Red, White, and Whole

When Reha visits India in the summer, she reads books by Agatha Christie and Judy Blume, along with the Indian comic series Amar Chitra Kathas. The comic series is in English, so Reha can understand it, and it tells stories about Indian history. Through these comics, Reha learns about where her family is from.

Reha’s favorite story from the comics is the story of a virtuous princess named Savitri. In Savitri, Part 1, the princess is allowed to choose a husband because her parents believe they are unworthy of choosing for her. She chooses a man called Satyavan, a “prince without a kingdom” (87) who lives with his blind father. She makes her choice despite being warned that Satyavan is “fated to die in just a year’s time” (87).

Although Reha loves all her subjects at school, science is her favorite. She especially loves learning about cells. Reha wishes she could “fast-forward to medical school” (90) so that she could think about biology all the time. Amma teaches Reha about the cells in blood, and Reha tells Amma that she could have been a doctor. Amma wanted to be an English teacher when she first came to America, but it required expensive continuing education.