Abstract:
In the post-independence period in India popular fictions present a
paradox: they represent the corruption of the era as well as the desirability of its
modernity. In the work of overwhelmingly successful writers such as Shankar, the
path of Nehruvian development is a double sign. It represents the corruption of
the 'licenced raj' as well as the desirable lifestyle and possessions of the
educated elite. The more the nation modernises, the more corrupt and desirable it
becomes. All the noble social goals of the Nehru era- education, women's
emancipation, progress-become transactional: things to be exchanged for
wealth, Western technology and status. There is no room for integrity here;
integrity is possible either in the past or in the West. These fictions tell the story
of the 'deferral' of Western modernity in the imaginary of the postcolonial
nation. Women, in these fictions, are especially ambiguous; though modernised
and educated, they also retain their traditional roles and conventional gender
relationships are valorised. This flawed representation of the modern nation also
embodies its tragedy. This article concludes that the failure of the post-independence
Nehruvian development project and its noble social goals has created a
space that allows economic liberalisation and religious fundamentalism to
flourish.
