Media and Representation: Comparison of Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake and Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding - Term Paper Example

 MEDIA REPRESENTATION ABSTRACT In today’s fast-paced modern world, the media plays an important part in our lives, owing to the immense amount of penetration it has achieved, into the society. Apart from fulfilling social responsibilities of catering to the society’s needs to publishing truthful news and reporting ethically, the media has also begun contributing immensely to what is known as, safeguarding and uplifting cultural values and the heritage of one’s background. The media comes across in different forms and manifestations---print, electronic or new media technology; and each medium has its own unique mode of fulfilling this objective. The strengths fo the different media in putting across the same view point may be different and also produce varied impacts. This write up attempts a contract between Jhumpa Lahiri’s ‘The Namesake’ and Mira Nair’s ‘Monsoon Wedding’. The former is a novel and the latter, a movie; both award-winning. The article also attempts to significantly bring out the distinctions and similarities in the portrayal and the impacts brought about by this portrayal of the rich Indian culture. THE NAMESAKE ‘The Namesake’ written by Indian writer, Jhumpa Lahiri is an immensely true portrayal of an Indo-American NRI family, that faces culture shocks, identity crisis and a whole gamut of emotions; all through the process of evolving through the novel. It is particularly identifiable by the Non-Resident Indians, who have settled abroad. The genre of portraying Indian Americans, who are a popular lot, is becoming quite a natural transition for Indian writers, more so, due to the high number of immigrations taking place. The novel talks about the marriage and settling of an Indian couple, in the United States and does invoke a few light moments, as they lay open-mouthed at the huge culture difference, that exists between the conservative heritage back home and the more ‘open’ one here. As they are torn apart by the identity crisis, looking to cater to the American Dream and retain their rich cultural heritage of being Indian, the novel begins to take shape. Their son Gogol, coming into the picture is what constitutes the main storyline. Gogol is raised like any other Indian boy, and his immigrant parents strive to impart the same values and heritage to their Americanized son. As the boy grows, he suffers the tumult of being pulled in opposite directions---by his identity of being distinctively Indian, which means he needs to possess certain pre-requisites in terms of being cultured; and due to the fact that he is exposed to the American way of life right from his birth. He faces peer-pressure and an identity crisis in terms of where he really belongs, since he is inclined towards ‘both worlds’. As he attains ‘marriageable age’, he is forced to stick to his Indian values, and yields by marrying a childhood Bengali friend. In spite of being unhappy in his marital relationship, he strives to balances both halves of his life---the Bengali and the American parts. The novel is a neatly concocted narration of these instances that the characters undergo and evolve. More importantly, it is a true reflection on the Indian culture, as the writer gives us instances of the marriage ceremony and the traditions followed, the birth and the naming of Gogol and the numerous intricacies involved in this, and the like. Thus, even a reader unaware about the Indian traditions would surely get a peek-a-boo into it. Certainly, the novel creates a deep impact and in fact, gets us to empathize with the characters and circumstances of the book, who come to life! MONSOON WEDDING ‘Monsoon Wedding is a movie made by Mira Nair, in a genre almost similar to that of ‘The Namesake’. It explores the modern day Indian family set-up and the culture and tradition that are typically Indian. The main protagonists are played by Vasundhara Das and Praveen Dabas, the bride and the groom respectively. They bride’s parents are played by Naseeruddin Shah and Lilette Dubey. As the title of the movie suggest, the film revolves around the five-day Punjabi wedding of the protagonists, which is an arranged marriage! Given the theme and setting of the film, one can be certain that the movie would offer a great show of colour, laughter, song and dance sequences, the traditions and other intricacies of culture, involved in traditional Indian marriages. And the film does not disappoint us either. However, in this whole representation of culture and familial ties, Mira Nair does not fail to bring in a more profound concept---human fallacies, the lurking ugliness that could exist within families, like exploitation with a sexual connotation, and the like. The film also promises us a good amount of incite into the similarities between the upper and lower strata of the society, as it depicts romances in both the classes. The film-maker perhaps wants to establish the f act that people and human emotions remain the same across all boundaries and it is we who divide ourselves on the basis of virtually non-existent walls. With the powerful themes that come across from the lively story-line and performances, the audience certainly gets a visual treat and the feel of actually attending the Great Indian Wedding of sorts! COMPARISON AND CONTRAST Both, The Namesake and Monsoon Wedding put forth the Indian culture and heritage and the family-bound Indian society; but via different media. This contrasting element, does bring about good amount of variation in the impact each piece creates and the overall package of the works. The Namesake, for instance, concentrates on detailed descriptions of each and every intricate instance, emotion and moment of the novel; simply because of the fact that it is not a visual medium. The book requires the reader to understand and comprehend the greatly profound and in-depth emotions of the characters and therefore, this detailing is definitely a must. The descriptions help us understand the kidn of relationships that exist in the particular setup. For instance, the immigrant couple, during their marriage, hardly exchange a word and on moving to the United States, they depend on each other for security and warmth. There is a change in the equation of the relationship, with place! The next aspect that one can look into, is the depiction of cultural practices, in the media. Monsoon Wedding certainly captures the viewers by the display of sheer grandeur and colour of the Indian Wedding, which paints a beautiful picture of the cultural ties of Indian Families. This, is more effective in the movie, than in The Namesake, since one can actually ‘visualize’ the entire setting; unlike in the novel were one can imagine and ‘envisage’ and also hold the doubt if it really coincides with the actual tradition! Another important facet that needs our attention, is that of human relations. The beautiful weaving of familial ties as the entire family and the extended families get together, in the Monsoon Wedding, is heavily contrasted with the pressure family can have on one’s life and how one gradually succumbs to this pressure, giving up one’s innermost desires and aspirations, in The Namesake. While the former allows not much room for imagination, the latter allows a free run of thoughts, that provokes a reader to raise numerous questions. The former does the same, by laying down what is, in actuality! Thus, both strive and succeed in sending out socially conscious messages to their respective audiences and often cut each other and coincide with e ach other at various instances. After all, both the representations are distinctively Indian! References Lahiri, Jhumpa, ‘The Namesake’, Mariner Books, 2004. The Movie: Monsoon Wedding, Mira Nair Website: www.about.com Read More