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Spoiler Alert!
Warning! This page contains spoilers for Aru Shah and the City of Gold. Enter at your own risk. |
| “ | Hope was the thing with feathers. It lifted the part of her that had been stomped in the dirt. Hope made her look out the window to the sun rising higher in the sky. Hope might be all that they had left, but it was something she needed to cling to, because it meant that even though things were awful. . .they were far from over | ” |
–Aru, thinking to herself in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Arundhati "Aru" Shah is the protagonist, main character, and point of view character in Aru Shah and the End of Time, Aru Shah and the Song of Death, Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, Aru Shah and the City of Gold and presumably Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality. She's the modern-day 15 year old reincarnation of the Pandava Arjuna and lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where she attends the private middle school Augustus Day.
History[]
Birth[]
On February 15th, presumably 2004, Aru Shah was born to Krithika P. Shah and Suyodhana, in an unnamed hospital in the Otherworld. When she was born, her father Suyodhana had decided to buy a gift for his daughter, which was the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, but he never managed to gift her the book, because he was in some kind of hurry. However, as a tribute to him, Aru's mother always read that book to her when she was little.
Life in the Museum[]
Aru Shah was raised in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture in Atlanta, Georgia, and had lived there for as long as she could remember. Growing up, the museum never kept any secrets from her. She used to do her homework under the giant stone elephant at the entrance, whom she would later name Greg. Often, she used to fall asleep in the theater and wake up just before crackling self-guided tour announced that India became free from the British rule in 1947. Aru even regularly hid a stash of candy in the mouth of the four-hundred-year old sea dragon whom she had named Steve. Once when she was 10, while swinging from the trunk of Greg the elephant, Aru accidentally fell and cracked her arm.
Her Lonely Childhood[]
Even though she whole-heartedly loved the Museum and her mother, while growing up, Aru couldn't help but feel lonely. Because of the promise Krithika made to Suyodhana, her mother always traveled around the world in search of ancient artifacts, sites and treatises, trying to find something, anything, to help her husband and keep her daughter Aru safe. This led to the fact that Aru didn't exactly have a jolly time growing up.
She only had Sherrilyn, the Head of Museum Security, as her babysitter, who always watched The Real Housewives of Atlanta, but also took Aru out for ice-cream.
Another factor that lead to her having a lonely childhood was because of the obvious absence of her father, who was, in fact, trapped in a lamp the whole time. Every year on Father's Day, Aru made a card for her absent father, but the card always ended up in the trash can because she had no one to give the card to.
Another incident that happened was one time during a school dance at her school. Aru had been really excited to go to the dance, such that her mother gave her one of her real gold bangles. But on reaching her school, Aru realized that the dance would start with a Father-Daughter duo dance. In fear and anxiety because she didn't actually have a father, Aru pretended to sprain her ankle, and a teacher had to drive her home. Aru remembered crying all the way back home.
In Augustus Day[]
A month prior to the events taking place in Aru Shah and the End of Time, Aru had joined a new school: Augustus Day School. When she had started the school, she had been positive that she would manage to fit in.
Unfortunately, that wasn't true. Unlike the other rich, and spoiled kids at that school, Aru didn't get driven from and to school in a 'sleek black car' and neither did she have a home 'offshore'. As to fit in with the other kids, Aru started her habit of making up things which often stretched truth to a far extent.
The Pandava Quintet[]
Aru Shah and the End of Time[]
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  The Diya of Bharata When she awakes, Aru finds the entire room frozen in time, including her mother and friends. A talking pigeon steps out through an elephant statue's mouth and seeks to know the lighter of the lamp. Upon realizing that Aru lit it, he is disappointed and reveals that the Hindu gods are real, and that he is fairly positive about Aru being a reincarnations of one of the Pandavas because she lit the lamp. They are five brothers that waged war against their one hundred cousins and won, Aru is the first female incarnation of a Pandava, which the pigeon finds disapproving. It tells Aru that when one Pandava awakens, so does another and that they need to meet the other Pandava by traveling through the Door of Many. The Sleeper will stop time wherever he walks, and after nine days The Sleeper will reach Shiva who will perform the dance to end all time. When Aru inquires about his name, the pigeon asks her to call itself Subala, but Aru feels the name has too many syllables and plans to call him Sue, upon which it tells her that he is a male and Sue is a girl name, so she then calls him Boo. Aru follows Boo into the elephant's mouth into a passageway and arrives at the Door of Many, she asks it to take her to the awakened Pandava who is related to Aru by divinity instead of blood. They are transported to Georgia, and meet Mini, the awakened Pandava. Both Aru and Boo were expecting a heroic person, and were taken aback to see the germaphobe Mini. Boo tells them to travel to the Otherworld then to the Court of the Sky to meet with the Council of Guardians to receive a quest and weapons. Aru feels jealous of Mini as she reveals that her parents had taken her once for her brother. It's too dangerous for driving, The Sleeper is out there looking for the girls' celestial weapons to release the Lord of Destruction. They enter the Otherworld through its entrance portal by attempting to grab hold of an invisible doorknob and imagining it to be a string of hope. The guardian Makara of the Otherworld is revealed when many lights of moths luster against its crocodile-shaped body. After confirming the two are humans, it opens the gate to the Court of the Sky.  Urvashi, a Guardian in the Council of Guardians
The Council reappears, and Urvashi is convinced the two are Pandavas indeed, but disappointed with their gifts. Hanuman is more optimistic, saying that the gods are mysterious. Urvashi directs them to go to the Kingdom of Death and retrieve the celestial weapons of the Pandavas before The Sleeper does. Within the Kingdom of Death lies the Pool of the Past, looking into which will reveal how The Sleeper can be vanquished once and for all.
