Empowering Voices: Gender Realities and Female Resilience in Sudha Murty’s Literary Narratives

Abstract

This article analyzes how Sudha Murty's literary works—Wise and Otherwise: A Salute to Life, How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, The Real Jewels, House of Cards, Dollar Bahu, Gently Falls the Bakula, and The Mother I Never Knew—address issues of gender inequity and female resiliency. Critical gender issues like dowry killings, female infanticide, cultural expectations of women, economic dependency, and the difficulties faced by single mothers the predicament of elderly women, patriarchal restrictions, social norms, and the structural difficulties encountered by women in Indian society and the changing roles of women in contemporary India are all addressed by Sudha Murthy through her stories. She reveals how society views women, including their desire for empowerment, education, independence, gender roles, and economic reliance. She emphasizes the value of uplifting women by promoting honesty, empathy, and perseverance through her real-life experiences.  The purpose of the study is to examine how Sudha Murty's narratives support gender equality and female empowerment while also illustrating the hardships and resilience of women in a patriarchal culture. Using a gender perspective, a qualitative literary analysis is used to look at Sudha Murty's themes, characters, and narrative devices. The study contextualizes Sudha Murty's portrayal of women's struggles and resiliency by using ideas from gender studies and feminist literary criticism. The research shows that Sudha Murty's writings continuously draw attention to the structural obstacles that women encounter, such as a lack of education, social expectations, and financial reliance. Her stories also highlight the resilience, tenacity, and flexibility of female protagonists who defy patriarchal norms and reposition themselves in society. With an emphasis on Wise and Otherwise: A Salute to Life, How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, The Real Jewels, House of Cards, Dollar Bahu, Gently Falls the Bakula, and The Mother I Never Knew this essay examines the themes of gender inequity and female resiliency in Sudha Murty's literary works.