A Critical Study of Theme of
Second Thoughts of Shobha
De
Indian writers have been writing in English from many decades and
have gained recognition on international platform too. Women writers
in India have gained great recognition in the field of novel writing.
Women writers put their experiences into fiction very successfully. The
number of women readers in India has increased considerably. They
derive empathetic awareness of their situations by reading novels
dealing with existing problems of women like repression, struggle for
existence, cultural crisis and other problems of modern day. It gets
difficult for modern day Indian women to decide the path on which to
tread.
British rule had deep impact on Indian mind and their way of thinking.
The British education system of Lord Macauley aimed to remove the
very culture of India. The modal of education system established was to
meet out the needs of Britishers. Western culture was put forth in high
esteem . They were successful in making Indians shy away from their
own culture, tradition , and values. The modern Indian women fiction
writers are aware of this. They have a strong sense of revolt against the
patriarchal social system and have a deep desire to put forth the
sufferings of women.
They desire to establish the self-respect of women, assert their rights
and call for their freedom from the age old boundations. The Indian
women novelists have tried to present the dilemma of the struggling
women who want to break away the old shackles but due to a typical
traditional bringing up, at times, they are unable to do so. Henceforth
they undergo all sufferings feel alienated and get distorted. Thus we
find these women in the mid of transitional phase where they want to
move to the new ideas of freedom and happiness but due to various
social and other issues they are unable to break away the chains. Thus,
the sufferings continue. This situation of Indian women can be seen all
over India, I urban regions as well as in rural regions. Among the
modern women writers of India, Shobha De is considered to be one of
the most modern writers. She was a model cum journalist. She has
written many novels like Socialite Evening (1989), Starry
Nights (1991), Uncertain Liaisons (1993), Strange
Obsessions (1992), Sultry Days (1994) etc.
She deals with various themes in them like that of life of film industry,
the life of modern elite females, patriarchy, cultural codes and their
significance in marital life, gender equality etc. Shobha De is one of the
most courageous, lively, uninhibited and expressive among Indian
women writers. She has taken bravely the issues of modern Indian
women. She skilfully deals with the very sensitive aspects of human life.
Her narration is very frank having great power.
Unrestricted, she deals with the problems of contemporary women
who break away from the traditions to seek their dream world of solace
and harmony where their psychological and emotional needs could be
fulfilled for a harmonious life. She deals with issues of modern women
who fight with their struggles and move towards growth and
betterment. She deals with the issues of woman’s liberation and
freedom.
Shobha De’s novel Second Thoughts is a truthful study of contemporary
women’s difficulty, plight and confusion in Indian metropolitan society
where she is caught in complications and webs of traditional and
modern life. Shobha De has taken brilliant, skilful language and bold
style to take up these issues of women. She has demonstrated that how
women in contemporary time are struggling to adjust in a novice set up
of matrimony, how they are facing challenges every day, and at times,
how their sufferings are breaking them internally which is leading them
to face various emotional and psychological problems. The constant
stress faced by them is leading them to various mental problems.
They even have personality disorders where they alienate from public
and get least interested in social relationship. Sometimes their situation
leads them to neurosis and psychological disorders. Modern India has
put women on such a difficult platform where on the one side she is
supposed to be educated, modern , elegant and liberated and on the
other hand she is supposed to kneel down before patriarchal family
system especially in her marital life.
She is expected to undergo all kinds of sufferings to save her marriage
and keep her people happy. In her novel Second Thoughts, Shobha De
has very deeply penetrated into these issues of modern Indian women.
She has very well analysed the psychology of lone suffering women. She
has fully exposed the serious problems arising due to the social and
cultural adjustment in marital life of women.
The novel deals with the suffering of a middle class woman who suffers
in her marital life and represents so many married women who suffer
due to typical traditional arranged system of marriage . Maya was an
educated, freedom loving girl from Calcutta. Her marriage was arranged
with Ranjan Malik who was a business executive in Bombay having
degrees from America.
But the marriage is a failure because both of them anti thetical attitude
towards life. Although Ranjan’s bringing up throughout has been
western , yet he gives no freedom to his wife and expects her to
compromise and adjust like a traditional Indian housewife. He wishes
her to be totally submissive to the whims and wishes of not only
himself but his mother too. He humiliates her and satirises to make her
subdue to his wishes.
Contrary to this, Maya wants a totally free life. She wants to enjoy the
free life of Bombay as since years she had been feeling that she had
been controlled by her parents at Calcutta. She had come to Bombay to
become a journalist and change the world.
