In Megha Majumdar’s novel, A Guardian and a Thief, we are in Kolkata in a near-future setting beset by extreme heat, floods and famine.
The character of Ma is preparing to leave this city behind with her two-year-old daughter, Mishti, and her elderly father, Dadu.
Ma is bound for Ann Arbor, Michigan, where her husband is a scientist. She has finally procured a visa from the consulate. Her bags are packed and she’s ready.
One morning, however, she discovers her purse is missing — as are all the immigration documents she needs to leave India and travel to a future in the United States.
Outside of Kolkata, Boomba and his own family are weathering the same catastrophic situation that Ma is. Their extreme situations prompt Boomba to do something desperate.
Ma and Boomba’s situations intertwine. Each one commits acts in the name of survival that would seem out of character.
Soon enough, it becomes more and more difficult to discern who exactly is the guardian and who is the thief.
Guest: Megha Majumdar
Read more about the author here.