For entering the Kingdom of Death without dying, Urvashi tattoos them a magical map with mehndi which will guide them to find three keys: the sprig of youth, the bite of adulthood and the sip of old age. The map is necessary for reaching the Kingdom of Death by taking them to the location the key is in by pressing the key on the map, the girls have nine days before the new moon. Before leaving, Hanuman recounts his childhood memories of a curse which required him to be reminded of his strength by someone else, telling them that they don’t realize their own strength. Aru touches the sprig of youth on the map, transporting the three of them to a strip mall. The Sanskrit tattoos on Aru and Mini’s hand reveal that they now have eight days left. Aru discovers that her Ping-Pong ball returns to her when thrown, though she cannot decipher its usefulness. The trio arrive at the Beauty Salon with the sign saying "YOU’LL BE SO HOT, YOU’LL BURST INTO FLAMES!", where the first key on the begins to glow brightly. They meet the head-stylist Madame Bee Asura, and Aru is entranced by her. Mini points her to the portraits of several screaming women whose eyes are moving, and realize that Madame Bee is lying. Using Dharma Raja’s mirror, they see through the enchantments and realize that the she is actually an asura who is trapping them and has they first key on her head as a decoration without realizing its value. The asura appears and tries to catch them, but Aru and Mini dodge out of the way. Mini turns the compact to the Asura, terrifying her with her own appearance. In Aru’s pocket, the Ping-Pong begins to glow and she summons it to her hand. An identical ball appears in Mini’s hand, and then disappears, leaving both confused.  The Sprig of Youth, the first key to the Kingdom of Death
The group was now in an oak forest, while the girls discuss about the gods Boo is watching an anthill. He follows the ants, saying all ants go to the sage of learning, Valmiki. He has redeemed himself for murder over the years, Valmiki has mantras which will help them. They gradually reach an Anthill, where the ants have a rhyming conversation with them on behalf of Valmiki. The anthill then cracks and Valmiki steps out. He talks in rhymes and only considers those sentences which are spoken in rhymes. Valmiki asks them the rights to their stories of one day, the girls reluctantly agree. They are given their mantra and Aru touches the second key symbol on her mehndi map, but not before seeing the ants writing about the group's quest on a dark and stormy night.
The trio land in front of a Costco store, they have six days left. To them, it is the the Night Bazaar, they are to find the seasons for some weaponry. Mini reveals that her mother is a Panchakanya and that she once told on a boy named Dennis Conner who about to cut the hair of Matilda, a girl who got sick then bald.
Down the stairs, Aru felt three winds of three temperatures. They were in a forest divided into six parts, there were trees with frost, rain, blossoms, dry leaves, scarlet leaves, and green leaves. It was the Court of the Ritus the six seasons. Winter and Summer appear, they say they are ateliers who make fashion for the Earth. Monsoon and Spring then arrive but Autumn and Pre-winter are in the outside world, attending to a number of designing needs. The four seasons start mocking them, so Aru tries to leave saying they don't need them for armor. When they heard they were Pandavas, Winter gives Mini a diamond bracelet, Spring gives them Petit fours to eat later, Monsoon give Aru a grey pendant that will hit any target and Summer gives Mini a headband that make the wear forget something important.
