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Overview
Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly faces her arranged marriage with hope and courage. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she's been horribly misled—her life has been sold for a dowry. Can she forge her own future, even in the face of time-worn tradition?
Perfect for schools and classrooms, this universally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning novel by master of historical fiction Gloria Whelan is a gripping tale of hope that will transport readers of all ages.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780064408196 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 08/21/2001 |
| Edition description: | 1ST HARPER |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Sales rank: | 224,420 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.58(w) x 5.08(h) x 0.41(d) |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
One
"Koly, you are thirteen and growing every day," Maa said to me. "It's time for you to have a husband." I knew why. There were days when my maa took only a bit of rice for herself so that the rest of us -- my baap, my brothers, and I -- might have more. "It's one of my days to fast," she would say, as if it were a holy thing, but I knew it was because there was not enough food to go around. The day I left home, there would be a little more for everyone else. I had known the day was coming, but the regret I saw in Maa's eyes made me tremble.
My baap, like all fathers with a daughter to marry off, had to find a dowry for me. "It will be no easy task," he said with a sigh. Baap was a scribe. He sat all day in his marketplace stall hoping to make a few rupees by writing letters for those who did not know how to write their own. His customers had little money. Often from the goodness of his heart Baap would write the letter for only a rupee or two. When I was a small girl, he would sometimes let me stand beside him. I watched as the spoken words were written down to become like caged birds, caught forever by my clever baap.
When they learned Maa and Baap were looking for a husband for me, my two brothers began to tease me. My older brother, Gopal, said, "Koly, when you have a husband, you will have to do as he tells you. You won't sit and daydream as you do now."
My younger brother, Ram, whom I always beat at card games, said, "When you play cards with your husband, you'll have to lose every time."
My brothers went to the boys' school in our village. Though there was a school for girls, I did not go there. I had begged to go, promising I would get up early and stay up late to do my work, but Maa said school was a waste for girls. "It will be of no use to you after you are married. The money for books and school fees is better put toward your dowry, so that we may find you a suitable husband."
When I stole looks into my brothers' books, I saw secrets in the characters I could not puzzle out. When I begged them to teach me the secrets, they laughed at me. Gopal complained, "I have to sit in a hot schoolroom all day and have my knuckles rapped if I look out the window. You are the lucky one."
Ram said, "When a girl learns to read, her hair falls out, her eyes cross, and no man will look at her."
Still, I turned over the pages of my brothers' books. When Maa sent me into the village for some errand, I lingered under the windows of the school to listen to the students saying their lessons aloud. But the lessons were not like measles. I did not catch them.
My maa had no use for books. When she was not taking care of the house, she spent her time embroidering. Like her maa before her, and her maa, and as far back as anyone could remember, the women in our family embroidered. All their thoughts and dreams went into their work. Maa embroidered the borders for saris sold in our marketplace. One sari might take many weeks, for a sari stretched all the way across the room. Because it took so long, each sari became a part of our lives. As soon as I could work with a needle, I was allowed to stitch simple designs. As I grew older, Maa gave me peacocks and ducks to embroider. When the border was finished, Maa took the sari to the marketplace. Then there would be rupees to spare in the house.
Now Maa sat with a length of red muslin for my wedding sari on her lap. Because he valued her work, the shopkeeper had sold the sari to Maa for a good price. She was embroidering a border of lotus flowers, a proper border for a wedding sari, because the lotus pod's many seeds are scattered to the wind, suggesting wealth and plenty.
Relatives and friends began to search for a bridegroom. A part of me hoped they would be successful and that someone wanted me. A part of me hoped that no one in the world would want me enough to take me away from my home and my maa and baap and brothers. I knew that after my marriage, I would have to make my home with the family of my husband. For my dowry I began to embroider a quilt, making all my worries stitches, and all the things I would have to leave behind pictures to take with me.
