The Storyteller's Secret

Neema visits Amisha in her classroom in a sari that covers most of her face. Neema’s face and most of her body is covered in severe scarring from burns. Stunned, Amisha realizes that Neema set herself on fire in order to escape her arranged marriage. In a mix of relief and deep sorrow, Neema says: “My fiancé no longer believes me worthy” (209). Neema felt her body instinctively call for help while she was burning despite the fact that Neema was intent on killing herself. It is a source of unending confusion and depression for Neema that her body would betray her in such a way.

Amisha is convinced that Neema’s situation is her fault, but Stephen assures her that Neema “fought the only way she knew how” (211) and that Amisha could not have helped her.

Bina, Ravi’s sister and the other servant employed in Amisha’s house, reveals that Ravi is getting married. Ravi explains that his salary from working at Amisha’s house has so greatly influenced his family that his parents insist he give them grandchildren. Delighted at the news, Amisha congratulates her friend and hopes to donate the food and money she can to make the wedding day special.

Later that day, Amisha finds Neema outside her door. Neema presents Amisha with an invitation to her upcoming wedding. Her father has promised Neema’s hand in marriage to a beggar in a nearby village; Amisha knows that such a man would only use Neema’s burn scars to “invoke the sympathy of others” (215) to receive more donations. Amisha immediately offers Neema a job working in her household, but Neema refuses. Her family would lose their respectable status in the community if she were to work for another house and remain unmarried.

After attending Neema’s wedding, Amisha is inspired to set her students a daring assignment: to write a story in which an Indian-born woman rules India. The students do not suspect her of undermining social or cultural boundaries, as none of them consider the prospect in any way likely. Stephen quietly observes the lesson. Amisha gathers these stories together to give to Neema as a symbol of hope and comfort. Amisha struggles to understand her role in Neema’s life. She wanted to mentor Neema as much as possible, but accepts that “Neema could have done little with her future” (219) based on her social and cultural obligations.

After Neema’s wedding. Amisha and Stephen spend time in the garden talking about themselves, their histories, and their dreams. Stephen often talks about his brother and the close bond they shared, as well as his complicated position in relation to Amisha’s culture. Though Stephen finds the colonial practices of his country distasteful, he still follows his orders out of a sense of honor and duty. Stephen asks if Amisha desires freedom, to which Amisha responds: “What would I do with it?” (221).

Amisha hardly ever sees birth family even though they live relatively close by. Amisha explains that “The wife’s natural family serves no purpose. It’s a waste of her time and productivity” (222). Maintaining physical distance between a young woman and her birth family is the traditional way for a woman to begin a new family with her husband. Though Amisha respects her culture, she is often made unhappy by its strict regulations against women. She says that traditions may be “just an excuse to keep things as they always have been” (223).

Stephen assures Amisha that not every country holds the same marriage traditions as India. Stephen claims he would want a wife that is his equal, but Amisha asserts that his family would never approve an Indian wife. If Amisha were to ever have a daughter, she would never want her raised in India, where she would only be chained to the same repressive traditions that Amisha has struggled under her entire life. However, Amisha’s daughter would not be able to live in England either—”She would be a brown” (226). Stephen suggests America.