Modernisation of Delhi and Domestic Transformations: An Analytical Study of Anita Desai's 'Clear Light of Day' and Ahmed Ali's 'Twilight in Delhi'

<p>Delhi has borne witness to a plethora of changing rulers who considered Delhi their capital,<br>which has always affected the life of the general populace that has called it their home and given them<br>a choice either to change or be changed with the tide. This idea of a changing Delhi in colonial and<br>post–colonial India is perhaps best reflected through works of Anita Desai and Ahmed Ali,<br>specifically in ‘Clear Light of Day’ and ‘Twilight in Delhi’. This present research paper is a humble<br>submission to present a comparative analysis of both these texts to reveal the modernisation of Delhi<br>and the subsequent effect that it has had on the domestic life, which is the centre of both these novels.<br>Out of the 4 siblings around which the ‘Clear Light of Day’ is centred, two have moved on in their<br>lives and ‘adapted’ to the changes in Delhi, but two (Bimla and Baba) have sadly held on to the past<br>very tightly. Similarly, in ‘Twilight in Delhi,’ we see the breakdown of the family unit owing to<br>Delhi’s westernisation at the hands of the British and the decline of the Urdu culture leading to serious<br>consequences for the domestic household. Both of these stories present the struggle of the common<br>man who lives in Delhi and cannot bear the effects of the uncontrollable changes around them. All<br>they can do is wither the storm until it passes and they have a firm ground to lay down the foundation<br>for a new home and a new lifestyle</p>