Female Empowerment

The author uses the theme of female empowerment to comment on the ways girls are marginalized, abused, and stripped of any agency or identity.

The opening story about the old woman who calls the trees girls instead of boys, the reader is put on notice that it takes a woman to defend the place of girls in society. The journalist’s comment is rooted in status quo, making the old woman buck tradition and give girls a place to grow.

When Poornima is introduced, she is struggling with her mother’s death and the inevitability of being married off. Her father does not value Poornima because of her gender. When Poornima acts on her own behalf, but not singing when asked to do so during a marriage viewing, Poornima is deemed wicked. Ramayya finds Poornima less than desirable to marry off, finally negotiating a match...