Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard

by

Kiran Desai

Mr. Chawla Character Analysis

Mr. Chawla is Sampath’s and Pinky’s father, and Kulfi’s husband. Ammaji is his mother. He’s a stern, orderly, and practical man who seems to take everything very seriously. These qualities make him a stark contrast to his son Sampath, who spends most of his time daydreaming rather than focusing on goals or routines. This deeply frustrates Mr. Chawla, who’s determined to keep his strange family in line and control their lives as much as he can. At first, Mr. Chawla is enraged when Sampath runs away from his responsibilities to live in a tree. But when Mr. Chawla realizes he can make a profit from his son’s accidental new status as a holy man, he allows and facilitates this new way of life. To Mr. Chawla, the appearance of order and success is more important (and more comforting) than the messy complexities of real human experience. With this in mind, Mr. Chawla functions as a perfect foil to Sampath. If Sampath embodies an inner child set free, Mr. Chawla represents the coldness and cynicism of the adult world.

Mr. Chawla Quotes in Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard

The Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Chawla or refer to Mr. Chawla. 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:
Absurdity and Chaos Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Oddness, like aches and pains, fits of tears and lethargy, always made him uneasy and he had a fear of these uncomfortable, messy puddles of life, the sticky humanness of things. He intended to keep his own involvement with such matters to the minimum, making instead firm progress in the direction of cleanliness and order.

Related Characters: Kulfi, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“But the world is round,” said Ammaji, pleased by her own cleverness. “Wait and see! Even if it appears he is going downhill, he will come up out on the other side. Yes, on top of the world. He is just taking the longer route.”

Related Characters: Ammaji (speaker), Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

He thought of Public Transport, of the Bureau of Statistics, of head massages, of socks and shoes, of interview strategies. Of never being left alone, of being unable to sleep and of his father talking and lecturing in the room below.

“No,” Sampath answered. His heart was big inside his chest. “No, I do not want an egg,” he said. “I want my freedom.”

Related Characters: Sampath (speaker), Kulfi, Mr. Chawla
Related Symbols: Guava Fruit
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Then, if she has fulfilled all the requirements for a sound character and impressive accomplishments, if her parents have agreed to meet all the necessary financial contributions, if the fortune tellers have decided the stars are lucky and the planets are compatible, everyone can laugh with relief and tilt her face up by the chin and say she is exactly what they have been looking for, that she will be a daughter to their household. This, after all, is the boy’s family. They’re entitled to their sense of pride.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:

With a wife like this, and two children to look after and manage, Mr. Chawla grew more and more firmly established in his role as head of the family, and as this fitted his own idea of the way he ought to live, it gave him secret satisfaction despite all his complaining.

Related Characters: Kulfi, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Sampath might make his family’s fortune. They could be rich! How many hermits were secretly wealthy? How many holy men were not at all the beggars they appeared to be? How many men of unfathomable wisdom possessed unfathomable bank accounts?

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

And he began to think of stocks and shares. Stocks and shares were a good idea because they were not in the least ostentatious and Mr. Chawla realized, when he saw the respect for the austerity of Sampath’s life that visitors displayed, that he must keep a careful balance between the look of abstemiousness and actual comfort.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

He and his father were as different as black from white, as chickens from potatoes, as peas from buckets. What did he think? Did he think he would just climb down and return to his old existence like some old fool? He had left Shahkot in order to be alone. And what had they all done? They had followed him.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 127-128
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

In frustration, the Brigadier took up his cane and, feeling grubby behind the ears, got into his jeep to visit the CMO. The CMO, despite a distinct pain in his side, had donned his Gandhi cap and set off along with Mr. Chawla to see Verma of the university, albeit by a roundabout route that gave them the benefit of a good view of the mountains. Verma himself had left his house for his customary walk to the university through the Badshah Gardens with his friends Poncha of Epidemiology and Sinha of Virology.

Thus they all missed each other and that morning, anyway, the monkey menace was not discussed by the authorities.

Related Characters: Mr. Chawla, Chief Medical Officer, Brigadier, Verma
Page Number: 139-140
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

Behind this frustration, though, there was something more: a terrible sadness and a feeling of vulnerability he did not wish to investigate, though it lapped against his immediate concerns, giving him, despite himself, the unsettling feeling of being afloat upon an infinite ocean. He would not, could not, consider this. To think of such things, he was sure, would mean drilling holes in his watertight heart; all sorts of doubts would pour in and he would be a lost man.

