1. Reread the three epigraphs at the beginning of the novel and
discuss how these three quotations provide the thematic "skeleton"
for the novel. In particular, look at the first epigraph:
"My memory keeps getting in the way of your
history." What are some of the ways that memory and history
intertwine in the lives of Badami's characters?
2. In an interview with Quill & Quire in September
2006, Badami explores the origins of Can You Hear the
Nightbird Call? In the late 1990s, after she and her
family had moved to Vancouver, Badami was preoccupied with certain
themes. She explains that she "began wondering what you would do if
you discovered that someone you loved - son, father, lover, husband
- was involved in something terrible. Would I live with the
knowledge, keep quiet about it, or would I feel morally obligated
to inform the authorities? And then how would I deal with the
consequences of losing that love?" Explore the many and various
ways that Badami chooses to unravel these preoccupations in the
novel.
3. When Leela's grandmother tells her the story of Trishanku,
the king condemned to hang upside down between two worlds, Leela
initially sees her own fate as similarly unfortunate. However,
Venku, the cook, offers her another interpretation of the story,
explaining that it is perhaps fortunate to have access to two
worlds. Discuss how the various characters in the novel are caught
between worlds and whether this in-between state is a boon or a
curse?
4. "Forgetfulness was good, said Bibi-ji. A bad memory was
necessary for a person wishing to settle in, to become one
of the crowd, to become an invisible minority." (p. 136-7)
Later in the novel we read this: "In the blank slate of a foreign
country, Pa-ji came to understand, you could scribble the truth any
way you wanted" (p. 203). In the novel, what are some of the
repercussions of forgetfulness or of denying truth? Does a person
have to dull their memory and forget their past in order to
assimilate into a new culture or country? Do any of the characters
in the novel do this successfully?
5. We learn of the nightbird of the novel's title though Nimmo:
"Above all this noise a bird sang deliriously, as if determined to
drown it out. Perhaps it was the fabled nightbird, so sweet and
unearthly was its singing. Nimmo had a vague memory of her mother
telling her stories about this bird, whose song was a portent of
ill luck. Or was it death?" (p. 144). Who is the question in the
title of the novel directed at? Why do you think the author chose
to phrase the title as a question? What are some of the many ways
in which signs and portents shape the novel?
6. Bibi-ji is selfish and impulsive, yet overall she remains a
likeable character. How does the author manage to render the
character likeable despite some of her less- than-desirable
traits?
7. Where do you think the novel turns from one filled with
humour and hope to one of great tragedy? Discuss the many ways that
Anita Rau Badami foreshadows the harrowing incidents that happen in
the last quarter of the novel.
8. What are some of the techniques that Anita Rau Badami uses to
make Chapter 24 such a powerful one? What is the shift in
perspective that is dramatically different from the other chapters?
Who are the "they" of the chapter title?
9. Look closely at the character of Jasbeer and how he evolves
throughout the novel. What are the seeds of his extremism? Why does
displacement cause contempt and violence in some and hope and
possibility in others? What are we to make of Jasbeer by the end of
the novel?
10. Of the three main female characters - Bibi-ji, Leela and
Nimmo - do you think we are meant to take one perspective as the
author's?
11. Do you find the final scene of the novel offers any hope or
redemption after the extreme violence and disintegration that
precedes it?