What is the social environment of the novel?

Though a children's novel, Desai does not shy away from showing the deleterious consequences of economic growth. Through the voices of the factory man, Adarkar, Sayyid Ali, and even Hari himself, we see how the imminent factories will upend life as the people know it in the Alibagh districts (and Alibagh can obviously represent other places throughout India and even other developing nations as well). Population growth, pollution, destruction of natural resources, loss of jobs, displacement to the city, and more are on the horizon for the characters. Though Desai's message is that one must adapt because the wheel of time always keeps turning, it is clear she finds these changes problematic and discombobulating.