A Guardian and a Thief

Dadu is Ma’s father and Mishti’s grandfather. Though he worked all his life, his true passion is for writing, and his greatest accomplishment was getting an op-ed published in a local newspaper. Dadu is a poet, and his defining trait is kindness, which is often expressed playfully, though Ma sometimes resents his playful willingness to undermine their position. For example, Dadu trades some snacks for crayons, and though the crayons are an exciting gift for Mishti, Ma understands that the snacks are more valuable for their survival. Dadu enjoys walking the streets of Kolkata. He often refers to the spirit or essence of the city, which he believes protects those who live in it. For the first part of the novel, Dadu’s faith in the city seems worthwhile, as people in the street are willing to help their family, but the remainder of the novel challenges Dadu’s outdated perception of Kolkata.

Dadu is a supporting character in the text, but he is dynamic in the same sense as Ma, gradually abandoning his own morals over time. Dadu’s breaking point comes shortly after he decides against going to a community kitchen, noting how “aid services […] were for people in greater peril than he” (103). Dadu believes in a fundamental cohesion to Kolkata’s society, which relies on the basic good of each resident. However, when he cannot get food at a ration shop, he lies about Mishti having diabetes, which then leads him to steal an orange from a child, culminating in him robbing a house after asking for water. This rapid progression from righteous refusal to take charity from those less fortunate than himself, to outright violence and burglary, reveals that Dadu has lost the old spirit of altruism and optimism he had before.

Ma notes how Dadu believes that Kolkata can heal from this crisis and return to the glory of its past, which he hopes will await Mishti when she grows older. He is afraid to leave the city, which he feels he knows. However, Dadu is living in the past, and he is most afraid of confronting the reality of the present. Unlike Ma, who has been gradually adapting to the present, Dadu experiences this shift in a single day, sustaining a head injury in the process. The head injury, which later kills Dadu, is representative of the stark contrast between the past and the present.

Boomba is a young man from a village outside Kolkata. He came to the city to try to carve out a place for him and his family, including his mother, his father, and his younger brother, Robi. Boomba is the antagonist of the novel, but he is also a deuteragonist. He is the primary barrier between Ma and her goals, since he steals the passports, fails to help in finding them, steals Ma’s food, and moves his family into her house, which leads to the confrontation that kills Ma. However, Boomba also often mirrors Ma, since he too is trying to prove himself by providing for his family. Ma’s motivation comes from her motherhood, while Boomba’s motivation comes from his desire to provide for his family after accidentally burning down the family home.

While Boomba functions as an antagonist to Ma, the novel humanizes him by revealing his fraught socioeconomic position. Boomba suffered from a challenging childhood, during which his parents struggled to feed and house their family. Through Boomba’s attempts to work, he got his family into trouble, and through trying to protect Robi, he inadvertently destroyed his family home. The events instilled a sense of inferiority and shame in Boomba, which he hoped to ameliorate in the city. However, as soon as Boomba left his village, he found enjoyment in making other people afraid. He became outraged by the inequality of wealth and suffering in the city, and he turned to thievery to support himself. Though his goal was always to protect his family, like Ma, he wanted to show that he was not a failure.

Boomba also reveals a softer sider to his character as the narrative develops: His growing affection for Mishti shows that he is capable of caring about people outside of his family as well. While leaving the hexagon with Mishti, Boomba chooses to leave behind a bag of rice to save Mishti’s life, which shows him committing a selfless action for the first time in the narrative. He then ends the novel by taking Mishti back to her home, which Boomba now claims for himself. By adopting Mishti, Boomba recognizes the need to protect the next generation from the suffering of the present.

Mishti is Ma’s two-year-old daughter. Though Mishti is not fully characterized in the novel, serving more as the object of Ma’s attention and motivation, she is still a critical element in the text. Mishti is playful and excited through most of the novel, deriving fascination and enjoyment from simple toys, stickers, and her favorite food, cauliflower, or “flower-flower.” Mishti rarely understands the events going on around her, but she is always happy to be with her family. Even in difficult circumstances, such as the journey to and from the hexagon, Mishti maintains an upbeat attitude, only breaking down when she is safely at home with Ma.

Mishti represents the future of Kolkata, but she also represents the past of each of the characters. Dadu sees himself in Mishti’s playful behavior, while Ma and Boomba see their own past, prior to the trials of their adulthood. Mishti is the embodiment of hope and happiness in the face of adversity. Ma, Boomba, and Dadu all succumb to despair over the course of the novel, but Mishti is a reminder that they, too, once played and laughed without understanding the world around them. Beyond being Ma’s daughter, Mishti is worth protecting because she has the power to bring that hope to others and make a change in the future.