Anjalika Underwood

Anjalika Underwood is one of the few surviving Ravnos in the Final Nights.

Biography
Anjalika is the daughter of a Brahman woman and an English lord. Born in India but raised in England, she grew up speaking both her mother's and father's tongues, and shifts between the two with startling ease. She entered Oxford for a formal education and studied literature, focusing primarily on Indian writings. After graduation, her Indian relatives invited the family to come to India for an extended stay. Anjalika was, however, accustomed to England and Europe, where population density was much lower and the standard of living much higher. Certainly, she'd seen her share of homeless people, but not camped out on every square foot of sidewalk. Anjalika found some things about her stay enjoyable. She had access to Calcutta University's library and met a few scholars whose work she'd studied closely. Things remained pleasant until the final week, when her relatives took her to meet an "old friend of the family" named Jayakumar. Jayakumar did not look very old, but he spoke with Anjalika well into the night about India's history. At least half the time, Anjalika thought he was speaking from experience. Before the night was through, Jayakumar Embraced her and forbade her to return to her family.

Anjalika tried to leave several times, but on each occasion Jayakumar and his retainers prevented her escape. He kept Anjalika with him for over a decade before he deemed her ready to assume the duties for which he'd Embraced her. Anjalika was prepared to argue with her sire over these duties. She had spent years applying herself to work that she did not enjoy, existing from night to night in a constant state of despair. Jayakumar ordered her to go to Boston and find an itinerant childe of his, Lawrence Mayhew, and convince him to return to Jayakumar as soon as possible. Once back in Europe, she had no intention of returning to the subcontinent. She did intend to meet Dr. Mayhew, who could probably tell her more about what Jayakumar had refused to explain, especially if he was one of Jayakumar's older childer. She stopped in London with a vague thought of visiting her parents, but couldn't bring herself to actually walk in and greet them — the Embrace and the ten years that had followed it were too great a barrier for her to surmount. She traveled on to America and met with Lawrence Mayhew, to whom she told everything about her experiences with Jayakumar. Dr. Mayhew invited Anjalika to remain in Boston with him and help him place certain events in Indian mythology in context with the Ravnos history they had both picked up from their sire. After the Week of Nightmares and Lawrence's receipt of packages from an anonymous source, Anjalika agreed to travel to India with him to learn what happened. She fears that Jayakumar still walks and will take her freedom from her when he sees her again.