Those Unheard Voices: A Study of Indian Feminism in Maitreyi Pushpa's Muskurati Aurtein ("Smiling Women")

Abstract

Undeniably, humans are social beings as well as individuals. When an individual exists, s/he enjoys as well as suffers for time does not always remain the same. However, when it comes to the issue of the relationship between the individual and society, the question that perplexes one whether the society exist for individual or the individual for the society? After having deep insight into the experiences, ideologically the answer seems in agreement with the penultimate part of the question i.e. 'society exists for the individual'. Now when society takes responsibility for the fruition of an individual, it must provide freedom and opportunity to each and every of its individual for their comprehensive development. Unfortunately, the role of society here seems not to be as transparent as it should be for the simple reason of marginalization of the so-called second wheel of the humanity or 'The Second Sex' in the feminist term. It is from this stance, the second answer arises and finds suitability to the above-mentioned question. To put into other words, traditionally the answer reverses in favour of the second assumption that 'individual exists for society'. As individuals must obey the set societal norms for their better and peaceful survival, so now it becomes the matter of adaptation where if one goes astray, s/he may be discarded at various levels be it economic, social, physical, mental, and material. Evidently, the case becomes more serious with women folk of the society. When all the ideals to keep the social order and virtues are applicable for women and not for men, the double standard of society gets unveiled. And here the pens of the authors bleed and the blank white pages assort various bitter realities of sufferings and pains of women. In the same light, the present paper is an attempt to bring forth the idea of 'Indian Feminism' with special reference to the short stories of Maitreyi Pushpa.