Pashmina

Nimisha is originally from India, but she raised Priyanka independently in California. Priyanka’s mother was never married to Priyanka’s father (although they were briefly engaged). She moved to the US alone as a teenager when she was pregnant with Priyanka. Nimisha is independent, smart, and responsible, but she feels so much guilt and shame about the past that she has severed connections with her family members who still live in India. She has also vowed never to return. She refuses to tell Priyanka about her father and initially forbids the girl from visiting India, which she believes to be an unsafe place. Nimisha’s internal struggles illustrate an adult’s perspective on The Challenges of Navigating the Immigrant Experience.

However, Nimisha changes her attitude about India, her family history, and her cultural heritage when she finally reconnects with her sister after 15 years, illustrating The Impact of Family Secrets on Personal Identity. Nimisha left India for good reasons, but those reasons were due to her personal circumstances and are not meant to imply that India is inferior to the US. As a single, unmarried mother, Nimisha’s best chances of raising Priyanka peacefully were in the US, but when her sister becomes pregnant, she realizes that allowing Priyanka to visit would be beneficial, not detrimental. Nimisha even expresses interest in visiting her sister and her new niece herself someday. Like Priyanka, Nimisha becomes more confident and self-assured by the end of the novel, and she also gains clarity about her goals and the meaning of being a good mother and a good sister.

Uncle Jatin, Auntie Deepa, and baby Shilpa are an Indian American family. They are friends with Priyanka and her mother. Although they are not biologically related to Priyanka, Jatin and Deepa have been involved in her life since she was a baby. Priyanka is especially close with Jatin and views him as a father figure because she has never met her own father. Jatin and Deepa are kind, loyal, fun, and supportive. When Deepa gets pregnant, Priyanka is initially envious of the baby and views her as a threat, believing that Jatin cannot be a father figure to both her and the new baby. Priyanka is so upset that she even prays to the goddess Shakti and asks for the baby’s demise, which leads her to feel extreme guilt and shame when baby Shilpa is born prematurely and really does get sick. However, later in the novel, Priyanka changes her attitude toward baby Shilpa, viewing her as a new family member to love rather than as competition.

Priyanka’s changing attitude toward baby Shilpa illustrates how the girl’s character develops throughout the novel. After traveling to India and speaking with Meena Mausi, Rohini Mitra, and the goddess Shakti, Priyanka clarifies her goals and priorities and comes to view baby Shilpa as a didi, or “sister,” instead of a threat. The novel suggests that when new members join a family, existing family dynamics may shift out of necessity, but this changing dynamic strengthens the family rather than weakening it.

Eddie is Priyanka’s friend at school. He is the only friend that Priyanka is ever shown interacting with, besides Uncle Jatin and Auntie Deepa. Eddie is kind, creative, and supportive. Even at the beginning of the novel, when Priyanka is still self-conscious about her artistic abilities, Eddie compliments her and supports her interests. Although Eddie isn’t as skilled at drawing as Priyanka is, he draws with her so that she has someone with whom to share her hobby. Because of his support of Priyanka’s comic-making hobby, Eddie is partially responsible for the creation of her book. Eddie’s constant support makes him a significant character even though he is not featured as prominently as other characters.

Eddie acts as a donor character because in addition to supporting Priyanka’s artistic hobby, he also supports her other needs and helps her in whatever missions she undertakes. A donor character is one who helps the protagonist on their mission. For example, when baby Shilpa falls sick, Eddie offers to talk about this problem with Priyanka. When Priyanka decides to stop using the nickname “Pri” and go by her full name instead, Eddie immediately switches his speech patterns to reflect her new preference. In short, Eddie is always attuned to Priyanka’s needs and does whatever he can to help her succeed.

Mr. Perry is Priyanka’s English teacher. Like Eddie, Mr. Perry is another donor character who helps the protagonist, Priyanka, in her missions. For example, he supports Priyanka as she undergoes The Empowering Exploration of Cultural Heritage because he does not tolerate racist or xenophobic bullying, and he insists that other students call Priyanka by her preferred name (which, at the beginning of the novel, is “Pri”). When another student calls Priyanka “Priyucka,” Mr. Perry stands up for Priyanka and corrects the other student. Although his intervention does not extinguish the other student’s racism and xenophobia, it does show Priyanka that she deserves respect and that her name, which is indicative of her heritage, is not shameful. These lessons are important for Priyanka’s journey toward self-discovery.

