Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai Plot Summary

In a small town in India in the late 1970’s, Uma and her younger sister Aruna are
growing up in a traditional Indian household. Their parents, called only Mama and
Papa, try to control the destinies of their daughters by teaching them domestic,
traditionally feminine skills. Uma takes little interest in marriage or household chores
—rather, she loves attending her convent school, despite her failing grades.
Mama and Papa (or MamaPapa, as Uma thinks of them) show little patience for Uma.
Papa, a middle-government magistrate with a fragile ego, dominates his family life
by dictating the family’s daily activities and everyone’s futures. Priding herself as the
wife of an important man, Mama cooperates with Papa on almost every issue.
After Arun is born, Mama and Papa demand that Uma leave school to care for her
baby brother. Uma runs away to the convent school and fruitlessly begs Mother
Agnes to talk MamaPapa into letting her back into school. Uma has her rst seizure
on the convent oor after Mother Agnes says she is powerless to help her.
Uma’s beautiful cousin Anamika has the opportunity to go to Oxford University, but
her parents Lily Aunty and Bakul Uncle don’t allow her to go. Instead, they marry her
o to the wealthiest, most educated man they can nd. Soon, Uma and her parents
hear that Anamika’s husband and mother-in-law beat her and treat her like a servant.
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 As Uma grows up, men show little interest in her, preferring her younger sister. After
three failed marriage attempts, including two dowry scams and one old man who
marries Uma and then abandons her, Mama and Papa give up on trying to marry
Uma o . Aruna, meanwhile, receives many marriage proposals, and she chooses
Arvind, a wealthy man from Bombay. After her expensive ceremony, Aruna leaves for
a new life in Bombay and visits only occasionally. When she does visit, she acts
superior to her family, especially Uma.
Given great care and attention, Arun studies to the point of exhaustion every night
under the supervision of a forceful Papa. Quiet and expressionless, Arun has been
vegetarian since childhood, to the dismay of his parents, who see it as weak and old-
fashioned.
Neglected and con ned, Uma tries whenever possible to get away from home. On
one occasion, her relative Mira-masi, a religious widow who travels the country
freely, tricks MamaPapa into letting her bring Uma with her to an ashram, or
pilgrimage house. There, Uma wanders around freely and happily for a month, until
MamaPapa send her cousin Ramu to bring her back. Women in the community try to
bring Uma out of her entrapped family life, inviting her to socialize and work with
them. On another occasion, Dr. Dutt comes to MamaPapa’s house to invite Uma to
come work for her, but Mama and Papa refuse. Uma’s eyes become painful, but
Papa refuses to allow her to seek medical care.
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 One night, the family hears that Anamika has been found dead, burned to death on
her porch. Whether it is suicide or murder is unclear. Lily Aunty and Bakul Uncle visit
to distribute Anamika’s ashes in the sacred river.
The novel now switches its focus onto Arun. After much hard work, Arun wins a
scholarship to study in America. When he arrives to Massachusetts, he tiredly
withdraws, spending his rst year in school by himself.
The following summer, Arun reluctantly stays with an American family, Mr. Patton
and Mrs. Patton and their children Rod and Melanie. Mrs. Patton warmly welcomes
Arun, but he soon sees how she struggles against the strong will of her
unappreciative husband. Mr. Patton and the athletic, self-oriented Rod ignore Mrs.
Patton and Melanie, focusing on work, working out, and playing sports.
Mrs. Patton takes Arun shopping with her, insisting that he teach her how to go
vegetarian. Meanwhile, Arun becomes disgusted with American excess. He soon
nds that Melanie, the daughter, is bulimic, and anxiously tries to nd a way to tell
the oblivious Mrs. Patton what is wrong. Meanwhile, one day in the grocery store, a
cashier tells Mrs. Patton that she looks pregnant. Mrs. Patton becomes obsessed
with sun tanning, further neglecting her daughter.
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 Toward the end of the summer, Arun and Melanie go with Mrs. Patton to a pond.
Arun delightedly enjoys the feeling of escaping himself when swimming. Later, while
Mrs. Patton is sun bathing, Arun goes to look for Melanie, who has disappeared. He
nds her half-conscious in a pile of her own vomit. Mrs. Patton soon arrives,
shocked at what she sees.
Melanie enters into a rehabilitative institution, and Rod leaves for college. Mr. Patton
takes on a second job, and Mrs. Patton becomes interested in eastern spirituality.
Arun receives a package carefully packed by Uma, but he gives the contents away to
Mrs. Patton, and he leaves, returning to school at the University.
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Summary (chapter wise)
Chapter 1
Mama and Papa sit together on the veranda swing, rhythmically
moving back and forth. Sometimes they speak, right now to ask their
oldest daughter, Uma, about what to send to Arun in America, where he
is studying; to tell cook what to make; and to have Uma take down a
letter. This intrusion of ideas is enough, and, ustered, they retreat into
their silence.
Mama and Papa are practically one, “MamaPapa. PapaMama. It was
hard to believe they ever had separate existences” (5). They rarely
even talk of times when they weren’t one. They loom large in stature
and authority and do not need their separate histories. During Uma’s
childhood, though, Mama would occasionally sneak over and play
rummy with her friends when Papa was at work, but would come home
before he did and immediately return to her “guarded restraint, censure
and tired decorum” (7).
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There were occasionally social situations required by Papa’s job before
he retired, and the children witnessed them, but they were always
uncomfortable—they could tell Papa’s jokes were directed at others
and he was easily rattled by any glimmer of challenge to his status.
Chapter 2
Papa sends for the car. He is taking Mama and Uma on an outing to
the park, thinking the women need exercise. The park is very busy on
this Sunday afternoon, and Mama and Papa look around
disapprovingly. Papa strides ahead of the women, not looking at
anyone or anything. He is able to do three laps while they do one, and
then tells them they are going too slowly. Uma wonders why they are
hurrying.
Mama and Papa’s opinions rarely diverged from each other, though
they occasionally had routine squabbles. Uma and her younger sister,
Aruna, only remembered one major dissonance in their childhood—
when Mama found out she was pregnant at a late age.
Mama wanted to terminate it but Papa said he had to have a son, so
the pregnancy went forward.
Mama did indeed bear a son, and Papa was elated. He named him
Arun, which was always the name he’d wanted and had to give to
 Aruna on the occasion of her disappointing birth. Uma always found
her father’s high-spirited reaction more memorable than the birth itself.
Uma was quickly pulled into help with the baby even though she was
unwilling, clumsy, and nervous. She wanted to continue to go to school
but Mama snapped at her that she was not going back to school
because she had to help with Arun. Uma hoped Papa would support
her, since he was the one who sent her to the convent school in the
rst place.
Uma loved the convent school for a myriad of small reasons, many of
them having to do with cleanliness and order and routine. She did not
understand why other people loathed the school, such as her sister
Aruna. Unfortunately, Uma was a terrible student and failed every
subject no matter how hard she tried, which gave credence to Mama’s
assertion that she would no longer attend. She told Uma that she was a
big girl now and it was time to arrange a marriage for her.
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Chapter 3
Uma planned her next move carefully. One day when Mama and Arun
were shut up, sleeping, and Aruna and Uma were playing cards with a
cousin, Uma said she had to get water and left. She procured her
money, slipped past the mali (a gardener) at the gate, and hired a
rickshaw to take her to St. Mary’s. It was a gamble to bother Mother
Agnes and she was not even sure she could nd her, but to her luck,
Mother Agnes appeared. Uma ran to her, weeping, and told her about
her despair over not being able to continue school.
Mother Agnes said she knew, as Papa had written her, and then lapsed
into an explanation of how it was important to learn to change nappies
for later in life and how the Virgin Mary was a mother and so on. Uma
was shocked, not expecting this, and knew she was being dismissed
from the school. Suddenly she went limp and fell to the oor in a
seizure, and Mother Agnes had to call for help.
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After they brought Uma home, Mama raged to Papa that the nuns lled
the girls’ heads with ridiculous ideas and she always wanted to keep
them at home. When she calmed down, she showed Uma how to take
care of Arun. Uma wondered why the ayah could not do it as she had
for herself and Aruna, but Mama said Arun needed proper care.
As time passed it seemed that Arun was “the glue that held [Mama and
Papa] together even more inextricably” (31). Their social life continued
apace, of course, but now Mama had an extra air of achievement at
being the mother of Papa’s son. Papa looked at Arun all the time with
an expression like a “kind of nervous, questioning, somewhat doubtful
but determined pride” (31). But Arun shocked Papa when his tastes
became clear—he was a vegetarian. Papa had implemented a meat
diet years ago and thought it revolutionized his life, claiming his and his
own brother’s lives were improved by meat and “cricket and the English
language” (32).

