CHAPTER - III

THE IMPACT OF WOMEN

Anita Nair, born on 26th Jan, 1966, is an Indian writer. Nair was
born in Shornur in Kerala. Being a graduate in English Language and
Literature. She now lives in Bangalore. In the very beginning, Nair was a
creative director in an advertising agency in Bangalore. For her first
book, she received a fellowship from the Virginia Center for the creative
arts. Nair's second book was published by Penguin India. Nair's novels
The Better Man and Ladies Coupe have been translated into 21
languages. Among Nair’s early commercial works were pieces she
penned in the late 90's. Nair's The Better Man was published in the year
2000. In 2002, Malabar Mind, a collection of poems, in 2003 Where the
Rain is Born - about Kerala were published. Ladies Coupe, has turned
out to be a bigger success among critics and readers in nearly 15
countries outside India. It is also one of the five best novels in India
involving women, women's conditions in a male dominated society. Nair
has also written The PuffinBook ofMyths andLegends(2004), a
children’s book on myths and legends. Nair's poetical works are included
in The Poetry India Collection and in British Council Poetry Workshop
Anthology. Nair has also written in Bangalore Monthly Magazine (now
called'080' Magazine)

Her other renowned books are Mistress (2003), Adventures of

Nonu, The Skating Squirrel (2006), Living Next Door to Alise (2007) and
Magical Indian Myths (2008). Her sixth novel Idris: Keeper of The Light
(2014) is a historical and geographical novel about a Somalian trader who
visited Malabar in 1659 AD. The title , ‘The Impact of Women’ in the
novels of Anita Nair with reference to Ladies coupe, Better Man and
Mistress tries to explore issues like rape, male domination and betrayal in
marriage. It also discusses women's rights for independence, woman as
wife, daughter and mother and related psychological issues. Nair's
women characters suffer, but their sufferings turn out to be weapons to
fight injustice.

Akila , the central figure of the Novel Ladies Coupe poses a

question Is Man needed for. Woman'?. She finds an answer to this query
on her way to Kanyakumari in a Ladies coupe. . Margaret Shanthi in
Ladies Coupe is a chemistry teacher. She is married to Ebenezer Paulraj a
paradigm of male dominance. He persuades her to complete B.Ed This
attitude of her husband changes her life style; she finally triumphs in
getting her freedom from her husband. Janaki, a house wife in Ladies
Coupe, stands for ritual practice and customized tradition. According to
her, women must be a good daughter, sister, wife, mother and must
depend on some men in their life. Sheela a fourteen year old girl is very
sensitive, she understands what is 'life and what is male domination?.

Marikolundhu , a servant, comes from a poor family. She and her

mother work as coolies in a Chettiar's house. There the chettiar's son
Murugesan seduces her. She is able to love Chettiar's grandson but hates
her own son Muthu, the one who has escaped from abortion. All these
women in a way experience repression in the male dominated society.

In Better Man, a quest for identity, self realization is explicit. Here

Nair portrays women's aspiration for freedom in marital life, freedom in
establishing healthy husband- wife relationship. This novel also
illustrates an individual's attempt to attain peace in then- married life,
Anita Nair in her novels indicates how correlation plays a vital role in
human lives. , Modern Indian women's search for revival of relationships
leads her to explore the emotional ecology that are central to women
Anita Nair 's protagonists make unrelenting efforts to swear themselves
that they are doing the right thing. Her women characters direct their
efforts to wipe down the negative image persisting in man.
"Marginalization and Centralization are common in a woman's life.
Veneration and Isolation do not help her to mingle with realities of life.
An Indian Woman has been either venerated as a goddess or rejected as a
siren. The modern Indian woman has to compete against these two
extreme images. She is striving to lead the life of a normal human being
with normal desires."(Manohar 22)

Anita Nair's novels present the women's struggle for existence

amidst traumatic psychic experience. She traces women's journey from
self-sacrifice to self -realization."The changing pattern of man-woman
relationship is presented not only in the novels but also in films and
television serials. Bold themes and diverse issues are now being taken up
by the media. The mosaic of stories highlights the fact that man-woman
relationship is a very complex and subtle issue."(Mukherjee 25)

InLadies Coupe Margaret undergoes tremendous crisis throughout

her life. Margaret is a docile wife devoid of freedom. She is highly
obedient, saying yes’ to whatever her husband says .But when she is
forced for abortion, her love for her husband becomes hatred. , she utters
a huge cry:-
'I mouthed the words; I hate him. I hate my husband. I hate
Ebenezer Paulraj.I hate him. I hate him.' (Ladies coupe, p 98)
 Anjana in The Better Man enjoys independence and self
satisfaction till she gets married to Ravindran. She wants to give the best
to her husband, but, her mere conversation irritates him, he avoids her.
She longs for love and freedom in married life, When it is declined, she
endures pain, misery and fury. She hates everybody including herself.
Devoid of healthy sexual life and conjugal bliss , she feels that she has
been victimized by her conventional upbringing. She returns to her
parental home only to escape the malignant attitude of her husband.
Incompatibility between the husband and wife, incapability to understand
each other, growing silence between them, have made their life
panic.Ravindran starts distrusting his wife. Instigated by her deeds and
words, he strikes her aggressively. On watching this, her father says,

'When I gave you my daughter's hand in marriage, it was with the

hope that you would love her, cherish and protect her for the rest of her
life. If all you intend to do is hurt her, and made her unhappy, then there
is no need for such a relationship. My daughter can manage very well
without a husband like you. If you ever hurt my daughter again; I'll throw
you out of my house. Do you understand? (Better Man p232)

Anjana realizes that marriage has no meaning in her life, she wants
to quit. She gives up everything.

‘she gave away her colourful saris and took to wearing starched
cottons in shades as inspid,dull as her life. She locked up all her
jewellery in a safe deposit box at the bank and swept all her
flipperies away into the waste basket.'(BM P234)
 Anjana protests against oppression of any kind, she demands
freedom, equality and justice. Her career as a teacher gives her full
freedom, she meets Mukundan, finds in him all that she has required, She
proposes to him.

"Anjana, Mukandan said, You must listen to me. I know you

think I am a good man. Gentle man. Someone you can depend
on completely. I don't know if I am that man you make out to
be. My mother begged me to rescue her and take her away. But
I didn't. I was afraid of my father, and so I made excuses. If I
had done as she asked me, perhaps she might be still alive. That
is the kind of man I am. A weak and undependable creature. Do
you want to be a part of such a man's life?(BM .p 244)

Anjana replies, ''All of us have our weakness, but we seldom have

the courage to accept them. Or even declare it as you have done now. To
me, that makes you braver than anyone else. My love tells me that this is
right. You are right for me.' (BM.p244).After a long struggle, Anjana
divorces her husband, she turns out to be a woman who can make her
own decision. Her attitude towards life, economic independence, and self
identity helps her to make her own choices in life. Her life with
Mukandan ends on a ray of hope.

Anita Nair in both her novels presents victimized women in

patriarchal system. In Ladies Coupe, the novelist depicts an Indian
woman supporting her family in the midst of misfortune. In The Better
Man, she draws a picture of women who fight for security and decency in
love and marriage. The writer explores the inner mind of depressed
women with psychological insight to set right their emotional imbalance
in a male dominated society.Ladies coupe treats the problem of
adjustment between husband and wife, relatives etc. The writer suggests
that wives must be treated on par with husbands.Janaki leads a happy life
with Prabhakaran,she has a son, and daughter in law. But this submissive
wife suddenly turns into a rebellion when she finds her husband scolding
and controlling her only son.

'You just want to control him. You want to control everybody. You
want everyone to your bidding’ (Ladies Coupe, p30).Prabhakar's
dominance irritates her. Her forty years married life trembles, shakes. In
spite of the fact that a miserable life is in front of her, she realizes that
she cannot take off the bond .She answers Akila:

'I am a woman who has always been looked after. First there
was my father and brothers then my husband. When my
husband is gone, there will be my son, waiting to take off from
where his father left off. Woman like me end up being fragile’
(Ladies Coupe-p22)

Next is Sheela, the narrator. She is a fourteen year old girl living
with grand mother, father and mother. She seems to know the intricacies
of life. She tells, “Women turn to their mother when they have no one
else to turn to. Women know that a mother alone will find it possible to
unearth some shred of compassion and love ... that in everyone else has
become ashes” 9Ladies Coupe, p7l). Her grandmother has taught her that
how men torture women physically, emotionally and psychologically.
Though Sheela is often reprimanded by her father for talking to boys,
using 'shit' in sentences and for being rude This attitude of her father
indirectly encourages her to speak ''with razor-edged wit and a finely
developed skill of repartee'(p.70) When her grandmother dies, she
remembers the words of her. - 'The only person you need to please is
yourself. When you look into a mirror, your should make you feel happy
’'(Ladies Coupe, 67)

Anita Nair's Sheela is drawn with deep insight into life and
maturity uncommon in girls of her age.In the characterization of
Marikolundhu , there is sexual exploitation. It demonstrates that men
exploit women who are alone. They make use of illiterate, ignorant and
dependent women. Marikolundhu endures humiliation and degradation
She hates her son Muthu, the result of sexual exploitation by Murugesan.
Later the chettiyar's son-in-law also exploits her. When it is discoveredby
his wife, Marikolundhu is driven out from the place of her work. Her
humiliation, annihilation, her inability to punish Murugesan comes to an
end when she knows that Murugesan is dead.

