This book analyses the dynamics of the development of family structure in India over the past few decades. It captures the diversities and challenges of contemporary families and provides a culture and region-specific overview of how families adapt and change generationally. The book explores the paradigms of understanding family life in India through illustrations which trace patterns of family formations in the context of large-scale social, economic and media-driven changes. Besides discussing the ongoing debates on the sociology of family, the chapters in this volume also look at diverse families experiencing poverty, conflict and displacement and demystifies families with members having a disability or non-normative sexual orientation. The book will be useful to students and researchers of various disciplines, such as sociology, social work, family studies, women’s studies and anthropology.

Contemporary Indian Houses discusses fifty-one architect-designed built-up houses selected from different parts of India. They display the diversity of needs, tastes and building materials in the context of different weather conditions and social trends. Different architectural appearances or external expressions have determined the classification of the houses into five sections. This grouping keeps the reader’s growing interest in the external aspect of a residential structure. The emphasis is on the built-form rather than on the interior and its decor. Each house is accompanied by an explanatory text and supplemented by appropriate drawings and photographs to present a comprehensive picture of India's many-splendoured domestic architecture. Contemporary Indian Houses is a well illustrated document of changing trends in architectural tune. It is not only a reflection of contemporary Indian architecture but also source of reference material for architecture historians. Moreover, it fulfills the needs of architects and other professionals engaged in house construction activity along with those general readers who wish to keep themselves informed of what is happening in the field of creative design.

This text presents an overview of the major issues and topics in current developments in Indian family law. Indian law has produced a number of very important innovations in the past two decades, which are also highly instructive for law reform debates in western and other jurisdictions. Topics discussed are: marriage, divorce, polygamy, maintenance, property and the Uniform Civil Code.

This book is a comparative and developmental study of the expression of feminist concerns in the novels of Kamala Markandaya, Nayantara Sahgal, Anita Desai, and Shashi Deshpande, among the best known and most prolific Indian novelists writing in English, who have been self-consciously engaged with women's issues during the postcolonial era.

In recent years, the literature of India has seen a remarkable resurgence with writers exploring diverse themes and narratives that reflect the complexity of the postcolonial experience. This edited volume, "Writing the Postcolonial Nation: Contemporary Indian Voices in English", brings together a collection of essays that delve into the portrayal of postcolonial features in the works of contemporary Indian writers. In the realm of literature, the impact of colonialism on the cultural and social fabric of a nation is a topic that has garnered much attention and debate. The echoes of colonial rule reverberate through the works of contemporary Indian writers in English, as they grapple with the legacy of imperialism and its lasting effects on their identities and narratives. This edited volume delves into the portrayal of postcolonial features in the works of these authors, exploring how they navigate and negotiate the complexities of a postcolonial world. The essays in this collection offer a multi-faceted analysis of contemporary Indian writing in English, examining the various ways in which writers engage with and subvert colonial discourse. From reimagining historical events to challenging traditional power structures, these authors use their stories to reclaim and redefine their cultural identities in a postcolonial context. Through a lens of postcolonial theory, the contributors to this volume shed light on how Indian writers in English interrogate the legacies of colonialism and envision new possibilities for a decolonized future. One of the central themes explored in this book is the notion of hybridity, a concept that reflects the blending of multiple cultural influences and identities. Indian writers in English often navigate this space of hybridity, drawing from both indigenous traditions and Western literary forms to create works that are uniquely Indian yet globally resonant. By embracing their diverse cultural heritage, these authors challenge essentialist notions of identity and offer a nuanced understanding of postcolonial experience. Another key focus of this volume is the concept of agency, as seen through the portrayal of marginalized voices and perspectives in contemporary Indian literature. Through the lens of post colonialism, the contributors to this volume analyze how writers empower themselves and their communities through storytelling, reclaiming their narratives from the confines of colonial discourse. By centering the voices of the marginalized and dispossessed, these authors challenge the dominant narratives of power and privilege and offer a counter-narrative that speaks truth to power. As editors of this volume, we hope to contribute to the ongoing conversation surrounding post colonialism and contemporary Indian literature in English.

