“This irrational fear of people, calling them Untouchable, that is probably all there just to keep the status quo. To keep things as they are. To not challenge the system. But it’s wrong, Anjali. It’s just plain wrong.”
The narrative delves into the caste system that has long defined social stratification in India. For example, the untouchables are people belonging to the lower caste who are marginalized by the rest. The main characters belong to a higher caste that generally employs the untouchables to work low-grade jobs. In the statement, Anjali’s mother reveals this dynamic that is ingrained in their society to maintain the status quo. Though people fear and discriminate against the untouchables, there is no concrete or logical reasons behind the perception. It is based on superstitions that have passed down that no one really knows the initial purpose of the marginalization.
“Sometimes it's hard to see everything going on in the garden when your nest is perched at the top of the tree.”
Anjali’s mother decides to join the nonviolent resistance formed by Mahatma Gandhi to fight for independence. As she employs the measures of resistance, she engages with people belonging to the lower castes. She learns more about the exploitation, humiliation, and exclusion of the untouchables by higher social groups. In the quote, Keshavji highlights the inability to know the problems on the ground when someone is at the top. It is directed towards Anjali’s mother, who now sees the social issues that individuals like her have remained oblivious to. She begins to live a humbler lifestyle as a means of protesting the elitism that the British embedded in their society.
“So many people couldn’t afford the salt they fell ill from the lack of nutrients. Or what they have done to our cotton industry? We are a land rich in cotton, but instead of villagers spinning it, it’s being processed overseas and the cloth sold back to us at unfair rates.”
Set in 1942, the novel focuses on the civil disobedience campaign led by Gandhi to achieve the independence of India. Through “passive resistance” and ahimsa, his followers adopted economic measures to destabilize the taxing system by the British. Gandhi pushed locals to adopt spinning wheels to make homespun cotton for their clothing. Moreover, the taxes on salt made the household expenses too expensive for the locals to manage. Therefore, the movement protested against taxation which was a direct injustice to the people of India. The lack of nutrition due to capitalist ventures by the British illustrates the social injustices of the colonial administration.
