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Since humanity was born and people started to work, the need for division of labour and responsibilities became evident. While working in the fields was essential to earn money and valuables, someone had to look after the house and children, as it was an equally important responsibility. Between the two genders, the responsibility was entrusted to the female in the family. Since ancient times, women have always been the ones to stay at home, cook, clean and look after the children and other family members while their husbands go out to work. On their return from a long work day, they have been tending to them as their primary responsibility and duty of being the "ideal wife" and "homemaker". Since childhood, we have seen our mother do all the household chores, never going out to travel or explore, and now we see our sisters and daughters doing the same thing every day in their own houses after marriage.

At first, it was only about dividing the work so everyone gets their fair and equal share of responsibilities and tasks that best fit their abilities. However, gradually, it started taking a wrong turn when society tried to associate household and domestic work with women only while allowing the men to explore the outside world with no worries about their household as they have their wives, mothers and sisters for that. In this way, the women's responsibility related to the house and children was permanently enforced. This eventually led to the degradation of female pride in the household and society. The women started to be treated like slaves by the men, and society just let it pass. As this tradition got passed on to generations and generations, the concept of the female inferiority complex began to emerge in the households and families through which women suffer till this day and age.

The objective of this paper is to discuss about the Lila, The Quiet Strength of Feminine Resilience in Anita Desai's "The Village by the Sea".

Refection in Literature

Literature often portrays the realities and technicalities of the world from which it arises. It presents the hidden truths of real society in a way that reaches most hearts and influences most minds. It would not be a stretch to say that literature creates a mirrored image of society's reality.

Since the rise of feminism, the number of female writers and poets boomed exponentially. It was an explosion in literature. Women started writing their voices on paper and publishing their novels and stories. Initially, it was difficult, but women didn't give up; they continued to imagine their opinions and views and wrote them down artistically. Their hard work paid off when they started gaining more and more readers. Among the writings of these powerful and brave ladies, a typical pattern of their selection of themes was found. It was seen that some similar toned themes related to feminism, women empowerment, female equality and equity, women's strength, and struggles in a woman's life were most trendy in the works of these women, and the readers liked them. If a single theme had to be selected to represent the central idea of the writings of these women, it would surely be the importance of listening to the women's perspectives and opinions, their colourful inner voices, while not neglecting those of males as well, providing equality to both genders realistically and taking the women's experiences and opinions as seriously as those of the men's.

Indian literature has always been diverse and has retained its quality since ancient times. However, female writers joining the club have amplified its diversity and quality to higher degrees. After being empowered, women write unique content in their books and novels, bringing new ideas, new creativities, and new ideologies to light. Women, themselves, are the embodiment of change and creativity. Moreover, as literature started to serve as a medium for these women to raise their voices for their rights, they started participating more actively. As the number of women writers began to rise globally, Indian women also decided to join this literary revolution. While outside India, women writers such as Alice Walker, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood and Sylvia Plath are famous for bringing out the complexities of a woman's life light through their novels, in India, women such as Arundhati Roy, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Anita Desai are the renowned personalities for the same.

Refection in Literature

Literature often portrays the realities and technicalities of the world from which it arises. It presents the hidden truths of real society in a way that reaches most hearts and influences most minds. It would not be a stretch to say that literature creates a mirrored image of society's reality.

Since the rise of feminism, the number of female writers and poets boomed exponentially. It was an explosion in literature. Women started writing their voices on paper and publishing their novels and stories. Initially, it was difficult, but women didn't give up; they continued to imagine their opinions and views and wrote them down artistically. Their hard work paid off when they started gaining more and more readers. Among the writings of these powerful and brave ladies, a typical pattern of their selection of themes was found. It was seen that some similar toned themes related to feminism, women empowerment, female equality and equity, women's strength, and struggles in a woman's life were most trendy in the works of these women, and the readers liked them. If a single theme had to be selected to represent the central idea of the writings of these women, it would surely be the importance of listening to the women's perspectives and opinions, their colourful inner voices, while not neglecting those of males as well, providing equality to both genders realistically and taking the women's experiences and opinions as seriously as those of the men's.

