Ahimsa

Anjali’s mother, whom she typically refers to as “Ma,” is Shailaja Joshi. Anjali describes her as someone who “smiled at street dogs, at the dozens of bookstores and tea stalls, at the elaborately carved marble temple with orange triangular lags and brass bells hanging from the ceiling” (77-78). Shailaja is generally optimistic, though at times her privilege makes her naive about the world and about the most effective way to bring about change. Because of Shailaja’s job with Captain Brent, she witnessed the injustices that many Indians felt because of British rule, leading her to quit, and, as a result, Baba sees her as one of the “bravest people I know” (73).

During the story, Shailaja learns about her own privilege, and the change in her approach to the freedom movement is evident as she comes to regret burning her family’s clothes. At the time, she sees it as important to resisting British rule: “If someone else uses the clothes, there will still be people walking around in foreign-spun clothes. The British will have won” (49). However, once she begins to listen more closely to the needs of the Dalits, she thinks back on that moment and notes, “I was too busy making a symbolic change, I didn’t realize I could have made a real difference for people. […] I get so caught up in trying to make a change, I don’t think it through” (131). This growth is important for Shailaja because it illustrates how the difference she wants to make in their community is rooted in the Dalits’ needs rather than what she envisions for them. At times, this means being in conflict with Gandhi’s teachings, as when Mohan expresses that he thinks of “Harijan” as a condescending term. Ultimately, her learning process and her role as an activist highlights the ways in which those working for change must listen to those for whom they hope to effect change.

Shailaja is a strong female role model, having contended with gendered discrimination her whole life. While she comes from a Brahmin background and economic privilege, her family didn’t think it necessary for her to learn English, wondering, “What use is English to a girl?” (152). This is evidence of an older tradition that Indian society still struggles with, one embodied by Chachaji, who emphasizes that women should be obedient and not active in social movements. However, Baba’s encouragement of first Shailaja and then Anjali speaks to a longer tradition of strong women within his family. The novel’s focus on women’s involvement in the freedom movement ultimately seeks to tell an untold history, one that foregrounds women’s active role in Indian history, which connects all the way back to the ruler Rani of Jhansi.

Baba’s uncle and Anjali’s great uncle, Chachaji, is more conservative than Anjali’s parents, often complaining about how Ma and Anjali’s activism. He cares little for the freedom movement and even less for the Dalits of India. He took in Baba and his mother when Baba’s father passed away, and after his wife and son died, Baba returned the favor, inviting Chachaji into his home.

Anjali and her parents often ignore Chachaji’s rants, choosing to follow their sense of justice over his willingness to comply with British rule and uphold old social systems. He speaks especially disparagingly toward Shailaja since she’s both a woman and a freedom fighter, saying to her, “When you try to change things. It doesn’t work. And worse, someone can get hurt. Or die” (75-76). At one of her lowest moments, she thinks back to these words and wonders if she made a mistake in quitting her job with Captain Brent, an idea that Anjali quickly corrects. However, the fact that Shailaja is still thinking about it shows the effect that the disparaging elder has had on her.

However, Chachaji undergoes some growth. He refuses to touch anything from a Dalit until Nandini’s life is in danger. Without hesitation, he brings the methi plant that Paro gave Anjali, saying, “It’s perfectly good methi. Nandini needs it” (261). By touching the plant, Chachaji shows how he has grown as a result of the activism happening in his household.

Anjali’s father, Baba Joshi, is a professor at a college in their village. Initially, Anjali fears that Baba will leave to join the freedom movement, revealing a gendered pattern in that many men from Anjali’s friends’ lives leave their families to join Gandhi. However, because Baba’s salary supports his family, Shailaja joins the movement instead. Baba’s calm demeanor provides a counterpoint to his wife and daughter, both of whom can get carried away and act rashly, and he seeks to provide a more rational viewpoint, as evident when he asks Ma, “What have you done?” (50) when she burns their clothes at the start of the novel. He recognizes that although they can refuse to wear items made from cloth sold back to India, not everyone can, and they might instead donate such items to those in need.

