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October to December 2025 Article ID: NSS9510 Impact Factor:8.05 Cite Score:172 Download: 17 DOI: https://doi.org/ View PDf
Memory, Identity and Time : A Study of Anita Desai's in Custody
Dr. Veena Singh
PMCOE, Rajiv Gandhi Govt. PG College, Mandsaur (M.P.)Amay Singh
Student (Psychology Honors) IEHE, Bhopal (M.P.)
Introduction - Anita Desai is a diasporic Indian novelist, short story,
and children's books writer and has a credit of introducing psychological
novels to India. Her works are highly symbolic. In her novels, she discusses
cultural themes like the clashes of Eastern and Western cultures and the conflicts
between Indian cultures and religions. She discusses many cultural themes
focusing on the death of the old valuable culture of India after Partition and
the birth of a new culture. In In Custody (1984), Desai depicts the changes
that India has witnessed in post-colonial period and how it affects the
characters in person. She focuses on the ruined ancient Indian culture which
has been replaced by a new materialistic one at the hands of the British
colonization and always let her characters experience their own psyche. It is
clearly visible thatshe focuses on the
death of Urdu poetry and language which are associated with the glorious past
once India had . Deven, the protagonist, whose ambition is to be a great poet
in Urdu is forced to teach Hindi instead of Urdu which is rarely used. The
novelist narrates the journey of Deven who struggles to revive Urdu poetry by
interviewing the famous Urdu poet, Nur. Deven faces many obstacles during his
journey. These obstacles are represented in the change India has witnessed and
in the change of people's motives, identity search and mentality.