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He could not comprehend why his own son wanted to “return to the
ways of his forefathers, meek and puny men who had got nowhere in
life” (33). Indeed, Arun had a constant parade of illnesses and
infections.
Chapter 4
Mama and Papa are at a wedding reception and Uma is happy to be on
her own. She has looked at her card and bangle collections and now
ayah volunteers to brush her hair. She had come to take care of the
girls and then returned at Arun’s birth and never left. She does little
things around the house because Mama likes having her around,
though she is not exactly needed.
At regular intervals Mira-masi would send a postcard saying she was
stopping by for a visit on her way from one pilgrimage place to another.
She was a very distant relative of Mama’s but Uma thought of her like
an aunt. In her widowhood she traveled all over the country in her
widow’s whites, visiting pilgrimage places “like an obsessed tourist of
the spirit” (38). Uma did not know why Mama did not like her, as she
tended to love visitors with whom she could gossip about the family,
and Mira-masi visited the most family so she had the most stories. But
she was also very religious and “her day as ruled by ritual” (39) and
she did not have much time to relate the things Mama wanted to hear,
and Papa resented Mama being diverted by someone else.
Uma loved to listen to the ancient myths of Hinduism that Mira-masi
would tell her, seeing the gods and goddesses like family. Uma
followed Mira-masi through the day’s rituals, such as the evening visit
to the temple for the puja. She also loved, even preferred, the private
worship Mira-masi arranged for herself, such as the arranging of the
little brass Shiva, an oil lamp, an oleograph, and a copy of the
Ramayana. Uma picked owers and brought them in to spread on the
altar while Mira-masi recited Shiva’s name. Uma would think of how the
nuns would never actually let her into the chapel and that was where
she had wanted to go, “sensing this was the heart of their celebration”
(43), but Mira-Masi did let her in.
The best part of the visit was Mira-masi’s trip to the river for the ritual
dip, but Mama and Papa did not like this, considering the river too hot,
dirty, dangerous, and diseased. They could not refuse Mira-masi taking
the children to watch, though, which is what Arun and Aruna did. But
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Uma waded into the water with “thoughtless abandon” (43),
necessitating the priests and boatmen calling out warnings and
grabbing her before the river swept her away. She did not know she
needed to know how to swim, for “she had been certain the river would
sustain her” (43).
As a result of Uma’s behavior and Mira-masi being oblivious to the
whole thing, “an idea grew within the family that Uma and Mira-masi
were partners in mischief” (44).
Chapter 5