Another tunnel leads to a huge library with live Books, suddenly The Sleeper appears. Mini manages to freeze him long enough for Aru to bite aloof and silver Adulthood Book, then she spat out a silver coin, the second key to the Kingdom of Death. The Sleeper reveals Boo is actually Shakhuni, one of the Pandavas' greatest enemies, and takes him with him. Upon finding out that Aru was the one who lit the lamp, Mini calls her a liar and leaves to save her family. All alone, Aru reads some green book that contained her adventures. She realizes her lies against Madame Bee and the Seasons led to something good. She sees the birdcage The Sleeper was carrying, it contained little clay animals, the ones that the gods rode called the Vahanas. The magic headband made The Sleeper forget about this, Aru uses Indra's light to turn them back to normal. Uchchaihshravas takes her to a tunnel house, in case she needs them again she has to declare her name to the sky.
Inside was a cave that contained a cauldron of vapors beneath a statue of Shiva. Mini is there as well and they make up. The cauldron has something inside but it is filled with halahala poison. There is also a chandelier of fire above, so Mini hits it with stones so it will fall into the poison and turn it to gas. The thing was a small turquoise goblet with a silver liquid, Aru drank from it then spat out a key of bones, the sip of old age. After placing it on the floor with the other two keys, they all transform into a door. Mini talked to the door saying they would like to go, to the Pool of the Past, after some hesitation the door let them in.
Inside, Aru can hear the final words of people who died. The two meet the dogs Ek and Do (one and two in Hindi) who say they have to be dead to continue. Mini tells them she is the daughter of their ruler, Aru uses her ball to play catch with the dogs. With them distracted, the heroines go through a silver door. All around in blinding light, they witnessed how people died, they were in line for an office but Mini's compact proves that they all speak backwards. The sign said KARMA & SINS, at the end of the line was a man with a bulbous nose and miniature versions of himself, he is not Dharma Raja, he is Chitragupta who keeps a record of everything a soul had ever done. He says Yudhistira has never been a female before, but he and not even Dharma Raja could help them on their quest, gives them good karma (two tokens with mirrors) to get past the Halls of Death, a cookie that smell like books, soma so they won't get thirsty from the dead and a slim ballpoint pen.
Answers hide in plain sight, Things aren't as they seem; There's power to find here and knowledge to glean But Time waits for no man, and Time has no ears, If you don't move quickly, you'll meet all your fears.
Suddenly, a celestial guard Timingala appears and tries to swallow the girls. Remembering Pixar's Finding Nemo, Mini suggests they look for the uvula. Aru realizes that this whale is the location of the weapons, their poking antics reveal the true gifts as Indra's Vajra and Dharma Raja's danda. It was the orb and mirror the whole time, they were awakened when the sisters tried to save each other. The Vajra's true form was too heavy for Aru, but Mini used the danda (which she nicknamed "Dee Dee") as a walking stick. Aru wants to get out of this Kingdom of Death, death had some claim everywhere. They reach a group of ponds but before they could leave Aru hears her mother. After observing her grandfather talking to his daughter and her putting the away The Sleeper's diya in the Pool of the Past, Aru realizes her mother loved The Sleeper (whose real name is Suyodhana) and that she was his biological daughter. At the place where bodies are reincarnated, the girls encounter a spider made out of clockworks and a dragon covered in eyelashes, they are Time and Wish respectively. Past Time explains that he is only one part, Future Time is invisible and Present Time can’t hold any one shape. They want something for them to leave if Time is to be saved, Mini tells them of the good deeds she has done but neither of them buy it. Aru shares the good karma she got from Chitrigupta with Past Time and Wish, who then let them go.
Then the story opens at the end of winter break. Aru Shah is invited by Arielle to a New Year’s party but she rejects it. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for three hours, Aru and Mini learned war strategy from Hanuman, dancing and etiquette from Urvashi, and folklore from Boo. On Friday, after hearing an embarrassing story about Aru meeting the new boy at school, their first class was traditional dance (specifically, bharatnatyam) and etiquette with Urvashi. Hanuman’s strategy lessons were a lot more rugged, in the Night Bazaar and through a archway of chakora (moon bird) feathers was a canyon where the two are tasked to get a crown above it. While discussing with Hanuman about ways to get it, an alarm sounds and he tells them that something important has been stolen, something even the gods fear.
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Aru Shah and the Song of Death[]
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| A herd of zombies was currently swarming through the Night Bazaar which was in chaos. Aru Shah and Mini were hiding as they had trouble using their celestial weapons. They had to find a thief somewhere who set off an alarm saying an unwanted demonic presence was in the area. Some zombies found them, so Aru launched Vajra at them and the girls made a run for it. The zombies chased them through the stands and aisles, the thief, another Pandava sister, was at the end, she shifted into a blue wolf and ran off carrying a large and golden bow and arrow. Grocery carts blocked the girls' path.
