Clear Light of Day

Anita Mazumdar Desai was born on June 24, 1937 to a German mother, Toni Nime, and a Bengali businessman, D. N. Mazumdar, in Mussoorie, India. She was a student at Queen Mary's Higher Secondary School in Delhi and received her B.A. in English literature from the University of Delhi in 1957. She marrried Ashvin Desai, in 1958 and they had four children together.
She published Clear Light of Day in 1980 and incorporated real issues in India into the plot.


The Partition of India.

In March 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten took over as British viceroy to India. India had become such a burden to Britain, that the British government had decided to transfer its power to Indian authority no later than June 1948. However, India's raging civil war between the two dominant religious groups, Muslims and Hindus, convinced Mountbatten that even a year was too long to wait to resolve the dangerous situation. The subsequent partitioning of the Indian subcontinent took place along religious lines. August 15, 1947 marked the official birth of the two nations of India and Pakistan.

Difference between Muslim and Hindus

Muslims believe that there is only one God called Allah, while Hindus worship one god but in many forms, aspects, and incarnations.
Hindus believe that god lives in everything while Muslims maintain that nothing is comparable to Allah.
Muslims do not recognize any intermediary between man and God. A worshipper can reach out to him directly through his prayers. In Hinduism there is a choice. A person can worship God directly or seek the intervention of a priest or guru for assistance. Also, Muslims do not believe in rebirth but only ressurrection and judgement day. In contrast, Hindus consider life in heaven and hell as temporary until they are reborn.

Role of Indian women

Generally, women in ancient Indian society were subordinate to men. Although Hindu customs provided women with some protection, the laws made it clear that their status was inferior to men. For example, the Hindua Laws of Manu stated " In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead, to her sons; a woman must never be independent." Thus, the role of women in Indian society was severely restricted, traditionally they were expected to maintain the household and care for the children.