FROM CLAUSTROPHOBIA TO BROMIDROPHOBIA: LACK OF BELONGINGNESS AND SENSE OF PLACE IN RADHIKA JHA’S SMELL

Abstract

This research paper is an attempt to examine the perturbed experience of an immigrant in Radhika Jha’s novel Smell. The novel explores the issue of ethnic identity and belongingness through its protagonist Leela, an immigrant of Indian descent in Paris. Leela negotiates her cultural identity in order to survive in the foreign land, which triggers diasporic anxieties in her. The researcher has identified and analysed theses anxiety disorders that Leela goes through because of abrupt migration. The pain of separation, sense of loss, and disorientation made Leela lose her sense of belongingness and place in the foreign land. In her quest to finally feel at home, Leela falls victim to various anxiety disorders which include claustrophobia, social anxiety disorder, and bromidrophobia. The researcher expands on the analysis about how these diasporic anxieties manifest in the life of Leela as a result of sudden migration and how she assimilates herself to overcome the fear of rejection to finally feel at home.