Exploration of Indian Pop culture through parodies in Judy Balan’s Half Boyfriend and Two Fates: The Story of my Divorce.

Abstract

Parody is a cultural spectacle and it is used as a significant factor for creative expression. A Parodist takes another’s material to make their parodying effective and recognizable. In France, Parody is used to evoke laughter. Judy Balan, an Indian writer in English is an ardent blogger and reviewer who has authored an outright comedy titled Two Fates: The Story of My Divorce and Half Boyfriend. Her story parodies the bestseller Two States: The Story of my Marriage and Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat. Through parodies she evokes laughter and explores the Indian Pop Culture which is ignored in the works of Chetan Bhagat.
 The term Parody is derived from the Greek Parodia which concentrates on the style of the original. It is otherwise called subversive mimicry of the original. The most important parodists in Greek literature are Aristophanes, Plato and Lucian. Aristophanes parodies the tragic style of Euripides. Plato is subtle in Symposium and Lucian parodies the Olympian gods. Just as the greek parodic was passsed on to Rome, Paradic spirit transferred to the Middle Ages from Rome. During Middle Ages, the parody provided path for new literary consciousness. Any holiday or festival was parodied. The Indian writers have also parodied the great works. For example, Shashi Tharoor has parodied the Mahabharata. Judy Balan parodied the works of Chetan Bhagat -Half Girlfriend and Two States: The Story of my Marriage.