Ariadne Bridgestock - Blog Posts

Christopher died, bitch-

I feel like screaming that at everyone. Saw one person say he didn't matter as much so obviously Cassie would kill him off.

me @ everyone rejoicing that their faves emerged victorious from chain of thorns

Here it is.

I plan to draw Kamala Joshi in a Nauvari sari. I feel it would suit her and hope @cassandraclare can include this in her story or maybe @cassandrajp can also draw her in this attire. I was born and raised in Mumbai so I’m very excited at the prospect of my city being included in a series I love. The Nauvari ( Nine yards of fabric) is also referred to as the Kaashta or Lugade. It is a traditional sari of the state of Maharashtra and Mumbai is the state capital. Unlike other sarees, the Nauvari is built to mirror the traditional trousers that men wore and is made to be comfortable and easy to move in. It was also the staple of the Maratha clan of fighters, which was a clan that rivalled the Mughals in power and firmly established guerrila warfare training in their soldiers. 

I plan to draw Kamala Joshi in a Nauvari sari. I feel it would suit her and hope @cassandraclare can include this in her story or maybe @cassandrajp can also draw her in this attire. I was born and raised in Mumbai so I’m very excited at the prospect of my city being included in a series I love. The Nauvari ( Nine yards of fabric) is also referred to as the Kaashta or Lugade. It is a traditional sari of the state of Maharashtra and Mumbai is the state capital. Unlike other sarees, the Nauvari is built to mirror the traditional trousers that men wore and is made to be comfortable and easy to move in. It was also the staple of the Maratha clan of fighters, which was a clan that rivalled the Mughals in power and firmly established guerrila warfare training in their soldiers. 

Hard agreement

a rant about ariadne bridgestock’s representation in cassandra clare’s chain of iron

If you haven’t read the book yet, do not proceed. This post may be subject to criticism, but these are just my views.

ISN’T SHE BEAUTIFUL I LOVE HER 

Ariadne Bridgestock, or rather, Kamala Joshi, is one of the only Indian characters written about in TSC. We get to know that Kamala was adopted by the Inquisitor, Maurice Bridgestock, and his wife, when she was only seven as she’d been orphaned and the other family in the Mumbai(Bombay) Institute wouldn’t take her in due to bad blood between their families. 

She had the potential to be a powerful Shadowhunter, with beauty as well as a kindhearted, gentle nature. Her adoptive parents loved her enough to nurture her talents and show her off, but they changed her name. They changed her name and refused to acknowledge her Indian heritage. In that case, they would never dream of accepting Kamala as a lesbian woman.

This was at a time when India was a colony of the British. Britishers had taken over the country from 1757, and had no love for the Indians. Indians were tortured and revolted for years, until finally India gained independence in 1947. Imagine being a young girl in British India, adopted by British shadowhunters with a powerful position in the Clave, but having your entire childhood wiped out just because of your nationality. Imagine being a closeted lesbian in the 19th-20th centuries, and adding the fear of being rejected by society to all the above. Kamala does not deserve a partner who does not understand why she cannot reveal her sexuality to her parents. Kamala does not deserve to have her childhood hidden, does not deserve to be afraid of society anymore. 

Being a bisexual Indian myself, I have always admired her. If in Chain of Thorns, we do not see her speaking Hindi (for she must have learnt it in her childhood), wearing a saree or a salwar and telling her friends (I like to imagine her with Alastair, Eugenia and Grace in a friends group) about the things she remembers from India, I will take it personally. We see the Carstairs siblings embrace their Persian heritage proudly (even after Alastair suffered years of racism and bullying for it) and converse in Farsi – we MUST see Kamala embrace her Indian heritage as well. Cassandra must give Kamala the appreciation and respect which she deserves. Thank you for listening to my rant.