The psychological ailment of modern Indian women is projected and
revealed in many novels of Shobha De. Her deep study of female
psychology shows that:
“Her women characters try to strike a balance between instinctual
needs and intellectual aspirations. Deeply exhausted by this trapeze act
, they are further bewildered when the existential absurdity of life is
unmasked before them , when they face loneliness and lack of
communication and communality and are finally brought to mental
crises when masculine and institutional pressures are added to
exacerbate them further.” (Shanta)
From his wife, Ranjan expected of only household chores and
obedience to his mother’s words. At times he even hurts her with his
sarcastic remarks on her working. Once he puts a question before if she
has forgotten to work in the house. Although Maya keeps quiet at his
remarks but the novelist penetrates into her psyche where she finds
that Maya felt as if she was the servant of the house.
I had bitten my tongue in dismay. I had wanted to say that I had worked
in Calcutta , done household chores, but I had Never been made to feel
like a servant. A menial. I didn’t have a problem about doing my own
housework. It was Ranjan’s attitude that hurt me. The bank provided
him a fairly generous allowance and we could well have afforded full-
time help. But Ranjan was adamant. (Second Thoughts)
Ranjan gave a recurring reminder of laws laid by Hindu scriptures on
conduct of women and their traditional way of life.
He gave no freewill to his wife. His mother’s consent was supreme for
every decision. The decisions were put forth before his wife who was
supposed to follow it. She had no fee will of her own. During their
honeymoon at Mahabaleshwar, Ranjan admits of having slept with
another woman. Despite knowing this, Maya has no ill feelings for him.
She behaves as normally as she was supposed to. But the irony is that
had a women admitted this fact, the typical Indian man would never
have readily accepted her.
Further Ranjan is not comfortable to the marital needs of his own wife.
He takes least interest in her. He is always passive towards her. Maya
feels incomplete even in his presence. If she tries to take any initiative,
it is turned down by him and she faces humiliation in his hands. He
once says-“Whats your problem? You are beginning to sound like some
sort of nymphomaniac. Are you that sex- starved? Nothing else on your
mind? How can sex being so important to anybody? I’ve never
understood.”
At times Maya stepped forth for her equal rights. Time and again she
tries to assert her rights and freewill. But this has negative result.
Ranjan develops suspicion. Their relationship gets strained and the
peace and harmony gets disturbed. Maya contemplates over the entire
situation. “Modern life is so lonely. So lonely. No body to talk. No body
to share anything with.”
Maya looks for diversion. Her own home is no longer a place of solace.
She looks forward to outsiders for an outlet. At times she speaks to
vegetable vendor too. Once she has a conversation with a Bangladeshi
shopkeeper who puts to her a very correct remark about the metro city
Bombay. He says – “This is Bombay. No time. No feelings. Everybody is
saving his own skin. You fight, you shout, you scream. You die. Others
will step over your corpse and carry on.”
Maya is full of agony as she is again and again neglected and criticised
by her husband. The result is that she is unable to have any happiness
with him even in the light moments. Maya had expected a cozy marital
life but on the other hand she feels very humiliated by the words of
Ranjan. Once Ranjan remarks on the girls of Bengal who come to
Bombay and destroy their culture. He pictures the Bengali girls of
Bombay as ultra- modern and immoral.
He says-
“You know… these Bombay girls are used to a very fast way of life. Their
morals are no good. They don’t speak proper Bengali. They don’t know
the rituals connected with our pujas. They wear all sorts of funny
clothes, they refuse to oil their hair. They can not cook our
preparations. They don’t know Bengali songs or dances. All they can do
is to eat roadside food and dream of going to bars and discos. Such girls
do not make good wives. Not at all.”
Such humiliating remarks give a mental harassment and torture to
Maya. Shobha De goes into the minute details to present the psyche of
the characters. Ranjan is happy with his work and his mother. Maya
was always subjected to insults with comparisons. Ranjan compares her
to Bengali ladies whom he calls to be hysterical women. He insults his
wife by comparisons. His humiliating remarks and indifference makes
his wife totally unhappy and lonely. Due to her emotional cravings,
Maya develops a deep passionate friendship with a college going
neighbour Nikhil.
Her deep frustration and depression results into having an extra-
marital sexual relation.
