Ma’s husband immigrated from India to the United States of America in order to find work and eventually house his wife, their daughter, and his father-in-law. Ma’s ultimate goal is to follow after her husband and settle down with him, being able to participate in the American dream that she has heard so much about. The idealized Western fantasy that Ma seems to bite into does seem to be a possible result of the fact that while under British control, “a British education system oriented towards Western values…was introduced in India” and might have introduced the idea that Western countries were the standard (para 6). Even if Ma had spent the novel searching for a means to secure her travels, the very idea is not even entertained by Boomba, who is more likely to never step on American soil, to live and die in India. Majumdar attempts to show the wealth difference between Ma and Boomba and how their circumstances have allowed for them to develop separate ways of thinking, allowing Ma to hope while hindering Boomba from dreaming beyond his means. This only makes Ma’s eventual demise even more tragic since she dies in the very land that she was escaping.
“Colonial Period in India.” Historical Encyclopedia, 2024. https://globhistory.org/en/article/indiya/kolonialnyy_period_v_indii (Accessed 19 Apr 2026).
Mamjundar, Megha. A Guardian and a Thief, Penguin Random House, 14 Oct 2025. (Accessed 19 Feb 2026).