Born Behind Bars

Kabir’s mother, Amma, was wrongfully accused of stealing from a wealthy family she worked for. She couldn’t afford bail or a trial, so she has remained in prison for a decade, which is longer than the sentence she would have received were she actually convicted of aggravated theft. Amma’s being a member of the Dalit caste, the lowest caste, largely determines her fate in the prison system. She has little money and can realistically work only in certain industries, all of which pay little and keep her in the same caste. “Upward mobility” isn’t really an option, and the prison system is so overcrowded and incompetently staffed that no one notices or cares that Amma is innocent, has already served more than what the sentence would have been if she were guilty, and has a nine-year-old with her in the prison. Because of these experiences, Amma’s character develops The Drawbacks of the Caste and Prison Systems as a theme.

Despite the injustices she has endured, Amma is kind, loving, and forgiving. Above all else, she wants Kabir to be “good”: She emphasizes that this is more important than his becoming “successful” or even seeing Amma again. Throughout their days in prison, Amma always urges Kabir to do the right thing and treat others with kindness and respect, even when they don’t treat Kabir the same way. In addition, she ensures that he learns to trust people who say thank you, who share, and who are gentle in their demeanor. These lessons inform his behavior after his release from prison and is instrumental in his achieving his goals to forge new positive relationships and to free his mother. Her advice about whom to trust serves him well after his release from prison when he encounters dangerous figures like Fake Uncle as well as friendly people like Rani, Lakshman, and his grandparents. Learning to tell the difference between trustworthy and untrustworthy people plays into The Importance of Family and Friendship as a theme because this is one of the core values that Amma instills; in Kabir when she has him treat their cellmates like family members. Most importantly, Amma teaches Kabir that the concepts of home and family are intertwined and that wherever Kabir and Amma can be free together is their “home.”

A tough older woman, Grandma Knife who lives in the same prison cell as Amma and Kabir as well as Aunty Cloud and the newcomer, Mouse Girl. Grandma Knife can be standoffish, aggressive, and even rude, but she’s highly protective of Amma and Kabir, making sure that no one messes with them and even trading plates with Kabir so he doesn’t have to eat bugs. At first, Kabir is slightly afraid of Grandma Knife because of how easily she kills mice and how easily he believes she could harm people too. He worries that she might turn her toughness on him one day. Nevertheless, he’s kind to her and accepts her as a surrogate “grandmother” to please Amma, who wants him to treat their cellmates like family.

Grandma Knife thematically develops The Importance of Family and Friendship because Kabir’s relationship with her makes him stronger, even if she isn’t perfect. In fact, when she comforts Kabir privately before he leaves and he realizes that she truly cares about him, it’s deeply healing because he previously thought only two people cared about him, and he now realizes that others can care and that he deserves to be cared for. Also, Grandma Knife gives Kabir much-needed advice to trust his instincts and not be afraid to act in self-defense outside. Amma may not have given this same advice in such a direct way, but Grandma Knife does, and this allows Kabir the courage to throw coffee in Fake Uncle’s face to escape human trafficking. Although Amma encourages Kabir to be good, Grandma Knife reminds him that the greatest “good” is protecting himself from harm and that, if attacked, he needs to fight back.

Kabir and all children who live at the prison must attend “jail school,” and Bedi Ma’am is their teacher. It’s not a typical school because she’s the only teacher and the kids aren’t divided up into groups by age; instead, they all go to Bedi Ma’am’s schoolroom and typically do activities together, which may or may not be age-appropriate or traditionally “educational.” Nonetheless, Bedi Ma’am, with the limited resources she’s given, does her best to educate the children in ways that will help them after their release, most without their parents, from the prison. She teaches them facts and information, such as how to ride buses and use money, as well as philosophical lessons about hope, courage, and resilience. In both cases, Bedi Ma’am’s mission sometimes seems impossible. She has little warning before Kabir leaves, so she doesn’t have enough time to teach him everything he needs to know about the outside world and how to navigate its dangers. However, she demonstrates the theme of Resilience and Positivity as Tools for Change because she keeps trying despite how impossible her mission might seem.

