Nina in a Feminist perspective

I honestly don't hear too much of Nina in all that I've read about her, except that (with fair exception that she is a grandmother) the classic traditionalist mother who wants to keep everything stable and just like the old days. Which is interesting, because this brings up two conflicting aspects of her which to this day leave me confused about whether she is to promote women as powerful or equal figures to men or if they are as always subservient.

She's the matriarch of the whole family, so it is in fact a woman that orchestrates everything that happens in the Gupta family (Okay, I know, it's bad logic. It's like saying that because a woman picked up a bag of money off the street, then it symbolizes that women are supposed to be in control of the money and thus economy... but that's beside the point.)

But then again she also has a role as the "nurturing mother," who raises the sisters by herself after their mother passes away and takes it upon herself to make sure both of the girls are happy and well raised as well as protected. This can, then again, go more into honoring family values and bonding.

However, one thing that Aloka points out earlier in the book is that Nina/Thakurma makes plenty of social commentary in regards to life in Darjeeling, and advocates teh growing influence of women in social, economical, and political matters:

"In my last letter I had mentioned how women in the village of Sonagunj were trying to get elected to their community council. As you well know I am all for them. It was our ancient poet Kalidasa who once said, 'Look for a land where women are in good spirits, for that is a prosperous country...'


Aloka smiled. Grandma's letters always began with a commentary on some aspect of social or political life-- she had been nicknamed All Indian Radio by her neighbors." (10)

Another thing that makes her represent the power that women have in society is when she herself defies social  boundaries and expectations put upon her, and as a result becomes a respected legend. In chapter 26 starting on page 160 there is a length flashback where Nina recounts to Aloka and Sujata, then children, about how her marriage with her husband and their grandfather came to be, even though they were of different social class. She describes the way that she was mistreated by her judgmental mother-in-law, up until the day she confronted her:

"I sprang up faster than a tigress leaps at her prey, threw off the veil, and took the pins out of my hair, alowing my tresses to cascade down my back and over my face. Mouths fell open. They'd never seen such long, shiny, locks, and certainly no one expected a young married woman to assert herself in this fashion. 'Choop karo,'  I said. Shut up. My mother-in-law nearly fainted, her old cousin breathed terribly hard, and the rest looked up at me in shocked silence. I felt glorious" (170)

Letting down you hair is according to the book impolite in Indian culture, so by breaking expectations of her as a wife that she couldn't meet, Nina in this scene has asserted her power and her independence in oen swish of her hair.

Sujata in a Feminist Perspective

Not so positive-- Sujata's affair with Pranab. This is a pretty obvious one, I would think. By persisting in her affair with Pranab, Sujata seems to be evaluating her own self worth based off how close she is or how well she attracts a man. And that if Pranab must think she is worthy than she is, but if he doesn't find her worthy then she isn't. She only starts to take care of herself better and gain confidence because of her affair with Aloka's fiancée, which I should add also seems pretty shallow:

"Only in the last few weeks had she been drawn to makeup and fine clothing, for whenever she exchanged a glance with Pranab, she saw herself radiantly reflected in his eyes. And nothing about seemed to escape his attention. Just the other day, seeing her dressed in a black sari embellished with silver embroidery, he had composed a melodious Sanskrit verse, then translated it as, "Your beauty craves a thousand eyes. Alas, I have but two." (43)

After her exile, Sujata rebuilds herself a small tea business that sustains her and keeps her well respected in her new domain-- without the help of Pranab, who meanwhile literally crashes and burns in New York because of the lack of privilege and respected he receives there and his inability to secure a highly important job: As she later tells Pranab:

"Yes, all those years I threw my life into my work. A small business is a constant struggle, but it also gives you a lot of satisfaction. This morning when I called my assistant, she asked me when I was coming back. She made me feel very good deep down inside." (233)

And then it could be said that in Darjeeling her relationship with Mreenal Bose ends up to be a sort of weakness- not only because Mreenal was picked out for her so that she couldn't go back to Pranab if she had wanted to, but in the sense that she eventually accepts. Which isn't saying she accepts the idea of arranged marriages, but the fact that she accepts Mreenal almost implies that she can't really make her decisions for herself. When she rejects Mreenal, however, she is also saying that she doesn't need the "perfect man" to be happy, and chooses her family's tea business over him-- not only is she showing her willingness to be independent and play an executive role, but she additionally shows her loyalty to her family, which then goes to tie back into the Cult of True Womanhood's idea of domesticity. Essentially, Sujata has returned back home and decided that that is where she is belongs, and the fact that she is taking care of it for her family also ties back into domesticity. So whether she is promoting female independence or a veiled regress into traditional roles is a bit puzzling.