Anita Nair's Ladies Coupe deals with the issue whether women if
remain single be happy, or unhappy, Does she need a man to be
complete?.Here Akila an unmarried woman of forty takes the
responsibility of running the family after the sudden demise of her father.
This liability brings in patriarchal social thinking and behavior towards
her. She leaves for Kanyakumari. In the train She is acquainted with five
women,Janaki,Sheela, Margaret,Prabha Devi and Marikolundhu. Each
one tells her their family story. After hearing how they they have been
exploited by men, she decides to remain alone, single. Nair, in this novel
refuses to go along with the concept of the independent survival of
modern Indian women in the male dominated society. She depicts the real
life of the characters without hiding anything to the readers, what she
reveals is the effect of social conditioning on women by the male oriented
society
 The characters commit adultery and blasphemy in Mistress. They
break the existing social norms. Anita Nair portrays brave, daring and
courageous characters who indulge in sex, extra marital affairs before
marriage. Her argument is that one has to remove adultery to save family
life. She emphasizes a truth that women, in spite of economic
independence, liberty, and education, are still controlled and dictated by
others. The main character Radha being dissatisfied with her husband
Shyam selects Chris for extramarital relationship, later Shyam
magnanimously forgives her. Anita Nair's women, for their sexual desire
choose men other than their husbands. Faithfulness is a question here,

The term ‘Coupe’ pronounced as coop denotes a confined area for

poultry. It suggests confined, restricted and closed space. It indicates the
protagonist Akiladeswari otherwise Akila's space is limited. The story
that starts in a confined Ladies' compartment concludes in a wider world.
Her self- discovery takes place in a confined carriage. Where as in The
Better Man the hero Mukandan realizes his self through different
measures.Mistress depicts characters who are traditional without any
individual talent or taste. Exception is Rani Oppol, Shyam's eldest sister.
Rabni is highly traditional; she expects others to follow the traditional
way of life. . Her equal Radha's improper behavior is often condemned by
Rani. In Rani's eyes, it is equivalent to violation of prescribed social
norms:
‘You must go to a specialist, get it verified' ( Ladies Coupe, P 22)

In MistressThere are women who decide to cross boundaries

Saadiya Maya and Radha cross the lines to meet their target.
 ' The concept of women's many centered, constellated power,
the stress being at once on the importance of diversity and on
having the power to articulate self-hood.(Bochmer 227-228)

Bochmer indicates that any violation, in course of time will

victimize the person.Saadiya, a Muslim woman with her cherished
dreams, violates laws set for women of. her community. She intentionally
breaks rules to achieve freedom. When she crosses one line, it leads to
another. She marries an illiterate. Finally she aims at freedom that death
brings. She leaves both her son and her man.

Radha, an epitome of new Indian woman, is Shyam's wife.,

Though Radha is prepared to fulfill the dreams of Shyam, her husband, ,
he is dissatisfied with her. Though she decides 'never to flout the rules of
custom'(p54), Shyam's attitude towards her makes her long for freedom,
while pursuing freedom, she meets Chris. She oscillates between
convention, tradition and love for Chris. This dilemma is inexorably the
theme of the novel. She feels trapped by the expectations applied to her,
such as having a baby, or being a '"glossy, silly wife'(p61) While Chris
gives space she needs, Shyam expects her to adjust socially and
traditionally. The affair with Chris, though it fails to give space for self-
discovery, it helps her to redefine self-image-what she is and what she is
not. It is through struggle and disappointments; she is able to choose her
way, somewhat with a modern woman's understanding.

Maya, a minor character in the novel, also sways between tradition

and love. When Saadiya is torn between her love for Sethu and loyalty
towards her father, Radha is caught between wifely duties and giddy
affair with Chris, Maya.is placed between her uncle Roman and her
husband. . There is no need for her to choose one; Roman meets her twice
a week in the absence of her husband. Her husband knows not what is
happening around him. She is married to both. Her decision to choose
this kind of life shows, she is disturbed neither by the society nor by
people around her, she breaks the law to prove that she is independent.
Her view of life is as long as it affects none, it is healthy.

Mistresswas published in 2005.The novel is a search for art and

life.

Quest is the central motif of Mistress. It also deals with art and
adultery. The characters are in search of self-identity and self discovery.
The story thus starts. A travel writer Christopher Stewart goes to Kerala
to meet Koman. Radha’s uncle and a famous Kathakali dancer. Radha
and Chris are mutually attracted. Soon they become intimate friends.
Shyam, Radha's husband soon discovers their intimacy. He helplessly
watches his wife embracing Chris with extreme passion. While
describing their intimacy, the novelist observes the Kathakaii dancers
performance at various locations. She also understands the actor’s sense
of humiliation while performing arts. The life experiences of all the
characters in the novel are carefully drawn; it also shows their inability to
identify compromises that may give peace Kathakali symbolizes pent up
emotions of the characters in the novel. They struggle endlessly to obtain
peace. In a conflict between reason and instinct, will and reality the
women emerge as self-conscious and self-willed women. Nair portrays a
conventional society where women undergo tyranny, injustice and
humiliation, Society is not broad enough to accept extra marital, pre-
marital relationship. Inspite of that, women want to be free sexually and
economically
 The Kathakali artist Koman is in search of identity. The readers
often travel from the past to the present and vice versa, This is known
when Koman narrates his story to Christopher.Radha. Koman and Chris
seek solace in each other’s company Kathakali suggests world of masks ,
it symbolizes The character's struggle in portraying the character
typically, besides their struggle to prove identity The travel of Chris
suggests a quest in search of identity, finally he learns his father is
Koman . His mother Angela has met Koman to learn Kathakali. Now he
wants to leave Radha. Radha too develops a sense of guilt. She is left
alone. Koman also feels a sense of betrayal. When he describesthe art of
Kathakali to Chris, He thinks that he is Ravana with ten heads. Ravana
was ready to' severe his tenth head to know himself. But this was stopped
by the Creator. Koman is prepared for anything to know himself. To him,
life is as difficult as the complexities of art.The truth is, that our culture
cannot be traumatized. The Kathakali art has taught him the essence of
life. Self realization is the dominant motif of the characters they realize it
when they are out of human bondage.

"Nair's India suffers from a patriarchal system which has

tried in many ways to repress, humiliate and debase women.
The question she poses in the novel not only shakes the
ideological ground of man's patriarchal role in the traditional
society but also imply the existence of alternative reality."
(Sinha.49).

Ladies Coupe is a story of women's search for independence and

strength. It deals with issues like oppression of women, stereotyped sex
role in the patriarchal social and cultural organization. The novel
questions whether the role of Indian women should be restricted to wives
and mothers. Six lady characters in the novel project an issue whether
they prefer freedom to bondage; under stress and humiliation. The society
terrorizes them when it takes up problems like class and gender. The
Brahmin heroine Akila , fed up with her multiple roles , takes a train
journey which ultimately projects her as a new woman. This journey is to
find an answer to her ever hitting question,'Can a woman live by herself
and be herself and be happy without a man? (p2)

This query ends in self realization. Her association with five ladies
in the compartment gives a relief, rather a space for women. Though the
ladies differ in age, education, cultural and social background of the
family, they have a common link, all live in a male dominated society,
and are equally affected by sex, caste, class and gender. They all travel,
travel has a metaphorical meaning, they travel towards their destination.

The five women characters in the novel are -Janaki, a ruined wife
and a puzzled mother, Margaret Shanthi, a chemistry teacher, Prabha
devi, a perfect wife, Sheela, a fourteen year old girl and Marikolundhu a
low-caste young woman. These women are replica of life.

Janaki and Prabhakar are happily married, After forty years of

married life, Janaki discovers love that she has shared with Prabhakaran
is only friendly love. Her forty years relationship has made her fragile
and weak. She feels that a woman can walk alone and stand on her own
legs.
' I believed that a woman's duty was to get married. To be a
good wife and mother. I believed in the tired old cliche.that a
home was a woman's kingdom. I worked very hard to preserve
mine. And then suddenly one day it didn't matter anymore, My
 home ceasedto interest me. None of the beliefs I had built my
life around had any meaning I thinkI was tired of being this
fragile creature'.(p5)

She fights against the world built around. She finally becomes a
powerful and strong lady.

Margaret regrets for marrying dull and insensitive Paulraj

Ebenezar. Her first abortion, due to the influence of her husband drives
her to leave home. She needs not a broken home, but a happy family. She
feels love is estranging, isolating people, she declares; “love is methyl
alchohal pretending to be ethyl alchohal” (25). Now she is a dutiful and a
caring mother.Next comes Prabha Devi-40, She is married to Jagadeesh,
the son of diamond merchant. When one of her husband’s friends Promod
has tried to kiss her, She informs her husband/ He accuses her for having
provoked him with her beauty. She becomes

“The woman her mother had hoped. She would be with eyes
forever downcast and busy hands, embroidering, picking,
dusting, and birthing babies this is the way to be happy."(p11)
She is again,’ spirited sensual creature'(pl84)

Sheela, the youngest, knows that women are differentiated by

gender. During the journey, Sheela reminds of her grandmother who has
always been saying Sheela to be herself.

