Such a Long Journey

Money is a symbol of power, politics, and danger. When Gustad and Dilnavaz open Jimmy’s package and discover the money, their primary feeling is fear. It’s dangerous to have money not only because it might be stolen, but also because they could come under suspicion for having it. They would have to offer a plausible explanation for where the money came from. Also, the prevalence of corrupt authority figures means Gustad could be blamed and jailed regardless of the money’s origin.

Nothing politically meaningful can happen without money. When Jimmy reveals the money is meant to aid the independence movement in Bangladesh, this confuses Gustad because it’s a cause he supports and he realizes what good the money could do. The money leads Gustad down a path of law-breaking and government corruption as he agrees to deposit the money illegally in the bank. Then, when Gustad sees Jimmy and discovers the money is stained by Indira Gandhi’s corrupt actions, the cash becomes thoroughly tainted. Instead of a source of humanitarian aid, it becomes an extension of the corrupt government and the way it exploits good people like Jimmy to further its own ends.

The doll Roshan wins in the school raffle has fair skin and blue eyes, like a European. This symbolizes the supremacy of European standards of beauty in Indian culture. The doll, which is as tall as child, is dressed in wedding clothes, reinforcing the cultural value that girls should aspire to marriage. It’s not a doll that a child can play with; Roshan can’t even carry the doll without soiling its white clothes on the ground. The doll can only be put away by laying her flat in a drawer, her clothes removed and stored elsewhere to avoid wrinkles and damage. For Roshan, the doll is an object to be admired, one that stirs feelings about how she should look and what aspirations she could cultivate. It’s Tehmul who has a real use for the doll, which becomes a stand-in for emotional and physical love. Tehmul infuses the doll with so much emotion that when he is killed, Gustad sets the doll beside Tehmul’s body to acknowledge the attachment.

After his daily morning prayer outside, Gustad tends to the few plants that grow under his apartment window. Of these, one is a vinca bush Gustad planted himself. This bush is the source of the feud with Mr. Rabadi, who allowed his dog to soil it. It’s the spot where Darius buries all the pets he unsuccessfully tries to raise. The vinca is also the place where the decapitated animals and warning note are left to get Gustad to deposit Jimmy’s money in the illegal bank account. In all these ways, the vinca bush is a shortcut to manipulating Gustad’s emotions. It is also a source of comfort to him:

He never ceased to wonder at the vinca’s endurance, surviving in the small dusty patch, year after year, despite the fenders of cars that ripped and clawed at its stems, or children who tore wantonly at its blooms. (125)

Because the vinca flourishes against the odds, it’s also a symbol of survival. The vinca ought to have died long ago, but it thrives. The same can be said of Gustad, who survived the difficulties of his childhood, and of Roshan, who survives an intractable intestinal illness. There are some who don’t survive, such as Jimmy, Dinshawji, and Tehmul, but the vinca bush allows Mistry to convey that if your roots take hold, you can flourish even in poor soil with lots of environmental stressors. This is certainly true of Gustad, who withstands many stressors and a terrible hip injury only to stand tall and succeed. In the end, the vinca bush is destroyed along with Gustad’s other plants. It is not an act of nature but an act of human violence that kills the bush. Left to its own devices, it would have continued to grow.