Indian literature has always been diverse and has retained its quality since ancient times. However, female writers joining the club have amplified its diversity and quality to higher degrees. After being empowered, women write unique content in their books and novels, bringing new ideas, new creativities, and new ideologies to light. Women, themselves, are the embodiment of change and creativity. Moreover, as literature started to serve as a medium for these women to raise their voices for their rights, they started participating more actively. As the number of women writers began to rise globally, Indian women also decided to join this literary revolution. While outside India, women writers such as Alice Walker, Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood and Sylvia Plath are famous for bringing out the complexities of a woman's life light through their novels, in India, women such as Arundhati Roy, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Anita Desai are the renowned personalities for the same.

Anita Desai

Anita Desai was born in 1937 in Mussoorie to a German mother and a Bengali father. She spent much of her time in Delhi and among the influential ladies who actively participated in this literary revolution through their writings and creativity. Anita Desai was also a talented and skilled woman writer. She has been doing great work in the industry since she joined. She has been writing some of the most fantastic fiction of Indian literature of all time. She started writing approximately forty years ago, i.e., four decades ago and is still known for her brilliant books and relatable storylines and characters. Desai won the Sahitya Akademi Award, one of India's most prestigious literary prizes, in 1978 for the second novel, Fire on the Mountain, and has been shortlisted thrice for the Man Booker prize. The central theme of Desai's fiction has always been Familial Relationships and their Evolution over time, centring on women's empowerment, feminism and the strength of women. She has worked as a professor in many U.S. colleges, including the eminent and prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has taught the students various concepts. Her latest book is The Zigzag Way (2004).

Through her creative fiction, Desai has highlighted every detail of a woman's problematic and eternally subjugated life. Her novels, such as Clear Light of Day, Fire on the Mountain, which also won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize, and The Village by the Sea, deal with the theme of feminism and the quiet strength that lies in a woman's calm and stillness.

The Village by the Sea

The Village by the Sea is a children's fiction by Anita Desai. It was first published in London in 1982, and later, when it gained significant popularity among readers, a U.S. version was also published in 1984.  The novel also won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a British book award, in 1983. As the title of the novel states, this story is of a small family residing in a village named 'Thul' near the sea. The family is impoverished and is living in a rural area of India. The family consists of six members: the parents and their four children. Among the children, there are three daughters and one son. The eldest son and daughter are named Lila and Hari, respectively, while the two sisters, Bela and Kamal, are little school-going children. The mother is suffering from a chronic illness due to which she is getting weaker and weaker with each passing day, and their father is an impulsive alcoholic. The mother is primarily bedridden, and the father does not work, because of which he also does not provide for the family. In this compulsion, their elder children are left with no other option but to work and support their family in both domestic and financial aspects. Hence, Lila and Hari take on the role of parents and work to provide for the household while their two little sisters study and get their education. Lila took on all the responsibilities of their mother, while Hari mainly contributed by working in the fields.

Lila : A Gurdian Figure

Lila is the main female protagonist of this story who stays at home, cooks, cleans, looks after her two younger sisters readies them and sends them to school, all while tending to her sick mother and looking after her drunkard of a father while Hari is always out in the daytime and works in the fields to earn some money. Both of them give up on study and education as sending at least their younger sisters to school is all their family can afford, and that is even barely. In these circumstances, Lila is forced to increase as a woman and an adult. From a very young age, she is burdened with all her mother's heavy responsibilities, and it seems as if her golden period of life, her childhood, is left behind now.

Lila is a mere thirteen-year-old girl, yet so strong that despite all the difficult times, she remains optimistic and fulfils her duty without a word of complaint. She realises that her childhood, her jolly and carefree period, will never return. However, despite that, instead of running away from her responsibilities and playing around with other girls, she acted maturely in the face of adversity. She woke up every day with a smile to face the day with courage and fulfilled all her responsibilities with complete dedication.  She does not blame her father or her fate for all her problems; instead, she acts optimistically and believes that one day, all her and her family's problems will disappear if she manages everything correctly. Her strong character can be seen clearly by how well she organises everything: the house, care of her mother, looking after her father, making her sisters go to school and making them study while also taking some time out for her faith amidst all the chaos in her life.

