“It’s as if the word computer, spoken aloud, has magically created windows in the walls where none existed.”

During the earliest stages of the story, Minni has a fanciful, optimistic outlook on life, even though she is aware of the immense challenges that she and her family face. This perspective will be challenged throughout the novel. Here, computers are the objects of her fantasies, although it is a fantasy seemingly shared by the entire family.

“They say water is life.

Does it know the trouble it causes?

The fights?

The lines?

The heartache?

Today, though, it’s calm.

Beautiful, like yards and yards of a blue sari

woven with threads of silver.”

In this poem, Minni personifies water, imbuing it with the potential for self-awareness. It also introduces the idea that water is a source of both survival and danger. The simile likening water to a blue sari helps to establish the book’s cultural setting for readers unfamiliar with Mumbai and India more broadly.

“‘Were the people who lived on the islands part of the dowry?’ she asks. ‘Were we like cattle, of no importance back then?’”

Shanti’s lesson helps to contextualize the book within Indian history, clarifying Mumbai’s postcolonial circumstances in the 21st century. Faiza’s pointed question in response indicates the dehumanizing nature of colonial history and also evokes the dehumanization imposed on Minni’s community in the present by systems of inequality, including patriarchy.