Mini tried to use Dee Dee but failed. A zombie dentist named Ernst Warren charged at them, the girls managed to hold him off only for at least twenty more to appear. Boo arrives using a vial of grey smoke so the girls can go after their sister. Aru used Vajra to lasso a grocery cart and they go to an arena where students train. In there, the thief and another girl were fighting for control of the bow and arrow, the latter looked exactly like Aru, much to the utter surprise of herself and Mini. The Pandava sister turns into a blue jaguar but the fake Aru throws her against the wall, she was controlling the zombies. Mini and Aru believe the fake Aru is a rakshasi as they could take on the appearance of gods, demons, and humans. The two try to fight her but the imposter escapes leaving them surrounded by fire. Up frpm the sky, Hanuman, Urvashi, and two other members of the Council of Guardians arrive. The two Pandavas used their weapons to shield themselves from Hanuman's water, then they check out the other Pandava. She blames Aru as the thief who blames her back, suddenly air began to lift the three off the ground. A flag, the symbol of Vayu, appeared over her head and turns into her own celestial weapon, a large, blue club. After blowing Mini away, she and Aru were getting ready to fight, Hanuman wanted her half-sister, Brynne, to stop. Aru was then shot into the sky.
Aru wakes up in a bubble with a hole in it, Mini and Brynne appear next to her. Using mind link, Mini says that Brynne is the reincarnation of Bhima the Strong, as she broke the glass bubble while Aru hurt herself trying. Down below in the Court of the Sky, the Council of Guardians was gathered together. One of them was King Jambavan, the gigantic bear. The four of them were arguing with a fifth member who says the bow and arrow was stolen from the naga treasury. It had to have been a Pandava as only they could get past Takshaka, the guard who was also present. The bow and arrow belonged to Kamadeva, the Hindu God of Love. The naga woman blames Aru and Brynne for this, she is Queen Uloopi who was a wife of Arjuna, Aru's previous incarnation. Boo and Hanuman try to defend them but to no avail. Uloopi thinks that the thief is affiliated with the Sleeper who was still at large since he failed to end time. When the council brought the Pandavas down, Uloopi revealed that the thief is kidnapping people and turning them into zombies without actual hearts and soon the effects will be permanent. The Pandavas are to prove their innocence by retrieving the bow and arrow in ten days. If they fail, they'll lose their memories of being Pandavas and the Otherworld, their souls will go dormant, and they will be banished from the Otherworld, forever. Aru was horrified at not even remembering Mini, Brynne is revealed to be part asura but it doesn't seem like she is the thief. Takshaka also says new Pandavas will come along if they fail, he and Uloopi leave through a portal he made. Brynne thinks she can do this alone but her sisters disagree, Boo can't come as he is suspected to be in league with the The Sleeper. Instead, the Council's witness who made them doubt their guilt with join them. He is Aiden Acharya, the new boy, Aru word-vomited, and he's actually a great student of semi-devine linage. Surprisingly, he and Brynne are revealed to be the best of friends. Boo is wrapped in a golden bar and sent away, he will only be freed if the Heartless are cured. Urvashi advised the quartet to first go to to the Warehouse of Quest Materials for supplies.
Aru goes with Mini to the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture and remembered the battle there with her birth father. Mini goes home to tell her parents where she's going, Krithika arrived to give her daughter a backpack of clothes and snacks. She never wanted to discuss the The Sleeper and Aru remembered when she told her the horrible story of Ekalavya's thumb. Arriving at the Warehouse of Quest Materials through a portal, Urvashi explains that they can take one item that will disappear on the tenth day, she also suggests they start by looking for the bow and arrow's owner, Kamadeva. Aiden reveals to Aru that he knew she was a Pandava because he used his camera, to zoom in on Vajra. Brynne chose metal sneakers to enhance her fighting ability and reveals that she just found the bow and arrow on the sidewalk, Aiden took a kit of UNIDENTIFIED NECESSITIES and Aru took a bottle containg a "bright idea." She remembers Boo telling them that Kamadeva lives in the Midwest, Brynne calls upon giant gazelles representing the four winds. They remembered Aru and Mini from their last quest and allow Aru to pick West first, Mini chose North, Aiden chose East and Brynne chose South.
While flying, Aiden reveals that his mother, Malini the apsara, is now a microbiologist and his dad is a lawyer, but they were getting divorced. The quartet land at Loves Park, Illinois in the Otherworld. Two signs on tree say that they need submitted identification and a guest pass to enter the gold door on the shore of the pond. A nearby swan's nest has a key, but when Aru took it the small swan with it suddenly turns giant and attacks them. Aiden grew two scimitars from the leather bands on his arms, Brynne tosses him the key and has him open the door. She tries fighting the swan as an elephant but its true target was the key. Aru has Mini make a duplicate for Brynne to fly away as a bird to mislead the swan.