Lila's Beliefs in Rituals

The story begins with the rituals with the statement,

“ She walked down to the sea with the small basket she carried on the flat of her hand, filled with flowers she had plucked from the garden around their house – scarlet hibiscus blooms, sweet – smelling spider lilies and bright butter- yellow allamanda flowers”(Pg.01)

Then she comes near a sacred rock,

“ It was a sacred rock, a kind of temple in the sea. At high tide it would be inundated but now, at low tide, it could be freshly consecrated. Lila took the flowers from her basket, then folded her hands and bowed.”(Pg. 02)

Lila goes to the seashore and the beach every day in the early morning, as there is no one there except some local seabirds and beautiful flowers. The environment is still and calm, even though the tides are low, and this quiet seems to give Lila some peace of mind and time to think about herself, her life, and her future. She steps into the waters at the seaside and prays at a sacred rock shrine like her mother used to do.When dawn breaks, and the Sun rises, the early morning Sun's first tender and gentle rays warm her day and give her hope. No matter the situation, she always takes time every morning to visit the sea and pray. It was like a special ritual for her, and she can't help herself from doing it every day, even though she confronts herself for that later in the day.

The Feminine Strength

Lila is a wise and strong girl, who at the very early age learnt how to run the family. It is says that an underprivileged child becomes mature early than her age which one can witness in this story. Its just because of her determination and hard work that many times she saves her family and siblings from the debters also and handles the situation perfectly.Her strength is rooted in her feminine nature and resilience. A female, despite facing all the hardships, going through all the oppression, being bound by social and familial restrictions, and being locked in a cage, always faces forward and looks up to the vast sky of her dreams, never giving up. A female manages her work along with her family and household in a brilliant and mind-blowing way, showing her unwavering strength, no matter the circumstances. Similarly, Lila also manages everything flawlessly in her house. She does the household chores and is constantly working, sometimes for the DeSilvas, a wealthy family that comes there to spend the vacation, and sometimes for someone else.

The Irony in Patriarchy

Whether it is a family or a society, men have always dominated women in each and everything. Giving women no respect and no importance and "handling them like a grown-up that is through violence was as if a way for men to show their manliness. Even though the times are changing and women are coming forward in this race of development and achievement, many rural areas exist worldwide, especially in India, where this culture has not affected many mindsets. One such village is the village of "Thul" from the novel The Village by the Sea. In Lila's family, which is residing in Thul, the setting is patriarchal, too. The head of the family is always a man. Men are powerful. Men are superior. However, what was the superior man of the family, the father of Lila, doing? If anything, all he did was add to the crisis. After being deceived by some person and robbed of all his money, instead of reconciling and learning from the incident, he turned to alcohol for his "escape" from reality. Not only did he start consuming alcohol, but he also got addicted to it in no time and ultimately refused to do any work and provide for the family.

In this situation, Lila takes care of everything. She took care of all domestic and social affairs when her father was out of his senses, and her mother was bedridden due to illness. While Hari was never at home and always went to work in the fields, all the household work, including cooking, cleaning, feeding and so on, was all on her shoulders alone. Moreover, society keeps believing in Patriarchy, in the superiority of men, when it does not make any sense. If not Irony, then what is it that despite men being considered the all-mighty, the all-capable, they could not be of any help when adversity struck and the suppressed, the woman of the family had to handle everything by herself alone and that too, she did flawlessly, with barely a word of complaint ever. As is apparent by the example of Lila, being the eldest girl child in the family, she always sought a better solution than any of the men in her family. When Hari was far away in Bombay, Lila handled the family. She completed all the household work alone and worked out in the houses of rich people to earn money and provide for her family. She balanced all the domestic, social and financial work with such brilliance that Female Infanticide looks just like plain murder, nothing more, nothing less. Lila has proved that girls are no less compared to boys. Her father, who was an alcoholic, and his brother, who was so far away in some different city, never even thought about their domestic and familial responsibilities towards their household, but Lila did. Had Lila been killed, like all those other unfortunate girls, who would have saved and taken care of that family? No one.

Fighting the Poverty

While Hari is far from home, Lila handles all the household work alone. Even when Hari was gone for days without notice, she did not panic and handled everything carefully and wisely. All this time, she sacrifices her happiness and comfort to ensure that her family members are not in any inconvenience or discomfort. She treats her sick mother with care and tries to help her overcome his addiction. She works for the De Silvas to earn some additional money as well. When the DeSilvas were about to depart, she noticed they were going toward the town hospital. She spoke to them and convinced them to take her ill mother to the hospital for treatment. The De Silvas agree and get their mother's treatment done and successful in 7 months while their father also comes out of his addiction and is a balanced man now. In this span of seven months, Lila was all alone. With Hari not being present, their mother being admitted to the hospital, and their father just barely managing to be sober again, there was no one she could count on or lean on. Despite the hopeless situation and loneliness, Lila doesn't let her confidence and strength waver. She takes care of every single thing. She alone manages everything, being the perfect example of an All-Rounder woman. She becomes an inspiring figure for all.