A bicycle rickshaw stops before the house. Mama and Papa are
disconcerted, as no one is expected, and even more disconcerted
when they see it is cousin Ramu. Uma is elated at seeing this “black
sheep of the family who has the bad manners to turn up without notice”
(46). He has a clubfoot and an orthopedic boot, but wears a wide smile.

He tells them he has been traveling all over, having gone to Trivandrum
with a friend to visit a guru. Uma bustles about, saying she will draw a
bath and will make puris, the latter announcement which shocks Papa
since they only have those on special occasions.

Ramu tells ribald stories and eventually passes out. Uma has heard the
rumors—drugs, drink—but loves him anyway. She asks about Bakul
Uncle, Lila Aunty, and cousin Anamika, but he has little to say. He asks
Uma if she wants to go out to dinner. She has never done this before
and is speechless. Mama and Papa do not approve but she agrees.

The two go to the Carlton Hotel dining room and stay past closing.
Ramu pays the bandmaster to continue playing music while he sings
loudly along. Uma is giddy with the experience and the shandy. Finally
they are kicked out and have to go home. Mama and Papa are furious
with them, and Mama scolds her for being a hussy and a disgrace to
the family.

Mira-masi continued to visit and Uma did not see how old she was
looking. She was also less energetic and enthusiastic, and one day she
was quite melancholy when she told Uma her Shiva was stolen. Her
pilgrimages were less lively, and more grim. On one visit to the house
on the way to an ashram in the hills, she became quite ill. She said she
would only improve if she went to the ashram with Uma, and Mama
had to agree.
On the bus Mira-masi revived, being in her element, but Uma found it
crowded and unsettling to her stomach, and she vomited out the
window. They arrived in the late afternoon at a bazaar, where Mira-masi
hailed a tonga to take them out of town to the ashram. Uma loved the
rickety, wild ride. At the ashram the gatekeeper recognized the old
woman and opened the gates and carried their bundles. They went to
the building where their room was located, and settled in.

All day after the morning prayers there was silence. Uma was never
“more unsupervised or happier in her life” (57). She was expected to
join the priests, pilgrims, and widows for meals, though she would have
rather eaten alone, and sometimes went to the evening prayers and
listened to the priest with “blazing, fanatical eyes” (58) lead the singing.
Most of the days, though, she was left to herself and she wandered
down to the river or picked berries on the hillside.
One day she returned later than usual, and expected a reprimand from
Mira-masi, but instead the old woman looked at her as if she did not
recognize her and proclaimed that she was the Lord’s child, that He
had chosen her and she bore His mark. This was terrifying to Uma, and
suddenly she found she could not move. She became rigid and cold
and fell to the oor, and rolled and thrashed around. The priests heard
and came in, and Mira-masi said the child was taken by the Lord. Uma
heard this and became ever more frightened, trying to get her breath
back. Another pilgrim who lived there came in, and recognizing she
could not breathe, gave her a hard thwack on the back and shocked
her into breathing again. She gulped in air, then vomited.

After this people were respectful of Uma and watchful around her. She
did as she wanted. But her time was up, for one day the gates to the
ashram opened and Ramu and Arun were there. Ramu told Uma sourly
that he came to take her back, that her Papa had sent for her. She had
been there a month and was only supposed to be there for a week, and
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her parents were howling mad that she had been “kidnapped” by
priests.

Mira-masi and Ramu battled silently all afternoon, “conducted by

grimaces and gestures” (63), and Ramu won and took Uma away. It
struck her that she was leaving and did not want to, and she tried to
jump off the rickshaw but Ramu stopped her. She became silent and
morose, but there was nothing she could do.
Chapter 6

The old jeweler who came around every year always asked Uma if he
would be making her wedding jewelry, and she always blushed and told
him not to talk nonsense.

It seemed like the time when every girl in the family was ready for
marriage. The rst, as anyone could have guessed, was Anamika, who
lived in Bombay. She was the most beautiful, thoughtful, and kind
young woman. Uma and Aruna always vied for her attention when she
visited. She was also very smart and won a scholarship to Oxford, but
was not allowed to go because she was to be married. Even though
she wanted to go, she would not contradict her parents or bring them
grief.

At Anamika’s wedding, Uma and Aruna and the other girl cousins were
shocked to see Anamika’s husband was old and very snobbish. He also
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seemed not to notice or care about Anamika at all, caring far more for
his mother and family than his new bride.

