Sense Of Belonging In 'The Namesake'

Abstract:
Unbelievable development in the field of communication has made the world a global village, thanks to globalization. Globalization has created a new wave of migration and almost erased from our mind the concept of international geographical boundaries. Now people are leaving the boundaries of their own countries to go to the other nations in the hope of better life and opportunities. People are, in this globalised state, ready to sacrifice all only for the sake of fulfillment of their dreams. The movement often creates multi-problems for the migrating people. This process of movement makes people foreigner to the world they are living in. Under the influence of globalization, modern man loses the sense of belonging to any person,
But she undergoes a drastic change in her attitude. She is not the same person as she was in the beginning of the story: “She feels overwhelmed by the thought of the move she is about to make, to the city that was once home and is now in its own way foreign. She feels both impatience and indifference for all the days she still mist live, for something tells her she will not go quickly as her husband did. For thirty-three years she missed her life in India. Now she will miss her job at the library, the women with whom she’s worked. She will miss throwing parties. She will miss living with her daughter, the surprising companionship they have formed, going into Cambridge together to see old movies at the Brattle……….She will miss the country in which she had grown to know and love her husband. Though his ashes have been scattered into the Ganges, it is here, in this house and in this town, that he will continue to dwell in her mind.” (The Namesake, 278-279). Towards the end of the story Lahiri portrays the imbalance feeling of Gogol. Now he feels comforted by the mystery behind choosing that name for him. At 32, he feels proud for his name and its meaning, Nikhil Gogol Ganguly accepted his name and destiny. Now he feels burden of his hating himself for hating his name. He deeply ponders over his name, his identity, his namesake and realizes that one has to take the responsibility to carve his own path to explore the life in this world. He realizes his roots and feels belonging to his mother, sister and other people. He comes to the realization of the grim truth that it is not a way to diminish either Indian or American