The Hero's Walk

Nandana arrives in India finally after losing both her parents in a car accident. Of course, having Nandana around also causes Sripathi and the others to remember her mother, Maya, so one could interpret Nandana’s arrival with a quasi-return of Maya. What is most notable, however, is Sripathi’s increasing belief in the superstitious. “Since his return from Vancouver, Sripathi had gone from being an intensely rational man to a deeply superstitious one” (160). The reasons for this radical change in personality derive from several factors. The first is that having to deal with the sudden, accidental, illogical death of his daughter forces Sripathi to confront his mortality, especially the fact that he has no control over when or how he might die. Consequently, Maya’s accidental death correlates to Sripathi’s father’s untimely and accidental death, causing Sripathi to worry for his safety. Turning to superstitions thus supplies Sripathi with a sense of control in that he can perform certain acts or avoid certain situations so as to create a safer environment. However, turning to superstitions does not provide him with anything substantial. It only increases his feelings of desperation and impotence, which in turn causes psychosomatic disturbances wherein he can no longer see his feet (161).

The “Shifting Patterns” chapter refers to the changes in behavior in several of the characters, most notably Sripathi. Along with his increasing belief in the superstitious comes a heightened awareness of the world around him: “He had become more aware than ever that the world was full of unseen things, old memories and thought, longing and nightmares, anger, regret, madness” (172). Sripathi now realizes the difficulties, problems, and tragedies in those around him: Mrs. Poorna and her lost daughter, the tragedies in his friends Raju’s life, to name a few. Sripathi has never been religious up until this point, and the realization that he does not believe in a God or gods or any such thing highlights the finality of death, which terrifies him. Furthermore, Sripathi grows increasingly aware of his poisonous attitude, one that poisons not only those around him, but himself as well. However, it is not only Sripathi who undergoes behavioral change. Nirmala slowly becomes more assertive, hearkening back to the words she spoke in Chapter 3 when she pronounces that she is tired of behaving herself, meaning she is tired of following what her religion and society expect of a wife and daughter-in-law. Putti, too, begins to shift further away from her mother. Putti’s desire for a husband begins to supersede her mother’s wishes. Putti is becoming less passive. Nandana is acclimating to her new life in India, though she is still far from fully accepting her new fate.

Chapter 11, though its title is “A Match for Putti,” thematically coincides with the previous chapter. The central theme of the chapter is Putti’s progress towards emancipation from her mother. She knows that her mother is going to find fault with whomever Gowramma presents as a possible suitor for her, and therefore she makes sure to voice her desire to at least meet the man. Fortunately, Ammayya does not wholly disagree with at least an initial meet-and-greet. While voicing her desire is one act of independence, the true sign of Putti’s shift towards emancipation appears when she leaves Ammayya behind to go to the lending library by herself. Previously, it’s suggested that Putti virtually never did anything contrary to what Ammayya commanded/asked of her. Yet, Putti feels pushed to her limits now and increasingly recognizes that Ammayya does not seek happiness for her. She views Putti more as a personal nurse. Not to mention that Ammayya’s penchant for theatricality and playing the martyr increasingly disgusts Putti. Putti’s contempt for Ammayya grows in these chapters. Another sign that Putti is fed up with her current circumstances and is desirous of change is seen when she thinks about her niece, Maya, and says, “It had been a brief but full life. And Putti, born eight years before her niece, had nothing to show for her own existence” (199). In essence, Putti envies Maya and feels that death would be preferable to remaining as she is.

At the close of Chapter 11, Badami provides further insight into Nandana’s previous life in Canada, and why she struggles. Furthermore, Nandana experiences a common problem with human memory that’s symbolic of all characters in the novel. Nandana remembers an episode in her old classroom with her teacher Mrs. Lipsky. The class had caught butterflies, and Nandana was especially amazed by a pale green one that “felt like a snowflake” (202) on her finger. In India, for her assignment, Nandana attempts to draw this memory. In her opinion, she fails to capture the memory adequately and gives up. The problem is that not only does Nandana lack the requisite artistic talent to properly recreate the memory, which is the lesser problem, but even if she were a great artist, Nandana would struggle to recreate the emotions attached to that memory, and this, more than anything else, is what causes Nandana to tear up her picture and lay her head down on her desk. Butterflies also carry the symbolic meaning of rebirth, an important aspect of the Hindu religion.

Chapter 12, “An Ordinary Man,” deals primarily with Sripathi. Once again, Sripathi succumbs to deep self-reflection, and interestingly enough, it is his reflection in the glass window of a cafe that causes him to self-reflect. Sripathi comments that he has no “air of dignity” (203). He laments that he is a man of no renown. Later, at his desk, he has a conversation with his coworkers, wherein Renuka accuses Sripathi of being a coward, unable to voice an opinion about anything for fear of discovering something unsavory about himself or the world around him (208). Moreover, Renuka leaves, Sripathi admits that she’s correct in her assumption about him. All of these new revelations about himself and his environment culminates in exacerbating Sripathi’s psychosomatic issues. Sripathi wishes he could see his old doctor, Dr. Pandit, which causes Sripathi to remember an adage the doctor was fond of saying, and which carries significance for Sripathi’s character development: “for as [Dr. Pandit] was fond of saying, a human being is not merely a ticking body, but a sum of all that happens in the world around him” (213). Sripathi slowly moves from an egotistical individual to care more about those around him, realizing that his life and reality consists of others, and that the universe isn’t as solipsistic as he may have previously believed it to be.