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62 pages 2 hours read

Parini Shroff

The Bandit Queens

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Chapters 19-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 19 Summary

Saloni is quite upset with Preity’s confession that she has not actually seen Ramesh. Geeta, however, realizes that there is no point in finding Ramesh to prove her innocence now that she has killed Darshan, even if she did so in self-defense. She and Saloni are now walking to Karem’s liquor shop in order to establish their alibi. Saloni quickly realizes that Geeta has a crush on Karem and encourages her to have fun. They take the liquor to the men who gather around the village water tower, again to establish their alibi. Saloni’s husband is there, and he seems delighted that the two women might be friends again.

When Geeta returns home, she finds Karem waiting for her with a small bag of alcohol. Saloni sneakily purchased it for Geeta and suggested that Karem take it to her. Geeta does not tell Karem what has happened even though he sees the bruises around her neck, but she does need his comforting presence. They talk about his dead wife and his children, and he promises that he never hits his children.

Chapter 20 Summary

Geeta experiences terrible nightmares. She realizes that she is not sorry that Darshan is dead, but the assault triggers memories of her past abuse and shame. She is awakened when Farah comes to her door. Farah has decided that she needs the blackmail money now rather than next week. This enrages Geeta, who rails at Farah’s lack of friendship and refuses to give her the money. She remembers Saloni’s advice to stand up to Farah and to use Farah’s own methods against her. To that end, Geeta suggests that all of her other friends will side with her against Farah. She also hints that she did, in fact, kill Ramesh—implying that Farah would be unwise to blackmail such a dangerous woman. She then demands that Farah leave. Shortly thereafter, Arhaan comes to the door and informs Geeta that she and his mother, Saloni, are both wanted at the police station in Kohra.

Chapter 21 Summary

Geeta and Saloni are both terrified as the enter the police station, Geeta especially so. Although they experience some relief when they discover they are to be interrogated by a female officer, Officer Sushma Sinha does not take the accusations lightly. The story that Geeta and Saloni tell—their carefully crafted alibi—does not match the timeline put forth by Karem and others. The officer also insinuates that the person responsible for the bootleg liquor might also soon be in legal trouble, which horrifies Geeta. Geeta slips up and mentions the attempted rape on Priya, in keeping with the story the women concocted. Because the officer has not yet released that information, she grows even more suspicious and approaches her superior officer.

The superior officer dismisses Sinha’s concerns, acting harassed by her suggestion that she question the women separately. Instead, he takes over the investigation, giving the women little credit for any kind of agency. Without taking down a single note of their conversation, he releases them.

Chapter 22 Summary

On the way out of the station, Geeta and Saloni encounter the Dom woman, Khushi. She is at the station to bribe some officers over the accidental cremation of a Muslim man; it is clear that she is referring to Samir, Farah’s husband. Geeta feels guilty yet again at the realization that her actions have indirectly gotten Khushi in trouble. However, Khushi remains unfazed and mentions that her son will shortly be picking her up on his scooter. Geeta and Saloni marvel at the wealth that Khushi has accumulated; she owns a home, sends her son to a good school, and has money left over for bribes and scooters. Saloni notes that money is more significant than caste, but Geeta is not so sure.

Saloni decides to make a visit to the salon since they are already in Kohra. They discuss money and caste while Saloni has her arms waxed. Geeta wants to change the system and to remain free from any threats from Ramesh. She hatches a plan to convince Khushi to stand for the panchayat, the village council. Khushi would surely side with Geeta in dissolving her marriage to Ramesh, and she would be able to ensure more rights for the Dalits. Saloni drives Geeta home. Just as Geeta is basking in her plan for Khushi and the fact that she and Saloni are reviving their friendship, she sees an unwelcome sight at her door. Ramesh has returned.

Chapter 23 Summary

Ramesh appears to be blind, and Geeta feels that she has no choice but to invite him in and give him water. While she is trying to get over her shock, Geeta hears Farah coming up the steps. She tells Ramesh to hide; Farah cannot know that he is alive, or Geeta’s threats against her will ring hollow. Farah asks if Geeta will attend Darshan’s funeral, and Geeta quickly gets rid of her, then returns to her conversation with Ramesh, hardly believing her own eyes. She feels oddly helpless. Ramesh says that he will only stay until he has saved up enough money for a new, technologically advanced cane; he says that he can still work with his hands, even though he is now blind due to drinking bad liquor. When Geeta offers him her wedding necklace to sell, Ramesh admits that he had the stones changed out for fakes a long time ago in order to pay off his drinking debts.

The next day, Geeta goes to Saloni. Her plan to get Khushi on the council takes on more urgency now that Ramesh has returned. Geeta also wants to involve Officer Sinha in the subsequent enforcement of a divorce decree. While Saloni expresses her reservations, Geeta will not be deterred from her plans. She goes immediately to Khushi’s house—which is as big as the Dom woman claimed—only to find that Khushi has a guest: Farah.

Chapter 24 Summary

Khushi is adamant: She will not stand for the village council. She accuses Geeta of mollifying her own guilt over caste restrictions. Khushi also notes that the social divisions created by caste trickle down even among the lowest castes. Even other Dalits will not normally associate with the Doms, whose job caring for dead bodies pollutes them irreparably, according to caste rules.

