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Emancipation
Emancipation is my second novel, recently completed. Deserted by her lover, American Emelia Sedley joins British feminist Clarissa Hatfield on a tour of India with the aim of revolutionising "the Indian Woman". There is a newfound love for women’s emancipation in India. In the small town of Allahabad, Emelia is drawn towards Vibha who is physically and mentally tortured by her parents-in-law. Vibha decides to leave her husband and take refuge in the Women’s Emancipation Cell where its pseudo feminists have invited Emelia and Clarissa. Clarissa is disappointed in Emelia’s extra fondness for Vibha. The latter, once in contact with the western feminists, begins to be empowered. She loved her husband (Rajni Kant) once but, falling under the sway of the movement, comes to believe that returning to him would be a sign of weakness. Rajni tries again and again to win Vibha back but gets no closer to her. His wife is charmed by Emelia’s ways but is unable to see Emelia’s genuine concern for women. Vibha fails to appreciate Emelia’s emotional version of feminism and is drawn to the more practical and intellectual kind of feminism practiced by Clarissa. Clarissa Hatfield, on the other hand, has less interest in women’s emancipation, and more in their empowerment and in their physical contact (she is a lesbian). Besides, she is primarily interested in her own steady rise to power. The somewhat confused Vibha is unable to make a clear distinction between the attitudes of the two feminists and mistakenly takes the road to the Clarissa type of feminist personality.
In the middle of the novel, we meet Neville Claire, Emelia’s ex-lover who is believed to have died in the Twin Towers tragedy on Sept 11, 2001. We also see his brief affair with the American literary agent, Julia Hamilton. Neville has landed himself in trouble after getting a setback from Julia and decides to have a change of place to recover. He visits India with his aunt Peggy Grosvenor and happens to meet Vibha and Clarissa in Varanasi. The man is drawn towards Vibha before finally realising it is Emelia he has always wanted. Rajni and Emelia have found attraction in each other just before Neville comes back to Emelia. The truer feminist, Emelia, gets back her man and returns to America with him while Clarissa Hatfield takes Vibha with her to England to join the movement. Rajni finds solace in the company of his younger colleague, Rohan, discovering that for him it is a man rather than a woman that seems to work out right. After the fretful fever he has gone through in pursuing Vibha, he experiences a kind of emancipation in his relationship with Rohan...
[Top of Page]The English World and Other Stories
The English World and Other Stories is my second collection of stories that has grown along with my novels. This collection is rather varied, with hardly two stories falling into the same category. The stories included are in the following genres: multicultural, of women’s interest, political, psychological, humorous yet serious ultimately, mystical, supernatural, and post-colonial.
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