The Storyteller's Secret

Jaya wakes early and watches village life from her window. She wonders what could have driven her grandfather to make her mother promise to never return to India. Ravi enters with breakfast. Jaya insists that he eat with her despite his repeated argument that it wouldn’t be proper based on his caste. Ravi gives in and the two eat breakfast together.

Jaya calls her parents from an internet café in town. She tells her mother of Deepak’s death. Lena responds that there is nothing keeping Jaya in India, but Jaya insists that she has to stay. Hearing Amisha’s story has soothed the acuteness of her grief: “my grandmother’s story, a reprieve from my own, has allowed me to breathe for the first time in month” (125). Jaya keeps much of what she’s been experiencing in India from her mother. Ironically, and much to Jaya’s surprise, her mother is much more open than usual with her daughter, even telling Jaya how much she loves her. Jaya “had longed from those words for years. Now, when she finally says them, I refuse to react” (125).

Jaya drafts a blog post about the differences between her own experiences of freedom and those of her grandmother: “Her story leaves me to wonder about the choices I make and why. Given the freedom to decide, have I ever made a decision, or have I blindly followed the steps laid out to me?” (126). Jaya deletes the post as she believes it to be too revealing.

In the past, Amisha and Stephen practice her reading in the garden. A month has passed since their first lesson. They meet up to four times a week. As Amisha works down a list of words spelled in English letters, she and Stephen engage in light flirting, which is new to Amisha, who “had never done that with a man before” (132). Stephen asks her for the gift of one story written in English.

On another day, Amisha’s youngest son, Paresh, is sick with a stomach virus. She leaves him to the care of the servants to go into the school early and read through the writing assignments submitted by her students. Neema arrives early and Amisha read her assignment with Neema there. In Neema’s story, a girl sacrifices her arranged marriage to a fairy in exchange for endless books to read. Neema dreads her own impending arranged marriage. She is 15, a common age for girls to be married off. The custom is abhorrent to Neema and frustrates Amisha, who thinks that “no one, not even the British, [have] been able to alter the practice” (135). But, since becoming a mother, Amisha has mixed feelings about her arranged marriage, as she would never wish to be without her sons. Neema reveals that the she only attend school because her future husband wished for an educated wife.

Amisha and Stephen discuss the bindis women wear between their eyebrows, with the color signifying whether they are unmarried, married, or a widow. Stephen notes that Amisha doesn’t wear a bindi, to which she responds: “Sometimes I forget” (138).

Their conversation turns to the British occupation of India. Stephen proposes that the true meaning of British colonialism—their desire “to help” (138)—has been lost. Amisha knows enough about Gandhi’s influence, the uprisings happening all over the country, and the way Deepak’s friends speak about their occupation to know that the English government’s motivations are not as well-intentioned as Stephen seems to think. However, “she didn’t want to talk about the division between her people and his,” (139) deftly steering their conversation to the holiday of Navaratri.

When Amisha mentions the goddesses honored during Navaratri, Stephen explains that his religion as well as many others don’t include goddesses. Amisha never learned about other religions, having dropped out of public school at the age of 11 to help with work at home. Stephen briefly touches her hand to comfort her, but Amisha is quick to again change the subject, pulling Stephen to his feet to learn the Navaratri dance. They practice a little, until her feet catch in the hem of her sari and she falls. Stephen catches her, holding her close for an extended moment.

Amisha instructs her students to write about “creating something you want, destroying something you don’t need, and protecting what is vital” (145). Her motivation for this assignment was prompted by her son Jay, who asked what reprehensible thing Ravi had done in a previous life to deserve being born an Untouchable. She couldn’t answer why tradition perpetuates such a stratified society.

Stephen visits her classroom after the students have left and looks at her notes on the chalkboard. He is impressed by her lessons. Stephen tells her about his family. His father secured for him the position of schoolmaster in India, hoping to protect Stephen from the front lines after his brother died: “My father thought living with the browns was the lesser of the two evils” (148). The term “browns” upsets Amisha, but Stephen assures her that his brother used to speak highly of all races of people. His older brother largely influenced Stephen’s mindset. Stephen wishes his mother had been more affectionate growing up, noting that Amisha’s sons undoubtedly know how much she loves them. Amisha’s response, that she “would not be a good mother if they ever questioned my love and loyalty” (149), opens a discussion about how she waits until her children are all asleep before beginning her own homework.

As they prepare to leave the garden, Stephen moves a stray hair from her face and keeps his hand there. Their intimacy is undeniable, but it is “a violation of everything she had been taught as right and wrong” (151).

Amisha and Ravi are sweeping the porch as a group of British soldiers marches by. Amisha is unhappy—she has missed Stephen while the lieutenant has been away with his mother, Ravi asks: “What makes the lieutenant different from” (153) the soldiers that just walked past. Amisha loves sharing her writing with him. Ravi does not judge her for her emotions, saying that Amisha’s past kindness to him is example enough for him to support her wholeheartedly. Amisha’s growing love for Stephen is based on the fact that he “makes me believe I have worth regardless of who or what I am […] When he is gone, I wonder if that belief is an illusion” (154).

In the next class session, Amisha has her students share their stories aloud. Neema’s story focuses on her desire from freedom from her impending arranged marriage. Compared to what the other students wrote, Neema’s story is powerful and mature. She encourages Neema to pursue her dreams, but Neema can’t imagine doing so, asking Amisha, “How do you dream when your destiny has already been determined?” (156).