Anita and Me

by

Meera Syal

Mr. Kumar (“Papa”) Character Analysis

Like his wife Mrs. Kumar, Meena’s father is devoted to his family and wishes he were closer to his Indian parents, to be able to take care of them. He has an occasionally explosive personality, as he tends to express rage and frustration at Meena’s bad behavior even when it relates to aspects of life that Meena cannot control, such as the vulgar words she hears in the street. He occasionally proves conservative, as he feels strongly about protecting his daughter from bad influences, in particularly coarse conversations about sex. Meena also notes that he has difficulty expressing his emotions, as he tends to become emotionally withdrawn when he is sad, instead of openly letting his tears flow and feeling better.

Mr. Kumar (“Papa”) Quotes in Anita and Me

The Anita and Me quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Kumar (“Papa”) or refer to Mr. Kumar (“Papa”). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family Discipline and Guidance Theme Icon
).
[Untitled] Quotes

I do not have many memories of my very early childhood, apart from the obvious ones, of course. You know, my windswept, bewildered parents in their dusty Indian village garb standing in the open doorway of a 747, blinking back tears of gratitude and heartbreak as the fog cleared to reveal the sign they had been waiting for, dreaming of, the sign planted in tarmac and emblazoned in triumphant hues of red, blue and white, the sign that said simply, WELCOME TO BRITAIN.

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mrs. Kumar (“Mama”), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 9
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

But whatever he did to make money was not what papa really was; whilst my Aunties and Uncles became strangers when listening to him, papa became himself when he sang. My tender papa, my flying papa, the papa with hope and infinite variety. And then one day I made a connection; if my singing papa was the real man, how did he feel the rest of the time?

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

I wanted to tell him about the old lady, but then I looked at his face and saw something I had never seen before, a million of these encounters written in the lines around his warm, hopeful eyes, lurking in the furrows of his brow, shadowing the soft curves of his mouth. I suddenly realised that what had happened to me must have happened to papa countless times, but not once had he ever shared his upset with me. He must have known it would have made me feel as I felt right now, hurt, angry, confused, and horribly powerless because this kind of hatred could not be explained.

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:

Papa’s singing always unleashed these emotions which were unfamiliar and instinctive at the same time, in a language I could not recognise but felt I could speak in my sleep, in my dreams, evocative of a country I had never visited but which sounded like the only home I had ever known. The songs made me realise that there was a corner of me that would be forever not England.

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

‘They’ll want cookers!’ giggled mama. ‘Doesn’t he know we were fitting bidets into our houses when their ancestors were living in caves? Oh God!’ and then she went suddenly quiet and looked hard at papa. ‘God Shyam, is that how they see us? Is it really?’

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mrs. Kumar (“Mama”) (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”), Mr. Ormerod
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Kumar (“Papa”) Quotes in Anita and Me

The Anita and Me quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Kumar (“Papa”) or refer to Mr. Kumar (“Papa”). For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family Discipline and Guidance Theme Icon
).
[Untitled] Quotes

I do not have many memories of my very early childhood, apart from the obvious ones, of course. You know, my windswept, bewildered parents in their dusty Indian village garb standing in the open doorway of a 747, blinking back tears of gratitude and heartbreak as the fog cleared to reveal the sign they had been waiting for, dreaming of, the sign planted in tarmac and emblazoned in triumphant hues of red, blue and white, the sign that said simply, WELCOME TO BRITAIN.

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mrs. Kumar (“Mama”), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 9
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

But whatever he did to make money was not what papa really was; whilst my Aunties and Uncles became strangers when listening to him, papa became himself when he sang. My tender papa, my flying papa, the papa with hope and infinite variety. And then one day I made a connection; if my singing papa was the real man, how did he feel the rest of the time?

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 83
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

I wanted to tell him about the old lady, but then I looked at his face and saw something I had never seen before, a million of these encounters written in the lines around his warm, hopeful eyes, lurking in the furrows of his brow, shadowing the soft curves of his mouth. I suddenly realised that what had happened to me must have happened to papa countless times, but not once had he ever shared his upset with me. He must have known it would have made me feel as I felt right now, hurt, angry, confused, and horribly powerless because this kind of hatred could not be explained.

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 98
Explanation and Analysis:

Papa’s singing always unleashed these emotions which were unfamiliar and instinctive at the same time, in a language I could not recognise but felt I could speak in my sleep, in my dreams, evocative of a country I had never visited but which sounded like the only home I had ever known. The songs made me realise that there was a corner of me that would be forever not England.

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”)
Page Number: 112
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

‘They’ll want cookers!’ giggled mama. ‘Doesn’t he know we were fitting bidets into our houses when their ancestors were living in caves? Oh God!’ and then she went suddenly quiet and looked hard at papa. ‘God Shyam, is that how they see us? Is it really?’

Related Characters: Meena Kumar (speaker), Mrs. Kumar (“Mama”) (speaker), Mr. Kumar (“Papa”), Mr. Ormerod
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis: