culture which makes them to be more potent and feel comfortable in their own cultural world. The Namesake reveals a clear distinction between rooted and uprooted cultures of Indian immigrants. Indian immigrants feel having nothing where everything is available. They lack something. It is lacking of cultural exposure. They miss valuable thing in their lives which fetches everlasting pleasures. Culture indicates the nationality, personality, attitude of mankind. So that right from the civilization, man has strong association with the culture its implications in their lives. They decide how one should be in his life according to the culture. He decides what to do?, what not to do? In one‟s life. Sometime culture teaches good things and prevents not to go on to the wrong path. So that everything is happening in one‟s life is happened according to the rich customs of a religion. For the family members who remained in India, the life of their beloved one‟s in the foreign land is bed of roses. So, they frequently ask interesting questions to Gogol and Sania about their eating habits, costumes, friends in America. Infact, they do not know life in the alien land is nothing but a sophisticated imprisonment. These people do not aware what their dear ones have lost. Life in the alien land is a sugar coated pill. In the process of acquiring what they do not have, they are losing what they have. Imbibing the host culture and neglecting the inherited. Habituate the host culture does not bring any identity for the settlers in America. But blindly accustom with it while imitating them. Lahiri, in her Debut novel sketch the woman characters as the represents of the cultures of different countries. Ashima is one among them. India is a unity in diversity country. Indian people are separated geographically, not spiritually. They are living in different regions with divergent cultures, languages, casts and races. They are the representatives of the exploration of Indian ancestral culture wherever they are. In The Namesake, Ashima plays such role as she conflicts in the multicultural society. Women, especially in India are the symbol of belongingness, patience, purity and perseverance including culture. Such a way Laihri has found the character and pictured in her novels. Ashimain The Namesake resembles Ruma in The Unaccustomed Earth of Jhumpa
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Lahiri. Ruma expects his father to be with her family after the death of his wife. Being a traditional Indian woman hopes so. But her father wanders here and there and living independently. He has also extra marital relationship in the alien land. However, both the characters retain the culture of Joint family whereas another category of immigrants want to enjoy the individual life. Ruma has agony with the fragmented family relationships and deteriorating human values. The influence of western culture on the Indian immigrant‟s culture is depicted by Lahiri in her novels impresses the readers in the world. As Robin E.Field said in his article (writing the second generation: negotiating cultural borderland in Jhumpa Lahiri‟s Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake) “Indeed it is the second generation of an immigrant family that occupies a particularly vexed position in regard to identity. the second generation certainly has access to their cultural heritage if only because of their physical proximity to parents and other relatives during their childhood years.” (p-165) With his words it is understood that not only the first generation immigrants struggle between the dichotomy of cultures but also the second generation. Second generation characters like Sania and Gogol have double vision in terms of cultures. Their parents wash their brains to imbibe the parental culture at home. The external society requires them to follow the host culture so as to enjoy the fruits of dream land. It is really a painful thing for them to balance between the host and inherited cultures. However, as they are expected to continue to live in the alien shore, they show much interest in the host culture rather than the mother culture.
1.6 Conclusion Many critics see the second generation characters in Lahiri‟s characters on the dark side for their negligence of rich inherited culture. But it is certainly wrong to state. It is up to the individual, what to be adopted, and what to be left? So Lahiri‟s The Namesake depicts the theme of the combination of cultures. So that Ashima trains her children to sing Bengali songs as well as watching cartoon channels in English to make them familiar with the host culture. If a man wants to make out the strange issue, he must acquaint with that first that is what is done by the second generation immigrants in terms of culture.
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References 1. Field, Robin. “Writing the Second Generation: Negotiating Cultural Border Lands in JhumpaLahiri‟sInterpreter of Maladiesand The Namesake. “South Asian Review 25.2 (2004): 165-177. 2. Gaur, Rashmi, “Nine Sketeches Interpreting Human Maladies: An Assessment of JhumpaLahiri‟sstories.” Ed. BalaSuman.JhumpaLahiri‟s, The Master Storyteller. New Delhi: Khoslapublishing house, 2014. 3. Lahiri,Jhumpa.The Interpreter of Maladies: stories of Bengal, Boston and beyond New Delhi: Haper Collins India, 1999. 4. Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake. New Delhi: Harper Collins, 2003. 5. Mahanta, Banibrata. “Of Coats, Names and Identities: JhumpaLahiri‟sThe Namesake.” Dialogue 1.1 (June 2005): 68-76. 6. Mishra, Jyothi. “Crisis in Human Values as Reflected in JhumpaLahiri‟s, Interpreter of Maladies. “The Common Wealth Review 10.2 (1998-1999): 117-121 7. Mishra, Jyothi. “Merging Identities: JhumpaLahiri‟sThe Namesake.”The Quest 19.1 (June 2005): 27-31. 8. Nayak, Bhaghat. “The Native and Acquired Selves of the Formulated Souls in the Fictional World of JhumpaLahiri. Ed BalaSuman. JhumpaLahiri‟s, The Master Storyteller. New Delhi: Khoslapublishing house, 2014. 9. NityaNandan, India, “Broken Identities: A Comparative Study of BharatiMukharjee‟sDarkness and JhumpaLahiri‟s, Interpreter of Maladies. Ed. BalaSuman: JhumpaLahiri‟sThe Master Storyteller. New Delhi: Khoslapublishing house, 2014.
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