Published Paper Details:

In South Asian Diasporic Literature, Anita Rau Badami is among the most well-known authors. Her novels predominantly focus on rootlessness themes such as displacement, estrangement, loss of identity, patriarchal challenges, unacceptance, and self-identity exploration. Her third literary work, Can You Hear the Nightbird's Call? intends to elucidate the condition of a settler's life in a foreign land through the character Leela and her mother Rosa Schweers. Both battle to assert their identities in an alien land to manage their connection with an unfamiliar culture and toil to set up a new abode for them. Rosa's in-laws do not accept her, as they consider her a 'casteless German.' Whereas, Leela as a combination of two identities is overlooked by her relatives due to her mixed cultural and racial background. By including the idea of in-betweenness through diaspora, Badami has expanded her novel. She emphasizes the word "in-betweenness" to explain the notion of multiculturalism. Through various incidents, Anita Rau Badami has revealed the cultural clash and the journey of adjusting to these cultures. This article explores in depth her mother Rosa Schweers, her origin, her marriage to an Indian, her traumatic experiences at her in-law's house, her restricted relationship with her daughter Leela, and her untimely death.