PRE-READING - DISCUSSION

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

When people live abroad, should they change their lifestyle and behave like the locals? How much should they adapt? Should they abandon their own culture completely? Will they have problems if they return home? (Talk about your own experience of living in different places.)

CHAPTER 1 - THEMES

Jhoti's Humble Status in Her Husband's Family
• "her arms ached from grinding spices"

• "a woman's voice screeched harshly"

• "she was so used to reacting instantly to the sound of her sister-in-law Khalwant's voice that it had become a reflex reaction"

• "Khalwant pointed accusingly and shrieked"

• Marvinder finds a tin but loses it to Khalwant's daughter and is beaten

• Mother-in-Law, Madanjit Kaur, tells Jhoti there has been nothing but trouble since she came, and she didn't bring much dowry either; calls Marvinder "wilful and disobedient" and "your brat"

• "Jhoti was at the very bottom of the pecking order"

• sleeps on a mattress in the corner of the kitchen

Position of Women in Rural India
• when Govind heard Jhoti had given birth to a girl, he didn't hurry back

• Jhoti got married at 13 ("Her father, who owned her, would give her away and she would belong instead to this stranger"

• "Govind's property"

• "She would become a nobody; only with him was she a somebody"

• Jhoti prays for a boy so that she can get more respect

• "she knelt and kissed his feet"

TASK
Construct a family tree for:
a) Govind's family
b) The Chadwicks

Frankie Meehan