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Chapter 8
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Absurdity and Chaos
Nature vs. Modernity
Traditions, Customs, and Expectations
Exploitation of Spirituality
Summary
Analysis
As the family adjusts to their strange new life, Pinky can’t help but feel overlooked as all the attention shifts to Sampath. She’s dissatisfied living out in the orchard permanently, so she resolves to make the most of her regular visits to town to purchase supplies. She puts a great amount of effort into assembling fantastic outfits for visiting the bazaar, and she likewise develops the suspicion that men in town are so attracted to her that they’re following her. Worried that Pinky is going a bit crazy away from Shahkot and wishing to teach her good sense, Mr. Chawla insists that she only wear plain, drab clothes to the bazaar from now on. Despite Pinky’s protests, she’s ultimately forced to adhere to her father’s demands.
Pinky’s strong desire to visit Shahkot shows the conflict between nature and modernity in a new light. While Sampath is happy in the natural world, Pinky longs for the excitement and romance that modern, urban life can bring. Mr. Chawla’s insistence that she wear plain clothes is a sign that he’s still devoted to maintaining an appearance of normalcy in his family. Even in the midst of a bizarre new life centered around Sampath and his tree, Mr. Chawla continues to adhere to traditional ideas and customs as much as possible.
Themes
One day, Mr. Chawla sends Pinky to the bazaar with Ammaji to help Ammaji purchase a pair of dentures. Still sulking and upset about having to visit the bazaar in such plain clothes, Pinky only cheers up when Ammaji takes her to see an exciting romance film at the local cinema after buying the dentures. But Pinky’s good mood shatters shortly after exiting the theater, as she spots the dreaded Cinema Monkey—infamous for harassing moviegoers for their snacks—approaching her and Ammaji as they wait in line at the Hungry Hop Ice Cream van. She yells at Ammaji to run, but the monkey pursues Pinky instead, even though she isn’t carrying any food for him to steal.
Just when Pinky finally gets back into the rhythm of modern life, a chaotic force of nature invades modernity in the form of the Cinema Monkey. Despite Pinky’s efforts, it seems there’s no escaping from the wildness of nature or the absurdity of her new life. Nonetheless, Pinky’s feelings about the romance film set the stage for other events to come on this chaotic day.
Themes
Hearing Pinky’s shrieks of distress as she’s chased down the street by the Cinema Monkey, the boy working at the Hungry Hop Ice Cream van leaps into action to help. For no reason apparent to anyone but herself, Ammaji takes a bite of her ice cream cone as she runs, accidentally dislodging her new dentures into the frozen treat. Startled by this, she drops the cone and the dentures, and the monkey steals both of them as he darts towards a tree. The Hungry Hop boy scares the creature away by waving sticks. He balances the dentures on the end of one of the sticks and kindly offers them to Ammaji.
This mad series of events offers more comic relief, as nature and modernity have an absurd battle in the middle of the street in the form of a monkey stealing modern food and conveniences. The Hungry Hop boy also makes his first appearance, apparently proving himself to be a kind and helpful gentleman. This becomes significant as the chaotic action of the moment finally calms down.
Themes
Pinky, still trying to recover from this ordeal, stares at the Hungry Hop boy and feels her heart drop as he playfully teases her with a good-natured joke. Despite visiting the Hungry Hop Ice Cream van so many times before, it only occurs to her in this moment how attractive she finds this boy. But of course he had to see her today, when she looks so plain and embarrassed and not at all her usual impressive self. She begins to cry bitterly as soon as she returns to the orchard, cursing the apparent fact that she and the Hungry Hop boy might have had a future together if the circumstances had been a bit different.
With this sudden, unexpected realization on Pinky’s part, her romantic subplot with the Hungry Hop boy begins. By all appearances, everything about the situation is absurd. The circumstances of their meeting were chaotic and embarrassing for Pinky, and her bitter tears over her outfit in that moment are a bit melodramatic. But at the same time, Pinky’s struggle is understandable. Like Sampath, she wants to feel free, though her idea of freedom is quite different from her brother’s.
Themes
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