Everyone manages to make it inside which looked like the lobby of the New York Stock Exchange. Kamadeva approaches them with hovering swords then shows them the time he made Surpanakha attracted to Rama and Laxmana and got incinerated by Shiva. While they were watching Kamadeva looked into their hearts so he can believe that they didn't steal his bow and arrow. But Uloopi wouldn't listen to him, she blames him for falling in love with Arjuna. He reveals that after he got incinerated, his wife Sita to the bow and arrow. But grieving his death, her soul song fled granting the bow and arrow a dark power. Anyone with enchantment knowledge struck by grief could carve out their own soul song, allowing them to use the bow and arrow to rip people's hearts out instead of joining them together. So after he was reincarnated and Rati’s soul song returned to her with him, he gave the weapon to Uloopi’s vault in the naga realm. If the thief's soul song is returned, the Heartless will return to normal. He can't with the Pandavas’ quest due to all the Stock problems, but he does tell them the soul song is in the treasury where the thief stole his weapon. Once found, they must speak the true name of the thief to reveal the weapons' location then plunge the arrow through their heart to cleanse its dark power.
As Kamadeva takes them to an aquarium, a portal to the underwater realms of the Otherworld, Aru learns that Brynne's bracelets were actually melted trophies. For help, the god of love also gives them a card for the sage Durvasa, who will curse them for wasting his time. Crossing through on of the doors, the quartet arrive the Georgia Aquarium. Heartless people have been reported missing, a large group of them suddenly surround the four. Kamadeva told them to "take the door on the left," so while Mini uses quicksilver on her shield to make them invisible, they enter through a small driftwood door that smelled like the sea. Inside was a long tunnel underwater, Brynne carries Aru so they can go faster as they have nine days left. At the end of the tunnel was like an airport terminal, except outside was ocean and there were sea animals with bubbles containing humans and creatures instead of planes. Aiden notices that all the Heartless are male, the terminal for naga realm was almost leaving. They managed to make it through the security despite some delays, a humpback whale takes them to the terminal for the Naga-Loka, the capital of the kingdom. But the Pandavas were rejected by an officer and Aru was pulled down into water. Fortunately, Aru Shah is somehow able to breath underwater and talk to fish. She witnessed a naga market and an eel taking passengers to the Will of the Sea, Vajra forces Aru board it.
She arrived at the Palace of Varuna, the god of the waters. While remembering the Ocean of Milk, Varuna's wife, Varuni, the goddess of wine, comes up and asks her to follow her. Varuna was watching cricket, his wife is disappointed in him and says some sort of prophecy about Aru surviving the sea. Aru explains the situation, but neither god will tell the thief's name, though they can give her a secret route to the naga treasury if they feed their pet. A blue crab leads Aru to an arena where her friends were trapped in cages from a naga guard, then he grows and reveals that he is the pet they have to feed. Aru's friends escaped the cages to help out, they need to fill the crab's belly with one of them. During the fight, Aiden has Aru light up her scimitars with her lightning bolt allowing him to do some serious damage to the crab. Soon after Brynne turns into a fly and gets swallowed, the crab vomits her up. Since the gods never said how long their pet's belly had to be filled, the crab reluctantly left and an exit appeared. After putting on air-bubble helmets, Aiden revealed that his mother gave up on being an apsara to marry his dad, he was the only one nice to Brynne due to her being part asura. Varuna lost his wife's bet, Varuni guided them to a dry but unsafe tunnel that will take them to the treasury.
Brynne revealed that she found out she was a Pandava last autumn when she saved her two uncles from a car crash, that was around the time Aru and Mini went to the Kingdom of Death. She was hoping to go to but she didn't, Aru said the gods must've have been waiting for the right time. Brynne's mother, who doesn't visit her, said her father was a musician. They reached the palace that was built for Uloopi and Arjuna. A nearby skull talks to Mini saying that they don't know the thief's name yet. In a cave, three snake ladies emerge, they guard terrible secrets, knowledge and treasure. As soon as Mini knows the the thief's real name, she gets taken away by the nagini. Aru got furious and Brynne for not holding her, she even tells her she only acts like a hero. The nagini reappeared and say that Mini is safely resting due to using her energy to obtain the knowledge. They wanted more and showed a vision of beautiful, young Uloopi pleading with her father to let her save Arjuna who cursed to be killed by his son. But her father didn't see any bother in this, yet says she must use her own jewel located on her forehead, it caused her to age. Another vision showed her using the jewel to bring Arjuna back to life, and another showed Uloopi and Takshaka talking about the Pandavas' deaths. Aru realized that this is why she has underwater ability and despising Uloopi is old. Before leaving, the nagini reveal that Mini is in the land of sleep near the Court of the Heavens and drop Uloopi's jewel for them to return to her. Aiden says they'll need a sage to protect them. After dreaming, where Mini communicates with Aru at a Home Depot, the amnesiac trio decided to go to the treasury and get the soul song first.
Aru gives Brynne chocolate to make up for earlier, having an asura or The Sleeper as a parent is difficult. Aru realized that Mini wants them to go to Durvasa to save her. Traveling beneath the naga city, the trio fell into the treasury full of snake statues and untold wonders. However, above them, Takshaka attacks them after turning into a complete snake. He wanted revenge against the Pandavas for burning down the Khandava Forest that killed his family. He used to be friends with Indra, but his rain was too much work to put out the fire, now Takshaka is friends with The Sleeper. The three were losing the fight against him, but remembering the dream with Mini, Aiden played Luis Fonsi's Despacito, which Takshaka hates. Using this opening, Aru finds a red orb with a chain, the thief's soul song! Unfortunately, Aiden's phone hit a commercial allowing Takshaka to counter, but Aru grabbed it and turned up the music volume, only for her to drop and break it. Takshaka demanded the song, it turns out he let the female thief steal the bow and arrow. Varja wouldn't work on him due to a Boon from Indra, Brynne and Aiden get defeated as well. But suddenly, bhangra music begins playing and a naga boy tells the trio to run. He is revealed to be Takshaka's grandson. Aru saw him at the Night Bazaar on her last quest, her wants her phone number, and after some hesitation, she gives it to him and leaves with Brynne, Aiden and the theif's soul song.
At the Bridge of Dusk and Dawn, the three found Mini sleeping in the air. Nearby was the Palace of Day, Ushas, the arrogant Goddess of the Dawn who drags the sun, lived there. She and her red cows appeared, but Mini wouldn't wake up. The other three said that they are in a disgusting bathroom with sneezing and the five-second rule, that worked. Brynne flew ahead as Aru turned Varja into a hoverboad to carry the others. But Aiden dropped Mini forcing Aru to pick her up, Aiden was sent towards the cows but just ended up riding one. Ushas was a huge fan of Malini.
When they were back at Durvasa, Mini took a POWER NAP she got from the warehouse. The earned more of the sage's trust by suggesting curses her was giving to people. He brought them to the astral plane, a sanctuary not revealed to anyone else. Brynne put the thief's soul song on the floor and Mini said that her name was Surpanakha, she was the sister of demon king Ravana and the one responsible for the war in Ramayana. After a while, her soul song shows her talking with Takshaka about taking the amrita, the nectar of immortality the gods had gotten with the asuras whom they reneged. It's located in a golden dome with a labyrinth containing serpents whose fire kills anything with a heartbeat, this explained the Heartless zombies, Surpanakha's hiding them in the Ocean of Milk.
With two days left before they are exiled, Durvasa advised the quartet not to go to the Mall of Meditation Groves to illegally get to the Great Swamp of New Jersey. The mall was filled with different environments for rishis and sages to meditate, yakshas were trying to outsell each other. Brynne muscled the others to a portal leading to the kiosk for the Morris Country, then she revealed to the yaksha that they are the Pandavas causing him to sound the alarm allowing the quartet to get through the portal.
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Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes[]
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| As the book opens, the Pandavas sisters, namely Aru, Mini and Brynne along with Aiden are sent to rescue two targets by a Ferris Wheel. Aru had a gigantic lightning bolt and really wanted to use it, despite her friends' protests. Aiden claims that she would electrocute the targets and they would blow up the mission, to which, Brynne and Mini agree.
Aru remembers Boo and Hanuman explaining them about their mission. They were to rescue two people, of which, one of them was a clairvoyant. A clairvoyant is a person who can see the future and prophesize and given the fact that the Otherworld was waiting for a prophecy, this mission seemed pretty important. Brynne suggests that she could blast the booth, where the targets are hiding, with wind, to which everyone disagrees. They go through all the options they have, which included Aru start it with Vajra: it could fry the clairvoyant and Brynne trying to move the wheel by gently pushing it with some wind, Aru says they don't have time for gently. After coming to a decision, Mini suggests that she and Aru could climb the Ferris Wheel and scan the booths for the targets. After some protests, Aru reluctantly agrees.