Geeta also discovers that Khushi and Farah were colluding from the start. Farah convinced Khushi to burn her husband’s body quickly so that no autopsy could be conducted. Khushi suggests that the act of killing Samir was also a favor to her “girls,” (253), who are regularly assaulted by upper-caste men, including Samir. Though she has no daughters of her own, Khushi is loyal to her Dalit women. Geeta sees an opening and claims that Khushi owes her a favor, given that Geeta was involved in the deaths of two upper-caste men—Samir and Darshan—who assaulted Khushi’s kind regularly. Khushi agrees to hear Geeta out.

Chapters 19-24 Analysis

In this section of the novel, the partially repaired friendship between Geeta and Saloni continues to strengthen as they confront how to handle the murder of Darshan and Geeta’s literal and psychological guilt. Saloni comforts Geeta in her own sharp way, saying, “Listen to me. Darshan killed himself. No, listen to me. I’m serious. Sure, you’re not supposed to kill, but you’re not supposed to rape either, okay? He broke the contract first” (195). Again, this scene demonstrates the characters’ determination to succeed in Transcending the Stereotypes of Wives and Witches, for the women are asserting themselves against a patriarchal system that has been rigged to allow men to satisfy their urges at the cost of women’s dignity and lives. In this, their lives begin to mirror that of the Bandit Queen, whose name is once more invoked in these chapters. When Geeta complains that women never get to oppress men, Saloni wryly responds, “Women were built to endure the rules men make” (195). While this comment acknowledges women’s subjugated status, it also implies that women are, in the end, stronger than the men who try to dominate them. In support of the idea that not all men conform to this toxic stereotype, Saloni’s husband turns out to be a sharp contrast to the other husbands—he invites his wife to drink with him, he refuses dowry, and he sides with his wife against his mother. All of these elements reveal much about Saloni’s own strength and status, for unlike Geeta and the others, she has a supportive, respectful partner.

Still, Female Friendship and Fractured Solidarity remains a dominant issue in the women’s complex interactions, for although Saloni proves herself to be a genuine friend to Geeta, Farah continues to be a threat, a fact that is essentially enshrined in myth when Geeta invokes the name of Kusuma, the Bandit Queen’s nemesis, when talking to Farah. However, it is also important to note that Farah’s jealousy and selfishness interfere with her own ability to cultivate authentic friendships, for even her relationship with Khushi is merely one of mutual convenience. Khushi, for her part, oscillates between her affiliation with her gender and her loyalty to her caste. In dealing with all of these various personalities, Geeta has a new revelation and reflects upon “the vast emotional gamut of women,” whose actions encompass both “cruelty and kindness” (250). Despite the male tendency to oppress the personalities of the females in their lives, seeing them merely as avatars of common archetypes such as mother, wife, sister, or daughter, Geeta suddenly beholds and appreciates the fullness of women’s myriad life experiences: both their range of emotions and their variable exercise of agency.

This point of view, however, also hamstrings Geeta in some ways, for she mistakenly assumes that Officer Sushma Sinha, as a woman, will be more sympathetic to Geeta and Saloni than a male officer would be. In this, she is wrong, and only the intervention of the male supervisor, whose irritating paternalism and basic incompetence is blatantly displayed, allows the women to escape being charged with murder. In this instance, the two women ironically benefit from the very misogyny that otherwise plagues their lives, for Officer Trivedi suggests that Officer Sinha’s suppositions are “hysterical conspiracies” (223), thus only belittling the female officer while also betraying his belief that women are incapable of such collusion.

These chapters also address the issue of caste and how it intersects with gender. The Bandit Queen herself was of the lowest caste and therefore even more subject to assault—just as Khushi’s community currently is. Additionally, Geeta is surprised to learn that Karem’s wife was once a Dalit whose parents converted to Islam in order to give their children a better chance in Indian society. Karem acknowledges, however, that the family had to move far away from their home village in order to benefit from the conversion to “upper-caste Muslims.” Geeta questions this statement, saying, “Islam doesn’t have caste, though,” to which Karem replies, “But India does” (203). Caste is therefore another defining mark of identity, along with gender, that determines destinies. It is during this conversation that Karem announces his intentions for himself and Geeta to be more than friends—though he will not press her on the issue. This is noteworthy in that it reveals Karem’s openness: He was married to a converted Dalit and is willing to entertain the idea of a relationship with a Hindu. His progressive vision therefore looks beyond current social boundaries.

Finally, the return of Ramesh engenders the return of repression to Geeta’s life, as forgotten memories and suppressed feelings come flooding back. The oft-repeated colloquialism—“Something’s black in the lentils” (222), meaning that all is not right or as it seems—foreshadows his return. While his blind helplessness keeps Geeta off-balance, her memories of his past abuse overwhelm her, for as the narrative states, “She tumbled from secure in her power to having absolutely none. An awful fist squeezed her chest; she couldn’t speak” (241). With the arrival of Ramesh, Geeta’s hard-earned voice is therefore almost immediately silenced, once again bringing the theme of Complicity, Trauma, and Survival within Cycles of Abuse to the forefront of the narrative.

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