Like Eddie, Mr. Perry also supports Priyanka’s comic-making hobby. Near the beginning of the novel, Mr. Perry suggests that Priyanka enter a comic contest, and although she is too intimidated to do so, this suggestion is designed to instill a bit of confidence in Priyanka. Furthermore, when Mr. Perry enters Priyanka’s comic into the contest without her knowledge and she wins, Priyanka no longer doubts herself and embraces her art without holding back. At the end of the book, Priyanka proudly tells her class that she has finished a comic book (Pashmina), and she is clearly no longer ashamed to share her work with others.

Kanta and Mayur are two animal guides whom Priyanka meets when she puts on the magic pashmina and is transported to the idealized, colorful version of India. Kanta is a talking elephant, and Mayur is a talking peacock. Kanta and Mayur usually appear together, and they are both kind, helpful, and fun. For the most part, they act as donor characters because they show Priyanka around the idealized version of India, and her visits assist her on The Empowering Exploration of Cultural Heritage.

Despite Kanta and Mayur’s general helpfulness, they also repeatedly try to prevent Priyanka from speaking to the shadow woman, who is really a woman named Rohini Mitra, her grandmother’s former nanny and the creator of the magic pashmina. The spirit guides’ reluctance to let Priyanka speak to her, while never clearly explained, implies that the girl is not yet ready for this final reckoning. This interpretation is supported by the fact that she must first venture out to the real India and undergo considerable growth in the real world. In her earlier visits to the idealized India, the guides’ admonition that the shadow woman is not important merely indicates that she is not yet ready to hear and understand what Rohini needs to tell her. Accordingly, Kanta and Mayur allow Priyanka to speak to Rohini in the novel’s climactic scene in the ruined factory in India, and they even fuse with Rohini to collectively transform into the goddess Shakti. Because Rohini’s story indirectly helps Priyanka to learn about her family and heritage, Kanta and Mayur also help to illustrate The Impact of Family Secrets on Personal Identity.

Meena Mausi is Priyanka’s aunt—her mother’s sister—and lives in India. Meena is her name, and Mausi means “aunt.” Mausi is loyal, kind, loving, and dedicated. After Priyanka’s mother left India, Mausi kept calling and writing to her even though she didn’t hear back for 15 years (until Priyanka’s mom finally answers one of her calls). Mausi provides Priyanka with an opportunity to travel to India like she has been wanting to do, and she looks after Priyanka in her mother’s absence. As such, Mausi acts as another donor character because she helps the protagonist to pursue her quest.

Meena Mausi helps to illustrate The Empowering Exploration of Cultural Heritage and The Impact of Family Secrets on Personal Identity. Mausi is the reason that Priyanka has the opportunity to take a literal, physical journey to India, and this trip helps her to understand her heritage and discover herself. Although Priyanka’s magical journeys to the idealized version of India also help with this, her actual journey to visit Mausi provides her with a more balanced and realistic perspective. Mausi also discloses several family secrets to Priyanka, which allows her to understand her mother’s past and her own identity much more clearly.

Rohini is a woman who served as a nanny to Priyanka’s grandmother, and she created the magic pashmina in 1944. However, she first appears to Priyanka not as her clear self but as a shadow who lurks in the background whenever Priyanka uses the pashmina to visit the idealized version of India. As the shadow woman, Rohini remains mysterious and slightly foreboding, especially since Kanta and Mayur repeatedly prevent Priyanka from interacting with her, treating her as if she is dangerous. In reality, Rohini is merely trying to help Priyanka by telling her own story and explaining how the pashmina came to be. Thus, even though Rohini at first appears as a “scary” shadow woman who might be a potential villain, she is eventually revealed to be a crucial donor character.

Rohini illustrates The Empowering Exploration of Cultural Heritage as well as The Impact of Family Secrets on Personal Identity. Her backstory illuminates the origins of the magical pashmina, which she created at Shakti’s request, and her life reflects the gender inequality that has plagued generations of women who preceded Priyanka. These facts help Priyanka to understand her mother’s choices and her own mission in life. When Rohini fuses with Kanta and Mayur, they all transform into the goddess Shakti, who seeks to help women reflect upon their choices and gain empowerment. In this moment, Priyanka learns that she shares the same goal as Rohini and Shakti. Priyanka’s mission is not only to understand her own identity and heritage but also to empower future generations of women by furthering the agenda of gender equality and empowerment across cultures.