'You must not become one of those women who groom

themselves to please others. The only person you need to
please is yourself. (190)
 When her grandmother died Sheela has decorated her body with
jewels, women may want to be feminine even after death. Marikolundhu,
a very poor and down trodden lady, is brutally raped by the owner's son
of the house where her mother has worked. The result of rape is her son.
Time and circumstances make her strong willed, she says—Women are
strong. Women can do everything as well as men. But a woman has to
seek the vain of strength in herself'(p209)

Akila listens and/absorbs the stories, she associates them with her
own life incidents. This analytical approach gives her confidence in life;
she decides that she can live without support. We meet a conservative
Brahmin lady, Akila's Amma, an ideal Hindu wife. She expects her
daughters to do Brahmin rituals which Akila feels meaningless. When
Akila's father dies, her mother undergoes the ritual of widowhood. She
realizes the status of a Brahmin woman after the death of her husband.

Another minor character is Sarala Mami,, a widow , Akila's

neighbor..She has sold her daughter to survive, For this breach of trust,
impeachment, she is exiled from the whole Brahmin community.

'For the Brahmin community of that neighborhood, the inmates

of House 21-had forever ceased to exist' (p82)

Padma, an orthodox Brahmin, is Akila's sister. She reprimands

Akila's habit of eating 'How can you? We are Brahmins.We are not
opposed to. It is against the norms of our caste. (pl6). She accepts
Brahmin tradition, her identity is a fully fledged woman. Contrary to her,
Akila fights gender related, class, caste and religion related issues that set
against women.Karphagam, Akila's friend is also a widow. She is
contemporary, up to date and unconventional.According to her, a woman
is feminine; she has to disregard norms of the community and heritage of
tradition to live a life of her own. She likes to be, ’'Nobody's daughter,
Nobody's sister, Nobody's wife, nobody's mother."(p207)

The stories of six women thus create a change among ladies; they
walk out from the threshold of their house and enter into a new world, a
world of independence. Ladies coupe is liberation from patriarchy. It is
an Utopian world of freedom.

Anita Nair's Mistressunveils the real position of Indian women

who are deprived of theirrights in marriage and love. Marriage provides
security and respectability to men and women. Women in the past were
traditional, submissive and confined; now the position is contradictory.
The writer in this novel portrays psychic urge of depressed women who
fight for justice by virtue of feminine sensibility and psychological
insight. Anti women ideology of men may be the root cause for the
victimization of women. The novelist depicts the institution of marriage
as a tyranny. Self expression and individuality are the greatest weapons
against tyranny, Men have authority over women, Men are severe and
unfair to women. This attitude of Anita Nair is well shown in Mistress.

In The Better Man, Anita describes how women stress their

individualism to release from the authority of men through Vatsala.. She
is the wife of an aged Prabhakaran, a school teacher. She thinks that her
marriage cannot fulfill her dreams. One fine evening the sweet fragrance
emitted from Pala flowers awakens her feminine sensibility. After many
years of frustrated married life, she feels that she must have a man to
please her sexual desire. She accidentally meets Sridharan, her neighbor,
she falls in love with him. They enter into a sexual relationship. She
becomes her mistress, Whenever her husband is at school, she is with
Sridharan. The absence of her husband at home, gives her freedom, She
treates him as a gandhrvan, who has come straight from heaven to please
her emotionally and physically. Oneday Prabhakaran is found missing.
Later he is found dead During police enquiry, she remains mute, tight-
lipped and quiet. People around her sympathize her for her widowhood.
But this attitude changes when it is known to the public that she along
with Sridharan has killed Prabhakaran and cut his body into pieces. She
obtains freedom, but through homicide, Nair describes the emotional
display of a woman in a bold manner, Vatsala needs extra marital sex.
Her sexual desire is suppressed, She strives for expression through sexual
connection Vatsala , on her way to an erotic sexual utopia emerges as a
'New Woman' Freud describes sexual craving as ‘motor force of
life'.(p553)Does this novel indicate promiscuity or a new morality for
women? It is true that Vatsala has broken time bound tradition. Having
extramarital sex is an individual affair. Through which a woman is able
to attain freedom is a social problem, Only psychologists can decide. It
requires a psycho-analytical approach.

Coming back to Ladies Coupe, the novel displays a fact -Is man
needed for woman.? Akila's friend Karpagam becomes a source of
inspiration to her. She teaches how a woman can stand alone in the
competitive society. On her way to Kanyakumari, she meets five
copaeengers, who in turn inspire to find answers to her problematic
question- can a woman remain single and be happy or does she need a
man to be happy? Janaki, the eldest of five, along with Siddhartha, has
led a contented life. Janaki thinks the role of good mother, good wife will
bring bliss to the family, She feels they are the only duties of a dutiful
mother and a wife, home is her heaven, any violation will destroy the
family relationship.

Sheela, is a girl of fourteen, acts beyond her age. What makes

Sheela different from others is her ability to look beyond things and her
knock of perceiving what others cannot"(p68). Margaret Shanthi's life
history reveals that Margaret's dream of life and self-confidence have
been destroyed by a pompous and self-opinionated husband Ebenezer.
She realizes that her husband is a self possessed despot using his powers
on others in a very unfair, cruel way. The very thought disturbs, her love
for him, it soon changes into abhorrence, hate. 'She formulates a scheme
which would normally save her marriage but also' eat into his amour-
propre and shake the brass-tacks of his being''(pl33)

Prabha Devi leads a contented, satisfied happy life with her

husband, a diamond merchant.. Soon she realizes that in the process of
being a good mother, wife, she has forgotten how she has to be herself.
She learns ''to strike a balance between what she wants to be and being
what she is expected to be"(p187)

Marikolundhu, a house maid is seduced by Murugan, the chetiar's

son. She gives birth to an illegimate child Muthu, whom she hates.When
he is rejected by all her family members, she realizes that she has to look
after her son Muthu. She is now a helper in a mission hospital. She
strikes a pathetic note-'T wrested control of my destiny. I wasn't going to
wage wars or rule kingdoms. All I wanted was a measure of happiness.
All I wanted to be Muthu's mother."(268).After hearing these stories,
Akila realizes that there is self. Nothing can conquer it, Ancient women
may be dependents, Time changes not only the attitude of women but
also their life style, Today women want partners to rely on , Anita
decides to renew her contact with Hari, her ex-lover.

In dance as in life," writes Anita Nair "we do not need more than
nine ways to express ourselves. The art of Kathakaii offers Nair a
platform to place her imagination. She writes that one may call all these
faces of the heart as nine emotions, love, contempt, sorrow, fury,
courage, fear, disgust, wonder and peace. They are made starker by
colour and costume, contortions and gestures. The art of kathakali
becomes a platform to place her emotions.

Mistress too begins with a deception. Chris, an American travel

writer, steps into the world of Radha, her husband Shyam and her uncle
Koman, a famous Kathakaii dancer. Soon a new guest at -Nila, the resort
run by Shyam, breaks the enforced idyll and becomes a player in a
performance scripted by memory and ancestral secrets.His assignment is
to account the life of Koman, but no easy role it is. His identity question
is as complex as the gestures and rhytnms of Kathakali. He ceases to be a
spectator and enters the greenroom.

Radha, a wife bored with a possessive-and prosaic-husband, gives

herself to Chris. Shyam soon drifts into self-pity and, inevitably into
scarred peace.

Though destiny doesn't repeat in Mistress, the writer boroughs a

great deal from the ancestral text as told by Koman. Players may keep
changing, but the performance can only be edited by time, it can't be
stopped. Nair tears the tremor with her own art.
 Koman's back story is, sensuous as well as sorrowful, It is
emphasized by the thrills and tribulations of racial and migratory woes-
alone. It makes Nair a novelist who extends the geographic boundaries of
imagination to accommodate the wayward orphans who dominate
everyone's history. The newness is not in interpreting a classical form to
suit the emotional or cerebral expediencies of the novelist . It is the
existential motto of Kathakali maestro. When the performers in
Mistressgrasb that they have to discard the costume to regain their
humanity, it is too late.

The novel dictates two stories, the first story deals with Radha,
Shyam and Christopher. The second is that which Koman tells Radha and
Chris. Koman is an observer and participant in this story. Koman tells
Radha and Chris his own story, which takes the readers all over Kerala
and Tamilnadu. Shyam voices his thoughts, Radha voices hers. They hurt
each other.The misunderstanding develops.When they go further and
further into their hoary past, they understand the complexities of life.
Shyam draws the readers' sympathy, whereas Radha is vunerable and
insecure. But Koman’s knowledge of Kathakaii is very interesting. He
looks upon mankind, with a wisdom drawn from the heroes, princes and
villains of The Ramayana and TheMahabharatha. He distinguishes
every nuance of emotion as one has experienced , as part of a role in
Kathakali.

