“The Sleeping Dictionary” by Sujata Massey follows the story of a young girl searching for family, belonging, and purpose after her entire village is wiped out by a tidal wave. The Sleeping Dictionary is primarily a historical fiction as well as an adventure and is heavily shaped by its structure as a novel with a beginning and an end. That being said, readers can see how the past shapes the present and offers further insights and clarity for the future. For example, the interactions between our main character and Mr. Lewes are much better understood with the overarching tension between tradition and progress in mind, especially as it pertains to the female embodiment in 20th century India, which are hinted at from the beginning. The good, the bad, and the ugly of Indian culture and values are represented through references to the long-standing caste system and Western political and cultural imperialism as well as appreciations for Indian foods, fauna, and weather, as well as the ambitious sovereignty of the Indian peoples.

  The five poems I selected are primarily free verse poems much more “fuzzy” in spirit due to their shorter structure and medium. They rely more on certain depictions of Indian cultural elements and values to convey ideas to readers––particularly those more versed in Indian culture––and the narratives are much less linear. The poems “Where I Come From” by Shikha Malaviya and “Mediterranean” by Sudeep Sen describe various sights or facets of Indian life and how they all synthesize to create India, not as a geographic state or nation but as a spiritual union to be felt rather than seen. The poems “Engraving of a Bison on Stone” by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and “The Morning After the Festival” by Tanya Mendonsa expand on this idea by introducing ideas of nature––this omnipresent force that encompasses everything we know––and duality, or lack thereof. Here, you have Hinduism, a religion originating in and timelessly embedded in the region of South Asia that integrates these philosophical ideas regarding our relation to nature, the external world––the past, present, and future––and ourselves. The final poem “Where Do All the Frogs Go?” by Moumita Alam describes the tension between Hindu values and the relentless Western pursuit that enmeshes them, showing how the philosophical ideas mentioned earlier can be grounded, subjugated, and misconstrued in society.

  I believe that “The Sleeping Dictionary” also explores how the philosophical ideas of Hinduism are grounded, subjugated, and misconstrued by society. Although, as I mentioned earlier, “The Sleeping Dictionary” follows a singular, linear storyline, it highlights the different themes seen throughout the poems throughout the arc of the main character. Western imperialism and the remains of the caste system boil down to the idea of some people having more inherent worth––and thus, more of a say––than others. Born to––and inevitably separated from––a low-caste family, our main character learns to undermine these ideas regarding caste and race and regain her personal sovereignty when the goodness of her culture and people stands at odds with the corruption of the society around her. Like "Mediterranean", “Where I Come From”, Indian culture is represented through this spiritual connection with the all-encompassing force (“atman”) and imagery of the sights and sounds of Indian life.

  Although the multiple poems I selected are more overtly philosophical than “The Sleeping Dictionary”, they share multiple philosophical themes in common; “The Sleeping Dictionary” is almost like the application of these topics.