Deconstructing Neocolonial Perspectives in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Petals of Blood and Pico Iyer's 'Heaven's Gate'.

Ngugi wa Thiong'o, a revolutionary writer from Kenya, presents the sufferings of the main characters and the common people in his novel, Petals of Blood, who struggle to survive in a village called Ilmorog due to neocolonial policies. The characters of Ngugi hope for a better future after Kenya is liberated from British colonial rule. Soon, they are disillusioned as neocolonial forces in the form of industrialization, capitalism, market forces, and corruption take control of Kenya. The people of Ilmorog had to fight against their own government for their rights even after achieving independence from the colonial rule. On the other hand, Pico Iyer is an Anglo-American prolific writer of travelogues. He is an essayist and novelist who primarily focuses on describing multicultural aspects in various countries, especially in Asia, in the wake of globalization. In his essay on Ladakh, a Union Territory of India, Pico Iyer observes the impact of mindless tourism, which has been systematically destroying the culture, traditions, economy, and spirituality of the Ladakhi people. He takes a jibe at the neocolonial forces that undermine the fragile texture of Ladakh and warns of the irreversible consequences that can happen due to the commodification of the people of the Himalayan region. By contrasting the two regions, the paper advocates the need to resist the commodification of human and natural resources in the yet-tobe-modernized Ladakh. Indeed, Ngugi's Ilmorog serves as an eye-opener for protecting and preserving Ladakh's unique culture from the clutches of neocolonial exploitative forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]