Shashi Deshpande’s novels like The Dark Holds No Terrors (1980), If I Die Today (1982), Roots and Shadows (1983), Come up and be Dead (1983), That Long Silence (1988) A Matter of Time (1996). Small Remedies (2000) and short stories depict the anguish and conflict of the modern, educated, independent, Indian women roughly between the age of thirty and thirty -five caught between patriarchy and tradition on the one hand and self-expression, individuality and independence for the women on the other. She has examined a variety of common domestic crises, which trigger off the search. While revealing the women ’s struggle to secure self-respect and self-identity for herself, Shashi Deshpande subtly bares the m ultiple levels of oppression, including sexual oppression experienced by women in our society . What makes her an especially interesting author to study is her ability to depict situations, characters, and dilemmas straight out of everyday domestic life. He r novels and short -stories primarily explore the experiences of oppression of Indian women in the domestic setup, experiences which are rooted in the presumption that a woman is an inferior being, an unwanted female child, of having to battle an ingrained, deeply entrenched patriarchal system all of which give rise to the problem specific to their sex. It is among the class that the stereotypical values attached to the social role are most studiedly inculcated in the girl child. She is considered as an outsider, a burden or prayadhan. Roots and Shadows present the image of new woman. This novel explores the inner struggle of the protagonist, Indu. She tries to learn the truth about herself, deserting all the shadows that she had thought to be her real self. Indu presents a set of modern Page 34  Labyrinth : ISSN 0976-0814 (Vol.8 - No.2, July 2017) women, who are educated and very much in contact with the society , dealing with the critical problems of love, marriage, sex, settlement and individuality . The novel deals with a woman ’s attempt to assert her individuality and realise her freedom. It depicts how it brings her into confrontation with family , with the male world and the society in general