Gita Mehta as a Writer of Indian Diaspora

Abstract

Gita Mehta is one of the eminent writers of Indian diaspora. At a time when it has become a general trend to look for feminist leanings in any work written by women, and for the sense of loss and rootlessness in any work coming from the diaspora, it is delectably a different experience to read Gita Mehta who looks at life from refreshingly new perspectives. Not that she is unaware of women’s problems or that she is impervious to the diasporic displacement, only she finds many more interesting themes to write about. Her first book Karma Cola (1979), attracted critical attention for the satirical treatment given to the hippie influx in India and its repercussions on both Western and Indian societies, while her two succeeding novels Raj (1993), and A River Sutra (1993) were specially acclaimed for the novelty of approach with which familiar themes are tackled. The issues raised are recognizable: issues of identity, exile and diaspora, and of history and postcolonial politics, but she manages to give them a pleasant spin with the skilful handling of the narrative technique, keeping these concerns crucial to the text, yet making them interactive participatory exercises.