Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman

Reviewed by Lori
Climbing The Stairs
Title: Climbing the Stairs

Author: Padma Venkatraman

Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 27440

Description:  In India, in 1941, when her father becomes brain-damaged in a non-violent protest march, fifteen-year-old Vidya and her family are forced to move in with her father's etended family and become accustomed to a totally different way of life.

Rubric Rating: Level 3: Laud It

Why I Read It: This book was given to me by an associate as a recommended read.

Lori's Notes:  Vidya wants to be independent.  She wants personal freedom - to make choices for herself and her future.  Vidya wants an education and to choose who and when to marry, customs not traditionally followed in her culture.  After her father is injured and suffers brain damage, something Vidya feels guilty for, she must live with her extended family.  While tradition suggests that you treat others with kindness and respect, her family is seen as a burden, they call her Appa an idiot, and treat her mother and herself as servants.  However, her grandfather, Thatha,  seems to be on Vidya's side and allows her access to the library to read and better herself, but her Aunt and cousin are resentful and mean - even going so far as to bully Vidya.  Vidya's brother wants to enlist in the Indian Volunteer service - the largest volunteer army of WWII but that goes against Gandhi's teaching of peaceful resistance.  The novel definitely counterpoints the perspectives of safe vs. free, family vs. self, and peaceful resistance vs. fighting for beliefs.  Good historical insight into what was happening in India during WWII.

Recommended Readers: Appropriate for any students interested in world history, WWII, and cultural relationships.  Grade 9 and Up.

Themes: Social customs, Family and Social Heirarchy, Mental Illness, Role of Women, India and WWII, Peaceful Resistance, Safety vs. Freedom, Girl's Coming of Age, Prejudice, Social Justice.

Cross-Genre Links:
Wikipedia Search: India in World War II
BBC Documentary: The Forgotten Volunteers
Wikipedia Search: Caste System in India
Movie: Gandhi (1982)
Book Website: www.climbingthestairsbook.com

Possible Discussion or Essay Topics:
  • Why does Vidya's extended family treat them so harshly after her father is injured?
  • Vidya's father is injured trying to help a stranger, if he had stayed with his daughter and not tried to help he wouldn't have been hurt.  Do you think he would have made a different decision if he knew the consequences ahead of time?  Would Vidya have made a different choice if she knew her father would be injured?
  • Vidya's cousin is awful to her, teasing and bullying her, and yet when her cousin is married and must leave the family home Vidya honestly wishes her well. What does this tell you about Vidya's character?
  • What do you think about the roles of women in India during this time period?  Within the family and within society?  
  • Being safe does not always mean you are free.  Discuss this with examples from the novel. 
  • Discuss Gandhi's theory of passive resistance. 
  • Discuss the various types of Freedom pursued in this novel.  For example,  Freedom from the threats of WWII, Freedom to go to college and become educated, Freedom to choose who and when to marry, Freedom from Oppression, Personal Freedom
  • Think about the hierarchy within society and within the family.  Vidya's family are Brahmin so a high level of society, but within their own family they are not very high within the pecking order.  Similarly, think of the places in the novel: Is Periappa's home a prison or a safe place?  The home realm vs. the public realm.  Safe vs. Free.

Other Titles by Padma Venkatraman:





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