Roots and Shadows
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Roots and Shadows is an English-language Indian novel, written by Shashi Deshpande in 1983.{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256533707|title=Roots and Shadows: Shashi Deshpande's Moral Prescription for a Reformed World of Relationships as the Basis of the Indian TraditionaI Dream of Vasudpiva Kutumbakam|last=Mishro|first=Krushna Chandra}}
The novel focuses on Indu's interactions with others in her large family and the manner in which this helps to resolve their future and her own personal crisis.{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Award-winning-author-Shashi-Deshpande-resigns-in-protest/articleshow/49286139.cms|title=Deshpande's Rebellion|last=Fernandes|first=Joeanna Rebello|date=9 October 2015|website=The Times of India|access-date=9 April 2018}}
Characters
= First generation =
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- Akka – The female matriarch of the family
- Indu's grandfather
- Old Uncle - Indu's grandfather's cousin
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= Second generation =
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- Narmada Atya - Indu's aunt
- Anant Kaka - Indu's uncle
- Govind - Indu's father
- Madhav Kaka and Sumitra Kaki - Indu's aunt and uncle
- Vinay Kaka and Kamala Kaki - Indu's aunt and uncle
- Sunanda Atya and Vasant Kaka - Indu's aunt and uncle
- Saroja - Naren's mother
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= Third generation =
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- Indu - Govind's daughter and the main protagonist
- Naren - Saroja's son and Indu's illicit partner
- Jayant - Indu's husband
- Hemant - Anant kaka and kaki's children
- Sumant - Anant kaka and kaki's children
- Padmini - Anant kaka and kaki's children
- Sharad -Anant kaka and kaki's children
- Sunil - Madhav kaka and Sumitra kaki's children
- Lata - Madhav kaka and Sumitra kaki's children
- Geeta -Madhav kaka and Sumitra kaki's children
- Vithal - the adopted Brahmin boy
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= Fourth generation =
- Vishwas - Hemant's children
- Sanju - Hemant's children
Themes
- Marriage
- Joint-family system
- Infidelity
- Class and caste relations
- Feminism
- Modernism
Analysis and criticism
The work has been widely analysed and criticized for its feminist{{Cite web|url=https://www.inflibnet.ac.in/ojs/index.php/JLCMS/article/download/32/30|title=Feminism in Shashi Deshpande's Roots and Shadows|last=Prasad|first=N K|date=2010|website=INFLIBNET}} orientation. It has been a source for many thesis and papers on the role of women in society of today.{{Cite web|url=https://www.anubooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Notions-2014-No2-4.pdf|title=Identity motif's in Shashi Deshpande's Roots and Shadows|last=Ashok|first=K. Kumar|date=2014}} The work is widely appreciated for bringing out the joint family system in Indian society.