The Saffron Ghagra-Choli

Anjali’s saffron ghagra-choli (or skirt) represents the theme of Change is Possible, even for yourself. Kelkar uses this symbol to bookend the novel. The novel starts with Anjali wearing her favorite saffron ghagra-choli with gold thread, the skirt she remembers as a Diwali present, while she paints the Q on Captain Brent’s wall. When her mother burns all their clothing in a symbolic gesture of their commitment to the freedom cause, Anjali hides this special skirt under her mattress. At the very end of the novel after several months have passed - her mother in prison, Anjali nursing wounds from her defense of Captain Brent in the mob - the skirt pokes her. Anjali had completely forgotten about it. This makes the reader consider what changed for Anjali over the course of the novel.

The Q Anjali Paints

The Q that Anjali...