Point of View

The novel is told from the third person point of view of Anjali, a ten-year-old girl growing up in India during the freedom movement of the 1940s. The novel starts in August of 1942 and follows her through the Spring, dotted along the way with Hindu holidays of Diwali and Holi. Anjali’s perspective is thoughtful, kind, and brave. When Kelkar wants to share a personal thought of Anjali’s, she writes in italics, “‘Is this what my life is going to be like? Will my daily lose our bungalow and be forced to live in a tiny house? Will we become poor” (41). This makes an explicit difference to the reader of what is part of the general plot or events, and what is actively going on in Anjali’s head.

Kelkar uses a particular style for Anjali’s point of view, which mimics both a...