“Well-Spiced Dish”
The burning women’s bodies are compared to “a well-spice dish.” The fire that burns their bodies incorporates spices usually used to prepare tasty dishes. Rushdie writes, “The pyre made of perfume sandalwood, and an abundance of cloves and garlic and cumin seeds and sticks of cinnamon had been added to it as if the burning ladies were being prepared as a well-spiced dish to set before the sultan's victorious generals for their gastronomic delight." Even though the spices are sweet-smelling, they do not subdue the pungent smell of the burning bodies. The incorporation of the spices can be interpreted as the women offering themselves as a spicy dish to death. Pampa Kampana's nostrils are overwhelmed by the repugnant odor.
Time: A Simile
The voice of goddess Pampa is likened to time because it is ageless. Pampa becomes the voice of the goddess after her mother's suicide. Rushdie explains, "It was at this point that she received the celestial blessing that would change everything because this was the moment when the goddess Pampa's voice, as old as Time, started coming out of the nine-year-old mouth." Pampa declares that, unlike her mother, she would defy death; she yearns for a long existence. By likening the age of the voice to time, the narrator underscores the goddess's powerfulness. She is immortal, and her existence is not limited to those of humans. The voice conveys the goddess's will to the people.
Soft Cloak
Pampa does not experience many undesirable side effects when goddess Pampa came into her body. She experiences mystic and unexpected tranquility. Rushdie writes, "If anything, there was a great calm surrounding her like a soft cloak, reassuring her that the world was still a good place and things would work out well.” Pampa had anticipated experiencing side effects such as epileptic fits, but they do not come to pass. Accordingly, her life does not transform dramatically when she takes the role of a prophet. The calmness convinces her that goddess Pampa is in charge of her life; thus, she has been blessed tremendously.