  When they bring the two targets from the Ferris Wheel, they claim to be Pandavas. After realizing that demons can absorb information even while knocked out unconscious, they decide to carry the demons to Court of the Sky through the Magical Dead Zone, as the targets are underage to have access to a portal through the Night Bazaar. Ordinary mortals refuse to believe in magic, and therefore ignore it. However, within the Dead Zone, the people who are banished there attempt to flee with them, causing the rakshasa to awaken. This allows it to hear the Prophecy Sheela speaks, then it escapes. Nikita and Sheela later get claimed by the Ashvins, revealing themselves to be the reincarnations of Nakula and Sahadeva respectively, their weapons were currently a green heart and silver star placed on their throats. The Pandava sisters, along with Aiden sit on a bench on the outskirts of the Night Bazaar. Aru relieves the dreadful conversation they had with their mentor, who had flown back to the Council to triage, which just sounded like adult-speak for ‘You really screwed up’ in Aru’s mind. Aru looks at the beautiful Night Bazaar and the glittering chakora forest, and ruminates about the fact if she really is fighting on the ‘right side’. However, she is interrupted by Sheela questioning her about the beauty of the Otherworld. Aru looks at the Otherworld, which is decorated beautifully with colors, resulting in a dazzling fiasco and flurry of glittering colors. The others cheer up when Aru mentions that the Otherworld has been decorated so alluringly for Holi, which is the Hindu festival of colors and also Aru’s favorite Hindu festival. Whilst everyone is discussing about the festival, Aru calls Aiden ‘Wifey’, which makes Nikita ask them about that seemingly intriguing nickname, and Brynne adds and lists all the reasons as to why Nikita could call Aiden by the nickname ‘Ammamma’, as well. And then, after being inquired again about the nickname ‘Wifey’, Sheela tells them the story of Princess Draupadi and her marriage with all of the five Pandava brothers. She finished the story with the tragic fact that Draupadi loved one brother more than the rest, and after finishing the story her eyes glowed silver and she looked straight at Aiden and asked herself if that fact was true even lifetimes later.   Prince Rudra, Aiden's cousin The concerned Council of Guardians, (namely Hanuman and Urvashi) visit Lanka, the City of Gold, as the Prophecy mentions a false treasure. The Prophecy mentions a 'tree at the heart', which the Pandavas to believe refers to the titular Tree of Wishes, Kalpavriksha. They visit the gardens in Amaravati where they think it is kept, but Nikita reveals it is a fake and that a hint to the real tree's location is kept in the Crypt of Eclipses, where there lies secrets, which is inside the House of Months. They decide to go on a quest to find the tree. Since they need a key to open it, they decide to visit Vishwakarma, the Hindu God of Architects, first. The quest is kept secret from all others, except Boo, as they were forbidden from helping the devas. Aru is unexpectedly visited by a Naga prince named Rudra. He was the same Naga that helped them in their previous quest. Rudy insists on joining the quest as claims he can get them an audience with Vishwakarma.
They go up to the Chandra Loka, as the revealed riddle mention roots, which leads them to believe that Nikita might have the answer. So they retrieve her and are left on a supermarket where there are magical plants. Nikita speaks to them, and they find out that the tree is in Atlanta, in a floating island. While on the way there, Nikita and Aru reconcile.
The Sleeper ambushes them with his army. The other Pandavas rescue Sheela, while Nikita and Aru flee to the Tree of Wishes, where Aru leaves Nkkita behind to protect her. Aranyani, owner of the Tree, warns her of the price, and gives her the final memory of the Sleeper. She also reveals that Boo made a bargain with the Sleeper to protect them, which hurts Aru deeply. She is conflicted and loses touch of good and bad. Nonetheless, Aru makes a wish, which is wiped clean from her memory. She pays the price of the wish immediately, as she is taken by the Sleeper.
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Aru Shah and the City of Gold[]
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  Kara, Aru's biological half-sister   Escaping from the House of the Sleeper  
Between bites of the delicious deserts cooked by Brynne, Aru first starts off with Kara and her history, which included everything Kara had told her. When Aru voices her question about Kara's history, Brynne raises another explanation. Apparently, in the Otherworld, the rich families can pay a timekeeper to take a baby and put it in stasis until the parents are ready to raise it. The timekeeper, can't change time, but they can hold pockets of it, and it is a whole another level of magic. After some more questions from Mini, Aru interrupts her two sisters, informing them that the Sleeper's army is on marching to Lanka, the City of Gold, at that very moment. They've been planning to attack on Lanka within that week. Instead of the shocked masks she expects her sisters to wear, the sisters wear masks of resignation, since they already know that, courtesy of the invitation that Lord Kubera has sent them. When questioned by Aru, Mini goes to show the invitation Lord Kubera sent them, but Brynne stops her, pointing to Kara, since the two sisters still don't find reason to trust the newcomer. Aru goes out of her way to tell them that she trusts Kara, despite her being the daughter of the Sleeper. Then she notices the sudden quietness of the whole place and inquires her sisters of the others, namely her little Pandava sisters Nikita and Sheela and the Naga Prince who accompanied them on their previous quest, aka Rudy.
