Mishti: The Innocent Pawn in a World of Scarcity
Overview
Mishti is the two-year-old daughter of Ma (the shelter manager) and the granddaughter of Dadu. In Megha Majumdar’s near-future Kolkata, she embodies the pure vulnerability that drives every adult’s desperate action. She appears in nearly every chapter of the narrative, functioning as both the reason for Ma’s relentless search and the unwitting key to Boomba’s scheme to access a billionaire’s wedding feast. Her presence forces readers to confront the human cost of scarcity: a child’s basic wants—cauliflower, crayons, ice cream—become almost unattainable luxuries.
Plot Role
Mishti’s role shifts across the novel’s seven-day timeline. She is the emotional center of Ma’s frantic quest after the theft of the family’s immigration documents. On Day 5, she disappears with Boomba, triggering the book’s central crisis. Boomba uses her as a “guardian” prop to gain entry to the feast on the hexagon, a private island belonging to a billionaire. After the feast and the sinking of the ferry, Mishti returns home before her grandfather Dadu dies in his sleep. On the day of departure (Day 7), all flights to America are cancelled due to protests. In the final phone-chapter (17), after Ma is possibly killed by Boomba’s father, Boomba retrieves Mishti from the neighbor’s garden, telling her that her mother said to come home. This ambiguous ending leaves Mishti’s fate uncertain—she may end up with the family that destroyed her own.
Motivation and Traits Shown through Actions
Mishti’s motivations are elemental: hunger, curiosity, play, and trust. Her recurring demand for cauliflower (Day 1, Day 3) signals her awareness of food shortages and her mother’s inability to provide fresh vegetables. She loves her toy truck and stickers, and when Boomba plays with her and promises a boat ride with food, she follows him willingly. Throughout the feast scene, she shows adaptability—eating with her hands, allowing Boomba to debone fish, and sharing ice cream with the boy who owns the rooster Titanic. She is also perceptive: she notices the stranger in the storeroom and later asks to go home after the feast. Her innocence is not ignorance; she understands that something is wrong but cannot articulate it. In the final scene, when Boomba tells her “Mama said come home,” she accepts the lie calmly, demonstrating her complete dependence on the adults around her.
Chronological Arc
- Day 1–2: Mishti plays, cries for cauliflower, and sleeps through the initial theft of the passports.
- Day 3: She observes Boomba’s Scooby‑Doo T‑shirt on Mrs. Sen’s security footage, helping Ma identify the thief.
- Day 4: She eats the last of the ruti and jam, unaware of the search.
- Day 5 (morning): She wakes early, finds Boomba in the storeroom, and agrees to go with him after he promises food and stickers. He takes her to the hexagon where she eats a lavish meal, plays in the garden, and asks about Michigan (“Mitchigun”). After the ferry sinks, Boomba brings her home. Dadu beats Boomba and later collapses; Ma and Mishti care for him.
- Day 6: Dadu dies. Mishti plays while Ma sits in shock.
- Day 7: She has a dance party with Ma, helps pack, and goes to the airport. Flights are cancelled; they return to the city.
- Final scene (Chapter 17): She is with the neighbor Mrs. Sen, playing with a parrot. Boomba retrieves her, telling her that her mother said to come home. She takes his hand.
Relationships
With Ma
Ma’s love for Mishti is ferocious and exclusive. In Chapter 6, Ma admits she is “a mother with no generosity, mother to nobody but her own child.” Mishti is the only person for whom Ma will steal, swim through murky water, or pay for forged passports. Mishti returns this love by seeking Ma’s comfort and asking for her before leaving with Boomba.
With Dadu
Dadu is gentle and playful. He offers treats to his granddaughter, tells her animal stories, and takes her to the market. His death on Day 6 removes the family’s last source of stability, leaving Mishti alone with Ma’s grief and desperation.
With Boomba
Boomba is both predator and caretaker. He tricks Mishti with promises of food and stickers, but during the feast he protects her, debones fish, and worries about her cough. He sees in her a version of his own brother Robi. After Ma’s attack, he retrieves Mishti and lies to her to keep her calm. Their relationship is a twisted reflection of the guardianship theme: a man who would be a monster but shows tenderness to a child.
With Baba (father)
Baba appears only in phone calls (Chapters 3, 5, 12). He speaks to Mishti about books and cauliflower, but his absence makes him a distant figure. Mishti calls him “Baba” and asks about dancing; he remains an idea rather than a presence.
Key Decisions and Consequences
| Mishti’s Decision | Immediate Consequence | Long‑Term Impact |
|---|---|---|
| She follows Boomba on Day 5 | Gains access to the feast; Ma frantically searches and almost drowns | The family’s vulnerability is exposed; Boomba’s scheme succeeds but leads to the ferry sinking and Dadu’s eventual collapse |
| She tells the billionaire “I am eleven” | The billionaire finds her amusing, giving Boomba cover | Reinforces the absurdity of the social class gap |
| She returns home with Boomba after the feast | Dadu beats Boomba; the family’s fragile peace breaks | Dadu’s exhaustion leads to his death the next day |
| She accepts Boomba’s lie that Mama said “come home” | She goes willingly with Boomba | Her fate becomes entwined with the family that possibly killed her mother |
(Interpretation: Some decisions are not fully conscious, but each shapes the plot.)
Theme and Symbol Connections
- Innocence vs. Scarcity: Mishti’s simple desires—cauliflower, crayons, stickers—stand in stark contrast to the surrounding hunger. She symbolizes what is lost when a society collapses.
- Maternal Sacrifice: Every choice Ma makes, from theft to swimming to forgery, is for Mishti. The bond is so strong that Ma’s last imagined thought is “Spare Mishti.”
- Moral Compromise in Survival: Boomba uses Mishti as a tool, but also cares for her. The novel questions whether any moral line is absolute when a child’s life is at stake.
- Climate Displacement: Mishti’s world is shrinking: the heatwave, the lack of fresh vegetables, the ruined crops. Her imagined future in Michigan represents hope, but that hope is repeatedly blocked.
- Class Inequality and Charity as Control: At the feast, Mishti receives abundance only because Boomba parades her as a prop. The billionaire’s kindness is contingent on Mishti’s cuteness, not on her need. The system uses children as tokens.
Discussion Questions and Answers
1. Why does Mishti go willingly with Boomba on Day 5?
Boomba plays with her toy truck, promises a boat ride, and lists foods she loves (cauliflower, ice cream). He also shows her stickers. Mishti is two years old, hungry, and trusts adults. She asks for “Mama” but agrees when Boomba says they will bring food back for her.
2. How does Mishti’s reaction to the feast contrast with Boomba’s mood?
Mishti enjoys the meal—eating ice cream, playing with the rooster, running in the garden. Boomba, after feeding her, becomes sorrowful, thinking about his brother Robi. He contrasts her ease with his family’s poverty, highlighting the novel’s theme of inequality.
3. What does Mishti understand about the family’s situation?
She notices that the storeroom is empty and that her mother is upset. She asks “Where is my twuck?” after the theft. She also asks “Mama?” when Boomba takes her from the neighbor’s. However, she cannot process the larger crisis of lost passports or canceled flights. Her innocence is both a shield and a vulnerability.
4. What happens to Mishti at the end of the novel?
Boomba retrieves her from Mrs. Sen’s garden. He tells her “Mama said, come home, Jhimli” (his nickname for her). She takes his hand calmly. The narrative implies she will remain with Boomba’s family, but her actual fate is ambiguous—her mother may be dead, and no legal authority intervenes.
5. How does Mishti’s character connect to the theme of displacement?
Mishti is displaced from her home by theft, then from her mother by Boomba’s scheme, and finally from the country by the cancelled flights. She has no control over her own location. The novel uses her constant movement to show how climate refugees and migrants lose their most basic anchor: a safe, familiar place.