Transnational Longings and Local
Duties: Women’s Negotiations in Sudha Murthy’s Writing
P. Poorna Jothi, G. Karthigaiselvi
ABSTRACT
This paper examines how Sudha Murthy’s writing
articulates the complex negotiations women undertake between
transnational aspirations and local responsibilities in contemporary
Indian society. Through characters who traverse geographical,
cultural, and emotional boundaries, Murthy foregrounds the tensions
between global mobility, economic opportunity, and traditional
familial expectations. Her narratives often feature women positioned
at the crossroads of duty toward family, community, and inherited
values and longing for education, autonomy, and professional
fulfilment. By analysing select novels and stories, the study
highlights how Murthy portrays women’s agency not as outright
rebellion but as a continuous balancing act shaped by empathy,
resilience, and ethical responsibility. The paper argues that
Murthy’s fiction reframes transnational experiences not as a rupture
from the local but as an expansion of women’s identities, enabling
them to negotiate belonging across multiple cultural contexts.
Ultimately, the study reveals how Murthy’s work contributes to
broader discourses on gender, migration, and cultural continuity by
presenting women who navigate global possibilities without severing
ties to their rooted traditions.
Keywords: Transnationalism, Gender Negotiation, Cultural Identity,
Women’s Agency, Sudha Murthy
