The Hero's Walk Sripathi Essay

Rawan Barakat
Ms. Taylor Ward
English 30-1
30 November 2022
The Journey of Reconciliation.
In the confines of our own emotions and ego, we make decisions which, at their core, are purely based on emotion. These emotional decisions often result in regret afterwards. Anita Rau Badami conveys this message through the protagonist of The Hero’s Walk, Sripathi. Throughout the novel, Badami develops the idea that reconciliation is a crucial aspect of living life in contentment, especially in association to close relationships. As life progresses, it is natural to make mistakes and to miss opportunities. However, when unaddressed, these mistakes will soon grow into a consuming regret.
Badami first introduces Sripathi through a third-person perspective,

To expand, forgiveness requires an individual to not only put aside their pride but to also move forward. Sripathi evidently struggles with both factors, neither could he move forward nor forgive Maya, again, due to his own pride. However, despite this. Nandana, Maya’s daughter, almost poses an opportunity to move forward and reconcile. Sripathi and Nandana’s relationship mirrors Sripathi and Maya’s relationship but in reverse. When Sripathi and Nandana first encounter each other, neither of them communicates properly with the other, which mirrors Maya and Sripathi's relationship toward the end of her life. The only difference is that Sripathi does not hold a grudge toward the child, rather he is just unable to communicate with Nadama due to her reaction to the unfamiliar environment she is brought into. When they first encounter in chapter eight, Nandana does not speak. According to Dr. Sunderraj, it was assumed that her silence was out of shock. However, Nandama’s unfamiliarity with the situation and Sripathi poses as another reason for her silence. Throughout the book, the interactions between Sripathi and Nandana are limited to small exchanges of words. Sripathi’s lack of communication with Nandana also represents his internal relationship with Maya. Throughout the novel, Sripathi does not grieve the same way Nirmala does. This is evident in chapter ten where

It is not unnatural that individuals hold grudges, but Sripathi’s grudges towards his parents are reflected onto his children. Narishima Rao, Sripathi’s father, was an indecent man towards Ammaya, Sripathi’s mother, and an unkind father to Sripathi. Naturally, Sripathi would develop resentment towards his father. Narishima would constantly set high expectations for Sripathi. Badami reveals “Narasimha Rao bought his son the complete Encyclopaedia Britannica on his fourth birthday and expected him to start absorbing every page immediately, even though the child could barely read” (55). There was no doubt that Narashima was an abusive father. Badami continues to reveal that Narishima would be physically abusive as well towards Sripathi. These expectations were not just a product of his father’s but also his mother’s. In chapter seven Sripathi visits one of his oldest friends, Raju. Sripathi says to him “‘It's my mother who thinks I am the future prime minister of India and my father who wants me to be a Supreme Court Justice’” (120). The significance of these expectations is how they were passed on to his children, although on a less intense level, he still desired for his children to be the best. Part of the reason why Sripathi cut off Maya was because of her failure to meet marriage expectations. Additionally, Arun, Sripathi’s son, failed to meet his expectations in terms of his overall lack of a job and such. “He