Shabanu

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Mama

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Characters Mama

Life has dealt Mama what Sharma considers to be the greatest blessing: the love of a good man. Mama is gentle, beautiful, and sweetly optimistic. Like Dadi, she loves her daughters and at one point avows that she never wishes she had sons instead of Shabanu and Phulan. Mama calmly supports the girls through periods of confusion and doubt, although she does not speak with such candor and boldness as Sharma. She works beside Dadi during the negotiations at Yazman to determine a course of action that will benefit her daughters in the long run. In this way, she acts as an arbiter of a fate hateful to Shabanu.

Mama is blessed with the love of a good man, but she constantly strives to mitigate the effects of his temper and impulsiveness. She is practical and clear-minded, and like Shabanu, often knows what to do better than Dadi does. She mediates for Shabanu whenever he becomes angry with her. At the same time, she too expects Shabanu's obedience.

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