Related Characters: Mr. Chawla, District Collector
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:

How much had changed since he had first arrived in the orchard such a short time back. How quickly it was becoming more and more like all he hoped he had left behind forever. Ugly advertisements defaced the neighboring trees; a smelly garbage heap spilled down the hillside behind the tea stall and grew larger every week. The buzz of angry voices and the claustrophobia he had associated with life in the middle of town were creeping up upon him again.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 181
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Chawla Quotes in Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard

The Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Chawla or refer to Mr. Chawla. 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:
Absurdity and Chaos Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

Oddness, like aches and pains, fits of tears and lethargy, always made him uneasy and he had a fear of these uncomfortable, messy puddles of life, the sticky humanness of things. He intended to keep his own involvement with such matters to the minimum, making instead firm progress in the direction of cleanliness and order.

Related Characters: Kulfi, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

“But the world is round,” said Ammaji, pleased by her own cleverness. “Wait and see! Even if it appears he is going downhill, he will come up out on the other side. Yes, on top of the world. He is just taking the longer route.”

Related Characters: Ammaji (speaker), Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

He thought of Public Transport, of the Bureau of Statistics, of head massages, of socks and shoes, of interview strategies. Of never being left alone, of being unable to sleep and of his father talking and lecturing in the room below.

“No,” Sampath answered. His heart was big inside his chest. “No, I do not want an egg,” he said. “I want my freedom.”

Related Characters: Sampath (speaker), Kulfi, Mr. Chawla
Related Symbols: Guava Fruit
Page Number: 47
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

Then, if she has fulfilled all the requirements for a sound character and impressive accomplishments, if her parents have agreed to meet all the necessary financial contributions, if the fortune tellers have decided the stars are lucky and the planets are compatible, everyone can laugh with relief and tilt her face up by the chin and say she is exactly what they have been looking for, that she will be a daughter to their household. This, after all, is the boy’s family. They’re entitled to their sense of pride.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:

With a wife like this, and two children to look after and manage, Mr. Chawla grew more and more firmly established in his role as head of the family, and as this fitted his own idea of the way he ought to live, it gave him secret satisfaction despite all his complaining.

Related Characters: Kulfi, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Sampath might make his family’s fortune. They could be rich! How many hermits were secretly wealthy? How many holy men were not at all the beggars they appeared to be? How many men of unfathomable wisdom possessed unfathomable bank accounts?

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

And he began to think of stocks and shares. Stocks and shares were a good idea because they were not in the least ostentatious and Mr. Chawla realized, when he saw the respect for the austerity of Sampath’s life that visitors displayed, that he must keep a careful balance between the look of abstemiousness and actual comfort.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 91
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

He and his father were as different as black from white, as chickens from potatoes, as peas from buckets. What did he think? Did he think he would just climb down and return to his old existence like some old fool? He had left Shahkot in order to be alone. And what had they all done? They had followed him.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 127-128
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

In frustration, the Brigadier took up his cane and, feeling grubby behind the ears, got into his jeep to visit the CMO. The CMO, despite a distinct pain in his side, had donned his Gandhi cap and set off along with Mr. Chawla to see Verma of the university, albeit by a roundabout route that gave them the benefit of a good view of the mountains. Verma himself had left his house for his customary walk to the university through the Badshah Gardens with his friends Poncha of Epidemiology and Sinha of Virology.

Thus they all missed each other and that morning, anyway, the monkey menace was not discussed by the authorities.

Related Characters: Mr. Chawla, Chief Medical Officer, Brigadier, Verma
Page Number: 139-140
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

Behind this frustration, though, there was something more: a terrible sadness and a feeling of vulnerability he did not wish to investigate, though it lapped against his immediate concerns, giving him, despite himself, the unsettling feeling of being afloat upon an infinite ocean. He would not, could not, consider this. To think of such things, he was sure, would mean drilling holes in his watertight heart; all sorts of doubts would pour in and he would be a lost man.

Related Characters: Mr. Chawla, District Collector
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:

How much had changed since he had first arrived in the orchard such a short time back. How quickly it was becoming more and more like all he hoped he had left behind forever. Ugly advertisements defaced the neighboring trees; a smelly garbage heap spilled down the hillside behind the tea stall and grew larger every week. The buzz of angry voices and the claustrophobia he had associated with life in the middle of town were creeping up upon him again.

Related Characters: Sampath, Mr. Chawla
Page Number: 181
Explanation and Analysis: