Conflict and Compromise in Bhabani Bhattacharya's Shadow from Ladakh Chaudhary Neetu Research Scholar, CCS University Campus, Meerut, India Online published on 21 November, 2017. Abstract As the title of the novel suggests, Shadow from Ladakh has been written under the shadow of the Chinese aggression of 1962 and focuses primarily on the theme of synthesis of the steel civilization and the Gandhain way of life. The novel deals with the conflict and compromise between two distinct modes of life represented by Steel town and Gandhigram, the first by Bhaskar Roy and the latter by Satyajit, a true Gandhian in body and soul. Dorothy B. Shimer also expresses this view when she comments: “Bhattacharya emphasizes through the border confrontation that the real essence of the conflict is not the Sino-Indian border war, not the concrete physical confrontation. The opposition is between two ways of life, two sets of values which Bhaskar and Satyajit represent.” (B. Shimer, Bhabani Bhattacharya, 76) The Steel town comes into being in the wake of the Chinese invasion of Ladakh and, as the conflict grows, it spreads to threaten the very existence of Gandhigram, to save which Satyajit decides to undertake his fast unto death. This brings a change of heart in Bhaskar to accept the need and importance of the village, symbolizing a whole concept, propounded by Gandhi. Top Keywords Delegates, Speech, Border. Top |