Introduction

Chetan Bhagat is one of the famous fiction writers in Indian writings in English. He is an Indian author as well as a Bollywood screen-writer, social media influencer and motivational speaker. His writings are famous for their themes like love, social unrest, marriage, politics and educational problems prevailing in India. He highlights the confusions, problems, and predicaments that youth is facing in modern society.

One Indian Girl is the seventh fantasy novel by Chetan Bhagat. In this article mental conflicts of Indian women are observed with a socio-psychological view. In our patriarchal society women have to deal with various discriminations. The negative aspects of our culture are that it gives wings to the girl to fly but not the open sky. They think that either the girls can be successful in their career or they can be a good wife and mother but they can’t handle both platforms at the same time. The ego of men cannot accept women to be more successful than them, is a termite to our society. Also not all are same. I think we should listen to our heart only and we should not give anyone right to take you for granted because you are special & you’re born with wings to fly as a free bird.

Research and findings

The novel provides the continuous mental struggle combined with feminist mind goal which and get prompted in diverse situations. Women have to go through various difficulties throughout their life. It starts with complexion that has to be fair for relatives and the society to accept us. Secondly a woman should not be earning more than a man because it hurts male ego. Thirdly a woman is expected to adjust throughout her life with her parents, with her husband, with her husband, with her in laws, with her kids, everywhere. Radhika the protagonist of the novel is a simple Punjabi girl, who grew up in Delhi. She has grown up in the inferiority complex itself. She was very good in studies. Because of her dark complexion. Even in teenage, boys did not give her any attention. She is shown as unpopular in the story. She is a selfindependent girl. Who knows how to take her decision with the passage of time. The novel starts with Radhika Mehta, seeking to relax a sudden disaster of room allocation at Marriott hotel in Goa where in her on circle of relatives has landed for the first vacation spot wedding ceremony in Mehta own circle of relatives that is of Radhika herself. She has the same opinion to get married simply due to her evergrumbling mom who always taunts Radhika for her high income job and marriage. Her mother always worried for her marriage that how she will find a suitable match for such highly educated girl. When she goes to America for a job she gets a package of 1.20 lakhs dollar / month. Hearing this good news, her mother’s reaction was so dull. She asks her how she will find a boy for her marriage, nothing ever turned positive. Now this job, too, was going against her. This job was making her even more unsuitable for marriage. This shows mentality of Indian society for working women. They think that either the girls can be successful in their career or they can be a good wife & mother but they can’t handle both platforms at the same time.

The choice to the marriage with Brijesh is her final try to have satisfied lifestyles after screw up in relationship. Ln Goa Radhika unearth herself in a state of affairs wherein she must be worried approximately her facial price as she is getting married inside few days however she is located allocating room for the visitors. This is in which thoughts conflict in Indian society a bride can’t allocate the rooms to visitors in her marriage Radhika, within side the novel, has defined herself that she has her own opinion on everything, and it could be visible right from the beginning. We live in a society where women opinion does not matter. Radhika may be visible as a feminist and a consultant of women empowerment. She will become agitated to hear the common sense of lady’s side and boy’s side in which the female’s side has to modify and it might be a form of crime if the boy’s side is instructed to be adjusted. She does now no longer need to compromise with the much less range of the rooms. After this matter another issue arises that is facial Beauty and complexion. Though she doesn’t need to be dressed up she has to achieve this, though she doesn’t need to get married to a man she infrequently knows she is going to accomplish that. This is the Indian social construct, in which a female has to achieve this many matters that she does not need to do willingly. Radhika, regardless of being the vice president at one of the topmost bank has to kneel down in the front of the needs of society. She loses weight, will become slim and is going on diet, simply to appearance stunning at her wedding ceremony. This shows how a girl needs to change according to social demands. Why our society does not want to accept a girl as she is? Gender equality changed into now no longer best the element that Radhika demanded, many a time Radhika increases the subject of the distinction among the colour complexion as she has wheatish complexion and her elder sister, Aditi didi is honest. She asks why the human beings don’t name the truthful-complexioned humans ‘rice-ish’ (7). She refers herself to the lady proven in fairness cream earlier than the use of the cream and her sister, the only after the use of the cream. Radhika had been a completely sensible girl however while it involves popularity, she become now no longer famous like her Aditi Didi who become truthful and commenced dieting at the age of 12 most effective. Aditi gained the name of Miss Hotness at A Farewell while Radhika faces pranks and will become a subject of laughter. It’s now no longer simplest the literature that you can still get reference reminiscent of black Madonna in Christian iconography and Shakespeare’s Othello however this difference has been deeply ingrained in Indian society and some place in the Indian psyche too wherein we will observe the instances of shared discrimination even among the own circle of relatives members. Discrimination is rooted in our society. Women all over India face such mental conflicts. Many parents have to give large dowry if their daughter is dark in complexion. Due to dark complexion Radhika didn’t get her love. And if she found anyone, he too got away from her due to conservative thinking of people. While working in America. A boy Debu tries to attract her. Debu works in an ad agency. Radhika also gets attracted towards this boy. Radhika now becomes conscious of her looks. She makes every effort to look beautiful herself. She goes to the beauty parlor. Radhika and Debu both date together. On the first date itself, Debu goes to Radhika’s hotel. Both of them cross all limits. After that both start living together in a live-in relationship. But Radhika expects Debu with her all the time. Debu gets very upset about this. This irritated him. Besides this Debu also feels jealous of Radhika’s income. Because Radhika’s earning is much more than Debu. This shows man’s ego. Debu can’t bear that his wife’s earning is higher than him. Indian men want a normal Indian housewife. Here this male ego broke Radhika’s relationship with Debu. Debu tells Radhika he only needs a normal Indian house-wife. Eventually they break up. This thing makes Radhika very upset. This breakup was very difficult for Radhika. Radhika breaks down from inside. She tries to contact Debu several times. After all, Radhika takes the gift and goes to Debu’s flat. There she, along with Debu, sees another girl. She gets very upset. After this she gets her transfer to Hongkong.

