Negotiating Global Aspirations and Cultural Duties in the Works of Sudha Murty

Abstract

This paper examines Negotiating Global Aspirations and Cultural Duties in the Works of Sudha Murty, focusing on the complex experiences of women who balance personal ambitions with deeply rooted cultural responsibilities. Sudha Murty’s narratives portray middle-class Indian women navigating the pressures of globalization, education, and professional growth while remaining bound to familial expectations, traditional values, and social ethics. Her female characters often stand at the crossroads of modern opportunities and inherited duties, negotiating rather than rejecting the cultural frameworks that shape their lives. Through themes of migration, moral responsibility, marriage, motherhood, and social service, Murty highlights the subtle yet powerful ways women assert agency within conventional structures. Instead of dramatic rebellion, her protagonists demonstrate resilience, ethical strength, and pragmatic adaptation in reconciling global exposure with local belonging. This study argues that Murty’s writing reflects a form of grounded feminism that harmonizes aspiration with responsibility, thereby presenting a nuanced vision of contemporary Indian womanhood in a transnational context.