Narratives of Migration and Diaspora in Kavita Kane’s Bhima’s Wife

Abstract

Migration and diaspora are often associated with cultural alienation, geographic displacement, and the need to fit in. In legendary retellings, these concepts acquire deeper symbolic meanings that represent emotional exile, social marginalization, and identity negotiation. In Kavita Kane's Bhima's Wife, Hidimbi, one of the Mahabharata's most neglected women is reinvented as a character who must constantly cope with marginalization and migration. Through Hidimbi's journey from the Kamyaka woodlands to her uneasy identification with the Pandava family, Kane explores themes of migration, cultural hybridity, belonging, and diasporic identity. This essay examines how migration is portrayed in Bhima's Wife as both a physical journey and a social and psychological condition. The thesis argues that Hidimbi embodies a diasporic awareness based on postcolonial concepts and diaspora studies (Bhabha 37; Brah 16).