While guest teaching at an elementary school last year I stumbled upon this book. Often I come home from work after shelving books in the school library and purchase or order from the public library a copy of what I have shelved. This time, however, the book was the assigned reading project of the entire sixth grade. Apparently all students were “very engaged” in the project and the book very popular amongst the students in general.
It is written in the popular style modeled after Anne Frank’s diary. Many series seem to take this approach. Some examples include the popular Diary of a Wimpy kid, and the series more for girls called Dork Diaries. Each entry narrates the story from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl sharing about her experiences in the diary gifted to her on her twelfth birthday by their house cook Kazi, a single Muslim man. The book opens with Nisha sharing about her 12th birthday with her twin brother Amil and expressing regret that their birth caused her mother’s death.
Trouble begins when strange men come to the house and Kazi hides with Nisha and Amil while Papa talks to the men. They know it is related to India being freed from British rule and they can tell Papa is worried by his demeanor and his change in behavior. “Remember when Papa used to tickle us?…..He hasn’t done that in a long time.”
We find out Nisha’s deceased mother was Muslim. “Nobody ever mentions the fact that you were Muslim, Mama. It’s like everyone forgot.” Nisha and Amil live with their Hindu father (Papi) and his mother (Dadi)
Hiranandani shows the reader what relationships are like between Muslims and Hindus through Nisha’s diary entries. She tells of Amil being chased after school by bullies and subsequently ending up at Papa’s hospital for a scorpion bite during the pursuit. And instances of hiding in the pantry while people searched their house. It’s obvious that post British rule in India is far from ideal- and while it has liberated India from their oppression this doesn’t necessarily mean peace between the Hindus and the Muslims.
Eventually a party is organized for close friends and family because Nisha and her family must leave. Their town will no longer be part of India but part of the new Pakistan- a place for Muslims. Nisha’s struggle with her own identity helps the reader understand the deep division between the ethnic and religious groups involved. She is speaking to her mother when she writes in her diary, “If you were alive, would we have to leave you because you are Muslim? Would they have drawn a line right through us, Mama?”
Then the family escapes on foot. They are unsafe, sleeping outside and eventually quenched to the point of near-death. A timely rain saves them.
For the rest of the book Nisha writes about identity struggle of being a mixed race Hindu/Muslim surrounded by seemingly pureblooded Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. They temporarily hide with a relative while on the run and she secretly befriends a neighbor child. When Papa discovers the affair they are whisked away in fear of being discovered- they are truly running for their lives.
Eventually they settle in the Hindu designated part of India. The closing scene is of a seemingly homeless man crouched outside their house who turns out to be Kazi, their Muslim cook. He ran after them despite being Muslim in the new Pakistan. He ran toward Hindu India to rediscover the only family he had ever known.
This book is obviously written by someone with similar experiences and highlights middle eastern culture beautifully. An emphasis on food preparation and consumption, family dynamics and closeness, a sense of identity tied to religion and a sense of community. It is also historical fiction about world politics and events in a post-war world reconstructed by politicians to solve international conflict.
A recommended read for all tweens and maybe even their parents!
