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
One day in the orchard, Pinky shouts as she points out the Cinema Monkey approaching from a distance. Sampath looks out and delightedly realizes that a whole band of silver-gray monkeys seem to be moving into the orchard. As everyone watches them cluster in the trees, Ammaji darkly warns that these creatures are sure to bring nothing but trouble. Over time, the monkeys visit more and more often, slowly becoming more comfortable with Sampath’s presence in their domain and realizing that all the food in the orchard seems centered around him. Sampath quickly befriends the apes, who seem to enjoy his company greatly. His guests marvel at how he’s apparently tamed the formerly troublesome creatures, and even the spy is secretly unnerved by this almost magical turn of events.
In the midst of an already-absurd situation, the arrival of the monkeys adds yet another layer of chaos. While the creatures seem to be relatively benign, Ammaji’s warning might foreshadow problems they’ll cause in the future. The monkeys almost seem to be nature’s way of fighting back against Mr. Chawla’s attempts to bring elements of modernity to the orchard. Just as modernity arrives to complicate the simple beauty of the orchard, nature encroaches and makes the space a bit wilder again.
Themes
Meanwhile, Pinky tends to burst into tears whenever she lays eyes on the monkeys, as they remind her of the Hungry Hop boy she pines for. Ever since that harrowing day at the cinema, she’s grown more compassionate towards Sampath. She looks at him up in the trees and doesn’t blame him for wanting to escape from such a painful world below. She feels guilty as she remembers how she’d tease him when he came home from school and went to the roof to be alone. As she sits beneath his tree, her thoughts still become troubled and painful whenever she thinks of the Hungry Hop boy. One night she asks Sampath what to do about it, and he replies with one of his usual sayings. He speaks of a metaphorical firecracker that’s already been lit and is going to explode, one way or another.
In this brief moment of reflection, Pinky realizes that she was once part of the oppressive system that kept her brother feeling trapped. Through her teasing, she harshly imposed a set of unwanted expectations on Sampath, at a time when he already felt like he didn’t belong in the world. Her sympathy for Sampath demonstrates how she’s grown as a person since then, now that society has seemingly turned its back on her as well. However, Pinky and Sampath still fail to connect on a deeper level in this moment. Sampath speaks to his sister in the same vaguely mystical way that he speaks to all of his other visitors, implying that he still sees her as an outsider and not as a family member.
Themes
Desperate for something to change, Pinky takes Sampath’s vague advice to heart, figuring that she should take matters into her own hands and “explode” on her own terms. While everyone’s distracted with Sampath’s bathing routine, she gets dressed in her finest clothes and makeup and makes her way to the bus stop. The spy had been sneaking around the outside of the orchard all morning, trying to think of a way to get in outside of visiting hours. Upon seeing Pinky, he decides to pass the time back in town instead, and to follow Pinky to see if she’s doing anything suspicious. Pinky notices the spy following her in the bushes (confirming her suspicions about men following her) and she jabs him with her hairpin on their way onto the bus.
Pinky’s resolve proves that she hasn’t yet given up on finding a happier life for herself, even in such bizarre circumstances. Meanwhile, the spy once again focuses on the wrong person in his search for the truth about Sampath. And just as before, Pinky uses her hairpin to attack a man she suspects of trying to flirt with her. This serves as another moment of comic relief that also might foreshadow that Pinky’s violent tendencies will get the better of her.
Themes
Since the Cinema Monkey incident, the well-meaning but slow Hungry Hop boy hasn’t thought much about Pinky or the possibility of romance. He simply assumes that a girl will be found for him when the time comes, so he’s surprised to see Pinky barreling towards him with an intense expression, rather than passively waiting for him to say something. He lightly jokes again and smiles at her, filling Pinky with equal amounts of excitement and fury. For a moment, she thinks she might give him a kiss, but the mad, sudden aggression in her heart overcomes her instead, and she bites his ear. The boy cries out in pain as a piece of his ear falls to the ground and people rush to find out what happened. Trembling, glaring, and apparently without regret, Pinky is taken to the police station, spitting out Hungry Hop’s blood.