Over the next years Uma and Aruna heard gossip of how cruelly
Anamika was treated, how she never went out of the house except to
temple with other women, how she had never been out with her
husband once. They also heard she had a miscarriage and could bear
no more children. Uma hoped she would be sent back to her family but
Mama scoffed that she would not be happy and people would talk.
Aruna replied that it should not matter what people say, shocking Mama
with her “modern ideas” (71) that she must have learned from the
convent.
Chapter 7

Uma is sent to the neighbor, Mrs. Joshi, with a message. Mrs. Joshi is
having a servant boy make ice cream and gives some to Uma. After
Uma leaves, Mrs. Joshi sighs that Uma is a grown woman who acts like
a child of six.

After Anamika’s wedding, it was time for Uma to marry. The family was
full of suggestions and sent photos of eligible men they knew. Aruna
and Uma looked at the pictures and Uma was startled to see how glum
they all looked. Mama and Papa picked one young man and arranged
a visit; his family knew Mrs. Joshi, so it seemed fortuitous.

It was a painful, awkward afternoon for Uma. Mrs. Syal was pleasant
enough, and the young man not terrible, but there was never any
response from the Syals afterward. As the weeks passed, their hope
decreased. One day, though, Mrs. Joshi came over and said that the
 Syal boy actually liked Aruna and wanted to marry her. Mama was
horri ed, as it was offensive to ask for the younger daughter when they
showed them the elder, and remained angry about it for some time.

By the time Aruna was thirteen she possessed an undeniable “power of

attraction” (79). She was also rebellious and mostly got what she
wanted, traipsing around in silks and hanging out with her friends when
she pleased. Marriage inquiries came for her but Uma had to marry
rst, so the parents responded to a newspaper ad in search of a girl
with a decent family to marry their son. It was a cloth merchant’s family
building a new house on the outskirts of the city. The land needed work,
and they could only proceed with money from a dowry, they told Papa,
but the young man was presentable and the engagement went forward.
The family did refuse visits, though, and nally the father came and
said the son was pursuing higher education and they were free to
break off the engagement. Papa and Mama were horri ed, since they
had already given the dowry and the family had already spent it, but
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there was nothing they could do. Mrs. Joshi commiserated but said
they should have come to talk to her rst because she could have
warned them that the Goyals had played that trick before. There is
nothing they can do.

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Chapter 8

It became even more embarrassing that Aruna was “visibly ripening on

the branch, waiting to be plucked” (85) while Uma could not be married
off. Aruna was starting to treat Uma differently as well, with a note of
mockery creeping into her voice. Uma’s face began to look less childish
and took on an expression of perpetual care. She missed Aruna’s
“sympathy and solidarity” (86) and young Arun’s teasing, as he too
sensed something different in the household and became more aloof.

Mama worked diligently to get rid of Uma, advertising in the

matrimonial columns in the paper. Finally someone appeared, and
though he was married before, he had a decent income and accepted
Papa’s modest dowry.

The families agreed to have a wedding right away without needing the
ritual courtship rst, and Mama began feverishly preparing. The man,
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Harish, looked about as old as Papa, but it was his sullen expression
that was the worst for her; he “resembled all the other men who had
ever looked her way… she relinquished all her foolishly unrealistic
hopes” (88).

The long ceremony began and the groom mulishly asked for it to be cut
short, offending the priest and mortifying Uma. Afterward Uma returned
with his family, and in the new town where Uma was to live, she was
handed over to the female relatives. Her husband told her she could
rest and he was going to work. The women came and surrounded
Uma, looking at her and talking about her but not to her. She wished
they would, but when they did it was only instructions about cooking
and housework.

When the men came home, her husband was not among them and she
was too afraid to ask where he was. Finally she got up the nerve to ask
his mother, who told her he went to Meerut. Uma wrote to her family
that Harish was away at work and had not returned.

One day Papa arrived, a ame with rage. It turned out Harish was
already married with four children, and they lived in Meerut. He had
wanted another dowry, and it was all a swindle. Papa ranted and raved
and Uma hid away, but afterward he took her home. Taking the same
train back seemed to reverse the entire experience. Papa had no
control over himself, telling everyone of her shame and their
humiliation. What happened to his personality bothered her as much as
the sham marriage.

At home Mama looked through the luggage and bemoaned what was
lost. Aruna asked Uma at night if Harish touched her and she yowled
no in embarrassment. Aruna reported this to Mama and ayah, who
were pleased. The marriage was annulled and Uma did not quite know
how or if she was considered divorced. Mama did not let her talk about
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it. After this, “Uma was considered ill-fated by all and no more attempts
were made to marry her off” (96).

Once Uma overheard Mama and Mira-masi talking about her. Mira-
masi claimed Lord Shiva claimed Uma for his own. Uma was
uncomfortable with this, but grimly realized that even He was elusive,
like the other men she was supposed to marry. She was simply an
outcast from the world of marriage. But she did wonder what it would
have been like if Lord Shiva had touched her the way Aruna meant
when she asked if Harish had touched her.
Chapter 9

Uma relishes the time when Mama and Papa are out and she is alone.
Right now she looks through her special Christmas card collection, all
of them from and made by Mrs. O’Henry, the Baptist missionary’s wife.
After that, she wanders through the dark house and decides to call Mrs.
O’Henry, something she cannot do when her parents are around. The
woman is not in, so she goes out to the veranda. She sees the lights of
her parents’ car, and heads to her room and pretends to be asleep.

