The Hero's Walk

Sripathi Rao, whose full name is Torturpuram Narasimha Thimmappa Sripathi Rao, is arguably the main protagonist in the novel. Much of the action revolves around his actions and feelings. He is a man of 58 and works in advertising. He was born into the Brahmin caste, though he doesn’t hold as much worth on the old caste system as his mother, Ammayya, does. Sripathi is torn between the old traditions, duties, and expectations of the old ways and the changing paradigm of modern India. On the one hand, he believes in individual freedom and the ability for one to choose their fate and way in life, and on the other, he holds to the belief of arranged marriage, and familial honor and duty that places the family’s honor above all else. It is exactly this conflict that caused Sripathi to disown his daughter, Maya, when she chose to marry for love rather than for her family’s social betterment. This, in turn, was the catalyst for the novel’s main conflict, i.e., learning to come to terms with death. Subsequently, Sripathi struggles to form a loving and supportive relationship with his son, whom he feels is wasting his life by participating in social and environmental activism even though Sripathi himself enjoys writing letters-to-the-editor addressing local injustices, using the nom de plume, Pro Bono Publico.

Aside from having to deal with his daughter’s death, Sripathi must also learn to forgive himself for his past, when he failed (much as Maya did and Arun does) to fulfill his mother’s hopes and desires for his future (becoming a medical physician). He must also learn to forgive himself for having been so stubborn as to have gone 9 years without having spoken to Maya for living the life she wanted rather than what he wanted. Furthermore, Maya’s death offers Sripathi a chance at quasi-redemption. He will never be able to win back those lost years with Maya, or tell her he’s sorry, but he has a chance to redeem himself by taking care of Maya’s daughter, Nandana. 

Nirmala represents a woman raised in the old ways of the caste system and familial honor. She is stuck in the traditional roles assigned to women in India, most conspicuously following the will of her husband, and taking care of the house, which includes her father’s mother-in-law, Ammayya. For years, Nirmala suffered in silence as Sripathi waged his stubborn feud against their daughter. Nirmala may have felt hurt by Maya’s actions, but she soon overcame those emotions and simply desired to have her daughter in her life. Maya’s death became the last straw, so to speak, for Nirmala’s reticence and blind obsequiousness. After their daughter’s death, Nirmala slowly obtains her emancipation from Sripathi, though remaining his wife, and exerts her own will in matters that concern her. Her greatest sign of emancipation comes when she arranges for Putti to marry Gopala, the man for whom Putti has pined for a long 

Like Nirmala, Putti is a woman who is stuck and dependent on what tradition and the patriarch in her family dictates. Putti is 42 years old. She desires to marry someone, but her mother, Ammayya, has always disapproved of her suitors, and her brother, Sripathi, has never cared for her future. Ammayya wants to keep Putti around as a personal servant, and Sripathi is simply indifferent, consumed solely by his problems and desires. However, like Nirmala, Maya’s death causes Putti to reconsider her position in the family and society, and she begins to express her desires. It is no coincidence that Nirmala is the one who makes the connection between Putti and Gopala.

Arun is Sripathi’s and Nirmala’s son. He is 28 years old and an activist. He is well-educated, and is earning a doctorate in social work. Arun is in constant juxtaposition with his father, Sripathi. Arun leads a life that Sripathi wishes he could have led had he not followed his mother’s wishes, failed, and found himself trapped by the duties required of him by tradition. Sripathi enjoys complaining about social injustice through the anonymity of the newspaper, but Arun fights injustice and inequality directly. Arun represents the new generation of Indians who are environmentally conscious, disinterested in traditional roles, and wish to affect a positive change in the future of their country. 

Maya was Sripathi’s and Nirmala’s daughter and eldest child. She was a precocious youth, intelligent, hard-working, and ambitious. She was also a loving daughter and believed in love. She was 34 years old when she died in a car accident along with her husband, Alan Baker. Maya’s death results in the illusions of everyone’s realities coming undone, and her death acts as the catalyst for change in almost every character, except Ammayya. Furthermore, Maya embodies the new generation that bridges the gap between the old ways, traditional Indian life and culture, and modern Indian society that struggles to become a more integral part of the global community. Maya was well-educated, independent, and internationally-minded.