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The vitality of the Indian English Novel lies in its ability to hold contradictions and its adaptability. It has successfully been able to accommodate both the traditional and the experimental, the elite and the marginalised, the rooted natives and the diasporic. Indian English Novel is a rare site where global influences meet local realities. It has emerged as a fertile space for reflection, resistance, and renewal. As India continues to grapple with internal complexities and global shifts, its English-language novels offer a prism through which these dynamics can be understood and questioned. Far from being homogeneous or stagnant, contemporary Indian English fiction is a vibrant, contested, and evolving field that continues to surprise, provoke, and inspire.

Bhuban Chandra Talukdar and Dr. Anindita Das in “ Dialogic of Subjectivity in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe ” examine the novel through Bakhtinian concepts of ‘dialogism’, ‘polyphony’, ‘heteroglossia’, and ‘hybridisation’. According to the authors, “Nair’s novel is truly a polyphonic novel that combines multiple voices in the course of the narrative, allowing its characters to express their diverse consciousness. The role of the novelist is to connect them together so that a feminist dialogic can be created.”

Kumarika Roy in “ Who’s Afraid of the Angel Who Slams the Door? Who’s not? – Feminist Refusals and Posthuman Becoming in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland ” interrogates “inter-generational trajectory of the New Woman in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland through the feminist refusals by Gauri and Bela, two female characters who radically dismantle the normative codes of femininity associated with the Victorian ideal of the ‘angel in the house’”. Kumarika states that “Man is presence, completion, while woman is defined by lack—what man is not. Yet, it is precisely this lack that becomes her force, a disruptive feminine energy that resists containment. She becomes a site of deferred, non-attainment of ‘being’—never fully present, yet never entirely absent. This indeterminacy deconstructs the universal category of ‘man’ by positioning ‘woman’ as another kind of universal—not its opposite, but its haunting double, the flip side that reveals the fallacy of unity. A woman becomes both the question and the rupture in the fabric of humanist subjectivity.”

Labiba Alam in “ Charting the Anthropocene – The Ecomystical Turn in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide and Gun Island ” looks at Amitav Ghosh’s more recent works that have an ecological turn. Referring to the two novels, The Hungry Tide (2004) and Gun Island (2019). Labiba elucidates how Ghosh has broadened the spectrum of the Indian English novel by including narratives of ecocritical texture. According to Labiba, “Ghosh’s ecological novels stand out not only for their themes but for their ethical imperative. Here, the myths and folklores act not as distant, ideological abstractions but as active agencies that balance the ecology of the land. His characters often struggle with their responsibilities in a world marked by ecological imbalance and ethical injustice. His novels document not only tales of survival in the face of ecological manipulation but also guide us toward a greater ethical responsibility for planet conservation.”

Pragya Dhiman in “ Animal’s Tongue - Analyzing the Language of the Colonized in Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People ” looks at “the inspired use of the English language by Sinha, to form a literary tapestry that creates a new type of “Indian English”, writing in the exact way Indians speak; thus, formally recording a narrative that showcases how the colonized take back their power through the transformation and cultural acquisition of an alien tongue.” The paper looks in detail at the instances of intentional misspellings, jumbled syntax and Indian exclamations.

Rani Alisha Rai’s “ Beyond Midnight’s Children – Rewriting India in Contemporary English Novel ” looks at the literary scene after Salman Rushdie’s iconic Midnight’s Children. She reviews the major writer, themes and issues that were foregrounded by the subsequent writers, along with issues of Indianness, globalisation and cultural identity.

Sapna Dogra in “ Corruption and Impact of Corporate Negligence in Indra Sinha’s Animal People ” looks at the issue of corporate politics and negligence. According to the paper, Animal’s People is an appeal for accountability and the recognition of human rights in the face of systemic oppression. By extension, the novel can be interpreted as the tragedy of a country afflicted by poor leadership.

Sapna Dogra in “ Rupa Bajwa’s The Sari Shop – A Study of Class Inequalities” looks at the illusion of upward mobility in Bajwa’s debut novel that was longlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize. The novel offers class conflict and economic hardship as major themes that are juxtaposed with the glamour and glitz of the ultra-rich.

Surabhi Jha in “ From Widow to Weapon – An Existential Reading of Moitrayee Bhaduri’s Trinoyoni ” presents an existential reading of Trinoyoni (2022). The paper draws on existentialist notions of freedom, alienation, and becoming. Surabhi says, “Her journey from innocence to violence is neither linear nor reducible to pathology; rather, it reveals how systemic neglect, gendered exploitation, greed, and emotional deprivation can give rise to a subject who chooses survival over virtue, action over silence.”

On behalf of Muse India , I would like to express my gratitude to the contributors whose expertise and commitment have brought this Feature to fruition. I express my gratitude to GSP Rao and U Atreya Sarma for their support and for trusting me with this Feature. I dedicate this Feature to Professor Santosh K Sareen, my PhD guide, retired Professor, at the School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Thank you for being an extraordinary teacher and mentor. I feel incredibly fortunate to have learned from you.

My best wishes to all of you.