Indian prejudice against the British
This is a common theme in all the stories, where the people in the stories have a disregard for everything foreign. The theme is most prominent in ‘Mayadevi’s London Yatra’, where an old Mayadevi refuses to eat, drink or even go to a western bathroom while in a plane, as she believes everything is dirty. She eats only the flattened rice she carries with herself and the tasteless overcooked food her son cooks for her. She has even prepared a list of a year-long rituals and sacrifices to ‘pure’ herself after her visit to a dirty place. The belief of foreigners being dirty emerged from the fact that the British would eat beef and drink alcohol regularly, both considered dirty in the Indian context.
Journey
All the stories have the element of journey which symbolizes the metamorphosis of the protagonists in each story. The element of journey is used in two ways. The characters with their journey end in a place with different characteristics or surroundings than the place they were accustomed to, thus placing them in an uncomfortable situation. Secondly, the journey helped create the change within by bringing them in terms with a reality they could not imagine before.
Indian Freedom Struggle
This theme is most prominent in ‘To Simla in a Tonga’, where the protagonist is a supporter of the Indian Freedom Struggle while her husband is an employee of the British, thus creating a difficult situation for her. Anima gradually begins to distrust the British, to the point when she sees a British man insulting a Maharaja, after mistaking his turban for that of a waiter. She openly revolts against her husband, proclaiming never to wear anything foreign and participating actively in the movement.
Position of women with respect to men
This is a theme common among all stories, particularly in ‘Life in a Palace’, where Gita bears the brunt of the society when her husband renounces her and leaves to become a holy man. She isn’t allowed to leave to work as her working would bring disgrace to the family. Due to constant pressure from her family since childhood, she develops a reclusive personality and has inhibitions about taking her own decisions.
Social construct for Indian widows
Widows in the colonial era were treated as a burden in the Indian society. Widowhood was considered a punishment for a crime of previous birth, and the widows had to undergo several customs to ‘repent’. Primary of this was to take to wearing of white clothes only to show one’s status. They couldn’t eat non-vegetarian foods as we see in ‘Aunts and their Ailments’, and had to be dependent on their male relatives for livelihood, since women couldn’t inherit money or property.