Search for Love and Freedom in Manju Kapur's Novel Custody

Abstract

Manju Kapur‟s Novel Custody relates the story of two different women who are a mere sufferer of the traditional values in the family. The Story revolves around two couples Raman and shagun who are divorced and fights for their children‟s custody. It deals with the life of two different women Shagun, who wants to lead a modern life without any restriction and Ishita, who longs for love and support but rather because of her infertility she is let down by her own family. Both the women‟s life are similar that they are being pulled back by their family values rather than accepting their own decision. Shagun represents the modern woman in the society where she leaves her family for the sake of her affair with Raman‟s boss Ashok Khanna. Mean while Ishita being a traditional woman follows the values as a typical woman and abides by the laws without any hestitation but later on her life turns upside down because of her infertility. The novels deals with the themes like Searching for love, freedom, Search for identity and suppression of woman. Here the writer deals with the life of two women who are being a victim in the traditional society. At the end, there is a complete change in the life of two women who finds a different way in the society as Shagun moves on her life with Ashok khanna and Raman and Ishita gets the custody of roohi and finds hope in her life.