Lakshmi Timeline and Summary

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• Lakshmi cultivates her cucumbers and rice paddy in her small village on a mountaintop in Nepal.
• Lakshmi gets her first menses and finds out what it means to be a woman.
• The monsoon comes and destroys the rice paddy.
• Lakshmi's stepfather gambles away the money Ama gets from selling her earrings and decides that Lakshmi will go work as a maid in the city. He barters with Auntie Bimla for a price for Lakshmi.
• Lakshmi departs her village with a few belongings, her memories, and Auntie Bimla.
• Auntie Bimla takes Lakshmi to the border, where Uncle Husband takes over Lakshmi's transportation to India.
• Once inside the border of India, Uncle Husband and Lakshmi make their way to Happiness House.
• Mumtaz buys Lakshmi from Uncle Husband and puts her in a small room.
• After Lakshmi is dressed up by two girls in the house, she is taken to a room and a man tries to have sex with her.
• Lakshmi flees back to her room, where Mumtaz meets her and explains that Lakshmi is now a brothel worker in Happiness House who must have sex with men to pay off the money Mumtaz used to buy her.
• When Lakshmi refuses to have sex with men, Mumtaz beats her and starves her, but Lakshmi doesn't give in. Eventually Mumtaz drugs Lakshmi so that she becomes unable to resist as a man rapes her.
• Lakshmi spends an indeterminate amount of time in the small room; she is repeatedly drugged and raped.
• Finally Mumtaz allows Lakshmi to enter the rest of the house, and Lakshmi meets the girls and women who live there.
• Time passes, and Lakshmi finds out more about each girl's backstory from her friend Shahanna.
• Harish, the son of Pushpa, befriends Lakshmi and teaches her to read and speak Hindi and a few words in English.
• The first American comes to the brothel and gives Lakshmi his card.
• Pushpa and her children are kicked out of Happiness House; Lakshmi falls into depression.
• Monica leaves Happiness House; Lakshmi becomes even sadder.
• Shahanna is taken in a raid; Lakshmi stops caring about anything that happens until Anita slaps her out of her funk.
• Lakshmi confronts Mumtaz about her debt, and Mumtaz tells her that she must stay at the brothel for another five years.
• Lakshmi gives the American's card to the tea boy.
• The third American comes and shows Lakshmi pictures of rescued girls and "the clean place"—a he promises to return.
• Lakshmi waits for him, and although Mumtaz abuses her to the point where Lakshmi's earring is torn from her ear, Lakshmi is not deterred.
• The American comes with good (not corrupt) policemen and Lakshmi is able to leave Happiness House.