This motley collection of Ayah’s admirers, suggesting the diversity of all India in miniature, consists of around 12 men including at least one Sikh, a Muslim, a Hindu, and Parsee all with different occupations.
But her greatest joy is her Ayah, a sublime being whose attractions ensure that Lenny herself always has plenty of company. She experiences the joys of visiting her family cook’s native town, savoring stolen bits of chicken giblets in the kitchen during her parent’s dinner parties, and hiding under the table and making profound insights about the guests’ personality based on the movements of their legs and feet. Much of the story’s charm comes from Lenny’s acute descriptions of her childhood. But her honesty, her “cursed tongue” as she calls it, also betrays her beloved Ayah, a Hindu, whom Lenny mistakenly betrays to Ice-Candy Man. She describes the mixed blessings of her own honesty, showing self-awareness as well. Lenny senses people’s motivations, and spots their most telling gestures. Lenny is already conscious of people treating her differently because of her limp. Lenny’s perceptiveness makes her an effective narrator, though it takes some time to get used to a four-year-old making the insights that Lenny does. Much of the novel seems derived from Sidhwa’s autobiographical experience, and this explains much of the narrative’s power.
Her education about sexuality thus begins early, though Sidhwa delights in showing us Lenny’s later sexual discoveries as well, such as her growing aware of her Cousin’s body. Young Lenny perceives their eyes burning for Ayah, their furtive attempts to touch her with their hands, mouths, even their toes. As a young girl she sits in the Queen’s garden with her Ayah, her nanny, who is nubile and the object of desire for a large circle of young men of many races and creeds. Historical fiction such as Cracking India shows us history in miniature, making it far more vivid than mere statistics about the numbers slaughtered during the tragic events of 1947-48.Īlthough the story is set against the backdrop of India independence, it is equally the story of Lenny’s maturation from a four-year-old limping girl to a young woman of growing sexual awareness. We then watch with horror as the people around Lenny divide along racial/religious lines and eventually slaughter one another. The power of Cracking India stems from Sidwha’s creation of an idyllic picture of Lenny’s childhood, and the relative inter-racial harmony of pre-Independence Lahore. Lenny narrates the events of her family and native Lahore over more than a ten year period, from before World War II to just after Indian independence and the partition. Cracking India tells the story of the partition of India through the eyes of young Lenny, a Parsee girl growing up in Lahore.
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