Feminine awakening in the character of Nalini: A Study on Markandaya’s “A Handful of Rice”

Abstract

There are many themes handled by Kamala Markandaya which are primarily deal with the feminine consciousness and the liberation of female protagonists from the clutches of Patriarchy. She rebels against the existing customs and conventions of the traditional roles through individual thoughts. She raises her voice against the causes of woman and try to awaken them through the integration of  ideas and thoughts. A kind of new awakening is found in the present study focusing on the female protagonist named ‘Nalini’ in the novel “ A Handful of Rice”. This paper attempts a kind of reassessment of Indian woman throwing light on the dreams and visions of her like other protagonists of her novels. She never makes her protagonists inferior to the male characters in the novels. The ideas expresses through various situations in the novel prove that Markandeya has a special view point in awakening woman with fresh ideas of identification, individuality and autonomy. The paper finds Nalini as an independent and also thought provoking character in the novel.