Character Sketch Of Draupadi

“Dadi’s Family” observes what a “traditional” family in Haryana, India is like and the issues / concerns the family faces in “modern” times. In the documentary "Dadi 's family", the film explores the concept of family and the roles that a woman play in life. The roles are daughter, sister, mother, mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law. These roles are portrayed to us via various members of Dadi 's family. In this family, we have Dada and Dadi (grandmother and grandfather) as the head of the family. We have the two older sons, Meherlal and Mohinder who are married to Darshini and Sita respectively. The youngest son, Rajinder gets married to Kanta in the film. Dadi and Dada also have two daughters Anguri and Saroj who aren’t shown too much in the film but are married in other villages.

Mahasweta Devi’s short story, “Giribala,” is about the life of Giribala, a girl of Talsana village located in India. Born into a caste in a time when it was still customary to pay a bride-price, Giri is sold to Aulchand by her father. From this point on, we see a series of unfortunate, tragic events that take place in Giri’s life as a result of the circumstances surrounding Giri’s life. There are many issues in Giri’s life in India that Devi highlights to readers. First, the economic instability of the village leads to an extremely poor quality of life for the lower, working classes. Next, the cruel role of women determined by men in society is to either satisfy the sexual desires of men or to reproduce offspring who can work or be sold off to marriages. There are also other social norms and beliefs which discriminate against women that will be discussed.

From a young age, the daughter will soon endure the burdens of what a woman will encounter throughout her lifetime of domestic duties and will not be able to gain the knowledge and opportunities that the son of the family will encounter. As the girl matures she is mostly ushered into the life of becoming a doting wife with a husband and family or in turn of following the path of becoming a nun. The traditional world of Tibet would seemingly push the woman into making the choice of husband and family which is an important aspect of the society. Once married, which are normally arranged the Tibetan woman is already a man’s gain for him to be successful in his own journey to further his status and/or wealth.

Despite this, after marriage, a woman's expectations are suppressed and she is forced to give in to the expectations of the husband. Somer and Kavita are both forced to suppress their expectations and to give in to their husband's as they are threatened by desertion. Kavita's expectation is that she should be allowed to keep her children regardless of their gender. Somer is a caring wife who expects her husband to consult her before making decisions and also expects him to respect her opinions. However, even when the wives make themselves clear, their husbands simply disregard their expectations. Somer conveyed to her husband, Kris that she was not happy with how he had decided to send their daughter, Asha off to India without consulting her; however, Kris does the same thing again by deciding to go to India himself without discussing it with her. Somer's expectations are ignored, and on top of that, Kris says, "Come if you want. Or don't. Maybe it's better that way" (Gowda 207). He is essentially saying, abide by what I believe or leave me. Similarly, Kavita's expectations are overlooked as well. Every time Kavita gives birth to a girl she is forced by her husband to give up the child. After her husband, Jasu disposed of her first child, she indirectly let him know that she was not happy with the fact that he had gone against her will, by rejecting him when

Badami is shown how females rights is an issue. Women aren’t allowed to do certain things. For example work, leave their homes, and talk with certain people. Maya had told her dad how she was going to marry a white man, instead of a Hindu man. Her dad had nothing to say but “ If you persist in doing this foolish thing...never show your face in this house again. Never” (113). Maya’s dad cares more about what others will think of him rather than how his daughter feels. Since he respects his family's dignity more than anything and her doing something that is never done in the small town, religion will bring lots of negative attention. Likewise, her dad believes the fact that her daughters soon to be husband's people are very bad and have nothing good in them. It is awful to say women face physical abuse and can have zero say in stopping the action being made. Simply from being a female. When Sripathi and his wife had gotten in a fight he had “Without thinking slapped her back, and she stopped crying abruptly” (36). Even Though both Sripathi and his wife are frustrated with each other, that is not a justification for his violence. In this situation the wife can not go and ask for help, As no one will hear her voice in what's wrong. No one will believe her either. Since females have no say, which ties into society telling men, they can do whatever they want. Since females clearly have no

An analogy has been drawn about how she was in the past and how is she now. She was a carefree person, demanding love in her life, wanting to take care of her children and become a house wife and now she works as a schoolteacher, has become a responsible person concerned about her husband and child, struggling for her son’s life, bearing tantrums of her sister-in-law and living in a small house in a small city. On the other hand, Komal, sister-in-law of Anjali is a character shown who seems to be frustrated from her life from the time she has lost her husband. The book has depicted another face of an Indian woman, who lives her entire life following the customs that the society has decided for a widow. Anjali tried to make her first marriage successful by taking care of small things like making her husband, his favorite cardamom chai and best of meals while Prakash’s second wife Indu was never concerned about any of his likings and gave priority to her own personal

Men, like in many ancient and modern societies, had a higher importance than women and were considered more useful as they were stronger to handle manual labour. The Hindu scriptures dictate that while men and women have different responsibilities and roles within the community, they should both be treated with equal respect. However in reality, this was not always the case. Sea of Poppies addresses this issue with Deeti, the wife of a veteran and the mother of a daughter, Kabutri. Deeti is raped by her brother in law, Chandan, on her wedding night due to her husband’s infertility and is continuously harassed by him. With the quote “You need a son, to give you a helping hand. You're not barren, after all . . . “ (Ghosh, pg. 11), his prejudice against women as well as his pervasive tendencies towards women emphasise the attitudes of people in mid 19th century India, especially men, that tended to denigrate the role of women. Although Sea of Poppies and Their Eyes were Watching God are set in different cultures, they both portray the privation of women and the damaging effects it can have on an individual. Through the incorporation of accurate historical context, the audience is able to evaluate the treatment of women and men in the modern

