


ApuĪpu is the youngest child of Harihar and Sarbajaya. She takes pleasure in the small elements of life and is close to her younger brother Apu, with whom she plays daily. Durga is imaginative and loving, and not as hard-working as her mother would like her to be. After a monsoon sweeps through their village Durga takes sick and eventually dies, causing her family to leave their home. She desires to have a husband one day and watches as her friend is given in marriage to a young man. She is very connected to her Auntie, Indir, for whom she steals fruit from the neighbor's orchard. Durgaĭurga is Harihar and Sarbajaya's daughter. By the end of the film, his hopes have been dashed, but he is on his way to a new life. He desires to be a writer and scholar and to educate his son, but neither dream is realized. In contrast to Sarbajaya, he is largely hopeful throughout the film, believing that things will turn out for the best at any moment, and believing that God has a plan. He then moves his family from his home that his ancestors have been at for generations in order to attempt to get out of the massive debts that he has accumulated, and to walk away from the life that has disappointed him. He goes away for an extended period of time to earn money and on his return he finds that Durga, his daughter, has passed away. He is prone to being cheated out of pay and fears asking his employer for the three months of pay he is owed because he doesn't want to get fired. He is a priest and also works in any way he can to earn money for his family. She barely smiles throughout the film and takes on a great deal of stress, often taking this stress out on the elderly Indir and the young Durga. Her journey is a burdensome one, in that she is tasked with worrying and fretting about the future of her family. She must keep her children in line and then bear the loss of Durga at the end of the story. This responsibility is especially burdensome because Harihar is easily cheated out of money and doesn't generally make very much. She has dreams of her own, but she has given up on them in order to support her family. She lives in poverty and does her best to keep her household going while her husband struggles to find work. Sarbajaya is the wife of Harihar, and the matriarch of the central family.
