Confronting the Self: The Role of Polyphony and the Power of Coupe in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe

Abstract

As it passes through various Indian states, assimilating people from various cultural backgrounds constantly, an Indian train is a place that truly embodies a transient cultural pattern. A passenger moves from the familiar to the strange in this liminal space in terms of geography, culture, language, cuisine, and psychological makeup. Indian Railways provides an insightful interpretation of cohabitation. Anita Nair, one of the finest authors in India, frequently uses "travel" as a significant theme in her novels to symbolize the characters' mental and physical journeys. In Ladies Coupe, the act of traveling is viewed as a confrontation with oneself and focuses on the lives of the five women in the transient space. By poetically narrating their journeys, Nair gives her female characters a life of their own, invoking a polyphonic framework within the transient space of the coupe. The Indian train, specifically the ladies coupe, is an example of Bakhtinian polyphony, where the conversations between passengers comprise multiple consciousness, including people of all ages and regions. As a result, this train travelogue includes five distinct voices, each with its own conscious design. The paper aims to examine the trope of the coupe using the Bakhtinian concept of polyphony, the impact of the "dead time" experienced during train travel and how the transitional space of the coupe helps Akhila attain self-discovery in Anita Nair's Ladies Coupe.