Social Class Divisions

Both Bhima and Sera are held to societal norms about how classes interact, which creates an insurmountable divide between the two women. Despite the intimacy of her relationship with Bhima, Sera cannot bring herself to treat Bhima as an equal. Bhima is not allowed to sit on the furniture or use the family’s dishes. She drinks from a “stainless steel glass that is kept aside for her” and “squats on her haunches on the floor” when she has tea with Sera (34). Although the two women talk over tea in a normal manner, they are still physically separated by these class rules. Bhima is also not allowed to sleep in their beds, even when she is sick. Instead, she “slept on the think mattress on the balcony” because “the thought of her sleeping on one of their beds had been too repulsive to Sera...