One lesson Bedi Ma’am teaches Kabir is the importance of resilience and positivity. This lesson is perhaps more important than anything else she teaches him because it’s the core of his success. Bedi Ma’am encourages Kabir to be like a butterfly, which protects itself in a cocoon and transforms, all alone and with no instruction, into something amazing. She can’t predict exactly what challenges he’ll face in the outside world but seems to sense that instilling this lesson will help Kabir get through most of them. This lesson proves essential because it’s applicable to almost every challenge Kabir might face, whereas other lessons, such as how to ride a bus, are limited in their application though still useful.

After Kabir’s release from the prison, Rani is the first friend he makes. They meet when Kabir is running away from Fake Uncle, and Rani lies to him about where Kabir went in order to save Kabir and get rid of Fake Uncle. She then takes him under her wing, teaching him how to barter with low-caste-friendly vendors, work for money by telling fortunes and singing, hunt and forage for food, and use trees for shelter. She’s older than Kabir and has experience living in the outside world, so she has much knowledge and many skills to share with him. However, their friendship is symbiotic because they both help each other out. For example, Kabir helps Rani once they arrive in Bengaluru, where he speaks the local language but she doesn’t. They both help each other achieve their goals: for each to find a new home, for Rani to attend school, and for Kabir to help free Amma from prison.

However, the most important thing that Kabir and Rani offer each other is not practical help but, more generally, friendship and support. Simply having someone to share his life and goals with helps Kabir affirm that his goals are possible and remind himself that sticking to those goals is the right thing to do. Similarly, Rani draws encouragement and inspiration from Kabir, who gives her hope that she can attend school and find a suitable home like her mother wanted. Rani’s presence in Kabir’s life helps develop The Importance of Family and Friendship as well as Resilience and Positivity as Tools for Change as themes.

Kabir’s paternal grandparents, meaning his father (Appa’s) mom and dad, are Patti and Thatha. They’re also called ajja and ajji. Until Kabir’s release from prison, Patti and Thatha don’t know that Appa married Amma or that Kabir was ever born: Appa didn’t tell them because Amma was Hindu, while Appa and his parents were Muslim (and, later, because Amma was in prison). Appa assumed they’d be mad if they found out he married a Hindu woman who later was incarcerated, and Patti and Thatha confirm that they probably would have been mad back then. Religious tensions create prejudices that sometimes cause different groups to fight, and families often resist marriages between people of different religions. Patti and Thatha apparently were once more concerned about prejudice than about family loyalty. However, after losing their son in a plane crash, Patti and Thatha changed their priorities. They now realize how terrible it is to lose a child and how silly it was to reject a potential new family member because of religious differences.

Patti and Thatha’s change of heart thematically illustrates The Importance of Family and Friendship. Having learned that family is infinitely more valuable than clinging to pointless prejudices, Patti and Thatha accept Kabir and even Amma into their home and their lives, grateful to have new family to share their love with. It’s unfortunate that they learned this lesson through grief, but grief is really another side of love and shows their depth of care for their son. They accept Kabir and Amma to honor Appa and because they’re pleased to have new family members. In seizing the chance to be better grandparents than the parents they once were, they develop Resilience and Positivity as Tools for Change as a theme because people can keep trying to change for the better despite age.

Another boy who lives in Patti and Thatha’s apartment building, Lakshman eventually becomes Kabir’s friend, though not right away. When Kabir first arrives in Bengaluru, he’s skeptical about making new friends because he has already encountered several unpleasant and even dangerous people, both inside and outside prison. Even his cousin, Junaid, whom Patti encourages him to play with, is rude and says hurtful things about Amma, and Kabir doubts that others will accept him if his own cousin won’t. However, Patti makes Kabir promise to at least try playing cricket with the neighbor boys, one of whom is Lakshman. Although Kabir doesn’t particularly bond with the others, they aren’t rude, and he does bond with Lakshman, making another valuable friend in addition to Rani.

Like Rani, Lakshman gives Kabir hope and courage because he accepts him and supports his goals. Likewise, Kabir supports Lakshman’s goals, though he has so many ideas that it’s hard to know which ones he’s serious about. As Kabir’s friend, Lakshman’s most valuable quality is his dedication to being good and doing the right thing, like Kabir. It doesn’t matter that he has no single, concrete goal yet; he just wants to make the world a better place, and he has many avenues through which to do so. One avenue is to help Kabir get to Viji Aunty’s school so that he can find a lawyer to help free Amma. Lakshman and Kabir’s friendship helps develop The Importance of Family and Friendship as a theme.