HULLABALOO IN THE GUAVA ORCHARD

Today I would like to discuss one of the novels we‘ve just finished reading with the students  from year 10 and year 11 attending  Babar Bilingual School: “Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard”, the dazzling critically acclaimed fiction written by  Kiran  Desai who tells us a  poignant story about an Indian family, in an ingenious wryly hilarious way. In  “Hullabaloo”  the author  creates characters  that reflect freshness and tenderness;   characters who  show  attitudes towards life that even when being incredibly absurd, and hyperbolic, make the reader adore the hilarious situations in which they are displayed. . I’m referring to simple but delicious characters, constantly striving for escaping the mundane; their monotonous and dreadful lives. Sampath, the protagonist represents the spirit of the Indian people in a constant  search for the natural and spiritual world.

  Conversely, other characters like Mr Chawla and the spy, are shown as the embodiment of obscure figures whose actions would frequently depend on their self-benefit and welfare,  regardless of the consequences they could bring about in other people’s lives. But even when these characters are selfish,  resented and inflexible, Desai manages to make them seem more likeable thanks to the humorous way they are presented.

Hullabaloo  in the Guava Orchard delights the reader for its fresh wittiness, its incomparable inventiveness and imaginative, amusing outcomes.  Enjoy the short video essay below!