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2. Shankara is from one of the richest families in town, yet he is ashamed of his half-Hoyka background and resents his driver for being a full Brahmin. Jamayya has no issue working for another Brahmin, but refuses to share a room with another servant, because that servant is of a lower caste. In what ways do the characters in the book struggle with the issues of caste and class in Indian society? How do characters use caste and class to define themselves and their relationships with others?

3. Discuss how the travel guide descriptions of Kittur embellish and contribute to the development of the city's character, as well as to the individual characters in each of the stories. How do the descriptions act as a foil to the very personal, individual vignettes and unite them into a whole?

4. The assistant headmaster D'Mello is disillusioned with the state of the Indian government, and yet there are hints in the story of his past idealism that are revealed when he speaks to or thinks of his student, Girish. What do you suppose happened to D'Mello and how might Girish remind him of his past? Discuss why he feels compelled to share secrets with the young boy—is he trying to protect his idealism of youth? Live vicariously through the boy? Or protect him from the very idealism that turned against D'Mello?

5. As he is struggling not to collapse, D'Mello pulls the curtains down in the adult theater, exposing all of the pornography. He thinks to himself, "he saw everything, and he understood everything, at last." (p. 105) What do you think he has finally understood, and how did his final vision bring him to this understanding?

6. While Ratna is waiting in a bus station with the diseased boy who was going to marry his daughter, a stranger says to them, "We'll have to hand this country back to the British or the Russians or someone, I tell you. We're not meant to be masters of our own fate." (p. 287) How is this underlying thought represented in the stories throughout the book? How does it permeate the minds of many of the characters? Discuss the circumstances in Kittur that may have led to these attitudes.

7. Truth is preserved in gossip and rumor more so than in the newspapers in Kittur. Corruption runs rampant through the police and the government. How do the characters subtly fight this? What is holding them back from doing more? How does corruption affect the characters' mindsets in regard to politics and power?

8. At the Cathedral of Our Lady Valencia, one of George's friends remarks, "You know what the biggest difference is between being rich and being like us? The rich can make mistakes again and again. We make only one mistake, and that's it for us (p.246)." How is this concept central to the stories of Kittur, especially that of George?

9. Even though Murali is a high-born Brahmin and successful in life, the stigma of communism prevents him from marrying a lower-caste girl—why? Discuss Indian Communism and its interpretation of caste. In what ways does it become its own kind of caste and why do you think it is seen as one to be avoided?

10. Many of the characters in the stories came to Kittur for a better life only to become disillusioned and lost. How does the city swallow them? Are they limiting themselves or is the city limiting them? Why or why not?

• May 2013 Indie Next List
• April 2013 Indie Next List
• March 2013 Indie Next List