The treatment of women and family in anjana appachana’s “Bahu”

Anjana Appachana is a famous Indian English Diasporic writer who has a lot of feelings for India which is visible in her writings. She got popularity after writing her first volume of short fiction Incantations and Other Stories (1991) and her well known novel Listening Now (1998). She has chosen the medium of short story for writing about the Indian woman’s experiences, passions and education. Through her stories Anjana portrays the isolation, marginalization and displacement of women in an Indian patriarchal society. Anjana especially focuses on the diasporic sensibility in the lives of women but she is not a feminist. The story “Bahu” is from her first story collection Incantation and Other Stories (1991) which portrays self-recognition of the female protagonist in the relationship of marriage. The present paper is an attempt to show the supremacy, suppression and dominance of the male over the female in a patriarchal society. It will also offer a new approach of the female protagonist’s life in the ruling ambiance of her family as well as the society.