Sense of identity in the novels of Salman Rushdie: Status of women in contemporary society

There are many Indian Writers writing today but Salman Rushdie is different from his contemporary writers and also his unique approach in examining the jumbled and fragmented identity of the people living in the sub-continent. Rushdie’s own situation is very peculiar in the context of colonial reality in which he was born. He is not rooted in one culture or one way of life. He was born in Bombay, felt ‘exiled’ in Pakistan and emigrated to England. So there is an impact of three different cultures on him. Rushdie’s novels, therefore, do not remain simply an objective rendering of contemporary history of these two countries. Apart from exploring the identity crisis of the characters, his novels turn out to be a severe indictment of the colonialists and the indigenous ruling classes in South Asia. The major themes of Salman Rushdie’s works are politics, his own concept of history, its inter-relationship with the individual and the sense or personal as well as national identity in the colonial milieu. Rushdie has set a different aim.