Aruna took her time in deciding whom to marry, but when she did she
chose the richest and the most handsome contender. Even Mama and
Papa were a little concerned that he was too much, but it was what
Aruna wanted. Her wedding was lavish, but Uma had one of her ts the
night before at the cocktail party and Dr. Dutt had to come help;
thankfully few others noticed. Aruna was worried she would do it again
at the wedding and lashed out at Uma, and Uma cried that she should

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be locked up, but Mama told them both to be quiet. Uma was ne at the
wedding, which was very chic.

Aruna’s life was as wonderful as she had planned, with a house facing
the beach. Arvind, her husband, worked in Bombay. She had two
children, Aisha and Dinesh, though she did not visit often so they
seemed like strangers to Uma.

Uma wondered at all the strange things Aruna picked up in Bombay,

such as wearing makeup and cutting her hair, and she and her mother
giggled together that Aruna might make them cut their hair.

Aisha was adorable but a terror, and Dinesh, who seemed better
behaved, actually caused a few more problems. Once he shot a pigeon
with an air gun and enjoyed watching it struggle to die, and then he
started playing with the neighbor’s servant’s boy, Panna. Papa found
this offensive, since his children were not allowed to play with the

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servants’ children, but Dinesh continued to play with him, out of sight,
when he visited.

There was once a chance Uma could visit Aruna in Bombay, as her eye
doctor told her she should see a specialist there, but Papa said no
because it was a waste of money.

Aruna and her mother-in-law and other relatives came once to bathe in
the holy river. It was a “fraught” (108) visit, since Aruna urged Mama
and Uma to clean up their old house and to be good hostesses. All
Aruna could do was critique everyone. Even Papa was less
authoritarian than normal and tried to socialize instead of scowl to meet
her approval. The family tolerated this behavior from Aruna only
because they saw her direct it toward her new family as well, even
Arvind. Uma felt pity for her sister, wondering if this was “the realm of
ease and comfort for which Aruna had always pined and that some
might say she had attained?” (109).
The best part of that visit was the river, and everyone was extremely
excited to go. When they got onto the boat Uma jumped off the boat
right away as if she had been preparing for this her whole life. She
sank immediately into the dark river, and everyone started screaming
and someone reached in and pulled her out, gasping for breath. Aruna
looked at her with distress, willing her not to have a t, and Uma looked
back at her to say she was not. When she went into the water, though,
she had felt not fear or danger but “a kind of exultation” (111) that she
had always wanted.

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Chapter 10
Mrs. O’Henry is giving a coffee party and invites Uma. Her parents do
not understand why she is invited or what the point of this party is, and
she replies by complaining that she never gets to go anywhere. Her
parents are convinced Mrs. O’Henry wants something from her, and
mention the suspicious Christmas cards. Uma ounces away in
annoyance.

Uma attends the party and sits with the other local young ladies, eating
dry cookies and sandwiches. The other ladies seem less promising
than Uma, and she tries to be a good guest. Mrs. O’Henry talks about
the mountains and how all the people from the mission collect there in
the summer and have a big fair. She says she was in charge of the
Christmas cards and made a lot of money for the church. The ladies
want to see the cards and Mrs. O’Henry shows them her work station
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where she makes them all. After the party the ladies all laugh about it,
but Uma happily walks away with an envelope of Mrs. O’Henry’s
“failures” (117). On the way out, Mrs. O’Henry asks about Arun and tells
Uma her sister lives in Massachusetts.

The one word associated with Arun’s childhood was “education,” as

Papa insisted on the best and the most and the highest education for
his son. Arun spent long hours at school, trudging there on his spindly
legs. He had many tutors and spent hours a day working. Papa would
then tell him to go outside and play cricket, but all Arun wanted to do
was read comic books. The testing times were intense, and Papa
would not let Arun have a holiday after the exams because he had to
get ready to go abroad for higher education. Papa did not listen to
Mama’s protestations, because how would she know the value of a
foreign degree? Uma wondered if Papa was making Arun ful ll some
dream of his own, but how could anyone ever tell if Papa had unful lled
dreams?

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Arun was accepted in school abroad. He did not seem to care when he
read the letter, and Uma re ected on how “All the years of scholarly toil
had worn down any distinguishing features Arun's face might once
have had” (121). There was nothing else—no smile, no frown. She
wished she could “stir up that viscous greyness” (122).

The day Arun departed, he stared at Uma and marveled at how old she
looked.

Papa retired after Arun left and life was spent more and more on the
veranda. Arun wrote, but his letters were insubstantial.
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Chapter 11

Papa is preparing to dictate a letter to Uma for Arun. He begins, saying

Mrs. O’Henry has suggested he stay the summer with Mrs. Patton, her
sister, and her family. They will give him a room. Mama wonders what
kind of people the Pattons are.

Uma stands up and says her eyes hurt and she is done. Papa scoffs
but Mama says her eyes do bother her and she should see a specialist.
Papa says everyone’s eyes weaken as they get older.

One day, Papa grumbled to Uma that the convent nuns were on the
phone for her. Thrilled, she answered, and Mother Agnes said Mrs.
O’Henry was going to put up a stall at the Christmas bazaar and
wanted to know if she could help run it. Though Mama and Papa
disapproved, Uma readily agreed and had a wonderful day selling the
Christmas cards.
Mama did not come to the bazaar. She only went to social events with
Papa, and not to her rummy game anymore since Papa was always
home since retiring. Sometimes she would send Uma over to Mrs.
Joshi with a message.