Mistressis a brilliant blend of imaginative story-telling and deeply

moving explorations into the search for meaning in art and life. Mistress
is a literary tour de force from one of India's most exciting writers.
 The Better Man set in the Malabar region of Kerala, shows how
Nair can weave imagination with realism. Mukundan Nair, the
protagonist returns to his village to be overshadowed by his tyrannical
father. His fear of his father does diminish as he emerges as the better
man. But on the way, he remembers the help of One-screw-loose Bhasi
who gives him herbs and so that he can be born again without his
emotional hang-ups. ;Mukundan . yields to greed and flattery, but he
wins the respect of the villagers without losing his own self-esteem. Nair
a storyteller doesn't turn India into exotica

Dhanyasree M, in Onelndia, says "A tone of wistful melancholy

and incidents with a touch of keenly observed comedy makes the
characterization in this novel more special. Her vivid knowledge on the
pulse of Kerala can be well observed in this novel. This novel is a must
read for anyone who wants to know the true pulse of Indian life."
(Danyasree.19). Another review in The Hindusaid "Anita Nair's first
book, The Better Man, was a finely structured novel set in a small
Kerala village. Mukundan, her hero, returns to the village, hoping to
exorcise bitter memories. Anita Nair not only has a wonderful knowledge
of life in the village, but shows an almost Dostoevskian feeling for the
undercurrents of consciousness, as Mukundan seeks and finds
redemption." (Fellow Travellers. June 17.2001 The Hindu.)

Kit Reed, writing in The NewYork Times says "A genial, tale filled
with false alarms and diversions, The Better Man is slowed by loops in
the story, by abandoned threads of plot. Charming as it is, the novel
gathers momentum only at the end, when Bhasi and Mukundan find
themselves at odds just in time for the drama of conflict and
resolution.(Read (August, 13.2000). Faith Healer.New York Times. 6
March. 2010) The Literary colum in The Hindu said,' The Better Man
had all the right ingredients according to the critics. Today, with her
second book Ladies Coupe. One would imagine Anita Nair would have
achieved the same results. Critics have opined Otherwise."(Writing for
oneself. (The Hindu Dec 6 Mar 2010).

The Better Man displays the cultural heritage of Kerala. In her

introduction to the Anthology of Where the Rain is Born; Writings about
Kerala 2002 Kerala looks like Paradise on earth.' Nowhere else in the
world have I seen so many hues of green.The velvety green of the moss
on the wall.The deep green of the paddy .LeavesParakeet's wing.'The
frogs.The opaque green of silence". The obsession with Kerala gives a
concrete specificity to her work, but it also restricts her scope of her
narrative technique.

Anita Nair in Better Man gives a valid picture of migrants who

carry with them a socio cultural belongings, that is - carrying Pre-defined
social identity, a set of religious beliefs and practices. The Better Man
and Mistressdisplay how migration can affect people:

'The pain, anxiety, fear and insecurity that Indians have to pass
through in their daily life, especially for those who live in
states other than their own, generate a dence form of diaspora.
The situation of those outside India is an attenuated and
alembicated," (Sharma. 135)

In The Better Man, Mukandan is trapped in a similar situation. In a

letter to his friend, he writes like this," As for me, I am pulling on in this
place. I'm slowly getting used to village life. Believe me , it is nothing
like what you see in all those Malayalam movies you like to watch in the
video. lean understand your curiosity as to what I do all day. Actually,
come to think of it, there isn't any fixed pattern to my day here. It is very
different, and very often i wish 1 could return to an office routine. It gave
a structure to my existence." (121)

This migrant consciousness is evident in Mukandan and Sethu .They

are forced to stay back due to economic reasons. The value of modern
literature lies in its voice what has remained unexpressed in social and
individual conciosness, Dr .Sachithanandan says, ''Literature becomes
important not when it reproduces established values, given truths, or
readymade slogans.lt is like an ear that can hear beyond the
understanding of commonsense knowledge, sociology or politics, like an
eye that can see beyond colour spectrum perceived by politics."(P 87)

The Better Man is set in a small village in Kerala. The village

Kaikurussi is in a little hollow surrounded by several hills and a river
flowing alongside. An elderly Bachelor and a retired government
employee, Mukundan , due to circumstances has to return to Kaikurussi.
Back to his ancestral house he feels that he has failed in life. This is due
to his irresponsibility in protecting his mother and in living up to the
expectations of his father Achuthan Nair. He discovers what should have
been his rightful place had been seized by Power House Ramkrishnan. He
accidentally meets a wayward genius Bhasi, a painter and a practitioner
of a mongrel system of medicine. He has several kinds of healing
processes-herbal cures, the principles of Homeopathy. Bhasi is disturbed
by Mukandan's anguish. He decides to mend him. Transformation takes
place. But the Power House Ramakrihnan decides to build a Community
Hall in the site of Bhasi. When Bhasi refuses , Ramakrishnan threatens
him, he seeks the help of Mukundhan, But in the process of saving , he is
completely influenced by Ramakrishnan. He betrays Bhasi., his friend
and estranges his lover Anianah, a married woman. Mukundan does not
consider it as a betrayal, instead he believes that he has done a right thing.
Only after the death of his father, he realizes how empty his life is.

The Ladies Coupe tells the story of a woman's search for strength
and independence. In the intimate atmosphere of the ladies coupe which
she shares with five other women, Akhila gets to know her fellow
travelers: Janaki, pampered wife and confused mother; Margaret Shanti, a
chemistry teacher is married to a tyrant who is unable to recognize her
needs; Prabha Devi, the perfect daughter and wife, fourteen-year-old
Sheela, with her ability to perceive what others cannot; and Marikolanthu,
whose innocence has been destroyed by a rascal. All are seeking in them
a solution to the question that has been with her all her life: Can a woman
stay single and be happy, or does a woman need a man to feel complete?
In the end, they are all filled with the power of incantation to burn up the
tracks, to seek a new destination.

Author Nair's first US publication offers a quietly powerful feminist

message in the story of a middle-aged spinster, one who finds the courage
and support to live independently as she and her fellow passengers on an
overnight train share their stories.Like so many travelers connected by
chance and circumstance—here the five women tell their stories to pass
the time, while Akhila, the protagonist, listens and adds her contributions.
Now 45, Akhila has given up her education when her father died and she
becomes the family breadwinner. She has spent her life in looking after
her family. She now is taking a vacation to decide what she should do
with the time left to her. Her siblings are shocked that she wants to live
alone—but Akhila is tired of their greed and self-absorption, and wants to
live as she pleases. Listening to the other women, Akhila soon realizes
that her feelings are not unusual. Between each story, Akhila adds her
own: her brief affair with Hari. A Hindu family is usually disgusted with
women living alone The first passenger's tale is told by the elderly Janaki,
who recalls how a visit to her son convinced her to live only for her
husband. Sheela, a teenager, remembers her closeness to her imperious
grandmother, who has just died; Margaret, a chemistry teacher, describes
how she finally has managed with her tyrannical, and perverted. husband;
wealthy Prabha, a wife and mother, tells of recapturing her independence
when she has learnt swimming., and Marikolundhu , a victim of rape,
relates how she has hated the son born as a result. As the journey ends,
Akhila is ready to act on message with refreshing subtlety.

Ladies Coupe is the story of forty five year old Akilandeswari, a

daughter, a sister and an efficient worker. She is everything but a wife, a
lover or an Independent lady. Having lost her father at an early age
Akhila takes up his responsibilities. Over the years she realises that the
only thing she is left with is loneliness. She realises that she has never
been allowed to live her life and thus yearns to break free. On a whim she
takes a one way ticket to Kanyakumari all she has in mind is to be alone
and ponder over her future. To decide that is the way she has been living
her life the right way or is it still not too late to change things.

The story unfolds in the ladies coupe she boards. She meets five
women who share their experiences and give her something to think
about. They give a perspective to her thoughts.
 Prabha who realises that being a dormant wife is not really her &
thus charts out to do something different gives her the important
message, it is never too late. Then there is Janaki,whose identity is
through her husband and son because that is the way life always has been
for her. But does her husband really love her because of what she is as a
person or only because she has become his habit. Does her son really care
for her or is she being taken for granted by him. She is confused.
Margaret Shanthimarried to a man who is too self-absorbed to see beyond
himself. Shanthi knows there is no hope for her until she does something
drastic. What she does might be sinister for some and. survival instincts
for others but what she represents is the face of love which is not all rosy
and mushy. Sometimes to survive you have to be cruel.

And then there is Marikolanthu born in a poor family, who leads a

protected life until it is destroyed by the lust of a man. The circumstances
leave behind a bitter woman. These stories are woven around Akhila's
story and each of the ladies leave behind a message for her:

A woman might be married/ widowed/ jilted/ scorned/

pressurized by circumstances but there is a common factor
which binds them & that is their inner strength. Through the
stories of these women Akhila tries to find answers about her
life. Will she let her life continue the way it is or will she go
back and find her own indentity? What she finally choose for
her life is for you to react.

The book leaves a strong impression on the mind for the sheer fact
that it depicts truth. The way Akhila lives for her life for her family and
then is still scorned by them tugs your heart. All her life she cares for her
family but they are not even bothered about the fact that she has given up
her life to give them a respectable life. What matters at the end of the day
is that she is a "woman" and she has to do as her brothers say. The
author has very well presented the picture of a woman's life quite well. If
life is full of rosy and perfect stories, then it has its share of not so perfect
lives as well. At the end of the day, what matters is how you have lived
your life. There are people who have to forego everything to survive and
sometimes more than everything. Imagine the plight of a widowed
mother who had to put her daughter in a trade which can never be
accepted by the society but she had to because they had to survive.

One of the favorite themes of the novelist is the exploitation of

women as a sex symbol. There are women writers who use as profitable
merchandise in their works. It does not belittle the literary achievements
of the writers. It is their distinct mark, with their own perception of life, it
is feminism, feminist or female. Ladies Coupe explores the possibility of
today's society where women living on her own. The five women give
their stories and their perceptions. Apart from the false designs, the story
also sounds non-natural. Almost all women are exploited sexually; one
society lady confesses that her flamboyant style of life has roused the evil
in men. Another says that she derives pleasure in lesbian contacts, but
now she is a victim of rape. Another woman says that she has been forced
for abortion, for which she takes vengeance on her man. Anita Nair's
description of feminism or female seems to be a misinterpretation of
freedom and inhibition and decorum existing in the contemporary writers.

The term 'feminism' was first used to denote a feminization of men.

(Jane Freedman, P2). There are different sorts of feminism-- Marxist
Feminism, Radical Feminism, post -modern or post-structurelist
Feminism and Black Feminism. As women are chained down to the ages
in all cultures, almost all traditions eulogize women. But in reality, there
exist two societies, one pays tribute where another degrades women.
Society presents her as an object of pleasure, a commercial product ready
for sale. Ladies Coupe raises a taboo question about a woman's role in
contemporary post colonial India. In the novel there are issues like man's
patriarchal role in a traditional society. It also states an idea whether
Nair's women are representatives of other women living in such
oppressed conditions. The entire novel reveals the women's difficult and
tough experiences in the oppressed domestic situations. This novel
portrays Akila as a symbol of feminine strengthened grace. She tackles
all her problems with clarity. She feels that she has wasted her life till
forty five, she wants to travel from ‘'From the Gurukula stage of life, to
Vanaprastha." (p86). She longs for sexual pleasure. A faceless passenger
w
invokes a desire in her Akila had never felt anything like this before.
An unfurling a quiet flowering."(pl30) The passion now rests on Hari, her
old friend. This encounter with Hari marks a changeover to freedom and
fulfillment. Simon De Beauvoir optly remarks Sexuality most certainly
plays a considerable role in human life, It can be said pervade life
throughout." (p77)

The kind of sensations that Hari has roused in Akila -Bryan Strong
says “In Oriental Philosophy, the Yin Yang represent the male and
female principles which come together to form the whole. Both Men and
Women partake of the opposite principle."(p76). Instead of happiness in
this relationship, she feels that she has violated traditions, conventions
and norms of the society. She wants to call off her relationship with Hari,
there starts a New Woman, a woman in search of self. This inner growth
helps her to take risks. According to Scoot Peck " risk taking is an
important trait of people who are in search of quest. ” Thus, all life itself
represents risk and the more lovingly we live our lives the more risks we
take."(pl34)

The life of Karpagam inspires Akila a lot , She tells Akila," I live
alone. I have many years now. My daughter who is just twenty three does
as well. We are strong , Akhi , we are if we want to be build a life for
w
yourself where your needs come first."(p202) Again Karpagam says, I
don't care wnat my family or anyone thinks. I am who I am." (p202).
Akila is finally independent without any bondage. Kanyakumari , a small
town in Kerala where three seas,. The Arabian Sea, The Indian Ocean
and The Bay of Bengal converge. Akila fuses with fellow passengers
only in the train that has to take her to Kanyakumari.

In the Post- independence period women have to face sexual

harassment and exploitation in the male dominated society. In the
Modern Era, women have an urge to prove themselves as separate
individuals in search of self or real image. The Exploration of self is the
chief characteristic of women characters in The Ladies Coupe.

The Hindu Law Giver Manu says -''Where the women are honoured ,
there the Gods are pleased, but where they are not honoured No sacred
rites yield awards." And-'' The houses on which female relations , not
being duly honoured, pronounce a curse, perish completely as if
destroyed by Magic."(p65) The law of Manu insists that women should
be honoured , at the same time it lays down strict laws towards their
behavior. The scriptures raise a doubt - a woman should enjoy freedom or
live a life of dependent creature.
 Anita Nair's female characters struggle in their lives to assert
themselves. Having faced exploitations and defeat, the women challenge
the society to turn it to their favor. Nair's women suffer from stereo typed
roles and oppression existing in the patriarchal system of society. Her
women long for Identity, love and emotional comfort. when they are
denied, she fluctuates between cause and desire, sovereignty and reliant
security, psychic and public identity. This is explicit When Margaret's
husband insists on aborting her first pregnancy. She begins to hate the
man once she has adored. This male chauvinistic view is felt when her
husband says-'I love it when you call me Ebe...I like you like
this...unstained and clean. .1 never want you to change ... I want you to
remain like this....all your life"(LCP 111) The idea that the female should
be under protection is clear when her mother says ," I have said many
times before , it is a woman's responsibility to keep the marriage happy.
Men have many preoccupations that they might not have time or
inclinations to keep the wheels of a marriage oiled."(LC 12).

Though Margaret hates him, she has to live with him, because her
family traditions cannot accept divorce. She wants to avenge him, to
shake his very being. She never finds an answer to her soul stirring
questions," Don't I have a right to have any expectations of him? Don't I
work as hard as he does and more because I run the house as wefi."(LC
112). Margaret is a good example to how women are subdued by male
power. A wife must always be a few feet behind her husband. If he is an
M.A. ...Women's magazines will tell you that marriage should be an
equal partnership. That's nonsense, rubbish. No partnership can ever be
equal. It will always be unequal, but take care that it's unequal favour of
your husband" (TDHNT 85). Margaret seems to be a victim of repression
in the context of Indian society.
 Marikolunthu is a victim of rape As the theme is gender-bias and
oppression of women, she comes out as a strong woman," Women are
strong. Women can do everything as well as men. Women can do much
more. But a woman has to seek the vein of strength in herself. It does not
show itself naturally."(LC 210). Her mother warns her often as she is
easily impressed, '’you give your heart too easily, child. They will break
it into thousand pieces and leave it on the ground for others to trample
into dust."(LC 216). Marikolunthu realizes the truth of her mother's
statement through life's experience. Her son Muthu, the result of rape, is
sold to Murugesan , the rapist for five thousand rupees. She later regrets
and brings him home.

Marikolunthu has to face challenges in life. She is virtually a slave

to male chauvinistic society and its inhibitions. She evokes our sympathy
when she says," In the distance, I heard the calls. Bogi;Bogi; The sparks
would fly as the bonfire was set alight and the night would crackle with
the sound of dried logs and twigs waking up. With my past, my future
too had been torched alive."(LC 241).Marikolunthu suffers socially,
financially and domestically. Ultimately her love for her son puts her on
the right track She is now a new emancipated woman seeking self
fulfillment and happiness.The Brahmin heroine Akila, fed up with her
multiple roles takes a train journey, a journey that can transform her
completely. When she is dominated by her family members , she
questions them, ” Why should I live alone? I'm of able body and mind. I
can look after myself. I earn reasonably well. Akila paused when her
voice choked with tears, and asked me what my desires were or what my
dreams are? Did anyone of you ever think of me as a woman? Someone
who has needs and longings just like you do."(LC 206).
 The responsibility of running the family controls her desire. Even
her mother fails to recognize her yearning. She never asks, ''what about
you?. You have been the head of this family ever since Appa died. Two
things happened Sunday become another day of the week and Akila
became the man of the family. W(LC 75).

Akila's desire to be with Hari is censored by social norms," What

Akila most desired in the world was to be her own person, in a place that
was her own.To do as she pleased. To live as she chose with neither
restraint nor fear of censure."(LC 201). Akila's brothers Narayan and
Nansi advise her, "It's improper for a woman to live alone. What will
society say?.That your family has abandoned you. Besides, there will be
a whole lot of questions that will pop up about your reputation. You
know how people put two and two together and come up with six.Nalini's
family will be scandalized if they hear about this. Have you thought how
embarrassing my position will be? (P206)

On hearing Akila's decision to live alone, he adds,' How will you

cope? This is not a reflection on who you are. How can any woman cope
alone?

The novelist through him reveals the patriarchal conditions of the

society which cannot allow women to live alone even if they are
financially secured. But Akila, having fully realized the irony of the
situation, decides to supersede the tyrannical norms. Akila undertakes a
journey in search of identity She wants someone to see her as a whole
being. Akila's journey begins with a sense of escape.' the smell of a
railway platform at night fills Akila with a sense of escape."(P 1).
 Akila portrays the emotional outburst of a deprived woman. She
knows that matrimony sanctions power to men to subdue women. In the
sketch of Akila the novelist depicts the self abatement of women in the
patriarchal society. Almost all the women characters in the novel in one
way or other are affected by the patriarchal system of the society. Nair
depicts restrictions prevalent in Indian society especially for girls in the
middle class family.