Poverty for families living in the rural regions of India has always been one of the most significant problems. Lila and her family are also suffering from the same. Moreover, after her father lost all his money to someone offered by a person who looked so trustworthy yet deceived him, her family's condition got much worse. After this, when her father started spending on alcohol and eventually got addicted to it, a portion of her family's income went to alcohol, worsening their financial status. Even in such critical circumstances, Lila sacrificed her education, sent her sisters to school, cared for her mother and balanced all expenses and income. Moreover, she also started working to add to the family's income and avoid any lack of necessities for her family. She cared for everyone and supervised the overall situation to prevent the problem from worsening and only made the situation better by the day. She is a perfect example of how a working lady manages everything and how much pain and stress she has to take on herself to maintain peace in her family and put a smile on everyone's face.

Inner Strength and Outer Grace

This novel, written by Anita Desai, highlights the beauty of a woman's nature and personality. It shows the two beautiful sides of a woman. One of a gentle and kind mother and lady of the house who is so delicate, soft and imparts warmth in everybody's life and the other of a Powerful Lady who can conquer the world for all she cares. Desai so intricately and perfectly writes the character of Lila that we can see both sides of a female in her as clearly as day. Lila, on the one side, is the motherly figure for her younger siblings and a caretaker to her ill mother and alcoholic father. Even when she was surrounded by ordeals, even in the depths of despair, Lila always bounced back with a strong attitude, never letting the dire circumstances get the best of her. She courageously tackled all her rough times and always emerged victorious in any battle. Lila's resilient nature improved her family's condition in a short interval of 7 months. Had she not been so flexible and resilient, their household would have shattered into pieces like a pane of glass. Had she not been by the side of her family all this time, her mother would never have recovered, and her father would never have been able to turn a new leaf.

On the other hand, she is an independent woman who can work and earn money to support her family financially and negotiate with other people to better her family. Lila has shown precisely why women are the symbols of "power," "education," and "wealth" and not men. Their resilience allows them to navigate through any situation in life smoothly without disrupting the balance of their family or work. Although this novel was originally a children's book, it gained significant popularity among adult readers owing to Desai's unique way of describing the hardships and complexities of adulthood faced by a young girl and her brother. The novel also highlights Lila's determination and resilience, through which she changes the mood and tone of the story from a sad to a happy ending. R. K. Gupta writes,

“In the village, Lila changes the ill-habits of her father who not only deserts drinking liquor but excites his strength to look after his ailing wife.”(Pg.142)

The status of women in India is still somewhere low, not high above enough. Despite knowing that women are a critical, essential, and equally important part of our society, we continue to neglect their importance. Even after modernisation, women continue to be suppressed by males. However, compared to women's history, they now have much more improved societal positions. Women are now winning over the hearts of all people through their unique skills, talents, hard work and excellent performances. Women are now ahead of everyone. They are competing with the men and are on an equal footing with them now.

Even in literature, women's voices are being heard by the people more, and the number of female writers is increasing daily. This resilience, this strength to always come back stronger than before, makes women powerful and fearless. This is what makes them unbeatable in every arena. This is what makes their aura fierce and astonishing. This is the "Strength" of women that often goes unnoticed.

1. Anita Desai, the Village by the Sea, Penguin Random House India, 1982.Print
2. R.K. Gupta: The Novels of Anita Desai: A Feminist Perspective, Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2002, 2013. Print
3. Ray, Raka. Fields of Protest: Women's Movements in India. University of Minnesota Press; Minneapolis, MN. 1999.
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5. Indian Women Novelists in English. https://www.englitmail.com/2019/09/indian-women-novelists-in-english.html
6. Marital Discord and Dynamics in the Novels of Anita Desai, Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540
7. The Representation of women in Anita Desai's Novels, IJFR EISSN-, 2582-2160 Vol 6, Issue 4, 2024