Mrs. Joshi was a kindly woman. Her husband loved her, even though
his mother was terrible. After the mother-in-law died, Mrs. Joshi ruled
the house with “great aplomb” (130) and benevolence. Her children
played freely and grew up well. Only one daughter, Moyna, was odd in
that she wanted a career, and went to Delhi to pursue one. Often while
growing up, Uma would ask Mrs. Joshi if she would adopt her, and Mrs.
Joshi would laugh and agree, but then send her gently along her way.

Uma heard of the “career” and secretly wondered about one for herself,
but had no idea what that would even be. Her preferred escape, as she
envisioned it, was a huge banyan tree above a river. She would
imagine this peaceful scene, but sometimes was awakened from it by
Mira-masi’s claim that she was the Lord’s child. This frightened her and
she would thrash about until Mama asked what was wrong.
Chapter 12

Uma is starting to wonder if Papa’s retirement consists of Mama and

Papa looking for things to make her do. One day she refuses to do
what they ask, and goes into her room and shuts the door, which she
knows makes them suspicious. She pulls out the book of poetry she
got from the Christmas bazaar and reads a few verses.

Mama pounds on the door and asks what she is doing and nally Uma
rips it open and shows her the poetry. Mama asks why she is reading if
her eyes hurt, and tells her to make Papa his coffee and biscuits. Uma
serves them, but, thinking of her poems, tells Papa with ashing eyes
that there are things she knows and they don’t. He is too startled to
reply.

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In her later years, Mira-masi looked more gaunt and ill, and mostly
ignored Uma. Uma asked if she ever found her Lord, referring to the
brass idol, and Mira-masi sighed heavily. She began praying in tones of
anguish for its return.

Uma no longer had any ts past her time in the river, as if the plunge
itself had “caused the ts and hysterics to be carried off by the currents,
leaving her limp and drained” (138).

On a visit, Lila Aunty told them Mira-masi had “found” the idol on a shelf
in a shop in Benares that sold brassware, that she threw herself at it
sobbing. The shopkeeper, a superstitious man, parted with it.

It was rumored that Mira-masi went to the Himalayas to worship her

Lord. Uma wished she could go, but knew she would never be allowed.
She did not see Mira-masi again.
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One day Dr. Dutt visited the family and Uma was sent to make
lemonade. When she returned she heard Dr. Dutt telling her parents
about the nurses’ dormitory at the Medical Institute. It turned out she
wanted Uma to come and help them, as she was a young woman with
no employment but with skills running a household. Uma was shy
about it at rst but warmed to the idea. Unfortunately, Mama proclaimed
she did not need to work, and that her parents provided for her. They
refused to change their minds, and Mama sent Uma away and told Dr.
Dutt she was ill and needed Uma to take care of her.

The next time her parents went to the club Uma called Dr. Dutt, who
wearily told her that her parents would not agree, and that her mother
was ill and needed her. Uma proclaimed hotly that her mother was not
ill, and if Dr. Dutt were to call her and tell her to come in for tests, she
wouldn’t. Dr. Dutt said to wait it out but Uma was nearly hysterical, so
Dr. Dutt agreed to call her mother. She did, but Mama never told Uma
what they said and nothing ever came of it.
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Chapter 13

The family goes out onto the veranda in the sweltering heat after
dinner. There is a power outage, and Papa orders Uma to tell the mali
to go report it. Uma seeks him out where he lives in a little shack by the
driveway. When he rst came to them he was an interesting gure who
impressed the children by climbing the tamarind tree and telling them
stories, but now he is old.

Uma wakes him, shouting for him not to sleep too much because there
might be murderers around, and tells him to go down to the sub-station
and ask when the power will be back. He obeys with alacrity. As she is
about to go in, she hears someone else. The person announces there
is a telegram, and brings it to Mama and Papa. This is not normal, and
they open it with apprehension. The message announces that Anamika
is dead.
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 The details come later. Anamika had risen, lled a can with kerosene
oil, wore a nylon sari, poured the kerosene over herself, and lit herself
on re. Her mother-in-law woke and heard a noise, went to investigate,
and found her charred and dying. This is what she told the police and
Anamika’s family. Some of the neighbors say, though, that she and her
son had done it themselves. Anamika’s family says it was fate, that God
willed it. Uma says nothing.

Bakul Uncle and Lila Aunty come, much diminished. Uma sees her
cousin’s ashes and cannot believe it is really her. She feels like ashes
herself right now. She asks if they burned the acceptance letter from
Oxford. Mama hushes her, aghast at her impropriety. Uma stubbornly
says she wanted to know.

The next day they all go to the river’s edge. They haggle over the price
for the boat for a long time; Uma nds it strange and wishes they would
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 just pay for once. The family that is in attendance climb into the boat—
not Arun, in America, or Aruna, on a shopping trip, or Ramu, a hermit—
and the boatman pushes away from the bank. A priest in an orange
robe calls out from the shore, yelling angrily that they cannot perform
the nal ceremony without him. They procure him, and Uma takes a
moment to get over “the disturbance caused by this interruption of
private grief” (154).

