Culture in Homeless Bird and in India Stanislas Loridon Grade 4 February 20, 2013

Homeless Bird Summary In Homeless Bird, it shows how hard it can be to be in an arranged marriage. A few days after her marriage, Koly’s husband Hari, dies of sickness than a few weeks later Chandra [her sister in-law]gets married, and she feels very sad because she won’t be with Chandra anymore. When Sassur died, she felt very sad because Sassur taught Koly how to read. As a result, Sass abandoned Koly at Vrindavan which is the turning-point or climax because she is all alone in a big city. After that, Maa Kamala [a woman] takes Koly home, and she stays there for a while. Finally, Koly decides she will be remarried with Raji [a farmer] and she lives happily ever after with her new husband.

CLAIM Homeless Bird shows how important religion is in India.

EVIDENCE In Homeless Bird, there are religious ways to show important things in India. For example, Hindus consider the Ganges River to be holy because it is considered holy. Hindus bathe in the Ganges River because they believe the Ganges River can cure them. This relates to Homeless Bird because Hari did the same to be cured .

EVIDENCE In the book when Koly has an arranged marriage, the parents of Koly and Hari’s parents set up the marriage which is usually at the groom’s house, a Hindu tradition. Even if Koly does not like Hari, Koly has to learn to love him. This is how an arranged marriage works in India.

EVIDENCE In Homeless Bird when Sassur dies they tied his thumbs. For Hindus, this means they are not working anymore, and they also tie their toes which means that their ghosts cannot return. This relates to India because this happens in the holy city of Varanasi.

EVIDENCE Women in India wear religious saris to represent someone or something ,like Koly when Hari dies. She wears a white widow sari because her husband died. When a woman’s husband dies, the woman is considered unlucky. People in India and India believe this.

EVIDENCE Lots of Hindus embroider saris [dresses women wear often at marriages]this relates to India because Hindus embroider lots of different things.

EVIDENCE When people die in Varanasi, people cremate them and spread their ashes along the Ganges River. Hindus believe that the river is sacred, and the souls of the dead will be free through this practice. This relates to India because this happened to Hari when he died in Homeless Bird.

EVIDENCE In an arranged marriage, the women’s family has to give a dowry to the men’s family. In the book, Koly’s family gave a dowry to Hari’s family. This relates to India because this shows respect. This relates to India because this is a Hindu tradition in India.

CONCLUSION This presentation was about India and how Hindu traditions work in India. I learnt that being in India, as a Hindu, can be very hard because of all the traditions and religions you have to follow.

STORY REFLECTION I think this book was amazing because I learnt a lot about India and Hindus culture and traditions. I think this is one of the unhappiest books I have read but very interesting. I know how an arranged marriage works now. One significant thing I learnt was that in Varanasi, Hindus cremate dead bodies and spread their ashes along the Ganges River so their soul will be free and will be a part of the Ganges River. I really loved this book.

SOURCES My kindle, friends and Google helped me with my presentation.