Depiction of Woman as an Epitome of Sacrifice for Social Reconstruction of India in Bhabani Bhattacharya’s Music for Mohini

In Indian English fiction Bhabani Bhattacharya, like Mulk Raj Anand, is a socially conscious artist. He believes that “an artist should delineate contemporary reality rather than recreate the historical or legendary theme” (Srivastava 5). In the novel Music for Mohini he feels that what was political liberty worth to the common man if it was not part of a renascence in social life? If freedom is to be made effective, India must reorient her national life on a new social basis where the woman has to sacrifice her comforts in the social rejuvenation of India. Mohini, the heroine of the novel, is symbolic of “the New India,” of the newly emerged free India. The present study is a thorough depiction of woman's sacrifice of her comforts and adoption of alien customs and conventions for the sake of societal and cultural development of the nation. The study also depicts how a woman plays a role of a bridge between cultures, customs and conventions.