Akila decides to break the conventional and old fashioned system

of the Hindu Brahmin family Akila had always, 'dreamt of this'..Eyes
looking ahead. Of leaving . Of running away..Of pulling out..Of
escaping.'(LC 1). Akila wants to be free, wants to practice the real
happiness of freedom. The novelist shows Akila as''...that sort of a
woman...(who)does what is expected of her”.

Mistressdeals with the sexual violence and the authoritarian power

of Shyam in the marital relationship. The novel turns around Shyam, his
wife Radha and Koman , Radha's uncle and a Kathakali exponent.
Marital discord drives Radha to entangle with Chris, an American writer.
This forces her to relieve her of the repressive power of Shyam. The
novelist in the portrait of Shyam reveals that he is a man who cannot
demonstrate love ,sympathy and mutability to his wife.

Simon De Beauvoir in The Second Sex states, ''Subordinated

economically and socially to her husband , the good wife is the man's
most precious treasure. She belongs to him profoundly that she partakes
the same essence as he, she has his name, his gods, and he is responsible
for her, He calls her his better-half. He takes pride in his wife as he does
in his house, his lands, his flocks and his wealth and sometimes even
more, through her he displays the power before the world, she is his
measure and his earthly portion."(p.207).

Shyam dislikes self-confident women, As Radha is self confident

and self possessed Shyam is unable to get along. This incompatibility
makes Radha reluctant and hesistant- ”His arms pins me to the bed. I
think that for Shyam. I am a possession. A much cherished possession.
That is my role in his life. He doesn't want an equal. What he wants is a
mistress. Someone to indulge and someone to indulge him with feminine
wiles...! think of the Butterfly caught and pinned to a board when it was
still alive, its wings spread so as to display the markings, oblivious that
somewhere within, a little heart beat, yearning to fly, I am that butterfly
now". (Mistress)p87.

Postcolonial feminist literature has dealt with the wrong idea of

traditions and religions, especially of women's economic and social
status. In the traditional post colonial society the women writers have
given prominence to the question of women's emancipation. In their
works, they have not only insisted the patriarchal ideologies and their
domineering tendencies towards feminist growth but have also visualized
ways of working against those attitudes. They scrutinized unreliable
ideals of feminist emancipation in role playing, the role of community in
helping or damaging feminist freedom. Of all the writers Anita Nair is
acclaimed for the perfect rendering of Indian woman trembled by a sense
of loneliness and helplessness.

Ladies Coupe powerfully describes feminine sensibility, through

social crises and norms the inner urge for freedom. The Brahmin heroine
Akhila, tries to change the course of life, but in vain. She is neither free to
achieve her goals nor to transform her dreams into reality. Akila with
sans husband, children and family is dreaming of escape and space. Akila
starving for life and experience sets out for a journey. The story tries to
find out an answer to her problematic question, Can a woman remain
single and be happy at the same time?.

Like Akila, the other characters also question the system of

patriarchal society and their role on searching identity in the larger social
set-up. The novel gives a different picture of social set up that cannot
thrive in the ideological, traditional society. But Marikolunthu an
uneducated, poor and rural woman is able to reject traditions that confine
relationship with man. Nair ridicules through her that education is an
asset only when it establishes men and women's personal and
interpersonal attitudes. If not, education is futile and ineffective.

Mistress discusses in depth the relationship between Radha and

Shyam. The mutual incompatibility alienates her. Dissatisfied with sexual
contact with Shyam, she finds pleasure in the company of Chris. She
even rejects love and marriage. Her husband's suppressive environment.
Materialism and the vulgarity of society create aversion in her. She wants
to know her hoary past and the mystery behind Chris's visit. She is rudely
shocked when she realizes that Chris, with whom she has had extra
marital affair is her own cousin. It transforms her completely, she goes
back to Shyam.

Radha's alienation under the framework of sexuality is the result of

Shyam's negligence and this leads her into Chris's arms. Radha in
Mistress, Janaki,Prabha and Margaret in Ladies Coupetake up a unique
place. They want their marital life to be healthy and happy. When the
relationship fails there is an inner urge for identity. Radha's desire for
physical gratification and social interaction and recognition is similar to
Akila's search for identity and meaning in life. Nair presents in those lady
characters the whole women race, Akila and Radha suffer between 'what
is' and 'what ought to be'. Nair in her novels present women to fight for
women liberation.

The struggle of educated and rich women for emancipation is

different from uneducated and poor women. Marikolunthu, in spite of
being poor and illiterate, her growth through experience from
submissiveness to defiance is commendable. She seems to be the Indian
version of Ibsen's Nora. She directs all her emotions to live and survive..
Anita Nair in her characters upholds the ultimate vision of goodness,
beauty and truth in life. The novelist stands against the view of
structuralism which states that the experience ofwomen can easily
disappear, if there is no solution to problems then and there, then the
concept of relationship will become mute, invalid and invisible.

Relationship plays a vital role in human meet. Nair presents in her

novels revival of relationships that are essential to women. She explores
human psyche, the emotional ecology of her protagonists. She wants
them to assure themselves that they are doing the right thing in addition
to understanding the beauty of life with human weakness.Marriage
creates a new world to women. Ultimately Akila in Ladies Coupedecides
to choose a partner to attain her goal. Her experience during travel is
similar to Anita Nair's tour around the world to experience life, and Akila
too during the process,is conscious of perception. She displays the
difficulty, uncertainty and complexities of ethical choices. What Akila
means is, 'an answer can come from within, exploring all parts of the
self’. (IC 68).
 After living by rules and regulations of the family, Akila wants to
do something for herself regardless of what others feel. She undertakes a
journey towards self discovery The stories of other women traveling in
the same compartment turn into answers to her query, 'Does a woman
need a man to feel complete?.' She forgets who she is and what she was
before. The company of HARI excites her, "Hari sat next to her. She
could smell the alcohol on his breath. It excited her, that strange
fragrance and she felt a tingling down her spine. (LC 151). To her it is
the most precious moment in life. When Hari wants a gift from her on his
birth day, Akila without a second thought offers herself to him. They
have made love for the first time.

When comments float on air about the relationship Akila is hurt.

She feels that she may be publically humiliated. This constant fear of
public humiliation drives her to say,’ I will never see you again. Are you
done?. Please don't call me at my office or try and meet me. ..I will
perhaps never love anyone else but this is not meant to be. (LC 153). She
later realizes that her separation from Hari will cause pain, she wants
resuscitation of relationship.

Anita Nair's women characters show that in life there must be

adjustments and compromises The novel explains that only relationship
can shape the ethics of a character. The protagonist's journey in search of
identity, relationship and independence induces her to continue life in a
new ankle. The novelist portrays in characters pain and pleasure, cause
and anxiety, love and sex, depression, dejection and frustration besides
violence, anger and the question of survival in the midst of patriarchal,
traditional values of life.
 Since the dawn of civilization, there has been a struggle to liberate
women from male dominance. This Feminism is said to be an expression
of resentment at the unjust treatment meted out to women. Though Men
and women live in free India, one feels he impact of patriarchy when
women continue to be targeted by male. Ladies Coupe is an attempt to
show how suppression and oppression do not come in recognizable
terms, If Marriage connects two individuals to share joy and sorrow,
success and failure. It has to establish healthy relationships. Trust and
love must reign supreme there but if there is threat to herself respect and
dignity, she steps out of her house. Then she has to face challenges. She
may be called an angel, but circumstances sometimes show her as a devil.

Marginalization and centralization are essential to her, adoration

and segregation cannot help her to obtain harmony in life. Nair presents
the existential struggle of women who are refused to go along with the
main stream of life. Such women have to display traumatic psychic
experiences in the absence of value system. In Ladies Coupe, Akila, the
protagonist’s journey is a journey from self sacrifice to self realization,
self denial to self assertion.

In Mistress, The character of Saadhiya strikes a note. Saadhiya, a

Muslim marries Sethu, a Hindu. The marital relationship exposes another
kind of tyranny; enforced domesticity. It drives her to seek refuge in
religion. When Religion fails to offer a solution ,she ends her life.Lalitha,
a rape victim is forced to take prostitution, Koman offers to marry her.
She rejects him
 Anne Wilson Schaef, in Women’s Reality (1985) describes-
''Historically women have been defined by men as being sexually pure
and pristine. The only perfect woman was a detached and innocent
virgin.' Nice woman' did not enjoy sex. There were good women and
there were whores.(P44).

Anita Nair's women characters take the position of outsiders to

fight those cultural ideologies that come on the way of becoming free
individuals.

Priyanka Singh comments: "hers are common place, every day

characters, they are alive, theirtears real, their exasperation genuine and
undramatic and their dilemma understandable It could very well be a
story of anyone of us. We could be them, they us". (Singh). Geeta Doctor
also restates Priyanka's observation, "Nair's characters are singularly life
affirming". (Geetha). Anita Nair in an interview with Sheela Reddy also
expresses “I like to write about ordinary people and don't want to write
about characters larger than life"., again, "I would like to be labeled a
Writer of Literary Fiction;

The main theme of her novels is asserting identity. In the process

of affirming their self identity, the women characters witness conflict
both outside and inside.