Anjali confides in Baba when she thinks that Gandhi and, by extension, her mother are wrong about the use of Harijan to describe the Dalits. He quickly picks up on Anjali’s desire to discuss names after introducing her to an old student, and he concludes that if Mohan expressed that he and others in his caste should be called Dalits, “we should respect it” (111). His patience allows him to listen to those around him. In addition, he’s fiercely protective of his family, working tirelessly to free Ma from prison in a corrupt system and physically protecting Anjali and Irfaan when Keshavji’s funeral procession turns violent.

Like Shailaja, Baba experiences moments of doubt regarding the movement, and he sees how much danger it can put he and his family in. However, he listens to Anjali’s passion and continues to encourage his daughter to stay involved, telling her, “I have a new list. My mother, your mother, and now you. […] The bravest people I know” (221). Baba loves and respects the strong women in his life, and this is a pattern is repeated through Anjali.

A Dalit, Mohan lives in a basti near Anjali’s home. At the start of the novel, her family employs him to clean out the outhouse and dispose of the waste. Mohan plays an important role in teaching Anjali and her mother how to better advocate for the Dalits, though he’s skeptical of their ability to effect real change for him and his peers. His criticism at times both spurs Anjali to action and plays on her fears that the freedom movement will fail.

The first critical moment with Mohan is when Chachaji chastises him for not coming to work, even though he’s sick. Ma intervenes, and after sending Mohan off, she picks up his broom, thereby using an item touched by an “Untouchable.” Her decision to do so worries Anjali, who has always been taught that she can be contaminated by members of the lowest caste. Ma uses this moment to explain to Anjali, “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” (72). Her lesson here encourages Anjali to think more critically about the structure of the social system and how it forces Dalits to do the lowest work.

However, Mohan points out that Gandhi’s imposition of the term “Harijan” fails to consider what the Dalits themselves want. Although reluctant to engage in lessons from Masterji, Mohan uses the chalkboard to learn his letters so that he can “learn to write ‘Dalit’ so no one ever calls me a Harijan again” (121). His insistence on this forces Ma to recognize that Dalit is the right term to use, despite Gandhi’s popularizing the term Harijan.

Mohan’s belief in Anjali and her mother waxes and wanes depending on his circumstances. However, Baba reminds Anjali that it’s okay for this to happen, since Mohan has had to struggle to survive his entire life to make money to eat and care for those in his basti. After trying to give Suman a necklace and being beaten nearly to death, Mohan exiles himself from the town. This unresolved tension helps Anjali recognize that her actions have larger consequences, especially for those who don’t share her privilege. Additionally, the ambiguity of his fate embodies the fact that no one in the novel knows what will happen in the future and whether they’ll be successful.

A fictional follower of Gandhi, Keshavji Parmar is himself a Dalit and lived in Gandhi’s ashram before arriving in Anjali’s village to lead the freedom movement. He’s very active, as evident when Anjali recognizes his voice from the radio as the one who reminded listeners, “The more of us there are, the louder our collective voice will be” (27) after urging each family to send one person to join the freedom movement. Keshavji’s first appearance sets up context for the rest of the novel, providing historical details about India and Gandhi during the mid-20th century.

Keshavji is the central leader of the freedom movement before he’s imprisoned. His leadership encourages Anjali and her mother to go to the basti to educate the children there and provides a sounding board for their efforts to integrate the school. In the prison, his voice gives Anjali hope that “[f]reedom will soon be ours” (214). While Keshavji himself doesn’t leave the prison alive, his vision lives on in Anjali. This is especially evident when his funeral procession becomes violent after Captain Brent announces that the Khadi Shop is closed. Echoing Keshavji’s first radio message in the novel to remember “Ahimsa always” (27), Anjali calls for nonviolence, trying to carry on the message of the freedom movement.