‘Inside the Mirror,’ writer Parul Kapur’s debut novel, is set in 1950s Mumbai; as India attempts to remake itself post-colonialism, two twin sisters attempt to assert their own independence beyond traditional roles for women.
Jaya, attending medical school, longs to be a painter; her sister Kamlesh dreams of dancing bharatnatyam in films. A secret romance blooms, even as Jaya’s parents search for a suitable boy for marriage. Grandmother Bebeji, a former freedom fighter, takes up a new battle for environmental justice, but is conservative with her grand-daughters, decrying their attempts to move outside the strict confines of societal demands for young Indian women.
In an interview with New India Abroad, Kapur spoke about the dichotomy of Indian women’s lives post-Partition, noting that many of them had participated in the movement for Independence, but still held conservative views for their families.
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