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One Indian Girl Summary

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This paper attempts a feminist reading of Chetan Bhagat’s latest novel – “One Indian Girl”. The novel revolves around a female protagonist, Radhika Mehta, an IIMA product with a job at Goldman Sachs’ New York branch first, next at Hong Kong and last at U.K. Always branded a nerd, she begins to explore her sexuality once she lands in alien territory in a vain search for positive external valuation. She finally succumbs to parental pressure for undergoing an arranged marriage. However, just before the wedding, she realises that she must live life on her own terms and refuses to marry. She takes time off to understand her true self more deeply and at the end of the novel realises that the ideal husband for her is one who will accommodate a woman’s conflicting demands for the freedom to soar high in her career while being a supportive wife and doting mother at home. While the narration traces a woman’s journey towards confidence and self-respect, it also exposes the hypocrisy of the Indian male and the sexist attitudes ingrained into cultures.
Keywords: feminism, equal rights, sexist attitudes, marriage, career

Introduction:
“The fairer sex”, “the weaker sex”…..that’s how women have been perceived. But, with the rise of the feminist movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, the demand for equal …show more content…

His idea of ‘feminism’ is expressed through the words, thoughts, attitudes and actions of the protagonist, the female narrator, Radhika Mehta. She is curious about her future husband’s opinion about gender equality and asks him if he has heard of ‘feminism’. When Brijesh Gulati replies that it implies equal rights for women, she enunciates the definition of feminism for him – “….a movement which seeks to define, establish and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal and social rights for women. A feminist is someone who believes in this movement.”

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