The Henna Artist

“Independence changed everything. Independence changed nothing. Eight years after the British left, we now had free government schools, running water and paved roads. But Jaipur still felt the same to me as it had ten years ago, the first time I stepped foot on its dusty soil.”

Lakshmi is commenting on the difference between superficial change and organic change. India is still a tradition-bound country, governed by customs that predate the British influence by a thousand years. Declaring people free does not make them free. 

“My ladies had changed nothing but the reasons for their pretense. If I had learned anything from them, it was this: only a fool lives in water and remains an enemy of the crocodile.” 

Lakshmi notes that her clients now scorn the British, whom they used to admire. Throughout the novel, Jaipur socialites are depicted as superficial status-seekers. While they curry favor with those in power, Lakshmi is doing exactly the same thing by currying favor with them. 

“I wanted more, always, for what my hands could accomplish, what my wits could achieve—more than my parents had thought possible.” 

Lakshmi is well-aware of her own ambitious nature. Unlike everyone else in her world, she takes her aspirations seriously. Sadly, her parents believed the Indian tradition that no woman is capable of a self-directed life.