52 pages • 1 hour read
Nidhi ChananiPashmina
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Pages 82-125Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Pages 82-125 Summary
At home, Priyanka’s mom scolds Priyanka for being too moody and quiet at Jatin and Deepa’s house, for neglecting to visit baby Shilpa in the hospital, and for having “crazy ideas” such as wanting to visit India. Priyanka’s mom claims that India is not the safe, happy place that Priyanka believes it to be. She wants Priyanka to forget about traveling to India, but Priyanka cannot. Priyanka goes to her room, and her mom prays to Shakti for advice on how to deal with her. Meena Mausi calls Priyanka’s mom, and they talk for the first time in 15 years. During that time, Priyanka’s mom has avoided talking to her sister because she has been ashamed. Now, Mausi is pregnant, and although Priyanka’s mom still doesn’t want to visit India and feels that she is too busy helping Jatin, Deepa, and Shilpa, she decides to allow Priyanka to go to India to visit Mausi. Priyanka is delighted to visit India and meet her aunt for the first time.
In her bedroom, Priyanka uses her magic pashmina. She is transported to a beach in India, where she is greeted by Kanta and Mayur. The shadow woman appears in the water, along with a hut, which seems to explode. Kanta and Mayur say that the hut is “nothing” and then disappear. Priyanka dives underwater and is transported back home.
Priyanka packs her suitcase and boards a flight to India to visit Meena Mausi. Her aunt greets her at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, and a cab drives them through the city toward Mausi’s home. Priyanka is disturbed at how impoverished some of the city is; it does not look like the version of India that she visited using the magic pashmina. Mausi tells Priyanka that she is a teacher and is pleased that her students, especially the girls, are interested in learning. The cab nearly hits a cow, and Priyanka remarks that India is very different from the US.
Meena Mausi and Priyanka arrive at Mausi’s home, where she lives with her husband. Mausi shows Priyanka to the guest bedroom. Priyanka tries on her magic pashmina, but it doesn’t transport her anywhere, and nothing magical happens. She screams “NOO!” and Mausi comes to see what’s wrong. Priyanka explains the pashmina’s magic powers and describes her visits to the idealized version of India. She admits that the pashmina has stopped working and thinks that traveling to India was a mistake. Priyanka is worried about what might have happened to Kanta and Mayur. Mausi believes that Priyanka is saying these things because she is tired, so she puts her niece to bed, takes the pashmina into another room and puts it on. The pashmina transports Mausi somewhere else, where she is saying goodbye to a little girl named Kya, who is evidently her daughter in the future. She takes the pashmina off and is transported back to her home.
Meena Mausi speaks to Priyanka of her experience, confused about seeing a future version of her daughter rather than seeing Kanta, Mayur, or the shadow woman. Priyanka explains that she found the pashmina in her mother's suitcase and that it came from India. Mausi says that the pashmina is made of Assam silk and surmises that it might have come from a famous shop called Sualkuchi Silks. Priyanka wants to go to Sualkuchi Silks to investigate, but the shop is in a city called Nagpur, where Priyanka’s father is from. Mausi’s husband says that it’s too dangerous for Mausi to go there while she’s pregnant. He suggests that Mausi and Priyanka visit a different city instead.
Meena Mausi and Priyanka visit a market in Kolkata, which is nearby, and buy some bangles. Mausi wants to visit a British monument, but Priyanka isn’t interested because it is similar to buildings in the US. Mausi suggests visiting her former students so that they can practice speaking English with Priyanka. Mausi isn’t teaching anymore because she is pregnant; her husband has forbidden it. The students are very excited to meet Priyanka and think it’s funny when Priyanka is frightened by the sudden appearance of a rat.
After visiting the school, Meena Mausi and Priyanka go out to eat. Priyanka thinks that the school was “sad” because it was dirty, run-down, and filled with rats. She admits that, although her mom told her about poverty in India before, it is different to see it firsthand. Mausi argues that it’s not sad because at least the children are being educated. When Mausi and Priyanka return home, Priyanka’s uncle complains that they visited the school and argues that they should have visited the sites he suggested instead. Priyanka worries that he is angry with her, but Mausi says that’s just how he is. Mausi puts on the magic pashmina and sees a future version of her daughter teaching low-income children, like she used to do. She is then transported back to her home and tells Priyanka about it. Mausi decides that tomorrow, they should visit the fabric shop where the pashmina might have come from. She no longer cares that her husband has forbidden it; she wants to find out about the magic pashmina. Priyanka calls her mom, who warns her not to drink the water.
The following day, Meena Mausi leaves a note for her husband, explaining where they’re going. She and Priyanka get on a plane to the city of Nagpur, where the sari fabric shop, Sualkuchi Silks, is located. Mausi asks what Priyanka knows about her father, whose name is Rahul, and what she knows about why her mother left India. Mausi reveals that Priyanka’s parents were engaged but not yet married when Priyanka’s mom found out that she was pregnant. Priyanka’s dad decided that he didn’t want to marry her after all and called off the wedding. His wealthy family paid for Priyanka’s mom to leave the country because if she stayed, it would have brought shame to their family when people found out that Priyanka’s father had a child without being married. Priyanka’s dad then married a different woman. Mausi and Maneesh, Priyanka’s mom’s uncle, put her in contact with Jatin, Deepa, and others in the US so that they would help her when she moved there.
Priyanka feels awful when she learns the real reason her mom left India. She now realizes that her mom didn’t tell her about leaving India or about her father because she knew that Priyanka would blame herself. Priyanka feels guilty for all the times she pestered her mother for information. Meena Mausi confesses that she was afraid to get pregnant and afraid of her own husband because of how Rahul treated Priyanka’s mom. She always thought that her sister would return to India someday, but she never did. Priyanka asks how her mom got the pashmina, but Mausi doesn’t know. Priyanka’s mom was only Priyanka’s age when she left India.
Pages 82-125 Analysis
In this section, the narration is not entirely omniscient but is also not entirely limited to Priyanka’s perspective, and this hybrid approach provides access to events that Priyanka is not aware of, creating a degree of dramatic irony and promoting a sense of sympathy for Priyanka’s mother. For instance, Priyanka’s mother is shown praying for advice about Priyanka, which demonstrates a degree of care beyond what Priyanka currently recognizes. Priyanka’s mother is also shown calling Meena Mausi and smiling, which demonstrates her continued devotion to her sister despite their 15-year separation. At times, Priyanka struggles to connect with her mother, but the dramatic irony created by the semi-omniscient narration provides deeper insights into the true nature of the complex feelings that Priyanka’s mother has regarding her family and her heritage. These glimpses into a more complex adult world foreshadow a rejuvenated relationship between mother and daughter. While some young adult novels feature teenage characters who gain autonomy by separating themselves from their parental figures, Pashmina portrays a teenage protagonist whose quest for autonomy and agency ultimately brings her closer to her mother.
This section further illustrates The Empowering Exploration of Cultural Heritage. When Priyanka travels to the real version of India, the setting is illustrated in black and white (instead of in color, like the idealized version of India that the pashmina has previously shown her). This artistic choice depicts the contrast between the real India and the fantasy India, but although the real India is not portrayed with the same level of vibrance as the fantasy India, the narrative soon emphasizes that the real India is deeply valuable and important in its own right. Exploring the real India helps Priyanka to learn the truth about her heritage rather than building excitement that is based upon unrealistic experiences and expectations. Although Priyanka initially expresses concern about the poverty she witnesses, she ultimately concludes that her trip to the real India is “better” than her trips to the imaginary India, and Chanani therefore implies that truth is more helpful than fantasy when it comes to discovering one’s identity and heritage.
The symbolism of the pashmina is further developed in this section. When Priyanka puts the pashmina on while she is already in India, it doesn’t transport her anywhere, and this dynamic suggests that Priyanka is already where she needs to be; from this point forward, she must engage with reality in order to succeed in her journey of self-discovery. However, although the pashmina does not transport Priyanka anywhere, its magic has not stopped “working” because it allows Meena Mausi to meet a future version of her unborn daughter. Because the pashmina, which symbolizes Priyanka’s quest to understand her heritage, is shared between multiple women, the narrative suggests that Priyanka’s identity, heritage, and mission in life are not all about herself but are relational. Priyanka’s identity depends, to some extent, on her family and other loved ones, and her mission in life involves helping others as well as helping herself. The fact that the pashmina emphasizes the relational nature of identity foreshadows the later revelation that it is imbued with the magic of the goddess Shakti, who represents motherhood and feminine power.
This section also further illustrates The Impact of Family Secrets on Personal Identity. To understand their own heritage and identities, Priyanka and Meena Mausi both feel a need to find out where the pashmina came from, why it is magical, and what its visions mean. As they accomplish this mission together, their efforts illustrate that family support often helps to shape personal identity. Additionally, Mausi aids Priyanka in her mission by revealing family secrets about Priyanka’s parents, providing Priyanka with information that is crucial to her understanding of her mother and of her own future goals. Once Priyanka understands her mother’s past, she also understands her mother’s reluctance to reveal the truth. Thus, the unveiling of long-kept secrets brings Priyanka closer to her mom and opens up a space for mutual healing. Even though Priyanka’s mother is not physically present throughout most of this section, she remains a crucial character and is mentioned often. This approach keeps her at the forefront of the narrative and foreshadows the interactions between her and Priyanka in the final section.
