Pashmina

Published in 2017, Pashmina is a young adult graphic novel by Nidhi Chanani, a freelance cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. When the teenage protagonist, Priyanka, finds a magical pashmina (shawl) in her mother’s suitcase in their home in California, she is transported to a colorful, idealistic version of India that does not resemble the India from her immigrant mother’s stories. This adventure sparks Priyanka’s curiosity about her family history, cultural heritage, and personal identity. When she travels to the real India to visit her aunt, she learns more about her true family history and embarks on an empowering journey of self-discovery.

Chanani was born in Calcutta (Kolkata), India, and raised in southern California. Pashmina is her debut graphic novel and has been recognized as a Chicago Public Library Best Book, a Junior Library Guild selection, and a YALSA Top Ten Great Graphic Novel for Teens.

This guide refers to the 2017 paperback edition published by First Second.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain descriptions of racist and xenophobic bullying.

Plot Summary

The teenage protagonist, Priyanka Das, lives with her mother, Nimisha, in California. Her mother emigrated from India when she was pregnant with Priyanka. At school, Priyanka has one friend, Eddie, but other students bully her due to their racism and xenophobia. She goes by “Pri” because she thinks that a shortened version of her name is easier for most Americans to pronounce. Priyanka’s English teacher, Mr. Perry, encourages her to enter a comic contest because of her artistic skills, but she declines. Priyanka and her mother are close with an Indian American couple whom Priyanka calls Uncle Jatin and Auntie Deepa, although they’re not biologically related to them. Jatin takes Priyanka on weekly outings and acts as a father figure, which Priyanka greatly appreciates because she has never met her own father. Priyanka has never been to India or met her extended family, and whenever she asks about her father, her mother changes the subject.

On Diwali, the Festival of Lights, Uncle Jatin and Auntie Deepa announce that they are expecting a baby. This bothers Priyanka because she fears that the new baby will ruin her relationship with them. Priyanka doesn’t express these feelings to the adults, but she privately prays to the Hindu goddess Shakti for the baby’s demise and then immediately feels guilty about the prayer. The baby is born prematurely but is healthy, and Priyanka concludes that prayer doesn’t work. At the hospital, Priyanka doesn’t want to hold baby Shilpa, and her mother complains that Priyanka is disrespectful.

Priyanka’s mother’s suitcase routinely falls off a shelf in the closet, where it is normally kept. Priyanka opens the suitcase one day and finds a collection of her mother’s old photographs and letters, along with a pashmina. When Priyanka dons the shawl, she is transported to a colorful, magical, idealistic version of India and greeted by a talking elephant named Kanta and a talking peacock named Mayur. They show her around, and everyone has fun until Priyanka notices a mysterious shadow woman. Kanta and Mayur try to prevent her from speaking to the woman. Suddenly, the pashmina falls off, and Priyanka is abruptly transported back home.

In the suitcase, Priyanka also found old photographs of her aunt, Meena Mausi, so she asks her mother for more information about her. Priyanka’s mother admits that they were very close as children, but they haven’t spoken in 15 years. One day, Baby Shilpa gets sick and has to stay in the hospital. Priyanka feels guilty, fearing that the sickness is the result of her prayer to Shakti. Priyanka uses the magic pashmina to visit the idealistic version of India again, and when the shadow woman reappears, Kanta and Mayur once again thwart Priyanka’s efforts to speak to her.

Mr. Perry tells Priyanka that he entered her comic into the contest, and she won. Her comic will be published, and she’ll receive a $500 prize. Priyanka is delighted, and her mother is proud. Priyanka asks her mother if they can take a trip to India, but her mother says that she never wants to return there. Priyanka uses the magic pashmina to visit the fantasy version of India again, but Kanta and Mayur again prevent her from speaking to the shadow woman. Priyanka asks her mother if she can travel to India alone using her prize money, but her mother says that the trip would be too dangerous. Priyanka uses the pashmina to travel to fantasy India a few more times, but she is never allowed to speak to the shadow woman, who always appears.

Priyanka’s mom finally calls her sister, Meena Mausi, who is pregnant. She decides to allow Priyanka to travel to India to visit Mausi, much to Priyanka’s delight. The real version of India is very different from the fantasy version, and Priyanka discovers that India does have some of the problems that her mom described, such as poverty, classism, and misogyny. She tries to use the pashmina while in Mausi’s home, but it doesn’t transport her anywhere. However, when Mausi tries it on, she sees a vision of her unborn daughter. Priyanka and Mausi both want to visit a sari shop from which the pashmina may have originated, but the shop is in a different city, and Mausi’s husband forbids them from traveling there. Mausi and Priyanka visit the school where Mausi used to teach, and Priyanka helps the children practice their English. Mausi uses the pashmina again and sees a future version of her daughter as a teacher.

Meena Mausi and Priyanka decide to visit the sari shop after all, but they have to take a plane to get there. Mausi explains that Priyanka’s mother left India when she was Priyanka’s age because she was pregnant and unmarried. She had been engaged to Priyanka’s father, but when he learned of the pregnancy, he called off the wedding. In order to raise Priyanka without being shamed, Priyanka’s mother moved to the US, but she also stopped talking to her extended family, apparently out of shame. Priyanka feels guilty for having pestered her mother for information about her father in the past.

The women in the sari shop say that the pashmina didn’t come from their shop but may have come from a nearby factory. Priyanka and Meena Mausi travel to the factory, but it has been destroyed. Priyanka puts the pashmina on and again meets Mayur and Kanta. They are with the shadow woman, who now appears as a regular human instead of a shadow. Her name is Rohini Mitra, and she is an ancestor of Priyanka’s. She is also the one who created the magic pashmina. In 1944, she worked at the fabric factory because it was the only local place that would employ women, although she disliked working there. The factory was about to move locations, which upset the employees, so they destroyed it. The goddess Shakti appeared to Rohini and asked her to make one final pashmina, which would be imbued with magic that allows women to evaluate their choices. After telling this story, Rohini fuses with Kanta and Mayur, and the trio transforms into Shakti, who asks Priyanka to help her in aiding more women. Priyanka is surprised that she would be chosen for this mission, but she feels honored. Shakti also mentions that baby Shilpa will recover.

Priyanka leaves the pashmina with Meena Mausi and returns to the US. She embraces baby Shilpa, asking the infant to call her didi, or “sister.” She reconciles with her mother and starts going by her full name, Priyanka, instead of Pri. She announces to her English class that she wrote a full-length graphic novel called Pashmina. Mausi gives birth to her daughter in the hospital, with the pashmina on the table next to her. She falls asleep, and another woman comes in to clean the room. She moves the pashmina to clean the table and is transported away.