• Dr.Vinod K. Chopra
• Namrata Pathania

Fasting, Feasting is a novel by Anita Desai in two parts with the first part set in a typical temple town in India and the second in the suburbs of Massachusetts in the US. Uma is at the centre of the novel, overtly in the first half and subtly in the second. Through the portrayal of ‘not-so intelligent’ and ‘unattractive’ female protagonist Uma, Anita Desai gives a first-hand account of Uma’s life under the demanding rule of her parents. Through the fate of Uma, Desai also throws light on how the single woman who lacks financial security becomes a victim of the social system in India. Uma is imprisoned and deprived of the basic rights and simple pleasures. It is shameful the way she is treated, quite like a domestic servant. She becomes an object of universal derision and a figure of fun. Though Uma is able to see things in their correct perspective, she rebels inwardly and is not able to transform this rebellion into outward protest. There is something lacking in her, a will and courage to come out of the web that her strict and conventional parents have woven around her. She lacks the inner strength to break free. Since the parents consider Uma a burden, they desperately try to get her married off. Anxious to eradicate the implied dishonour in a broken alliance, MamaPapa soon find and settle on a man who is not young and has already been married. The marriage does not work and a divorce is arranged for her by her parents in due course of time as was her marriage, without her consent. The parents stop thinking of Uma’s marriage and she is condemned to wait on her parents and run the house for them for the rest of her life. Eventually, Uma takes charge of the home and finally assumes the role of a succour and support to her parents, in tenderness and not under duress. Thus, from being an abject victim and a visible embarrassment Uma imperceptibly dons the mantle of the anchor and sustainer.

Single, Derision, Burden, Dishonour, Victim, Anchor.

"Mapping the Quagmire of Singlehood: Uma as Focal Point in Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 6, page no.f350-f358, June-2021, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2106749.pdf

"Mapping the Quagmire of Singlehood: Uma as Focal Point in Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 6, page no. ppf350-f358, June-2021, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2106749.pdf