Chapter 164: Hardeep
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The chapter opens in a hotel room where Kiran’s mother, Hardeep, has not answered calls since the previous evening. Kiran anxiously checks the alarm clock and paces while Kunal waits at the airport with no sign of Hardeep. The narrator (Kiran’s daughter) sits on the bed, fearing her own public accusation against Hari Ahluwalia has caused this disappearance. Vidya tries to calm everyone but is also visibly worried.
Suddenly, Vidya’s phone alerts her to breaking news. Anu Shergill announces a live broadcast from Chandigarh where Hardeep Kaur will respond to her daughter’s accusations. The screen shows Hardeep standing behind a podium beside Ahluwalia’s mother and brother. The narrator notes she has never seen a picture of her grandmother and is surprised by her small stature.
Hardeep reads a statement calling Kiran’s allegations “baseless and absolutely untrue.” She claims she cannot vouch for Kiran’s account, praises the Ahluwalia family’s integrity, and suggests Kiran suffers from mental health delusions affecting her child. She appeals for Kiran to seek psychological help and states she is standing on the side of truth.
After the broadcast, the room falls silent. Kiran receives a text from Hardeep asking her to call in an hour. During that tense hour, Kiran sits motionless by the window, ignoring her daughter’s questions. When the time comes, Vidya leaves the room and Kiran dials.
Hardeep’s voice is strangled as she says Kiran’s name. Kiran coldly asks what she wants. Hardeep demands to explain, but Kiran cuts her off, saying the broadcast made her feelings clear. Hardeep shouts that this isn’t just about Kiran—she is the one who will pay for the “scene” they made. She lists past humiliations: Kiran leaving home, not attending her father’s funeral, and now having her face on the news and the narrator claiming Hari is her father.
Hardeep reveals that Ahluwalia’s mother and brother came to her house and threatened to take away her home and everything she cares about if she did not discredit the allegations. They promised to leave her alone permanently if she made the statement. Kiran says nothing. Hardeep pleads that she just wants to live in peace, and that she never told them where Kiran is—they still believe mother and daughter are estranged.
Kiran finally responds, her voice breaking. She says she cannot blame Hardeep for protecting herself, but it still hurts. She points out that Hardeep has known the true story for twenty years and consciously chose to ignore it. Hardeep claims she thought she was doing Kiran a favor by framing the allegations as mental health issues. Kiran smolders: “Since when have you ever known a single thing about my mental health?” She accuses Hardeep of dismissing her words and then claiming to do her a favor by calling her a liar. The chapter ends on this raw confrontation.
Key Events
- Kiran and the narrator wait frantically for Hardeep, who has disappeared and is not answering calls.
- A news broadcast shows Hardeep publicly denying Kiran’s sexual assault allegations and suggesting mental health delusions.
- Hardeep calls Kiran an hour later and reveals she was coerced by Ahluwalia’s mother and brother under threat of losing her home.
- Kiran confronts Hardeep about dismissing the truth for twenty years and then calling her a liar.
Character Development
- Hardeep: Her public denial reveals a woman torn between protecting herself and her daughter. She eventually admits coercion, but her language remains defensive—she blames Kiran for “running around making a scene” and frames her own betrayal as a survival tactic. Her vulnerability shows a mother who always chose the easier path, yet her confession that she never told Ahluwalia where Kiran is hints at residual loyalty.
- Kiran: Her emotional arc moves from panic to shock to cold anger. She maintains a flat, controlled demeanor during the phone call until the dam breaks. Her accusation—“don’t you dare claim that you’re doing me a favor by telling the world…that I’m a liar”—shows how deeply Hardeep’s public denial cuts, especially after Kiran carried guilt for leaving Hardeep behind. For the first time, she lets her mother see the pain of being silenced.
- The narrator (Kiran’s daughter): She internalizes guilt, thinking the broadcast is her fault. She observes her mother’s stillness and the unraveling of a family secret. Her description of Hardeep’s “wheatish-brown, weather-worn face” and round eyes connects her own identity to this estranged grandmother, making the betrayal personal.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Coercion and Silence: Hardeep’s statement is the most explicit example in the novel of how powerful families use threats to silence survivors. The Ahluwalias exploit Hardeep’s vulnerability and her need for security, forcing her to become an instrument of their cover-up.
- Mother-Daughter Betrayal: The central conflict is not between Kiran and her abuser but between Kiran and her mother. Hardeep’s public lie and subsequent excuse—“I did the best I could do for you”—mirror the very abandonment Kiran feared when she left home.
- Mental Health Stigma: Hardeep weaponizes the idea of mental illness to discredit Kiran, implying that her daughter’s trauma is a “delusion.” Kiran’s retort—“Since when have you ever known a single thing about my mental health?”—shatters the stereotype and demands accountability.
- The Sea as a Symbol: The sea outside the hotel is described as “restless and unforgiving,” mirroring the family’s turmoil and the harsh consequences of the truth breaking through decades of suppression.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter marks a turning point where the family’s private trauma becomes a public spectacle. Hardeep’s coerced denial forces Kiran to confront the deepest wound: her mother’s conscious choice to side with the abuser. It also complicates the reader’s understanding of Hardeep—she is not merely a villain but a victim of the same patriarchal system that silenced her daughter. The phone call sets up a potential rift or reconciliation, and the narrator’s guilt adds another layer. The chapter solidifies the novel’s central argument: that survivors must fight not only abusers but also the family and society that enable them.
Study Questions
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Why does Hardeep agree to make the public statement, and what does her rationale reveal about her character?
Answer: Hardeep agrees because Ahluwalia’s mother and brother threaten to take her home and everything she cares about. She prioritizes her own security over supporting her daughter. This reveals her survival instinct and her long habit of choosing the path of least resistance, but also that she is a pawn in a larger system of power. -
How does Kiran’s response to Hardeep’s phone call differ from her reaction during the broadcast?
Answer: During the broadcast, Kiran is shocked and silent, staring at the TV. On the phone, she initially speaks coldly and with detachment, but when Hardeep claims she was doing a favor, Kiran erupts in anger. This shift shows her moving from frozen trauma to active confrontation, finally giving voice to the hurt Hardeep caused years ago. -
What is the significance of the narrator’s observation that she imagined Hardeep as taller and “a figure that would tower over us with her lofty expectations”?
Answer: The narrator’s mental image reflects her grandmother’s role as a distant, judgmental authority. Seeing Hardeep as short and weathered humanizes her but makes the betrayal more painful—the person who should protect is instead small and vulnerable, yet still chooses to harm. It underscores the theme that family disappointments often come from those we expected to be larger than life.