The Hero's Walk By Anita Rau Badami

In the novel The Hero’s Walk, written by Anita Rau Badami, the culture norms of the society the characters’ live is highlighted the most. The cultural factor plays a vital role in the everyday lives of the character in The Hero’s Walk. In this novel written by Anita Rau Badami, the story takes place in a fictional town named Toturpuram which is said to be located in India by the Bay of Bengal. The story revolves around a middle-class family who has been living in the same house for several decades. It also shows the struggles that a middle-class family had to face in the twentieth century. In addition, the story shows the dispute of cultures and traditions as a Canadian-raised child is forced to move to India and live with her grandparents

In India, one can celebrate a festival every month of the year (Festivals of India). Specifically, Hindu festivals are celebrated mainly by worshipping the God that the festival corresponds to. The dates of the festivals are determined using the Hindu and Lunar calendar. One of the biggest festivals of India is Diwali, the festival of lights. Diwali “marks the victory of light over darkness” and is therefore called the festival of lights (Kaur). On the day of Diwali, lights are illuminated all around the house. Some families put up lights on the house and light diyas, which are oil lamps. Prior to the day of the festival families buy new clothes, firecrackers and spend a lot of time cleaning and decorating their houses. In addition, as the day of Diwali approaches, different sweets are bought for the family and to gift to others. In The Hero’s Walk, the preparations for Diwali are seen taking place when Nandana’s friends talk about “[buying] new clothes and [bursting] firecrackers” (Badami, 243). To add on, in the novel, Diwali is seen to bring happiness to the Big House and the festival removes the darkness from the family. This is shown as Nandana starts talking to everyone for the first time since she’s reached India. In addition, Putti happily marries her love, Gopal as “Gopal’s mother handed [Putti] a tray full of fruit to welcome her as her son’s future wife” (Badami 333). The festivals in India are a time

Badami did an exceptional job portraying the different effects that culture had on Sripathi and his family. Culture is shown to be a major role in every character’s life and it was seen in many different forms. Culture is portrayed through the effect of karma and reincarnation, along with the display of the importance of gods and goddesses. It can also be seen through the role of the caste system and the influence it had on families in the twentieth century. Lastly, culture is shown through the celebration of one of the major festivals of India, Diwali, and the happiness it brought. Badami’s detailed display of the Hindu culture helps the reader to better understand the novel and its