The water is heavy and swollen, and it seems a “huge mass of grief
holding them up on its heaving surface” (154). A lap-wing’s noises
seem to be intoning the refrain, “did-you-do-it, did-you-do-it?” The
family lowers the jar in the river. It bobs, then sinks. The priest stops his
recitations and says it is done.

Mama clasps Uma’s hand tightly, and Uma sees there are tears in her
eyes. She whispers “Mama” and clasps her hand back. They are happy
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to have each other for consolation. She tells Mama she asked cook to
make puri-alu for breakfast. Mama seems comforted by this.

The boat heads back to shore near where all the worshippers gather
for their ablutions and prayers. Uma dips her jar in the river and lifts it
over her head, pouring the water out.
Chapter 14 - 15
Arun goes to reside with the Patton family.
Arun is welcomed warmly by mrs patton but he is upset to hear about
the meat as dinner.

Rod the son and Melanie the daughter of the Patton do not join for the
dinner.

Arun feels to be in command of his father, as his father tells Arun to live
with The Patton family.

Mr Patton is too proud about his meat and he this his children are
missing something special.
Chapter 16, 17 and 18

Arun used to live in the school dormitory with a roommate who was a
chain smoker, Arun’s asthma was aggravated.
Arun was not happy in the room as others were drinking and enjoying
in that room and Arun hated it.
Fortuitously He got a letter from Uma taking about
Mrs. O’Henry’s sister.

Mrs o Henry tells Arun that she can prepare vegetarian food if he
wants, Arun tells her that he can eat in town.

Mrs o Henry express that she also wanted to be a vegetarian.

 Ch -19.

Arun's experience at the grocery store with Mrs. Patton shows her
con dent shopping style. However, the foods she buys are unfamiliar to
him, and he misses the comfort of familiar home food. He realizes that
his new surroundings are a replica of what he left behind. Mr. Patton
also ignores opposing views, mirroring Arun's father's behavior.
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Chapter 20

Arun observes Melanie watching TV and wanting privacy. He owns a

TV too but lacks space for it. He spots Rod eating after his jog and later
a raccoon doing the same. Awake at night, Arun encounters Melanie
vomiting in the bathroom, who angrily tells him to leave.

Chapter 21
Arun declines Rod's invitation to jog, feeling inadequate compared to
the northern "gladiatorial" lifestyle. He returns home to nd Rod and Mr.
Patton watching TV together, wishing he could join them. Mrs. Patton
plans to cook an Indian dish and Arun reluctantly cooks, lacking
experience. Melanie insults the food, but Mrs. Patton's smile reminds
Arun of his mother's. After dinner, Melanie criticizes the meal, and Arun
refrains from admitting his inexperience to avoid family con ict.

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Chapter 22- 23
Mrs. Patton reminisces about her kids no longer eating together,
keeping food in the freezer for them. Arun goes jogging and is amazed
by his daring. He almost crashes into the woods but turns around. He
encounters Mr. Patton taking out groceries, sensing another carcass for
grilling. There's tension about Rod. Later, Melanie looks unwell, and
Rod suggests she's making herself sick. Arun ponders the risks of
pursuing health or sickness.

Chapter 24
Melanie appears bloated and rejects her mother's scrambled eggs,
calling her cooking poison. Mrs. Patton doesn't understand. Arun
suggests nishing freezer food before shopping, but Mrs. Patton insists
on shopping for emergencies. At the store, Mrs. Patton is relaxed while
Arun is anxious. The cashier's pregnancy comment upsets Mrs. Patton
about her appearance.
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Chapter 25
Arun wakes up early due to the bright sun, dressing lightly like in India.
Mrs. Patton sunbathes, her exposed skin shining. Melanie informs Arun
that Mrs. Patton won't cook for him that night. Melanie's rage reminds
him of Uma's. Mrs. Patton continues sunbathing, neglecting cooking.
Arun loses his appetite, eating less, and the summer feels oppressive.

Chapter 26.
Mrs. Patton, Melanie, and Arun are going to the swimming hole. Arun
doesn't want to go but has to. They walk through the woods, and Arun
feels uneasy because there are no animals around. At the swimming
hole, he hesitates but eventually swims, enjoying it. When he gets out,
he sees Mrs. Patton resting and Melanie's candy wrappers. He goes
into the woods and nds Melanie sick, surrounded by vomit. He's
scared and asks if he should get help, frozen in place. Mrs. Patton
arrives later.
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Chapter 27
As summer ends, families return, and students ll the town. Arun is
ready to leave but unsure about a parcel from India—shawl and tea.
Melanie's at an institution in the Berkshires, Rod gets a scholarship, Mr.
Patton works nights. Mrs. Patton changes, explores traditional
medicines. Arun brings presents, including the shawl. She's delighted
and thanks him, sitting with the tea and shawl as he leaves.

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Characters

Sure, here's a brief summary of each character you've mentioned:

- Uma: Middle-aged, somewhat childlike, desires more freedom.

