CHALLENGES OF MULTI-CULTURAL IDENTITY IN THE INDIAN DIASPORA: FROM A LITERARY PERSPECTIVE OF ROHINTON MISTRY

Author Name: Sabina Lucky

Volume: 01 &  Issue:

Country: India

DOI NO.: 08.2020-25662434, DOI Link: http://www.doi-ds.org/doilink/09.2020-63146516/

Affiliation:

1. Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of English, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to show how Rohinton Mistry, as an important figure among the writers in the Indian Diaspora, has tried to reveal various concerns of diasporic minority in his own homeland India through his English fiction writing. As a Parsi Zoroastrian, Rohinton Mistry was born in Bombay (India), the place he had left in 1975 with his wife for migrating into Toronto (Canada). On being a Parsis in India and then an immigrant in another country, Mistry distinguishes himself in multiple displacements. This is the reason why his novels articulate the pursuit of identity, connection to the original land, and multiculturalism on the Canadian location in diasporas to put questions about the feelings of home and belonging. Even His Identity is hyphenated as Indian–Canadian Parsi, which reflects in all his works containing a recording of the multifaceted tradition of Parsi history. The way he depicts the Parsis culture, their habits, and customs is unique. In charting the lives of Parsis through his fiction, he assumes the role of an ethnographer. Thus, this paper aims to indicate his purpose of fictionalizing the trials and tribulations of an ethnic community and presenting it as comparable counterparts for the West's literary traditions within the multicultural agenda.

Key words: Diaspora, Migration, Multicultural Identity, Rohinton Mistry, and Parsis Culture.