Leela

=What do I need to know about ... Leela?=

Brief Description
__//**Leela**//__ is natural and vibrant. She is a clear example of the innocence, honesty and purity that the Headmaster sees in the world of children. Generally a caring daughter she is occasionally petulant and our exposure to this side of her personality perhaps indicates to the reader something that the Headmaster does not quite realise, which is that not everything can be learnt from children. They need to do some learning too. However, her continual questions and childish naivety make us look at the world again in a fresh light. Leela also means illusion/play.

Key Quotations
==Pg. 87. //She asks if her friend can walk with her father and laments that ‘She is so poor’ because ‘Nobody buys her peppermints’// == This proves Leela’s innocence and her views on the world has she perceives ‘poor’ as ‘nobody buys her peppermints’. It however also shows her naive credulity as she believes the teachings of her grandmother even if what she is teaching may not be the whole truth. As a child, Leela also relates materialistic substances as a way of judging someone’s status in society. (i.e. because nobody buys this girl peppermints, she is poor)

**Pg. 92** //**‘The one relief was the child, spick and span and fresh, and mocking by her very carriage the world of elders.'**// A few days after the death of Krishna’s wife Susila, it is shown that the presence of Leela is helping him through the mourning process. This is reinforced when Krishna //‘’refuses to allow her to be taken away by her grandparents”// so that she could stay with him. “//I dared not contemplate where I should have been but for her”,// shows Krishna’s will to be strong and to be a good father for his daughter. //“It kept me very much alive to play both mother and father to her at the same time”, shows the// turning point in Krishna’s pattern of behaviour. Before he tended to care only about himself but now after the death of his wife, he has a responsibility to play the role of two parents rather than one. This is shown with //“In three or four months, I could give her a bath with expert hands, braid her hair passably, and wash and look after her clothes...”// Also, Leela is all that Krishna has left in resemblance to his late wife Susila therefore he wants to keep her safe with him.

As a reader we discover that Leela repeatedly poses questions to Krishna, although it may appear that she is doing it out of curiosity as an ordinary child of her age would do, the demand for attention lurks. ‘**She saw some villagers moving about with turbans…She** **asked: ‘Do they wear those things on their heads, when they sleep? I don’t know what idea crossed her mind at such times’ pg.117.** After the passing away of her mother it seems that Leela is unaware of the event. **’The door is still closed, father. Is she bathing still?’ ‘Is she all alone?’pg.117.** In hope to move away from the subject Krishna replies: **‘There is a nurse who looks after her’** Krishna does this to avoid explaining having to explain ‘death’ (the child has not been exposed to the subject of loss or sickness). Krishna, unlike Leela, does not always tell the truth. As a result of the absence of her mother Leela seeks her father’s company. However, due to the fact that he is advancing further through the four stages of Hinduism philosophy (from father / husband to an ascetic who is less concerned with worldly things) he is more focused on reaching his goal in life. Krishna spends more of his time trying to communicate to the beyond (his wife) rather than those still living (his daughter).

Her role in the novel
When Krishna first learned about Leela coming to stay with him, he is nervous and does not know what to expect //"what am I to do with a child of seven months?"//. However, as time goes by Krishna devotes his life to Leela and Susila, and after Susila's death, he tries to make up for her absence by putting all his love into the care of Leela.

Surprisingly, Leela is not unhappy or even seem affected by the death of her mother.

Leela served as Krishna’s conscience. In the beginning of chapter 3, when Susila and Krishna were fighting about having separate rooms, Leela said, //“Are you fighting?” the little one asked, gazing at us bewildered. “You are always scolding mother,” she said looking at me, and I felt unhappy at this thrust.// This conveys that Leela is bringing the couple together and also Leela is being Krishna’s conscience, especially in this part of the novel when she said, “//“You are always scolding mother”//