Mehta intends to have an accretive effect upon the readers.
As such her books are smart investigations into the ideas people, history and personalities that have determined and shaped modern India and ultimately into herself as a woman of Indian descent. She writes non-fiction books and novels because she has to say something about her varied experiences to the world. She is said to be a witty opinionated person who is always open to new ideas and experiences. The crux of what he says is the influence of Hindu culture in her writings. Salman Rushdie, in the introduction of book The Vintage Book of Indian Writings, writes “Mehta’s A River Sutra is an important attempt by a thoroughly modern Indian to make her reckoning with the Hindu culture from which she emerged” (2). She has endeavored to present a modern view of the culture and people of India. It established her as a versatile writer. He focused on her reputation, name and fame in the world as a writer that she achieved after she finished A River Sutra. Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra has been reviewed and observed in a number of ways by several critics.Īsit Chandmal in A Renaissance Woman has praised Mehta pointing out that after she finished A River Sutra, she “has lost her amateur status and has become a writer lionized by the world” and that “she has created a new language of literature and has recreated India for Indians” (30). This work has made her an important figure among the contemporary postcolonial writers. She has focused and explored the diversity of cultures within India.
In A River Sutra Mehta has taken a new direction in her writing. The subject of both her fiction and non-fiction is exclusively focused on India, its culture and history. It is this beliefs and the sense of spiritually associated with this holy river that has made the people of different faiths come to the same spot for worship and thus the holy Narmada River has been a spot which has brought these diverse people in one place, and this particular point― the Narmada being the reason and spot for the harmony among the people of various cultural and religious background― is the point which I am to explore.Ī River Sutra established Mehta as a serious and a prolific writer. There is a strong belief that every sin is purified if one’s life ends in the water of the Narmada.
Ganga jamuna saraswati narbadi free#
Indians have a belief in the myth that a single sight of this holy river would free mankind from the burden of the recycle of life and death. It depicts the life and culture on the banks of India’s holiest river Narmada. She has focused on the depth of spirituality that the people of India, irrespective of their religion, or faith have always felt. She also throws light in the effort of a great Indian poet, Kabir who made a bridge between the Hindus and the Muslims. The Moguls, though Muslim by religion had built these shelters near the river Narmada so that Hindu pilgrims and ascetics could stay during their pilgrimage.
She gives a brief insight on the works of Mogul emperors that built the sanctuary where the bureaucrat now works. Hinduism and Islam are the integral part of the Indian culture.
In A River Sutra, Mehta gives references to historical figures and incidents to show the harmony between the two great religions of India. To accomplish this, she presents seemingly unconnected stories in the novel, stories about Hindu and Jain ascetics, courtesans and minstrels, diamond merchants and tea executives, Muslim clerics and music teacher, tribal folk beliefs and the anthropologists who study them. In this particular novel, the writer touches the life of various people of different faiths and beliefs, who are from various ethnic groups and have their own way of religious lives. Indeed rituals, myths and spiritual beliefs have always attracted so many people from not only India but all over the world, irrespective of their social, cultural and religious backgrounds. This research work is to critically analyze the novel A River Sutra by Gita Mehta that presents various myths about one of Indian’s holiest rivers, Narmada along with several instances of spiritual beliefs and rituals associated with it which are the binding force to create harmony among the people of various cultures and religions. Mythical and Spiritual Nature of Cultural Harmony
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