I embroidered my maa in her green sari and my baap on the bicycle that took him to the marketplace every morning. My brothers played at soccer with a ball they had fashioned from old rags. I added the feathery leaves of the tamarind tree that stood in the middle of our courtyard and our cow under its shade. I put in the sun that beat down on the courtyard and the clouds that gathered before the rains. I put myself at the courtyard well, where I was sent many times each day to get water. I stitched the marketplace stalls heaped with turmeric and cinnamon and cumin and mustard. I embroidered vegetable stalls with purple eggplants and green melons. I made the barber cutting hair, the dentist pulling teeth, the man who cleaned ears, and the man with the basket of cobras. Because I was kept busy at all my other tasks, the stitching took many weeks.
While I stitched, I wondered what my husband would be like. Stories were told of girls having to marry old men, but I did not think Maa and Baap would let that happen to me. In my daydreams I hoped for someone who was handsome and who would be kind to me.
My older brother said, "We're too poor to buy you a decent husband."
My younger brother said, "There is sure to be something wrong with anyone who agrees to marry you."
Reading Group Guide
Introduction:
Homeless Bird, Gloria Whelan's moving look at Indian culture and one girl's struggle to find her place in it, provides a distinctly different perspective on growing up than the one we experience in the United States. Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly is getting married. But her excitement and hope turn to dread when she meets her husband, a sickly boy who is much younger than Koly and her family were led to believe. When her new husband dies, Koly must take on the only identity allowed her by society--that of a widow. Faced with a lifetime of subservience, poverty, and isolation, Koly realizes how alone she is. Yet this rare young woman, bewildered and brave, sets out to forge her own exceptional future. And a new life, like a beautiful tapestry, comes together for Koly--one stitch at a time.
Questions For Discussion:
- Koly ends up in a series of unfortunate situations. Who can be blamed for her misfortune? Her parents? The Mehtas? Society? Koly herself? Or, do all these factors work together to influence her life? Is it possible to root out one cause for Koly's misfortune? Conversely, who can be credited for the good turn Koly's life eventually takes?
- In Koly's society in India, life is highly defined from beginning to end. How does this compare to life in the United States? Can you say the same for all the different groups in the United States (i.e. religious, ethnic, regional)?
- In India, young girls are expected to marry. How does this affect their families treatment of them? What do the families gain from a good marriage? How is Koly affected by this expectation to marry? Howwould your life be different if you were expected to marry in a few years?
- When Koly becomes a widow, she takes on a specific, rigidly defined role in society. What does being a widow mean for Koly? In what ways does this role restrict her? In what ways does it set her free?
- The ability to read takes on a great importance for Koly. Why is she originally kept from learning to read? Why does Sassur agree to teach her? What effect does it have on the rest of her life?
- Discuss the different bird images that are used throughout the book. What traits do birds have that make them particularly appropriate for Koly's story? Why does she relate to the homeless bird?
- Like all the women in her family, Koly learns to embroider quilts and saris. As she explains, "All [the women's] thoughts and dreams went into their work because it took so long, each sari became a part of our lives." Discuss the ways in which Koly's life and her embroidery become interwoven. Is there a way you express your thoughts and dreams about life, for example, through singing, participating in sports or writing?
- Does Koly believe that Sass will find happiness? Why or why not? Why do you think that Koly was able to find happiness at the end of the book? What makes Koly different from Sass in this respect? What does it mean to be truly wealthy?
- Animals become very important to Koly after she becomes a widow. What animals does she befriend while she is living with Mehtas? Why does she tame these various animals? Find examples of Koly making comparisons between animals and the people she meets. How do these examples fit with Koly's past experiences and with her perceptions of herself?
- Does Koly believe that Sass will find happiness? Why or why not? Why do you think that Koly was able to find happiness at the end of the book? What makes Koly different from Sass in this respect? What does it mean to be truly wealthy?
- Koly grew up in a very rural area, but environments differ? Which does Koly prefer? What might have happened to Koly if her Sass had not left her at Vrindavan?
- Who are Koly's true friends? Were there people she should have been able to depend on but couldn't?
About The Author:
Gloria Whelan is a poet and awarding who has written many books for young readers. One of these, Once On This Island, won the 1996 Great Lakes Book Award. She lives with her husband, Joseph, in the woods of northern Michigan.