Disheartened Radhika started her life again in Hongkong. The problem doesn’t end here, another boy comes into Radhika’s life after Debu. In Hongkong, Radhika meets her boss Neil Gupta. Neil is much older than Radhika. He has children and wife. Radhika goes on a business-trip with Neil. Radhika knows that she is on the wrong track. But Radhika’s loneliness and desire to be adopted herself pushed her far on the wrong path. Radhika and Neel cross all limits. Thereafter, quite often, they go on businesstrips together. Radhika feels guilty meeting Neil’s wife. She goes to London after requesting a transfer from her boss. Radhika’s mother also arrives in London. She insists Radhika to get married. Then from shaadi.com, a boy named Brijesh is selected for Radhika. That guy is an engineer in Facebook. Radhika agrees to marry Brijesh at the insistence of her mother. The venue of the wedding, a hotel in Goa gets fixed. After this the functions of marriage begin. Radhika meets her first boy friend Debu. Now Radhika has changed completely. Acts like an Indian housewife. Debu feels that he has made a big mistake by leaving Radhika. Debu wants to marry her. Same day her Boss came to Goa who got divorce from his wife and wants Radhika back in her life. Radhika herself is confused. Radhika texts Debu and boss Neel and invites them to a café. Radhika tells both of them that she will not marry both of them. Both of them could not understand Radhika. Debu wants to keep her in his clutches. He wants to get married but does not want to allow Radhika to do the job. The same Neil will let him do the job. But will not marry. Thereafter, Radhika goes to Brijesh. She also refuses to marry him. She apologizes for not marrying Brijesh. Brijesh asks Radhika the reason for not marrying. Radhika then tells Brijesh everything about her past. Brijesh says that past is over now. She herself is neither in the past nor in the present. She is lost somewhere. Brijesh is ready to accept Radhika, along with her past. Radhika was completely confused now. That’s why she went on a world tour. Here again we can see so many problems in women life which they have to deal in patriarchal society. It is not only the women Chetan Bhagat is unkind to. Radhika’s lovers sound like cardboard cut-outs who exist just to make Radhika’s life problematic. One guy asks her to choose kids over career, the other guy asks her to choose career over kids. They are perfect inverted mirror images of each other. Chetan Bhagat tries too hard to evoke sympathy and ends up having the opposite effect: “See, see! This is what women face! Care about this! Now!”!But there is a golden core. It is essentially the story of one lady’s battle against insecurity, an insecurity that stems from growing up in an unequal society. A society of discriminations. Only when Radhika gives up her critical inner-voice — her “mini me” that constantly tells her what a woman should or should not do does she find peace and satisfaction. Though this message is worthy, you will have to open up layers of nonsense to get to it. Radhika spends far too much time judging other women and groveling for attention and quality time from her lover Debu and male boss Neel. At one point, she offers to quit her job to assuage her boyfriend’s ego. “I wanted him. I was ready to be his girl, just the way he wanted me to be,” she says. This shows that how girls have to kneel down to get their male partners love. That male who not even care about her career. He only wants a typical Indian housewife. An Indian girl loves truly, trust freely and weeps secretly. She has to go through lots of mental conflicts. Radhika is dark in complexion. But Beauty isn’t about having a pretty face. It’s about pretty mind, a pretty heart, and a pretty soul. Our society should not discriminate on the basis of God’s given complexion. All women are equal with just need to touch their soul with respect and appreciation for their inner beauty and we will be rewarded with joy. The heart is way more important than the package. Women are the God’s greatest gift to man and we should cherish and protect them.

Conclusion

This observation culminates that present day Indian Women aren’t vulnerable, defenseless, reliant, hesitant, and tentative but strong willed, powerful tenacious, determined, aggressive, invincible and least worried about any social custom and ethos. They have learnt not only to revert but additionally react too skillfully. This indicates an intensive transformation in Modern Indian Women. Radhika the protagonist, breaking this stereotype who finally knew what she wanted out her life and that too without any man and without the need to satisfy anyone’s expectations. She rejects all men which show her boldness. This study also reveals the life of Radhika and the entanglements of her psyche as she gradually withers from existence which lets her break out from the reality and discover comfort by involving in relations. At last, Radhika get her way to lead a peaceful and pleasant life. She comes out of her conflicted state of mind and acknowledges her existence. She becomes ascertain, determine, aggressive, bold, sturdy, unconquerable and least concerned about any typical social norms and ethos. She is clear about what is to be chosen to make herself contented irrespective of the demands and orders of society. Thus, One Indian Girl becomes a valiant lady who elevates social issues and highlights the ways how the people around affect the psychological status of an individual which creates a lot of affliction, indecision and perplexities due to discontented desires.

Works Cited

Bhagat, Chetan. One Indian Girl. Rupa Publications, 2016.

Bhagat Chetan. Iloveindia.com. Retrieved February 24, 2021 from www.iloveindia.com/indianheroes/chetan-bhagat.htm

Nirmala, M.R., & Chanthiranathi, D.V. “Feminine Roots in Chetan Bhagat’s One Indian Girl.” Smart Moves Journal IJELLH. 7(2), 8, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2020 from www.ijellh.com/OJS/index.php/OJs/article/view/6856 E-notes One Indian girl Wikipedia