Bringing Tradition To Modernity In Modern Society

Urmi’s life is another story where Deshpande depicted the cultural and traditional limitation. Urmi is protagonist of the novel and she works as a lecturer in a college. Urmi lives with her son Katik and her mother in Bombay. When Urmi was a child she was sent to Ranidrug by her parents. At the very young age itself Urmi was parted from her parents. Urmi’s father found that Urmi was left with male servant and got angry on Inni urmi’s mother then he sent Urmi to Ranidrug. Urmi’s father took the decision without even consulting with Inni. Urmi’s father kept his son Amrut with him but sent Urmi to Ranidrug. Urmi’s father did not care about Inni’s feelings. At this point Urmi understands the male dominance.

Urmi started involving in Kalpana’s rape case. Inni and Vanna does not liked Urmi’s involvement in the rape case. They are advising Urmi not to involve in the rape case because rape cases are complicated think. But Urmi continued helping Shakutai in kalpana’s case. While going to hospital Urmi developed a acquaintance with Bhaskar. Inni and Vanna again started advicing Urmi to stop developing friendship with Bhaskar. Inni tells to Urmi that a woman cannot grow a friendship with a man. The society will accuse a woman if she has male acquaintance. Inni kept on advicing Urmi that it is not our culture to have a male friend. But Urmi is very clear about her friendship with Bhaskar. Urmi knows her boundaries well. “I have my blade of grass”(TBV162). Bhaskar and Urmi are helping in Kalpana’s case. Inni is restricting Bhaskar and Urmi’s friendship just because of social stigmas. Urmi helps shakutai in her hard times. Shakutai feels Urmi is the figure of hope in her life.

When woman actively struggles in a truly supportive way, to understand our differences, to change misguided, disorted perspective, we lay the foundation for the experience of political solidarity. Solidarity is not the same as support. To experience solidarity, we must have a community of interests, shared belief and goals around which to unite, to build sisterhood (Bell Hooks 67). The age old belief and customs are thorns in the path of woman development. Urmi loves her husband kishore he stays away from Urmi on his work. Urmi suffers from the loneliness but as a modernistic woman she brought up her courage to fight against her loneliness. She is an independent woman lives on her own salary. K.M Kapadiya denotes that:

Marriage was a social duty towards the family and the community, and there was little idea of individual interest. The social background provided by the authoritarian family afforded no scope for the recognition of any personal factor, individual interest and aspirations in the relation between husband and wife (Kapadiya 169).

The age old customs and traditions make Urmi’s life difficult. Urmi is a mordenistic woman comes out of the traditional clutches with difficulty and helps Sahkutai in Kalpana’s rape case. The Binding Vine is not a novel that tells the story of submissive women who suffers under the male domination. Sahshi Deshpande has successfully depicted the path of transition and the need for it through her novel. The Binding Vine projected a glimpse of modernity in all important characters in the novel. Deshpande is clearly projected the transformation of modernity through her protagonist in the novel. Other important characters are Mira and Kalpana.

Mira was a young girl with the artistic quality. Her ambition is to become a poet. She expressed her hidden feelings through her poetry. Mira was discouraged by the people around her. But she did not lose her hope she continued writing poetry. Mira used to write poetry in her personal diaries. Mira wrote on her diary that “This book is mine as all can tell, if you steal it you will go to hell, the girl who wrote strictly private and confidential” (TBV 40). Mira’s modernism can be found through her poems.

Come, my brothers, come, my sisters, let us join our hands; a new road, a new way a new age begins.(TBV 44). Writing means finding freedom for Mira. In Alice Walker’s Color Purple there is a similar character like celie who finds freedom in writing. Mira wrote poems about her own life. Her suppressed anger and agony was expressed trough her poetry. Mira was courageously express her forced life. Writing poetry can be seen as glimpse of modernity in Mira.

Kalpana is a young beautiful girl from the poor family. Shakutai brought up Kalpana as a single parent and gave her education. Kalpana learned to speak in English and worked in a shop. On her part she contributed some amount of money to her family. She is an independent girl fears for nothing Shakutai and Sulu asked Kalpana to marry Prabhakar but Mira refused to marry him. She explained them that it is crime if a man marries another woman without divorcing the first one. And Kalpana had reviled courageously about her love to Shakutai. Kalpana found her matching male counterpart of her own. At the end Kalapna got raped. That is if the mother start teaching their daughter the lesson of bravery and not that submissiveness and a feeling of sisterhood between women grows any girl or woman will not be raped.