Shastri

Dava wants her name – specifically her last name of Shastri – to be a symbol of charitable work. She offers her children incentives to encourage them to use her name as well as their father's name and/or their married name. Arvie drops Shastri from his name in a legal name change after Dava's death.

The Song Titled Dava

The song titled "Dava" is a symbol of the love affair between Dava and Tom Buck, the song's writer. The title and the lines of the song prompt the gossip that the two are romantically involved. That winds up being one of the main topics of discussion when news breaks about Dava's death. Her inability to stop that is a symbol of her inability to control everything.

Investigations

Dava investigates everyone who becomes important in her children's lives, which is a symbol of her desire to control anything...