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Themes
The novel uses three interwoven narratives that roughly correspond to three historical events: The suicide of Rohith Vemula, the controversial work and assassination of M.M Kalburgi, and the anti-Caste social reformation of the Bhakti Movement. Hariharan uses these events to offer a social critique of the current state of systemic oppression of the caste system, specifically focusing upon the Indian Dalit minority group. She regards the novel as giving a voice to those who struggles have been ignored, both historically and in the present day, as it was written "for all the Vemulas and Kalburgis we know and do not know" and believes "it is very much a novel for this present moment". It is within this that the novel questions how a privileged voice can authentically represent the historically oppressed and the need for an awareness of the privileged position when engaging with such issues. Through the extensive usage of devotional poetry through Dalit characters, Hariharan deterritorializes the common notion of poetry and devotion as an aesthetic mode belonging to the powerful, while removing the perception of the oppressed as 'passive'. These uplifting poetical scenes are juxtaposed against the violence and abuse the Dalit characters endure throughout the novel to demonstrates the need for hope and community that can be found within poetry, and act as a point of resistance against placid social acceptance.