‘And just as the pemkatha combined elements from Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, and other Indic literary traditions but was more than the sum of its parts, so too the manuscript codices fashioned to contain the pemkatha drew from multiple book-making and aesthetic traditions, combining them to produce a material text artefact with its own distinct character’ (p. 28).
The fact that many stories situate such violence during the time of pujo, a time of celebration, only underlines the extent of deprivation the labourers are subjected to. Of course, many of the stories—such as ‘Saluk Flowers Have Bloomed’—also suggest the gendered nature of the violence and sexual exploitation women labourers were subjected to by the British who employed them in these tea estates.
Maya regularly attends meetings of the Natural History Society and the Geographical Society where she (and in the process, the reader) gets to meet and converse with eminent thinkers and scientists of the time. These meetings and deliberations are a fascinating insight into the debates raging at the time in not only the political field, but in the cultural and social arenas as well.
The poem ‘Body’s No Picnic’ exemplifies the poet’s respect for women and his ability to portray sensuality with sensitivity and depth. The interplay between desire and loneliness creates a complex emotional landscape, where the search for connection is both necessary and fraught with disappointment.
I guess, the picture book is published in a single language. The Hindi and English can be appreciated simultaneously. Some phrases/words sound better in one language than the other. That difference may make the reader understand the beauty of both languages.
The same is true for the poems, books, and articles that are mentioned, as quite a few are footnoted and can be looked up. In fact, the narrative seems to encourage readers to verify historical references, as the characters do so often, even using search engine techniques. This dynamic line between fact and fiction is necessary to the story as one of its central questions is whether the Star of India is really as powerful as the stories declare.