ughter, ideal wife and ideal mother. Such expectations and family teachings grow fear in their mind that impedes them. On the contrary, the Western girls are not fed up with such teachings like Indian girls. Karthika V.K. comments: “This notion of chastity is considered as a part of the pristine Indian culture which is different from the western culture which does not create a lot of differences between men and women.” ( Karthika, 2015) Women in Third World countries, have to pass chaste ordeals. Glorification of chastity or honour for virginity is echoed by the words of Third World mothers or grandmothers. A Third World wife has to prove her virginity in her bridal house as Astha proves it to Hemant. Otherwise, this girl is considered as impure and rejected.
In Third world society, conventional systems and customs are deep-seated and in the traditional system “Indianness” is structured around gender discrimination giving narrow space to female for freedom. Right from the marriage, the bride’s integration into the family begins. She is directed and instructed into the lifestyle and habit of her husband’s family. As Astha in Hemant’s family, has submerged into the roles: wife, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law and mother. But despite her all efforts to dedicate herself genuinely to the well being of the family she is considered as an outsider. Astha wants a room that should be used for the sake of art and painting. She wants to possess some space of her own like Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929). But this room was given to Sangeeta as she has to live with them. Again, Astha wants to buy a car with her inherited money from her parents. But now Hemant is the owner of this money. Once again she is rejected. It is the tradition in Third World Indian society that a daughter-in-law has to sacrifice for the happiness of others. But when the same bride turns into a mother-in-law, she holds an authoritative voice, particularly over the daughters-in-law; as Astha’s mother-in-law’s influence over Astha. In the same way, Astha will practice this tradition on Himanushu’s wife. The Third World women become not only advocates but even the custodians of the same culture that impedes their liberal thoughts.
Women in India are victims of child marriage which is not only a problem but also a creator of so many problems. Child marriage is a violation of female rights which has a negative impact on physical growth, health, mental and emotional development, and education opportunities that consequently creates poverty and illiteracy. In Third World societies, child marriage or forced marriage is the main problem that subjugates women with a frequent number of pregnancies, premature maternal death, child death, complications in child birth etc. For the evil of child marriage, child brides often become child widows and lose honour and right to marry again. In this story, Mrs. Trivedi became a widow in her childhood and she had no right to remarry and was parted from her husband’s family members; Sita and Astha’s mother-in-law were child brides; and Seema and Sangeeta are the teenage brides.
Women in India have no security, no guarantee of a roof over their heads. The Indian girls never go against their families or go to court over being denied their rights to property. Women should have something of their name for security. In this story, Astha suffers a lot as all her property is registered in the name of Hemant. She cannot go against her mother or husband. Both persons deprived her bitterly. She could have bought a car or could have an art gallery by spending some portion of that money but all her money is transferred to Hemant. Her mother, in this case, chooses Hemant better than Astha because he is a man. It is the custom in Third World Indian society that money and property will be controlled by males which create a lot of problems in female empowerment and female liberty.
In India, women still lag behind regarding their divorce rights. They are fed up with the ideal of Indian womanhood. Even they cannot pronounce their rights for di