Homeless Bird Characters

When we first meet Koly she's thirteen years old and, like so many people her age, has her whole life ahead of her. To this end, she daydreams about her future and the endless possibilities and joy...

Hari's mom, a.k.a. Koly's mother-in-law, goes by Sass most of the time. And while sass is technically the Hindi word for mother-in law, it also describes Mama Mehta's personality really well. She e...

Koly's knight in shining armor (not that she needs one) is a workhorse. Not only does he own a pretty patch of land out in the country, he works in the city as a rickshaw driver to earn some side c...

Beautiful, spoiled, but also kind-hearted, Chandra becomes fast friends with Koly as soon as they become sister-in-laws. The two confide in each other, share their secrets, and even stand up for ea...

Koly's father-in-law is a tricky dude. Not in a slick way—there's really nothing too slick about this guy—we mean he's a little all over the place. So let's take a look. On one hand, Mr. Mehta...

Koly and Tanu become BFFs when Koly moves into the widows' house. Just like our leading lady, Tanu is a widow left all alone in Vrindavan. Tanu shows Koly the ropes at work and even covers for her...

For a story that's structured around a teenage girl, Koly's parents don't make a whole lot of appearances in the book. In fact, they bounce from the scene after the first chapter. See ya, guys. Tha...

Hari is what we'd call a one-dimensional character. He's not really complicated in the way that some of the other characters are in the book, and most of the time, he's bossy, immature, and selfish...

She's warm, strict, and loving to her house full of widows—think of her as a mama hen to Koly's baby bird, if you will (or if you're really into bird metaphors). Maa Kamala takes women in who hav...

Koly's boss at the garment store is like a dream come true. He's patient, considerate, and honest, and the only time he even gets annoyed is when he's robbed. (We'll give him a pass on that one.) O...