A Microcosm of the Monolithic: Dr. Santwana Bardoloi’s *Adajya* (The Flight) as an Indictment of Institutionalized Oppression of Young Brahmin Widows

Abstract

This paper examines Dr. Santwana Bardoloi’s cinematic adaptation Adajya (The Flight, 1996), based on Dr. Indira Goswami’s Jnanpith Award-winning novel  Datal Hatir Uwne Khowa Howdah(The Moth-Eaten Howdah of the Tusker), as a trenchant critique of the institutionalized oppression of young Brahmin widows in Assam. Through the portrayal of three widows—Durga, Saru Gossainee, and Giribala—across generations, the film exposes the intersecting dynamics of gender, caste, and tradition within a patriarchal society. This study argues that Bardoloi’s  Adajya not only amplifies Goswami’s literary indictment of Brahminical hypocrisy and gendered subjugation but also situates itself within the broader context of Indian feminist cinema of the late 20th century. By analyzing the film’s narrative and visual strategies, this paper underscores its contribution to a democratic feminist critique of social norms that perpetuate widowhood as a state of perpetual marginalization.