by Anuradha Roy
4. Anuradha Roy’s characters live in an ever-changing India, and the novel often touches upon the goings-on of the time period. Using the Internet or your local library as a resource, learn more about India’s history in the first half of the twentieth century.
5. The symphony Finlandia by Sibelius plays a part in the book: Makunda hears the symphony in school on page 221, the flute melody in it entrances Mukunda when Bakul plays it for him on page 241, and he plays it himself on page 273. Find a recording of symphony and try to locate the movement with the flute that Bakul plays. With your group, discuss what Mukunda may have been thinking or feeling when he heard the melody, and the emotions it brings up in you.