In Mistress, Anita Nair uses Kathakali an ancient form of

expressive dance in India to convey the ancient mythological stories.
Kathakali and Navarasas take a cruciai role in the novel. The novelist
uses three interludes, the chief is Kathakali, a lyrical form of emotion,
especially Navarasas. Neither the romantic story of Radha and Chris nor
the glorious past of Koman interests the readers. The portion of the story
that creates interest in the novelist is her Koman an artist story. Nair
describes. As Kathakali is art form to describe several types of emotions
like love, pity, sorrow, valour etc, this art is more or less a medium to
disseminate, to propagate life into an understandable tableau. It is
interesting to watch on the stage conflict, contempt, dilemma, love, pity
and sorrow of the glorious characters. Here art of Kathakali becomes The
Mistress of the novel, It seduces Koman the artist as well Nair.

The art of Kathakali whose 'facial expressions' basic emotions

(navarasams) provide the structure to the novel. The novel begins with
Shringaram-ILove:
"Love. Let us begin with sringaaram. Do we know other
words for it? Or do we know it by the widening of the eye,
the arching of eyebrows, the softness of the mouth that
curves, by that swelling of breath from each nerve-end
wanting to cup a contour?We have words for this flooding
that can sweep away all other thoughts. Pleasure, longing,
lust... we call it by so many names. It is human to do so. To
give a name to everything and everybody, to classify and
segregate. For only then we can measure the extent of this
need to know, to conquer, to hold this wondrous being, this
creature that suffuses every moment with a strange and
inexplicable yearning"

The novel ends with — Shaantam-Peace-

"Shaantam. How do we depict peace? What do we school

our features into? Shaantam is not a face devoid of
 expression. Shaantam is not the absence of muscle
movement. Shaantam is not turning yourself into a catatonic
being. [...] Is it the stillness of the hour befdre dawn in a
summer month, when a thin line of light appears on the
horizon? The sky and so is the earth. The birds are still
asleep and even the breeze is reined in by the heat that
waits. There is a stillness to that hour that you can learn
from. Rein in all thoughts. Calm your mind. Feel the
stillness within your being."

In a way, this story is a chaotic journey to achieve peace. And this

journey is taken by Shyam, the rejected husband, Radha, the longing-for-
something-else wife and Koman, Radha's uncle - the master of Kathakali
- an art form that's a difficult mistress.The female characters of her novel
echo the real conditions of women from different- social stratum. Nair's
moto of uplifting women drives her to depict female characters with inner
strength and confidence.Nair's strength lies in bringing alive the everyday
thoughts, desires and doubts of six ordinary women. .. Quietly powerful"-
(Review, Times Literary Supplement). Kirkus Reviews "A sensitive
exploration of the tension of self-actualization vs. familial responsibility
in a society with traditional values, this novel . . . will surely resonate
with readers everywhere”. Library Journal "Nair is a powerful writer . . .
she has created what must be one of the most important feminist novels
to come out of South Asia." – (Daily Telegraph.U.K).

Almost all her novels depict husband-wife relationship. Her female

characters are bold enough to cross boundaries. Radha in Mistressopts for
extramarital affair with Chris, her husband's friend."Shyam's call leave
me angrier than ever..." (206).Nair in an interview says,' To me feminism
in the Indian Context is about recognizing the importance of the female
self and to be able to nurture it perhaps it is conditioning, perhaps it is
lack of self esteem. We do not consider ourselves important enough and
so we tend to put our needs and desires on the back burner....And this to
me is what feminism ought to decide.'( IJMER).In marital life, women
have to adjust with their male counterparts and in this process they may
loose their identity. Nair's views reflect what Shashi Desponde has said in
an interview with Lakshmi Holmstorm -”I am different from other
Indians who write in English, my background is very firmly here. I was
never educated abroad. My novels don't have westerners, for example'
They are just about Indian people and the complexities of our lives. Our
inner lives and outer lives and the reconciliation between them."(IJMER
248-49).

In Mistress, Nair employs Radha Krishna cult to denote Radha and

Chris' ardent desire for physical culmination. But the mythological tale of
Radha and Krishna manifests pure and divine love. Krishna's love for
Radha is eternal, perpetual. In Mistress, Radha's thinking of 'forever' and
in Chris 'now' stays alive what next, what next is Radha's question. This
anxiety turns out to be disastrous and catastrophic. Once the union is
complete, Radha feels that Chris is not that Lord Krihna and she is not
the celestial Radha The concept of divine love is wrongly conveyed and
more or less misrepresented by the novelist to describe down to earth
extramarital sex.The novel centers round the psychological issues and the
feminine sensibility which are the outcome of emotional imbalance
caused by male dominance, Nair stresses men's anti women ideology is
the root cause of women's suffering and victimization. Nair's women
characters assert their individuality by liberating themselves from the
clutches of men.
In Better Man, Vatsala's marriage with the old school master
brings no new astonishment in life. The fragrance of Pala Flowers in her
garden reminds her mother, who always says that the scent of pala flower
is the beloved fragrance of Gandharva to woo virgins. For the first time in
her life she recognizes that she needs a man to satisfy her sexual desire.
Sridharan, her neighbor and lover appears to be a natural pinnacle to her
emotional involvement. This realization soon takes her away from her
husband. She remains a mistress to Sridharan during day in the absence
of her husband. She treats Sridharan as Gandharva, and he praises her as
his Vaisala.

This narrative extols Vatsala's feminist attitude in a new ankle.

Vatsala is conscious of the fact that every woman needs love, sex,
freedom to choose life. She tries to establishe a new code of morality
against the traditional concept of Indian womanhood. She beats the
society with her new set of laws of sexuality and gender. She justifies
herself:
“I am just forty years old. I don't want to be pushed into old age
before it is time, I want to live, I want passion, I want to know
the ecstasy, She told herself, night after night." (BM 130)

Consequently Valsala's quest emerges as a battle, a war against

female psyche and tradition. Vatsala's sexual affair with Sridharan
generates a truth that if a woman is dissatisfied with her personal life, she
has to violate the existing moral code. In spite of her aggravated
relationship with husband Vatsala sustains it for the main reason of
financial security. She wants his house, LIC policy and Retirement
benefits.

"After twenty- three years of marriage, she thought she

 deserved to have it all. She didn't want to give it up just like
that. Nor did she want to give up Sridharan". (BM 133).

Vatsala and Sridharan become partners under the secret nuptial

knot. Suddenly Prabhakaran, the teacher is found missing and later dead.
During police enquiry Vatsala creates sympathy in spectators. But this
sympathy becomes hatred when it is known that she along with Sridharan
has brutally killed him.

In this novel, one can witness Valsala, who does not feel shy or
remorse for her hideous crime. She wants to escape male domination and
to lead life as she has dreamt. If sex is the main stream of life, Valsala in
a way a new woman breaking patriarchal system and traditions existing
in society. Anita Nair brings forth a new set of modern women for whom
sex alone is religion. Anita Nair indirectly asserts a fact that If the man in
life disregards her emotions and aspirations, she emerges as a self
confident and more liberated woman. Nair by putting forth the painful
feelings of depressed women in a bold manner, she states her
protagonists' quest is an answer to her query if woman has freedom to
choose her life.

To Nair, shift from the pativrata image to sexually emancipated

women marks the emergency of a new set of women who demand sex as
a core in human life, 'motor force of life' , Vatsala's eroticism is a sign of
radical change occurring in the Indian sexual concept. The novelist
declares only extra marital sex is a substitute to Vatsala’s discontented
marital life. By asserting their self and their individuality, Nair puts them
on the track of feminism. Does Nair want to spread a new mode of
morality or promiscuity?- no clue. Will society accept women violating
sexual code? -uncertain. But one arrives at a conclusion that solution to
this sexual problem depends upon the individual.

The central figure in Ladies Coupeis Akhila, a single, 45 year-old-

woman and a government employee. When her father died, she has to be
the family breadwinner; No one has ever paid attention to her needs and
desires. When she declares her desire to live alone as a single woman, her
family is appalled. She boards the train to escape their demands and give
herself time to consider whether or not a single woman can successfully
live alone. The women she meets on the train tell about their own lives.
An older woman tells about her happy but suffocating marriage. Another
relates how love has turned into hatred when a husband's cruelty becomes
apparent. A woman, raped when young, has turned to sexuality to secure
a place for herself. In the end Akhila chooses her own unique path to
keep herself away from the demands.

The novelist seems to propaganda an idea that our decisions are

really matter, but deciding to be less submissive will bring new happiness
Anita Nair through Karpagam, leaves a message,"I don't care what my
family or anyone thinks. I am who I am. And I have as much right as
anyone else to live as I choose. It has young girls wear colorful clothes
Jewellery and a pottu? It has nothing to do with whether she is married or
not and whether her husband is alive or dead. Who made these laws
anyway? Some man who couldn't bear the thought that in spite of his
death, his wife continued to be attractive to other men"(LC 202).