A sudden, inexplicable bite to the ear is as far from traditional courting rituals as it’s possible to be. In this way, Pinky behaves much like her brother as she defies social norms and the expectations surrounding a young woman in love. However, she flouts these traditions in the most absurd possible way, seriously jeopardizing the relationship she seemed to want so badly. Nonetheless, this startling incident doesn’t mark the end of Pinky’s interactions with the Hungry Hop boy. On the contrary, it seems to make a strong impression on the boy, who wasn’t even thinking about Pinky before.
Themes
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After tending to the wounds of both the spy and the Hungry Hop boy, Dr. Banerjee gives an explanation about human bites to the local newspaper representative outside his clinic. Meanwhile, an incredulous policeman talks sternly to Pinky at the police station, asking her why she bit the Hungry Hop boy all of a sudden. Pinky merely continues glaring, undaunted by threats of being sent to a mental asylum. Just then, another policeman enters the room and informs him that Pinky is the brother of Sampath, the well-respected holy man. Apologizing to Pinky and not wishing to offend Sampath’s family, the officers drive Pinky back to the orchard. Pinky remains stormily quiet all the while, still not regretting she bit the Hungry Hop boy.
In the aftermath of Pinky’s chaotic attack, the comic relief continues. Pinky’s complete lack of regret adds to the comedy of the scene and reveals more about her motivations. As far as she’s concerned, the incident with the Hungry Hop boy was a success of sorts. In outlandish defiance of everything that might have held her back, Pinky lashed out and expressed her overwhelming feelings with complete freedom. Her special treatment as a result of her relation to Sampath is another example of how Mr. Chawla’s exploitation of spirituality unfairly benefits his family.
Themes
After the policemen visit Sampath and receive his blessing, one of the officers asks if he could have a photo with Sampath for the police station. This gives Mr. Chawla the idea to hire a photographer from Shahkot to take high-quality pictures and expand Sampath’s fame even further, making more money in the process. The timid photographer is so relieved to be out of Sampath’s tree after taking the photos that he asks for no payment in return, simply taking his leave. Mr. Chawla’s plan works, as the photos of Sampath sell very well at the orchard, and the picture is eventually printed in the Times of India as well. After this, Sampath receives much more mail than usual, as people all over the country ask for his wisdom and guidance.
At this point, Sampath’s popularity skyrockets and the situation grows even more complicated. This is all due to Mr. Chawla’s unrelenting determination to exploit Sampath’s status as a holy man as fully as he can. Sampath’s photo appearing in a popular magazine highlights the divide between the appearance and the reality of his status. All the marketing paints him as a humble, spiritual man, but the fact that he’s being marketed at all speaks to the cynical heart of the whole enterprise.
Themes
Meanwhile, at a meeting of the Atheist Society in a nearby town, the spy delivers an impassioned speech to his fellow society members. He rails against Sampath and vows to expose him as a fraud, even as the major publications of India take Sampath’s alleged divinity for granted. The spy’s tirade is so long and furious that his audience begins to think he’s going too far. To the spy’s horror, he finds himself quoting Sampath’s vague aphorisms without realizing it at first. He finds he can’t sleep that night as these troubled thoughts swirl about his mind. He feels an emptiness and uncertainty in his life that makes him even more desperate to expose Sampath at last.
The spy’s slow descent into madness is just as absurd as it is hard to watch. He’s experienced a great deal of pain and disappointment in his life, which makes his motivations more understandable. But as sympathetic as he might be, it’s clear he’s letting his own mind drift into chaos for the sake of obsessing over Sampath. Despite his claims of rationality and disbelief in Sampath’s magical nature, the spy treats Sampath as a much more important and powerful figure than he really is. His inner emptiness may be a sign that he secretly craves the sense of spirituality that Sampath’s family is exploiting.
Themes
