The Bandit Queens

Saloni sends her son, Arhaan, to bring Geeta to her house. Saloni has relented; she has thought of how they can find Ramesh, thereby casting doubt on Geeta’s role in any murder. Saloni tells a long, rambling story that eventually leads to the fact that Preity happened to see Ramesh when she was in Kohra. Preity will tell the police that she saw Ramesh, thus clearing Geeta of any wrongdoing—but only in return for a favor. Saloni relates that Preity wants Geeta to help her kill her own husband, Darshan. He once threw acid in Preity’s face in the mistaken belief that she was her twin, Priya, thus scarring her for life. He was also the only one who would marry such a scarred woman, so Preity has been doomed to care for the man who disfigured her. Geeta is overwhelmed; she does not want to murder Darshan, but she is surrounded, for the first time in a long time, by females offering support and friendship, however conditional they may be.

On her way home, Geeta contemplates the complexity of marriage. Women do not always wish to marry, especially when they are forced to marry the man of their family’s choosing. However, if a woman remains unmarried, “the outside world” (147) becomes exceedingly difficult to navigate. Suddenly, Geeta catches sight of Farah’s daughter playing with Raees, Karem’s son—but the girl is older and is acting the bully. Geeta says she is sorry to hear about the girl’s father, and the girl runs off. Geeta gently tells Raees that he should be nice to the girl, but perhaps not so nice that he allows her to bully him.

Geeta walks the boy home, and Karem comes out to apologize to her. His feelings were hurt by her insinuations about his extracurricular activities, but he realizes that she has the right to protect herself in such a situation as well. They agree to remain friends. When Geeta returns home, Saloni is waiting in front of her house. She is marching in place, trying to burn excess calories—Geeta’s comments about her weight clearly hit home. Saloni also apologizes to Geeta, admitting that she herself can be a bit bossy. Saloni also confesses that she feels guilty about Runi, though she does not take the blame for the woman’s decision to die by suicide. It is this guilt that compels her to help Geeta in the case of Darshan. Geeta tells Saloni how much she liked her son, which makes Saloni smile. They briefly mention Ramesh and discuss the ways in which he came between them. However, when Geeta suggests that Saloni “stopped being on [her] side” (161), Saloni grows cold and reminds Geeta that they are not friends. She just does not want more guilt on her conscience should something happen to Geeta.

Saloni and Geeta have decided to collect seeds from Farah’s pong pong tree, also known as the “suicide tree,” for ingesting the seeds mimics a heart attack. Geeta is to distract Farah while Saloni picks the fruit in the backyard. Meanwhile, Geeta sends the children—Arhaan, Raees, and Farah’s daughter, Irem—to play with Bandit.

Farah invites Geeta in to talk. Geeta arranges her chair so she can see out of the window, where Saloni will be picking the fruit. Geeta tells Farah that she is fine with their actions, that she and Farah are in this predicament together; she promises that she would never turn Farah in to the police. Farah seems pleased with this, though she is unapologetic about poisoning Geeta’s samosas. In fact, she pushes for more: In exchange for her silence about Geeta’s role in the murders of Ramesh and Samir, Farah wants Geeta to pay her share of the loan money each week.

Saloni and Geeta attend a dinner party at Preity and Priya’s home. Their respective husbands, Darshan and Zubin, will also be joining the women. The plan is to serve Darshan a poisoned portion of vegetable curry, which will induce a heart attack. There will be plenty of witnesses to observe that no foul play occurs.

However, the plan goes awry when Geeta, awash with guilt, exchanges her own plate with Darshan’s. The man seems so kind and contrite with Preity that Geeta cannot bring herself to participate in his murder. Geeta now has to determine how to get rid of her poisoned food. She asks to use the toilet, but really, she is looking for some sort of handkerchief or rag in which she can sneak out her tainted food. Meanwhile, Darshan sneaks up behind her, and his lascivious intentions are immediately clear. He holds her arms and begins to try to kiss her. He seems to think that she should take his actions as compliment, considering how old she is. Geeta struggles, so Darshan wraps his hands around her neck and squeezes. She feels him unzip his pants and starts to feel the world go dark.

Geeta remembers the evening when Ramesh broke her fingers. At the end of the altercation, Ramesh made sure to frame the event as a lesson for Geeta. It was one well learned, though perhaps not in the manner in which Ramesh intended. Now, in the midst of Darshan’s assault, Geeta thinks, “[W]ounds from one battle prepare you for another” (182) and grabs a decorative statue of Krishna, smashing Darshan in the head with it and killing him. The women rush in and panic.

Geeta herself is in shock at the assault. Priya volunteers to tell the police that she did the deed and that Darshan tried to assault her; it is the least she can do for her twin, who took the acid meant for her. The others will establish alibis: Preity will say that her child had a nightmare, so she was sleeping in their room; Priya will claim that, after she hit Darshan, she locked herself in her room, unaware that he was dead; her husband Zubin has already gone out drinking, so Geeta and Saloni will bring the men more alcohol to their favorite spot. Thus, Karem will see them at his shop, and the men will see them that evening. Preity will “discover” the body in the morning and phone the police then. The only snag occurs when Preity admits that her story about seeing Ramesh is a lie. At this point, however, Geeta knows that finding Ramesh will not exonerate her of any crime. After all, she truly is a murderer now.