This book investigates representations of the nation of India as characterized by unity and diversity in the works of six contemporary novelists, linking their work to important political, historical and theoretical writings.

Since there is rarity and non-availabilty of book compiling the works of contemporary Indian writers on the theme of homosexuality, the book, Homosexuality in Contemporary Indian Literaure: Issues and Challenges is prepared in such a way as to meet this paucity. Authors are hopeful that the book with its diversity of topics will instill knowledge into the critical minds and explore many unexplored areas of gender and sexuality.

This book redefines modern Indian literature from a cosmopolitan comparative perspective inclusive of literature in English from India and the diaspora, in native languages, and works by non-Indians. It shows how, since the mid-19th century, Indian literary modernity pursued the conjunction of the sensuous and ethical/spiritual that characterized its three traditions (Sanskritik, Persian, and folk culture) while the encounter, both receptive and oppositional, with “the West” vastly expanded the Indian literary sphere. Aesthetics and ethics are not antithetical in the Indian cultural space, but the quest for an exclusive Indian identity versus universalist approaches offsets concerns for social justice as well as enjoyable embodied communication. The literary constellation, in many languages, now formed in and around India can be better apprehended as a virtual Cosmopolis, a commonwealth of elaborate emotions. The versatile figure of Hanuman metaphorically flies across this Ocean of Stories to make us discover new worlds of experience.

Contemporary Indian English Literature focuses on the recent history of Indian literature in English since the publication of Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children (1981), a watershed moment for Indian writing in English in the global literary landscape. The chapters in this volume consider a wide range of poets, novelists, short fiction writers and dramatists who have notably contributed to the proliferation of Indian literature in English from the late 20th century to the present. The volume provides an introduction to current developments in Indian English literature and explains general ideas, as well as the specific features and styles of selected writers from this wide spectrum. It addresses students working in this field at university level, and includes thorough reading lists and study questions to encourage students to read, reflect on and write about Indian English literature critically.

The Present Book Is A Detailed Exposition Of The Multiple Dimensions Of Creativity In Men And Women Vis-À-Vis The Difference Of Sexuality And Gender As Mirrored In Their Texts. This Innovative And Perceptive Study Confronts The Essentialist Biodeterministic Standpoint That Men And Women Are Out And Out Different, Dissimilar And Divergent. By Discussing The Texts Of The Post-Independence Men And Women Poets Of India And Drawing Comparisons Between Them, It Asserts That, Despite Certain Biological Differences, Men And Women Are Similar In Many Ways. By Employing Theoretical Approaches Based On Psychoanalysis, Linguistics, Poetics, Reader-Responses And Cultural And Gender Studies, The Book Expounds That Gender Or Sexuality Can Make Some Difference To The Aesthetic But It Cannot Solely Determine The Content. The Social, Cultural And Political Milieu Of The Day Plays A Crucial Role In Deciding The Content And Object Of Writing, Besides Conditioning The Psyche And Thought Process Of The Author, More Than Gender Or Sexual Difference Does. This Study Provides New Insights Into The Varied Aspects Of Man-Woman Relationship, The Nitty-Gritty Of Different Family Relations, The Milieu, Human Correlation With Nature, And Metaphysical Questionings Of Life, Death, God And Human Existence, Besides Analyzing The Influence Of Gender And Sexual Difference On Poetic Craft, Particularly On Language, Style And Technique.It Analyses The Poems Of Over Twelve Major Indian Men And Women Poets And Compares Them In Terms Of Diverse Themes, Diction And Idiom, And With Particular Focus On The Workings Of Gender And Sexual Difference. The Major Poets Discussed Are Nissim Ezekiel, A.K. Ramanujan, Keki N. Daruwalla, Shiv K. Kumar And Jayanta Mahapatra Among Men And Monika Varma, Kamala Das, Gauri Deshpande, Sunita Jain, Suniti Namjoshi, Mamta Kalia And Eunice De Souza Among Women.Since These Authors Are Prescribed In The English Syllabi In The Universities Of India, This Study Will Be Extremely Useful To The Students And Teachers. The General Readers Who Are Interested In Indian Literature In English Will Find It Interesting And Informative.