Maya’s life gets a new start with Nikhil. She enjoys her previous
freedom with him. Her joys are limitless with him. For the first time she
enjoys her presence in Bombay. She goes out with him to various
places. Maya is pleased to be praised and honoured by the words of
Nikhil. Before he came into her life, she was always judged, corrected,
scolded and humiliated. But now she gets bliss in his company. When
she goes out with Nikhil to see the various spots of Bombay, she
remarks, “For the first time since my arrival in your city, I felt like
laughing, singing, enjoying the salty sea air on my face, I looked at the
sky and felt happy.”
Nikhil takes advantage of her alienation. He forces her for a physical
relation, which is initially opposed, but later on it is enjoyed by her. She
feels a oneness in his company. She derives complete physical and
emotional satisfaction from him. But she gets struck with a sense of
guilt too. There is an inner conflict and various thoughts arise in her
mind. “I should have stopped myself at that very point since I was not a
free woman to pursue a friendship with a grown up man.”
“Her interior monologue continues as she thinks “But Nikhil most
definitely affected me and one part of me didn’t approve. This was
ridiculous- a newly married woman day dreaming about a neighbour’s
son. Disgusting and shameful.”
Further she thinks that ”Somebody should have told me that this was
what being married means. It means giving up everything that you’ve
known as a carefree young girl. And for what? May be I am confused.”
Some conflicting thoughts emerge in the mind of Maya who feels that
she should have tried to understand her husband better for mutual
adjustment.
The second thought to improve her marital life arises in her mind. But
at the same time she is reminded of cold and frigid attitude of Ranjan.
He always made her feel out of place. Henceforth whenever she
thought of a home , it was always Calcutta, her parental home , which
had sweet memories in her mind. Ranjan had married her only for the
sake of fulfilling the wishes of his mother. He never cared for her
feelings and she remained ever isolated with him. Once Maya sits down
helplessly thinking about her empty married life where her dream of
romantic life was totally shattered.
“Now here we are, locked in a relationship that didn’t satisfy either of
us. e very obviously longed to be on his own, leading the life he had
become so accustomed to as a student and then as a promosing bank
executive living by himself. And I longed for the perfect romantic
companion- if such a creature existed at all outside my imagination.”
Maya tries to bring out herself from her depressive state of mind by
constantly reminding herself of the words of her mother. “The issue is,
Maya, marriage involves sacrifice. And all the sacrificing has to be
undertaken by the woman. The sooner you accept that, the happier
you will be.”
But all her efforts fail because of Ranjan’s self- absorbed and egoistic
attitude. Maya represents the sufferings of all the modern Indian
women who are forced to accept their marriage as it comes to them.
Women silently suffer the harshness of life. Shobha De defines
marriage as “Marriage to me connotes commitment and surrender,
merging with, blending, overlapping and combing. It is a symbolic
relationship where one feeds on the other, depends on the other,
needs the other.”(Memory)
But this we do not find in the case Maya and Ranjan. There is no
conjugal happiness in their life.
Although Nikhil was a hypocrite who deceived Maya, yet he had
brought some life into the dead life of Maya for a short period of time.
He had showered physical and emotional support to her. His remarks
had fascinated Maya. She had found her own identity in his presence.
She could bear her marital pain by just thinking of her happy moments
with Nikhil.
She had even thought to leave her husband and start her life afresh
with Nikhil. She had had so many dreams to be fulfilled. She had been
dreaming of a beautiful life with him. But within a short span of time
she is disillusioned. She comes to know of Nikhil’s engagement to
Anshu. She now realises that she was deceived by him. All her dreams
get shattered. She realises that she had fallen prey to the sweet words
of Nikhil. Thus her craving for a true companion is never fulfilled. Their
interpersonal dissatisfaction always remains.
There is an abrupt ending of the novel. Shobha De’s deep insight into
the conflict of Indian women between conservatism and liberalisation
can clearly be seen. The novelist has exposed the spiritual breakdown
of modern day’s marital system. To name a few causes of this is
liberalisation, gender issues, over dominant patriarchy etc. modern age
is the age of transition where there is a call for new women’s freedom
but still the old patriarchal system is dominant and women is forced to
surrender before the existing social system.
With her meticulous art Shobha De has succeeded in presenting the
predicament of urban modern women. She realistically presents the
human psychology. The main theme of the novels of Shobha De is the
psychic problem which urban Indian women undergo, particularly due
to the conflict between the age old system and the new one.
She has talked of gender equality.
In general, in most of her novels, the female protagonists struggle hard
for their existence, fight with the situation, yet they assert their
freedom. Shobha De is the spokesperson for women who call for peace
and equality. She has deep insight into the emotional state of her
protagonists.