Again she wakes up Akila, ”If I can live alone, why can’t
you?(p.201).Margaret also tells 'You will discover that once you stop
worrying What the other world will think of you , your life will become
that much easier to live.""(136).Marikolunthu, the worst victim of
patriarchal society tells her, "What do they know of how cruel the world
can be to women?.I am not telling you women are weak. Women are
strong. Women can do everything as well as men. Women can do much
more. But a woman has to seek that vein of strength in herself. It does not
show itself naturally."(210) Akila now decides to live according to her
wish.

In Better Man,Anjana, wife of Mukundan breaks the traditional

values to create the world of her own. Anjana's emergence from her
unsuccessful marriage is an assertion of individual freedom. In
Mukundan, she finds what she cannot in her husband Ravindran. In
Mukandan's company, she recognizes that she has to free herself from her
unhappy married life. When Ravindran fails to acknowledge her identity,
she draws a new line for herself. After a long struggle she is able to make
choices, decisions. This positive attitude towards life, self identity assists
her to start life anew with Mukandan.

Anita Nair not only presents voices of emancipation, but also

attempts to map out the real-processes by which women are womanized.
Breaking the patriarchy and establishing self identity become the motto of
The Better Manthis novel highlights the problems of disloyalty. The
novelist gives a tarnished vision of sacred marriage in the portrayal of
women characters. She depicts that emotions and feelings are important
than traditions or culture. She prefers human values to tradition or
culture.
Following is a review on Mistress published by Sampada Word Press
com2013/01/21

“I had heard a lot about both Nair and Mistress before I started
reading. So my expectations were high. The novel begins in a small city
in the South Indian state of Kerala, at a train station. Radha, her husband
Shyam, and her Uncle have come to receive Chris, an American. The
purpose of Chris's visit is to interview Uncle (or Koman), a Kathakali
dancer and make him a prominent part of his travel book. As soon as they
lay their eyes on Chris, both Radha and Uncle feel an immediate sense of
attraction, for different reasons. Radha, whose married life is "dead,"
finds Chris sexually appealing,, and Uncle cannot put a finger on why he
feels a closeness to this American man, but certainly feels warmly
towards him. Shyam, on the other hand, sticks out like a sore thumb and
is excluded from the troika's discussions and meetings. Set at a resort run
by Shyam, MistressMoves forward as we hear the story from the
perspective of Radha, Shyam, and Uncle. Unhappiness abounds in the
resort, and it is Chris who brings a sense of joy to some of its residents.
However, that happiness does not seem to last very long or have a
positive effect on anyone.

Nair chooses to give each of the main character a voice, which

makes for an interesting reading. An incident when seen through different
eyes gives it a multifaceted appearance. What is bothersome, though, is
that none of the characters, when they speak, make you feel
compassionate towards them. Rather, when I read something through a
character's perspective, I viewed them as shallow, selfish, and quite
annoying. With three strong personalities to choose from, I'd not want to
sympathize with any. And it is frustrating to read a 400-some page book
with no character to root for. Chris, the foreigner, is thankfully left
foreign and given no voice, making him a mystery not just to the novel's
inhabitants, but also to us.The scope of the novel is quite large too, going
back in time to Uncle's father's childhood. Most of those chapters left me
little exasperated and turning pages with a groan. The author might have
wanted to give an 'epic' quality to the novel, but for me, it failed with the
over-arching story-line. Although I much preferred the present story-line
at the resort, instances like Radha reading Nair's earlier book Ladies
Coupeseemed self- absorbed and left me rolling my eyes.There are a few
upsides to the novel though - the story is dripping in culture and dance
lore. There is a lot of information about Kathakali and some recollections
of Indian myths are interesting. Overall, though, as much as I hate to say
it, I finished the novel only because I had to. I won't mind reading Nair
again, but you'll have to bribe me with chocolate first."(Book Review)

The story of Maya, a minor character in Mistress in a way parallel

to those of Radha and Saadhiya, ie women who have to choose between
convention and love. Saadhiya is torn between love for Sethu and loyalty
towards religion, her father and Muslim community and tradition. Radha
oscillates between duty towards her husband, and her frolicsome affair
with Christopher. Maya stands between Koman her uncle and her
husband. She meets Koman twice a month to have sex. Except those two
days she remains loyal to her husband. Her violation of family code is
contrary to that of Radha and Saadhiya,

Hers is a long term one.She is not motivated by sudden outburst of

emotion or lust or love, her decision to cross convention is in a well
ordained manner. Though her love is one sided, according to Koman, she
is not pressed between love for Koman and duty towards husband. She
accepts both Koman and husband. She indicates there may be other
people in one's life. Though she is bound to Koman and her husband , she
demonstrates an attitude of crossing boundaries instead of crossing and
repenting. She is tied to both. Her character is a controversial one, she
violates law, yet acknowledges it.

Koman both an observer and participant is unable to make a

decision, The story of Radha and Chris takes the readers all over Kerala
and Tamilnadu. It brings Kathakaii with fascinating insight into the
training and performance of this traditional dramatic form. But unlike
Kathakali, this novel contains many characters, Shyam voices his
thoughts, Radha voices her, both hurting each other. As the novel
advances, the readers understand the complexities in the relationship.
Koman alone looks upon Mankind with wisdom obtained from characters
he has displayed.

The central characters of her novels as the story progresses learn

that they have never been living for themselves but for others governed
by laws prescribed by the society. KirKus 'review on Mistress expresses
that in Mistress “a painful line of wistful melancholy and incidents both
droll and poignant characterize this first novel of Indian village life, a
story reminiscent of the works of R.K. Narayan.”

What happens to Mukandan who returns after forty years of exile is

well expressed in gentle keenly observed comedy., When Mukundan
returns after a 40-year absence to the village of Kaikurussi, it is not with
any sense of renewal. His childhood home contains terrible memories of
MuKundan's bullying father (still alive), and he's convinced that the
ghost of his brutalized mother, dead many years, haunts the place.
Mukundan may be a bachelor nearing 60, but he is as timid as a child.
When he hires a local man, One- Screw-Loose Bhasi, to help him restore
his house, they form a close friendship. Bhasi, a teacher and healer as
well as a painter, helps Mukundan exorcise the ghosts—literal and
figurative—of his childhood. Mukundan also begins an impassioned
affair with an unhappily married woman, Anjana. Both relationships are
put to the test when the village elite pressure Mukundan to intercede in a
land dispute. The corrupt local bigwig, Power House Ramakrishnan,
wants to buy Bhasi's house and land, but the painter refuses to sell. To his
eventual shame, Mukundan, seduced by promises of higher standing
within the community, talks Bhasi into selling. And because he fears
village censure if his affair comes to light, he tries to wriggle out of his
relationship with Anjana."He regains his dignity by story's end, however,
and takes the unprecedented step of defying village opinion with one
climactic gesture.

The title suggests that this is ’the story of a woman's search of

strength and independence and that's exactly what it was.

It is a story of Akhila, a forty-five years old single working

woman, born and brought up in a conservative Tamil brahmin family.
After her father's death, she takes his place as head of the family and
supports her mother [financially] in bringing up one younger sister and
two younger brothers. Having lost her youth to a lifetime of sacrifice, she
one day decides to take control of her future and buys a one-way ticket to
a town called Kanyakumari.

The story begins in the Ladies Coupe of the train, which Akhila
boards and shares with 5 other women. First is Janaki, an old woman
whose marriage has eventually turned into a sweet friendship with her
husband over the years. Margaret, a chemistry teacher, who works in the
same school as where her husband is the Principal. Margaret's story is the
most interesting where she viciously rebukes her self-absorbed husband.
Prabha, an ideal coy submissive wife, who is distant and lost throughout
the marriage, until one day she learns to swim Sheela is a fourteen old
girl who learns from her dying grandmother, lessons that will shape rest
of her life. Lastly, Marikolunthu, who shares the experiences of her
whole life which have many sad and shocking incidents like rape, social
discrimination, and exploitation.

One question Akhila has been asking throughout her adult life is,
"Can a single woman live alone? Or does she always need a man to
protect, support and complete her?"She analysis her own life through
the experiences of all these women. She realizes that she has let her
whole life go by and never able to stand up for herself. The story is quite
close to what one might find in any average Indian family. It doesn't
explore anything that one is not already aware of, however, it's Nair's
vivid writing that connects with the women and their issues

The ending of the book is definitely controversial and will not be

well with many people [Indian, at least]. Many may believe that she has
lost her dignity through the actions she has taken , but in reality Akhila is
too 'strong' and 'honorable' She must have probably felt the need to do
something truly rebellious. After having heard the other five women
talking about their short-comings so unapologetically shemust have felt
more human knowing that she has had also done something that the
society cannot approve of. Anyway she is in a sense liberated finally.The
underlying truth is that regardless of education and financial
independence women are not liberated. Even the most modern and
educated women do not have the liberty to make decisions about their
life,

This chapter on 'The Impact of Women in Anita Nair's novels thus

shows the changing role of women in the Indian society. She has
effectively presented the Post Independent women, the predicaments
imposed upon them and their fight against society to come out from their
predetermined roles. Nair in all the novels has dealt with gender issues,
women subjugation, and their clash between traditions and modernity
besides a quest for self identity and self reliance.