CHAPTER EIGHT CONCLUSION This is a concluding chapter of the study. Sudha Murty has been writing for more than ten years now and has been publishing regularly. This study has critically analyzed, interpreted and commented upon the literary works of Sudha Murty which include four novels, two novellas and four collections of short stories. Sudha Murty came into limelight with the publication of her first novel, Dollar Bahu in 2005 and since then she became one of the notable writers in Indian English. She got the following awards for her writings. 1) „Attimabbe‟ award for her book „Computer for School Children‟ in Karnataka 2) „Karnataka Rajyotsava State Award‟ for her achievement in the field of literature and social work. 3) „Millennium Mahila Shiromani‟ Award 4) R. K. Narayan Award for Literature in 2006 5) Doctor of Laws in 2011 Awards she got for her literary writings show her place and potentials in the field. No serious study in Indian English Literature can proceed without taking into consideration her contribution to the area. The first chapter of the thesis is introductory in nature. It explained the meaning of the term „Critical Study‟ in the beginning. E. M. Forster in his seminal book Aspects of Novel has specified four important aspects of fiction as theme, characterization, narrative 265 devices and setting. Murty‟s literary works have been analyzed from these four perspectives. The study explained the meaning of these terms in the first chapter to facilitate the critical analysis of the works in the succeeding chapters. Various themes that she dealt with, her art of characterization, narrative techniques she employed and setting of her novels have been commented upon in the main body of thesis. Beides literary writings, Murty has done the voluminous writings in non fictional area. Sudha Murty herself has divided her writings in three major categories. They are fiction, non-fiction and child fiction. The study did not take into consideration her non fictional works for critical analysis. MAJOR THEMES Social, cultural and historical forces in the home country have their immediate and inevitable impact on the choice of themes for the writers. Indian writers like Mulk Raj Anand and R K Narayan wrote on the poverty, superstitions, child marriages, illiteracy before independence. Raja Rao dealt with the cumulative effect of freedom struggle on Indian villages during Gandhian era in Kanthapura. Brutal happenings during partition of the land became major issues in the writings of Khushwant Singh, Chaman Nahal, Manohar Malgonkar in the fifties of the last century. Rajeev Patake suggested “We could do with fewer novels on British Raj, on partition and communal riots, on child marriages and sutti, on the Englishman in India and Indian abroad.”1 Whirlwind of globalization in India and its damaging effects on the domestic and social fabric had to be dealt with by the writers towards the end of the twentieth century. SM was the most eligible person to handle the theme of eroding effects of liberalization on 266 the Indian youth as she herself was closely involved in the process of globalization through her Information Technology company Infosys. Sudha‟s marriage with legendary Narayan Murty and her active association with the voluntary social services through Infosys Foundation have an indelible impact on her writing. Her themes emerged out of her first hand experience of the individuals working in the field of Information Technology. India gave up its pernicious lease and license policy and plunged into new competitive world economy. It brought innumerable opportunities to the doorstep of new generation in India. Sudha Murty dealt with the theme of eroding effects of the globalization on the domestic relations in neo-rich couples in the new era in India. Chandru in Dollar Bahu, Anand in Mahashweta, Sanjay in House of Cards and Shrikant in Gently Falls the Bakula came from struggling middle class families. Chandru obtained highest Bachelor‟s degree in Information Technology and migrated to America with his wife for better career opportunities there. Shrikant acquired a Bachelor‟s degree in Technology and rose to a position of Vice President of a multinational company in India. Anand and Sanjay became specialized doctors through tireless striving. This shows that Ms Murty chose to write on the boys and girls who took advantage of the liberalizing atmosphere in India. But the same boys were spoiled by the money and position they got in the latter part of their life. The boys protagonists of her novels got married with the girls of their choice without being unduly pressurized by the old fashioned members of their families. Though there were some hick ups, they overcame them and had their weddings in traditional manners. 267 Anand got married with Anupama because he liked her melodious voice and stage skills. In spite of initial opposition, Sanjay and Mridula got married due to their unadulterated affection for each other. The same was true about Shrikant and Chandru. Sudha Murty has successfully demonstrated that all the couples led happy and contented life through their attachment to each other in paucity. Financial needs kept them together in the initial phase of their married life. Tables turned with the unexpected influx of money in their life. It made them phobia restless to have more of it. The four boys in four novels of Sudha Murty who were deeply concerned with and sincerely possessed by the four respective girls in their life, gradually drifted away from them. They had neither love nor inclination to have amiable dialogue with their wives. The promises that they had made to each other and vows that they had taken were conveniently forgotten by their rich and reputed husbands. Life of the lovers that had started with big hopes ended in disillusionment and separation. The richness made the boys arrogant to their wives and other members of the family. They were blinded to the domestic facts of life. Money became their God and they were ready to do anything to propitiate it, because they had experienced the truth that Goddess of Lakshami was more venerated than the Goddess of Saraswati in modern times. The moral values lost their significance in their life. Ethical practices became a thing of bygone days for them. Dr. Sanjay who fought against rampant corruption in government hospitals began to practice unjustifiable treatment to the patients in his private hospital. Money corrupted all of them and this is what Sudha Murty highlighted in her novels. 268 Husbands in Chandru, Anand, Shrikant and Sanjay forgot to keep the promises that they had given to their wives before their marriages. When their wives reminded them of the days before marriage, husbands had no time to heed to them. They unexpectedly became arrogant to their own wives, which created a chasm in their relations. The gap gradually widened and resulted into their separation. Modern day mantra is 24x07. The aspirants ran from pole to post first in search of lucrative jobs and then in order to keep them. It must be noted in all the four novels that the boys had to cut off their filial relations with their parents and other close relatives in order to be able to run at will. Chandru was so busy in his work in America that he hardly spoke to his mother Gauramma there. Anand did not have much to do with his mother Radhakka in India. He avoided communication with her when he was in the US. Sudha Murty has been successful in bringing out the brutal effects of money on family relations in modern India. She showed that Indians have become globalized but their perspective remained stagnant at local level. They equated their success with the amount of money they earned and spent. Sometimes it meant severing their ties with their close relatives. Wife, sister, brother, mother and father were gauged and evaluated only by the financial yardstick and measurements. It acquired the most hideous dimension in Gently Falls the Bakula when Shrikant squashed the thought of having a child because he felt that it will work as an impediment in his personal progress. He did not accept his wife‟s request to have a child because he thought it as a challenge to his autocratic nature. Sudha Murty has shown the dark side of globalization in India. Indian culture for a long time believed in mutual cooperation and peaceful coexistence. The agrarian nature of the 269 Indian economy created and maintained the community life. Their life blossomed along with the blooming of crops in fields. The surrounding goats, dogs, cows, bullocks and buffalos were the part and parcel of their existence. They breathed together. Though these people did not voice their concerns for their wives, they had deep seated sense of belonging to each other, particularly to the women section of the family. Honour of the family was closely linked with the honour of the girls and women of the family. All this was blasted and torn off into pieces by the advent of air- conditioned wooden offices and lifeless gadgets there. People lost direct contacts with each other and preferred to establish virtual world around them. As a result they have online followers but not close blood relations. Sudha Murthy‟s men protagonists refrained from personal and public talk with others. Two lovers wrote to each other before marriage. Shrikant wrote emotionally charged love letters from Bnagalore to Shrimati in Bhandiwad. Anand sent letters to Anupama regularly before marriage. Sanjay depended upon Mridula in the initial phase of their married life. Anand and Anupama took a round to Elephanta Caves in Bombay before marriage. Suddenly marriages changed the attitudes of the boys to their erstwhile girlfriends who became their wives.