- Arun: Weak and sickly younger brother of Uma.
- Aruna: Uma's sister, rebellious and anxious, married to Arvind.
- Mira-masi: Devotee of Lord Shiva, relative who visits and includes
Uma in rituals.
- Mother Agnes: Principal of Uma's convent school, disappointed Uma's
desire to continue schooling.
- Mama: Married to Papa, occasionally irtatious, concerned about
Uma's behavior.
- Papa: Lawyer, strict, proud of having a son, dislikes Arun's
vegetarianism.
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- Dr. Dutt: Physician who tries to help Uma gain independence.
- Anamika: Intelligent, beautiful, marries cruel man, suffers, uncertain
death.
- Harish: Uma's husband, already married, annulled marriage.
- Mrs. Joshi: Neighbor, ruled household with kindness.
- Ramu: Deformed, friendly, outcast from family.
- The Mali: Family's gardener.
- The Ayah: Helped raise Uma and Aruna.
- Mrs. O'Henry: Baptist missionary's wife, proud of Christmas cards.
- Arvind: Aruna's wealthy, long-suffering husband.
- Aisha and Dinesh: Aruna and Arvind's children.
- Mrs. Patton: Generous, concerned with appearance and family.
- Mr. Patton: Gruff suburban father.
- Rod: Mr. and Mrs. Patton's friendly son.
- Melanie: Troubled daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Patton, bulimic.
 1. Motif: Heat
- Both India and the United States are depicted as oppressively hot in
the story.
- Heat is associated with masculinity, as seen in Mr. Patton's
obsession with grilling, the death of Anamika by re, and the symbolism
of re and the sun in the writing.

2. Symbol: Water
- Uma's desire to immerse herself in the river water and Arun's
enjoyment in the swimming hole symbolize water's themes of
cleansing, rebirth, oblivion, and purity.

3. Motif: Eating Meat

- Eating meat for Papa and Mr. Patton is more than sustenance; it
represents identity, cultural belonging, and masculinity.
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 - They can't accept that Arun is a vegetarian, feeling personally
affronted by his choice, as eating meat holds greater signi cance for
them.
4. Symbol: The Tight Ring
Uma is given a ring that is too tight to wear comfortably during a
meeting with a potential suitor and his mother.
The tight ring symbolizes Uma's resistance towards marriage
and her lack of desire to conform to societal expectations of
matrimony.
5. Symbol: Uma's Eye Issues
Throughout the novel, Uma experiences severe eye problems
that many critics interpret as a symbol of her inability to see
clearly or make independent decisions.
Her poor eyesight mirrors her limited life experiences and
choices, and her father's refusal to let her treat her eyes signi es
male dominance over women.

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Themes

1. Selfhood and Autonomy

- Uma and Arun struggle with asserting their identities against
parental oppression.
- Arun's experience in America helps him develop a deeper
understanding of his family and himself.

2. Family
- Desai portrays family as su ocating and limiting, with parental
oppression and unhappiness present in various families.

3. The Patriarchy
- Uma faces both parental control and societal patriarchy that
limit her opportunities and role.
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 - The plight of other female characters highlights the impact of
patriarchy on their lives.

4. Education
- Uma values education despite societal beliefs that it's more
suited for boys.
- Arun's education becomes his means to escape India.

5. Colonialism
- Post-colonial India still carries remnants of British colonialism,
including cultural in uences and beliefs.

6. Mothers
- Both Uma and Melanie seek maternal relationships but feel
neglected by their mothers.
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 - Desai emphasizes the importance of supportive mother-
daughter relationships.

7. Religion
- Desai doesn't favor Hinduism or Christianity, depicting both as
restrictive for women.
- Uma's exploration of religion re ects her search for something
beyond her circumstances.

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Anita Desai
Anita Desai, original name Anita Mazumdar, (born June 24,
1937, Mussoorie, India), English-language Indian novelist and author of
children’s books who excelled in evoking character and mood through
visual images ranging from the meteorologic to the botanical. Born to a
German mother and Bengali father, Desai grew up speaking German,
Hindi, and English. She received a B.A. in English from the University
of Delhi in 1957. The suppression and oppression of Indian women
were the subjects of her rst novel, Cry, the Peacock (1963), and a
later novel, Where Shall We Go This Summer? (1975). Fire on the
Mountain (1977) was criticized as relying too heavily on imagery at the
expense of plot and characterization, but it was praised for its poetic
symbolism and use of sounds. Clear Light of Day (1980), considered
the author’s most successful work, is praised for its
highly evocative portrait of two sisters caught in the lassitude of Indian
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 life. Its characters are revealed not only through imagery but through
gesture, dialogue, and re ection. As do most of her works, the novel
re ects Desai’s essentially tragic view of life. Baumgartner’s
Bombay (1988) explores German and Jewish identity in the context of
a chaotic contemporary India.
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Novels
Novels by Desai include In Custody (1984; lm 1994) and Journey to
Ithaca (1995). Fasting, Feasting (1999) takes as its subject the
connections and gaps between Indian and American culture, while The
Zigzag Way (2004) tells the story of an American academic who travels
to Mexico to trace his Cornish ancestry. Desai also wrote short ction—
collections include Games at Twilight, and Other Stories (1978)
and Diamond Dust, and Other Stories(2000)—and several children’s
books, including The Village by the Sea (1982). The Artist of
Disappearance (2011) collected three novellas that examined
the collateral abandonment and dislocation wrought by India’s furious
rush toward modernity. Her daughter Kiran Desai won the Booker
Prize for the novel The Inheritance of Loss (2006).
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