ABSTRACT
Whereas Sobti's work has previously been analysed through a psychoanalytical lens or literary criticism, this chapter offers a new perspective through drawing on both motherhood studies and religious studies to underscore allusions to religion and spirituality in the mother-daughter relationship. The publications mentioned earlier feature studies of literary fiction produced in contexts where the interactions of religion, spirituality, motherhood and the mother-daughter relationship differ from those of North America, where motherhood studies first developed. Even while valuing them as transformative practices or experiences, the mother does not downplay the pain of childbirth nor the difficulties of motherhood. While being analysed through the lenses of maternal theory with appropriate awareness of the cultural and religious framework, such literary works in Hindi about mothers demonstrate that motherhood and mothering are far from natural, instinctive or universal, notwithstanding some characteristics shared transnationally.
