Divergence of Third World Women in Diaspora Reading Lahiri's Antipodal Female Protagonists Ashima and Gauri

Present paper is an attempt to re-read Lahiri's female protagonists Ashima and Gauri, respectively, of The Namesake and of The Lowland, against the backdrop of their identities as third world women and post-migrated diasporic subjects. In fictions, although migration is oriented by the male protagonists; Lahiri in her fictions exhibits a female centered aftermath of it. As third-world female subjects, in their suppression, oppression and powerlessness, though Ashima and Gauri share some common traits, in fact, in America, with their bipolar attitudes towards accepting and rejecting the norms of diasporic life they emerge distinctly. Being exposed to the land of opportunity, America, while Ashima celebrates her former being, Gauri emerges as an iconoclast. This paper is an attempt to discuss the divergence of third world woman in diaspora.