literary Calcutta family, mother of 12-year-old Niki, or Nikhil Nikhil Agarwal: 12-year-old adopted son of Kanta and Manu; Lakshmi’s sister, Radha, is his birth mother Baju: an old family servant of Kanta and Manu Agarwal Saas: means “mother-in-law” in Hindi. When Kanta refers to her saas, she is referring to Manu’s mother, and when addressing a mother-in-law directly, a woman would call her by the respectful “Saasuji.” The Sharmas: parents of Sheela Singh, co-owners of the Singh-Sharma
