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Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, Nandedaccepted them. It is very important to see thatwhy the outsiders migrated to England in suchlarge numbers.Before 1960, England had adoptedMulticulturalism as a policy to attract out sidersbecause England was in need of unskilled anduneducated workers for her material growth andeconomic prosperity. England has also acceptedMulticulturalism as a political weapon for rulingpeople of different cultures and background.People from all around the world with differentbackgrounds, religious mentalities, have came toEngland, a land of opportunity. The number ofIndian and others migrated to England in searchof job. The ethnic groups from various countriesbegan to sub-divide themselves according totheir linguistic, cultural and religious identities.As a result, England turned out to be a largeMulticultural country. But later on Englandstarted facing many problems due to the largeinflow of the immigrants. The natives belivedthat the immigrants as outsiders would invadetheir culture. So England, later on changed itsearly policy of Multiculturalism. As a result, thelarge number of Asian migrants were paid lessand were discriminated on the basis of color,caste, culture and religion. The novel, Bye ByeBlackbird has this background.Adit Sen is the protagonist of the novel,‘Bye Bye Blackbird’ lives a settles life as animmigrants in London with his English wifeSarah, a leading female character of the novel.Dev, Adit’s friend comes to England forstudying at the London school of economics.The plot of the novel moves around the variousexperiences of these characters, in London. AditSen is first of all fascimated by the native cultureand then disillusimed by it. Initially for himEngland is a land of opportunity (19) andmaterial prosperity. Thus Adit here seems to bevery critical everything of Indian. He says‘nothing goes right at home – there is famine,flood, there is drought or epidemic always (129).As an Asian immigrant, he sharplycriticizes Indian way of life and appreciatesBritish culture, “I love it here, I am so happyhere; I hardly notice the few drawbacks – did goback. Three years ago, when I got engaged toSarah and my parents wanted me to come withher.”(17) According to Adit, occident promotesautonomy and liberty, the orient is anembodiment of restrictions and limits. We cannotice in him is a kind of fascination for aseemingly superior culture which is indicative ofhis colonial handover. Adit in a way is attractedtowards English life which separates him fromhis ‘home’ culture. England offers to him acarefree life. On the contrary India offers him alife of inconveniences and difficult style ofexistence. England for him is a symbol ofrefinement and sophistication while India is ahome of crudities and dirt.Adits fascination for British culture isnot so objectronable, but the way he looks athime ‘home’ culture is not acceptable in thelight of the theory of Multiculturalism, becauseMulticulturalism acknowledges culturalequality. Adit also admires his wife Sarah, “I seegold – everywhere – gold like Sarah’s goldenhaird (19). Adit’s disenchantment with Englishway of life is timely. Anita Desai uses hisfrostration to emphasize the value of one’s owncultural identity. The mistake he commits is tocreate a false foreign identity in a hostilesurrounding. The shock he receives from varioussources in England save him from damaging hisself under the pressure of racial discrimination.This visit to his wife’s house and the cold andinsulting treatment he receives there isunbearable. He comes to know that his motherin-lawhates him. At one gathering Bella, callshim an ‘ Indian’, a ‘Foreigner’ and a ‘dirtyAsian.’ The realizes that he cannot be a normalhuman being in England.The transformation in the character ofAdit now is from anglophilia to Anglophobia.He says, “I cannot live here anymore – our liveshere – they have been so unreal, don’t you feelit? Little India in London – (203).” The novelist,thus wishes that Adit’s shaking off of ahegemonic impact should be ideally the movethat every Indian should take Anita Desai, thusmoves from particular to general. Thesignificance of Adet’s transformation lies in hissuccessful attempt to break away from allbondages of the empire. Another importantcharacter in this novel is Sarah Sen. By marrying483 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
Proceedings of National Seminar on Postmodern Literary Theory and Literature , Jan. 27-28, 2012, NandedAdit, a colored Indian, Sarah has violated certainunwritten codes and conservations of colorconscious white society. After her marriage,Sarah is humiliated by her colleagues at herschool, where she is secretary and also by herpupils of the school. She loneliness that she feelsin her own white society becomes completewhen even her parents welcomed newly marriedcouple in a cold manner. On the contrary she canfeel her identity and freedom when she isamongst strangers. In a sense, she is lonelinessin her own native land.Sarah does not like to be a passivesufferer for long. She feels marginalization atevery place, home, school and society. Sherealizes that unity of self can be achieved onlyby renouncing and denouncing her own cultureand society, which are white and hegemonic.She wants to get back her own identity as Sarahalthough she is not unhappy with her identity asMrs. Sen. Sarah has great faith in the institutionof marriage and bond of love that has sustainedit over centuries. For recreating her own identityand also for maintaining the validity ofmarriage, she decides to settle down in India, theland of her husband. It is a land that still holdssome respect for marital relationships. It is aland that has accommodated people of diversebackgrounds, cultures and religions forcenturies. It is Sarah’s decision matches Aditsdisillusionment and disenchantment withEnglish culture and manners. Bitter experiencesin England teach him to respect his own countrywith all its weaknesses and drawbacks whatIndia’s multiculturalism underscores, at least inprinciple, is the work of human being. Sarah’sdecision to move India with her Indian husbandhas an element of protest it. Sarah establishes ablood relative with an India and further adopts aBritish Colony as her own Motherland.Sarah’s marriage symbolicallyunderscores the need to accept and respect allkinds of diversities cultural, religious, social andideological and develops a sense of tolerance,patience and open mindedness for bearence.Anita Desai uses Adit’s frustration to emphasizethe value of one’s own cultural identity. Sarahloses her identity in her own home land, whiteAdit loses it in an alien land. Sarah and Adit’sdecision to come back to India is the trueestablishment of true multiculturalism, whichhas international dimensions. This stand bearsthe multicultural principles of peaceful coexistence.Sarah has recognized the value ofIndian spirituality and has decided to givelessons in Yoga (42).Third important character in the novel isDev, Adit’s friend comes to England studying atthe London school of economics. His initialencounter with the natives and their culturebrings unhappiness and discontent. This culturaldifferences become more when Dev moves insearch of job. Here he gets shockingexperiences, he says, “I wouldn’t live in acountry where I was insulted and unwanted (17).He wants to go back to India. Being a strangerhe calls London ‘a Jungle city’”(10), people livewithout any social concern. Dev’s confrontationwith western indifferences is the suddenrealization that Indian culture is accommodative.It is concerned about other’s problems andpersonal sorrows.As a social theory, multiculturalismcentres around the basic idea that every culturepresents only a limited range of worldviews. Itrequires relation to the other culture.In this way, Anita Desai in her novel presentsthe Indian society which is a perfect example ofMulticulturalism which is not seen in Englishsociety.References:1) Tylor, E. B. (1891). “Culture Defined inL. Closer and B. Rosenberg (eds.),Sociological Theory. London :Macmillan. P. 182) Turner, Terence (1994). “Anthropologyand Multiculturalism : What isAnthropology that Multiculturalistsshould be mindful of it? in D. Goldberg(ed.) Multiculturalism : A critical reader.U.K. Blackwell. P419.3) Squires, Judith. (2002). “Culture,Equality and Diversity” in P. Kelly (ed.)Multiculturalism Reconsidered. U.S.A. :Blackwell. P114484 PLTL-2012: ISBN 978-81-920120-0-1
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