The Hero's Walk

Chapter 13, “Bandit Queen,” deals solely with Ammayya’s nefarious behavior of stealing things from her relatives, especially Maya’s old coat, which Nandana uses as a quasi-surrogate for her mother. The fact that Ammayya takes the coat and thinks only of herself reveals just how deeply entrenched her egotism has become. Ammayya has been playing the victim/martyr ever since her husband, Narasimha, had a mistress. In fact, because of her biography, Ammayya has convinced herself that she must hold onto everything she can, sort of an all-for-one mentality: “Things came and things went. That was life. What she could hang on to, she did with the ferocity of an animal with its kill” (227). Furthermore, Ammayya’s egotism and sense of betrayal is so great that while she will admit that Maya was a good granddaughter, she then immediately writes Maya’s behavior off, believing Maya just wanted her jewels, because in Ammayya’s words, “Nobody did anything without an ulterior motive” (227).

Chapter 14, “Unknown Roads,” does not refer to any literal roads traveled by any of the characters. In fact, there is no description of any road, and the only mention of traveling is when “He [Sripathi] took the long, roundabout route to get home, mainly to avoid the street in which his father had died” (236). Thus, the unknown roads are metaphorical in their significance. For one, they represent Sripathi’s feelings of disorientation in his own life and in his attempt to cope with his daughter’s death and granddaughter’s presence. The long, roundabout route home describes the way in which Sripathi is learning to come to terms with the changes in his life. It is not easy for him, and it will take some time yet before he can find his new path in life.

Sripathi is slowly altering his behavior and realizing that his old way of doing things has made, and is continuing to make, his life worse. In this chapter, Sripathi attempts to reconcile with Arun’s life choices, that Arun is more interested in social and environmental concerns than in finding a job and having a family. Sripathi is aware of the irony of the situation, meaning he knows that what he is doing to Arun is exactly what his mother did to him. Sripathi wants Arun to live a life that makes his own more comfortable without him having to put forth any extra effort (240). However, this awareness has not yet helped Sripathi in accepting the present, and he continues to chide Arun and denounce his activities. Sripathi reveals a myriad of emotions in his interactions with Arun. Sripathi is jealous of his son’s freedom to do what he wants because Sripathi feels trapped. He feels that he is Fate’s pawn. Sripathi also shows concern for his son’s well-being and future, albeit in a non-loving and encouraging manner. Sripathi fears that what happened to him and his life will also happen to Arun, and so he must show Arun the reality of life. Sripathi has not yet come to the full realization that he is the one living the illusion and not Arun. Aside from this, the chapter also explains more about Lord Rama and Ravana, and reiterates that the prime characteristic of a hero is humility.

“Chant for the Lost” focuses on death and the myriad ways humans deal with it. In the opening scenes, Putti sympathizes with Munnuswamy’s cow that has just lost its calf. Putti wonders about the nature of grief and self-deception. Munnuswamy creates a make-shift calf for the cow to cuddle, and Putti wonders if ignorant bliss would not be best. Because religion is a featured motif, one can correlate this scene with the rituals that the family performs as part of Maya’s final burial. These rituals underscore something Sripathi said back in Chapter 10, and the fact that Sripathi does not hold much value in religious rites: “She [Maya] is dead, and after death, nothing matters. Maya is beyond all these rituals” (173). Nevertheless, Sripathi does not offer any further objections, even becoming superstitious later. Furthermore, he makes sure that everything happens properly before they scatter Maya’s ashes into the sea, which itself is an aspect of the Hindu religion. Interestingly enough, though, the family makes a concession regarding the ocean. Sripathi mentions that the proper thing to have done would have been to scatter her ashes in a river, but Arun says it didn’t matter, “Maya would not have minded […] She never cared about silly details” (259). Religion and beliefs and rituals are complicated matters in the lives of the Raos and their importance to the family’s coping with death is ambiguous. Similar to Putti commiserating with Munnuswamy’s cow, Sripathi, too, wonders about Mrs. Poorna’s mental state and whether or not insanity is better than reality.

Even though Nandana is the one dreaming of an airplane ticket and escaping India, the ticket and the escape do not refer to her. The ticket is a movie ticket, and the escape is the few minutes Sripathi has to watch a film and “escape” all his worries and cares. For Sripathi, the escape is bittersweet—it only lasts as long as the film is playing. Immediately thereafter, he has to face the harsh reality of police corruption and Nandana’s disappearance. The title is sarcastic, because the film Sripathi watches features a “hero” who gets revenge on the evil men who killed his mother and raped his sister. The film causes Sripathi to remark, “What else were heroes for but to swat troubles away like so many flies?” (275). Such thoughts could only serve to reinforce Sripathi’s sentiments of powerlessness and uselessness.