Theme of Marriage in Jaishree Misra's Accidents like Love and Marriage

A man always wants to be powerful over his wife. He is free to exercise his powers over her. He assumes himself to be the sole controller of her life. On the contrary, a woman is supposed to be confined within the spheres of domesticity. Her responsibilities are supposed to be confined within the walls of a house. Jaishree Misra's novel Accidents like Love and Marriage is a satire on the acquisitive lifestyle of rich Punjabi families who love to flaunt more than they possess.

Jaishree Misra's novel is all about accidents which occur in our day to day life. Accidents like falling in love or getting married or trying to fix incompatible relationships. People which is involved in these accidents keep blaming themselves for such occurrences, it is actually inpossible to avoid accidents. The novel follows the three Delhi based families, The Sachdevs and The Singhs are rich, upper class Punjabies,while the Menons are of middle class "unfashionable" variety. The lives of all the characters are interconnected by love and marriage. There is a good deal of drama everywhere. The author who is born in Delhi in an Army family weaves her story around the three urban families of the Singhs, Menons and the Sachdevs to build up her argument. Marriages are business transactions for them. Neena, the daughter of wealthy Singh family is married to Rohit, elder son of wealthy Sachdevs family Gayatri, daughter of Menons is an intelligent Keralite who has just returned to India after completing her Ph.D. She is a college time friend of Neena. Neena, who wishes to safeguard her own interest lest her mother-in- law brings some other girl as her sister-in-law. Their younger son Tarun is interested in Gayatri Menon, a friend of Neena. Gayatri having taken doctorate from Oxford is not interested in Tarun. Neena plays cupid between Tarun and Gayatri Swarn is not interest in the alliance and ill-treats the Menons, for which Tarun leaves the house. Rohit moves on a business trip and has an affair with a white woman. At this Neena leaves the house and moves to her parents house. The novelist has shown the Pativarata image of wife in the case of Neena who loves her husband so much. She is blindly in love with Rohit. She cannot think that he can betray her. She realizes the truth by the conversation between her and her old friend: "Married! What the hell. year, as if that's ever stopped anybody! Sonali retorts scornfully. 'Which era have you been living in, Honey? Every married person I know is having an affair."(105). Misra emphasized in this novel is that arranged marriages are based on considerations rather than personal. Jaishree Misra deals with the psyche of the modern women, who wish to talk about the upheavals that are caused by the meeting of traditional concept of wife and the changing modern gender roles is causing in their lives. In Accidents Like Love and Marriage, Keshava, Gayatri's father advises his daughter that however educated a girl may be she has to get committed to the relationship of marriage. This is to be noted in the case of Gayatri who did not really like the proposal of marriage with Tarun but

You are just going to meet them To get to know them better, so that you are not complete strangers to each other when Tarun and I do agree to get married ….(174) The changing attitude towards marriage is also a major issue dealt by Misra in this novel which is due to the confrontation of tradition and modernity. Mother-in-laws still expects her daughter-in-law should be obedient and having around her in-laws, serving them and seeking permission for her each and every activity. She expects from her to perform all those duties that are once performed by her. This is the main point of difference. Swarn is not satisfied with her daughter-in-low because she says she is too modern to respect her mother-in-law Raji in Accidents like Love and Marriage wonders at the attitude and the confidence that her daughter, Gayatri, has possessed. She compares her own days with present. Misra's treatment of man-woman relationship is her ability to understand and describe the male point of view. This novel contains a description of dissatisfied women but also delineates oppressed. Misra's novel Accindents like Love and Marriage presents a new perspective on the marital relationships. In the end of the novel, it is the only one woman Neena and one man Mr. Sachdev who look for some kind of escape from their predicament by leaving their home. Thus, Misra shows how family restrictions on individual freedom of women by upholding the values of patriarchy is a predominant issue in the modern context. Having analysed how patriarchy, family and society prescribe roles for women with a single agenda of subjugating them.

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Research Scholar, Desh Bhagat University, Mandi Gobindgarh