The novel draws haunting parallels between food and life — portraying food as a form of power, intimacy, guilt, and resistance. Butter, in particular, becomes a metaphor for indulgence, transformation, and violence. As Kaji herself notes, butter doesn’t come from milk alone — it’s churned from blood, sweat, and the weight of societal expectations.
“To me the verses of the Upanishads and the teachings of Buddha have ever been things of the spirit, and therefore endowed with boundless vital growth, and I have used them, both in my own life and in my preaching, as being distinct with individual meaning for me, as for others, and waiting for their confirmation, my own special testimony, which must have its value because of its individuality.”
Sandesh, one of Bengal’s most iconic sweets, transformed as sweet makers experimented with different sweetening agents, such as palm jaggery, sugarcane jaggery, and refined sugar. They crafted sandesh in a variety of moulds, infusing it with colours and flavours drawn from local fruits and flowers. The essences of orange, jackfruit, and rose were particularly popular, adding a fragrant and flavorful dimension to these delicacies.
Hirayama’s life is akin to a long meditation—you develop patience as you observe and interpret his actions. Solitude here means that Hirayama doesn’t align his actions with anyone else’s expectations. He takes responsibility for his actions. He is never portrayed as lonely—he isn’t isolated but always in his own company.
The end scene that portrays Christ-like suffering for Doug surrounded by the dogs is a reminder of all the suffering that a man goes through to truly be transformed or resurrected as something else – the journey of a broken self to mend the mind and body by creating ruses that fit the maze called ‘world’.
