Sea of Poppies

Deeti is one of the main characters of the novel, and one of the main points of view we receive, as the novel begins with her vision of the Ibis. At the start of the novel, she is a high-caste poppy seed farmer married to Hukam Singh, an opium addict. Her daughter was conceived as the product of a drug-induced rape by the Singh family, and, specifically, her brother-in-law. Following her husband’s death, she initially decides to die on a widow’s pyre; however, Kalua rescues her, and they instead marry and run away together, eventually finding their way onto the Ibis. She becomes something of a leader of the migrant laborers while on the ship, which draws the attention of Hukam’s uncle, who has been searching for her and Kalua; at the end of the novel, she remains on the ship while Kalua escapes. We get a sense of the future through Deeti and the people she includes in her shrine throughout the novel.

Kalua is a low-caste ox-cart driver at the start of the book. After being beaten by three wealthy brothers, Deeti cleans him up, leading him to think about her frequently; when he realizes she is going to be burned alive, he hatches a plan to save her, and they run away together and marry.