DOI: 10.14704/nq.2022.20.7.NQ33483

TILO -A CREATIVITY OF DIASPORIC UNIQUENESS IN CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI’S NOVEL THE MISTRESS OF SPICES

Dr. N. VADIVU

Abstract

Divakaruni recapitulates the lost traditions and myths of her homeland through evoked memories of bygone times, place, and people. She projects the inner conflicts ranging within a woman who has to take a resolution if she has to live for herself or for the welfare of others. Divakaruni‘s novel ‘The Mistress of spices’ exhibits exile and emigration in its varied forms. In the novel ‘The Mistress of Spices’, Tilo the protagonist undoubtedly fits into this category. Chitra Banerjee presents the immigrant experience of Tilo in pragmatic terms mixed with tradition and fantasy. This novel is a juxtaposition of the past and present existence of Tilo. Negotiating the immigrant experience in The Mistress of Spices Divakaruni deftly builds an enthralled narrative upon the flaw line in American identity that lies between the self and the society. Humanism flows throughout the novel with an ardent eye on social issues. This paper aims to present the protagonist -Tilo as an imagination of diasporic identity. Tilo, the mistress of spices, has many guises and names that divulge her multiple identities. Like a Chameleon, she keeps changing herself throughout the novel, revealing how intricate the dilemma of identity crisis is.

Keywords

Diasporic, magic, immigrant, uniqueness, multifaceted

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