Othering syndrome at work: Anita Desais in custody

Anita Desai mostly concerns the questions of survival and existence in her novels. She tries to understand and explore the machinery which subjugated and conditioned othering process. In the novel, Urdu poetry, and two women- Sarla and Imtiaz Begum- are othered through power. Power operates always in a network and extends its reach everywhere. The othering process is accelerated by power syndrome. It is a desire to rule over. One is dominated by other. In the othering operation, the hero of the novel Devan proves himself the custodian of Urdu at the cost of his family. He could not rise above patriarchal hold. He pays least attention to Sarla due to his bloody patriarchy and towards the end Imtiaz. The present author intends to highlight instances having been othered.   Key words: Other; othering. process.