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Prem Kumar
Smita Shah is Ram’s lawyer who rescues him from the torture of Inspector Godbole. In the novel’s frame narrative, she is the person listening to Ram as he tells his life’s story. When Ram has finished telling his story, Smita reveals that the reason she found Ram is because in fact, she is really Gudiya, the daughter of Mr. Shantaram and Mrs. Shantaram, who lived next door to Ram in a chawl and whom Ram tried to save from her father’s physical abuse.
Smita Shah/Gudiya Quotes in Q & A
The Q & A quotes below are all either spoken by Smita Shah/Gudiya or refer to Smita Shah/Gudiya. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3 Quotes
Drunkards in Hindi films are invariably funny characters. Think of Keshto Mukherjee with a bottle and you cannot help bursting out laughing. But drunkards in real life are not funny, they are frightening. Whenever Shantaram comes home in a stupor, we don’t need listening devices. He hurls abuses at the top of his voice and Salim and I quiver with fear in our room as if we are the ones being shouted at. His swearing becomes such a ritual that we actually wait for the sound of his snoring before falling asleep ourselves. We come to dread the interval between Shantaram’s return from work and his crashing out in bed. This interval is, for us, the zone of fear.
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“I will never allow this to happen,” I tell her. “This is a brother’s promise.” Salim gives me a dirty look, as if I have committed a criminal act by making this promise. But I am beyond right and wrong. I feel Gudiya’s bony fingers, the flesh on her hands, and know that we are both hunted animals, partners in crime. My crime was that I, an orphan boy, had dared to make other people’s troubles my own. But what was Gudiya’s crime? Simply that she was born a girl and Shantaram was her father.
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Chapter 12 Quotes
“All your troubles are now mine, Ram Mohammad Thomas,” Smita says, with fierce determination in her eyes. “I will fight for you, just as you fought for me.”
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Epilogue Quotes
“Why did you throw away your lucky coin?”
“I don’t need it any more. Because luck comes from within.”
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Smita Shah/Gudiya Character Timeline in Q & A
The timeline below shows where the character Smita Shah/Gudiya appears in Q & A. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
...a white shalwar kameez and blue dupatta bursts into the room. She introduces herself as Smita Shah, Ram’s lawyer.
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...the Commissioner. Ram passes out. When he wakes, he’s in the home of his lawyer, Smita, who has provided him with food and drink from her fridge. She reassures Ram that...
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Smita is surprised by what Ram says but wants to understand, in order to better argue...
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Chapter 1
In the present, Smita reacts with surprise to Ram’s story. Ram says he knows the story seems difficult to...
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Chapter 2
...remembers the Paharganj railway station in Delhi, which almost every visitor has seen. He tells Smita about his birth, on Christmas Day at a hospital not far from that railway station....
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In the present, Smita is amazed by this story and how Father Timothy led a double life as a...
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Chapter 3
...through the thin wall and hears Mr. Shantaram telling his wife (Mrs. Shantaram) and daughter (Gudiya) that they’ll have to stay in the chawl until he finds a proper job again....
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...first, and Salim doesn’t even notice them. One night, however, they overhear Mr. Shantaram telling Gudiya about the stars and planets and listen against the wall, fascinated. Ram begins to form...
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...and it’s not humorous like drunks in the movies. He swears at his wife and Gudiya. Over time his drinking gets worse, and he starts throwing objects at people, like hot...
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Ram has never been in a hospital before and is overwhelmed by smells. Much of Gudiya’s face is covered due to burns, but Ram can tell that she seems friendly. She...
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Ram also learns from Gudiya about Mr. Shantaram. He used to be a famous astronomer and even discovered a star,...
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...Its neck has been snapped and Ram smells whiskey on it. He decides to tell Gudiya that Pluto ran away, but he confides to Salim that he’s afraid now of what...
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A week after Gudiya is back, Ram hears a commotion next door again as Mr. Shantaram apparently “tries to...
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Mr. Shantaram continues to come back drunk, and Ram hears Gudiya and Mrs. Shantaram screaming. Ram goes over to Mr. Ramakrishna to tell him, but Mr....
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In the present, Smita is moved by Ram’s story about Gudiya. They start up the DVD again and watch...
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Chapter 4
In the present, Ram explains to Smita that he managed to get a job with Neelima Kumar, while Neelima arranged for Salim...
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Chapter 5
In the present, Smita and Ram again press play on the quiz show recording. Prem Kumar asks what it...
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Chapter 6
In the present, Smita is skeptical of the story, but Ram says he’s just repeating what Prakash Rao told...
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Chapter 7
In the present, Smita is amazed by the story. She thinks that even though Ram killed the dacoit, he...
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Chapter 8
In the present, Smita looks grim after Ram’s story. They press play on the DVD, and Prem Kumar asks...
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Chapter 9
In the present, Smita approves of Salim’s cleverness. She asks if Salim knows anything about Ram’s win on Who...
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Chapter 10
In the present, Smita marvels at the difficult lives actors have behind the scenes. They press play, but first...
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Chapter 11
Now, in the present, Ram cries as he relates this story to Smita. She commiserates about what happened to both Shankar and Nita, who is still presumably alive...
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Chapter 12
In the present, Smita is amazed by Ram’s story. He says she now knows all his secrets. Smita says...
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Epilogue
Six months pass. Smita does indeed fight for Ram, helping him get free from the police and proving the...
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One evening, Ram goes on a walk with Smita and asks why she never revealed that she was actually Gudiya. She says she needed...
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