1970: The Narrator’s Story

• Describe the various facets of Maji’s character thar are revealed in this section.

First of all, there is the “normal” Maji:
A wife who has many children who life in different places, coming to visit her every now and then. Her husband, regrettably, has died. Earlier she has been a midwife but now left her job because of her age.

Then there is the part of Maji which has something like a sixth sense.

She knows about the narrator being pregnant just by looking at her. Often she is in the state of samadhi, what means that she’s reached a higher level of consciousness and doesn’t realize what’s going on around her. She’s able to abort a child only by touching a woman’s waist, so she has to have a sort of supernatural power.

Amoebic Dysentery

Amoebic Dysentery (caused by the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica) is an disease, more precisely an infection of the digestive system. It results in diarrhea containing mucus and blood in the stool. It is transmitted through contaminated food and water. In India it is mostly the result of unsanitary water.

Amoebic dysentery is well known as a “traveler’s dysentery” because of its prevalence in developing nations, or “Montezuma’s Revenge” (in India better known as “Delhi Belly”) although it is occasionally seen in industrialized countries. Liver infection, and subsequent amoebic abscesses can occur.

Symptoms are frequent passage of feces/stool, loose motion and in some cases associated vomiting. Variations depending on parasites can be frequent urge with high or low volume of stool, with or without some associated mucus and even blood.

Plot Summary

The events of the story take place in India, during the periods of the British Raj in the 1920s and the present day of the novel (in 1970s). A young English woman, searches for the truth about her greataunt Olivia (1920s).

The narrator discovers that Olivia was a woman smothered by the social restrictions placed upon her by British society. She falls in love with a Nawab and becomes pregnant with his child. Her decision to abort the baby results in a scandal. In discovering the truth about these events, the narrator also comes to fall in love with an Indian man, understand herself better and develops an interest in India.

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