Wealth and property feature heavily in the wife’s portrayal of marriage and along with the issue of her independence is responsible for many of her marital conflicts. The first three husbands "riche and olde" were married each for "hir land and hir tresoor" then discarded as the Wife looks for other prospects. When one of these husbands tries to restrict the Wife’s spending she refuses to let him be both "maister of my body and of my good" so refuses sexual favours in return for her freedom as she will not become a mere possession. She generalizes that women "love no man that taketh or keepth charge" suggesting an element of independence and individualism in 14th century marriage. The wife resents being controlled; she

People often said that daughters were “someone else’s treasure” and that the sooner you parted ways with them the “better off” everyone was (Sheth 9). As a result of this male dominated mindset and society, women were caught in a cycle of misery and restraint that was seemed impossible to abandon (Indian Women). Unfortunately, it gave rise to some of the most evil practices in the Indian culture, such as Sati, child marriage and the limitations on female education.

There are many who believe that it was her headstrong actions that brought about the destruction of the Third Age of Man and she is known to be a Kritya, one who brings doom to her clan. But Chitra Banerjee moves away from such interpretations to provide a new outlook on Draupadi. She portrays Draupadi as a powerful, strong and independent woman, an equal to the men around her, rather than subservient. The novelist presents Draupadi‘s life as a series of choices made by herself, and not by her written fate. She is the one who writes her own story and gives herself a voice in the overwhelmingly patriarchal society in ancient India. She is the protagonist of her

Katherina feels that if she does not marry before her sister, then she never will find true love, and thusly will never be happy. She dislikes the stigma that has been brought upon her by her unwillingness to settle down with any of the men who have been brought before her, and is angry with her sister even more for buying into what society has deemed as the right way to do things.

This joint family, like any social organization, must face problems such as acceptable division of work, relationships and specific family roles. These familial relationships are managed on the basis of a secular hierarchical principle. In fact, all Indians owe respect and obedience to the head of the family, who usually is the father or the oldest man of the family community. In The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder by Nanda and Gregg, it is explained that, “females [are] placed under the perpetual guardianship of first their fathers and elder brothers, then their husbands.” (Nanda & Gregg 22) Thus, all the spending decisions, studies and profession, or marriage, are exclusively the responsibility of the father after the possible discussions with the other men of the family. Age and sex are the basic principles of this hierarchical system. The eldest sons enjoy greater unchallenged authority than their cadets. Of course men have more authority than women, but older married women have an important role within the family. In fact, the authority of a woman depends on the rank of her husband inside the group. Traditionally, the wife of the patriarch rules over domestic affairs and has considerable power over the other women in the community, especially her daughters- in-law.

“Please don’t play your games with a helpless poor girl” declared Dhowli. The Misra boy leaned in closer to her replying, “I’m not playing games.” Dhowli then shouted back “ You’ll leave after you tire of the game, and what will become of me? Am I to be like Jhale? No, deota, not that.” (238). I’m hesitate to keep reading after this line thinking to myself how I feel sorry for Dhowli and who she is going to become since getting pregnant with a Misra boy who is dominant in the caste system. Dhowli creates an ambitious, courageous, and philosophical figure in the short story “Dhowli” by Mashasweta Devi. In the short story the caste system is well defined showing of social stratification of two opposite levels of the social chain in India. To an American reader the foreignness of how India treats single mothers is how this short story stands out.

The discussion of the Wife’s five husbands describes her evolving role as a woman and how she overcame the most ridiculous obstacles to maintain this idea or illusion of marriage. The Wife’s depiction of her marriages was that three were good and two were bad. The initial marriages were to older rich men where she kept up this idea of marriage in order to receive money, but was not faithful by

In order to overcome one’s malady, one has to interpret it at first. Mina Das also suffers from a malady. Her malady is deep-rooted and she had been suffering from it since seven years. For the first time in her life, she reveals to Mr.Kapasi that her younger son Bobby was not her husband’s. Raj and Mina got married very young. She was overwhelmed when she conceived very early. She spent her days in her house, nursing the baby and taking care of the house. Raj became very busy with his teaching assignments and life became dull and drab for Mina. Her problems became more complicated when she conceived Bobby because of a sexual encounter with one of Raj’s friend. She kept the secret for eight years and finally revealed it to Mr. Kapasi. She thought that Mr.Kapasi is the right one who could interpret her malady and give proper solutions to her problems- “Eight years, Mr.Kapasi, I’ve been in pain eight years. I was hoping you could help me feel better, say the right thing. Suggest some kind of remedy.” (IOM,65). Mr.Kapasi, because of his typical Indian background and patriarchal ideology could not understand the depth of her problem. Instead he was disgusted. He felt that it was his duty to assist Mrs.Das and said- “Is it really pain you feel, Mrs.Das, or is it guilt?”(IOM,66) Mina Das was not ready to accept that it was her guilt that made her suffer. Mr.kapasi could not understand the fact that it was because of her unhappiness and dullness in her marriage that caused her to have an extra-marital sexual relationship. He considers it as an act of unfaithfulness towards her husband. In the story, Jhumpa Lahiri shows how the Indians and Americans are caught in the middle of two different cultures. Mr.Kapasi wanted to have a close relationship with Mrs.Das, he fantasized about her. But as soon as, he came to know about her secrets of the affair, Mr.Kapasi was disgusted. Mr.kapasi’s relationship