Right after the message, the two Pandavas and Aiden continue to fill Aru in on all that happened, finally stopping at the topic of Kubera's invitation, while discussing Kubera's grand, golden Nairrata army. To show Aru the invitation, Aiden flips a coin on the table and a golden mongoose appears on the table, out of which a deep and smooth voice comes out. The voice invites them to Lanka, the City of Gold in three days time and demands them to compete in the trials of Lord Kubera and win the Nairrata army as the reward. While talking about the invitation, and how Aru is the supposed traitor, Mini and Brynne stumble upon the topic of how people think Boo is still the traitor, and Aru confirms their suspicions. She tells all that she saw in the Tree of Wishes, but none of the sisters believe her, which makes Aru all the more frustrated.
At first, Brynne is extremely miffed and untrustworthy of the new daughter of the Sleeper, going as far as imprudently and blatantly refusing the help of Kara, and challenging her to prove herself in a fight. Kara, surprisingly, accepts and there and then, a fight between the Daughter of Vayu and the Daughter of the Sleeper breaks out. To entertain herself, and partly as a joke, Aru even goes to make popcorn to watch the show in peace, something that disdains Mini, as she is concerned for both of the sisters. After the magnificent fight, the outcome of which Kara being victorious, the Potatoes finally accepting Kara into their group, although quite begrudgingly on Brynne's side.   The Dahlonega Gold Mines; the place where the Potatoes intended to go
Once they reach their destination via the bus, the Pandavas along with Kara soon start to realize that the place they've reached is the Dahlonega Gold Mine Museum, and not the real mine. When all of them are in search of the golden roads to Lanka, two golden hamsters appear in front of them.
Once they arrive, the exchange introductions, the cheerful hamsters introducing himself as Sonu and the less cheerful and grumpy hamster introducing himself as Kanak, Sonu explains the Potatoes about all the cities the gold roads can lead to.
While reaching the souvenir shop, Sonu hands them a pamphlet with the words "this is a pamphlet :)" written down on each line.
When the rest of the group walked into the shop, Aru lingered in the place for a minute, distracted by the ghost window. Kanak then explains that the history of "Dahlonega" has more to it. He proceeds to tell her that the place was name after the Cherokee word for gold. The first nation people had known about the gold for hundreds of years, until the white people had come and seized the place, making the gold theirs. After finishing, no matter what, Aru couldn't shake the feeling that the place was cursed, even if it shined with gold. In the souvenir shop, there was a large courtyard, that was very empty, and on a distance, there stood three archways. The first led to the mouth of a cave. The second looked identical to the first one, except, it had small pieces floating in the middle of its opening. The last one, however, looked very foggy, leading to Aru believing that it would lead to Lanka.   Sonu and Kanak, the two demon hamsters conversing with Aru and Kara
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Physical Appearance[]
| “ | Usually she tried not to let these things bother her, but Aru knew she looked nothing like her elegant, beautiful parents. | ” |
–Aru in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Aru Shah is an Indian-American girl who begins the story at the age of 12, turning 15 by the end of Aru Shah and the City of Gold.
In all official art she’s shown to have a braid, but numerous times in the publications she’s referred to her “chin-length hair”, and later, when she’s 14, as having grown out her hair to shoulder-length.
She also mentions that her eyebrows are close together, almost forming a unibrow, and that she sucks in her nose when she smiles at Aiden implying that it’s at least somewhat large. She refers to herself being skinny a few times, and mentions she has no muscles when comparing herself to a statue of Arjuna. Her mother is very beautiful, but Aru thinks that she doesn’t resemble her a lot. In general, Aru views herself as not particularly pretty.
Aru likely has black hair, as both her mother and her father are mentioned having black and dark hair, respectively. She likely has medium dark skin, as she describes it as "chestnut brown", and she's warned to not go outside or she could tan darker. Judging by her description of her parents as well as her official art, it is also probable her eyes are dark and round.
However, by the end of Aru Shah and the City of Gold, a visible change has been seen in her appearance. According to Urvashi, Aru is starting to look like her mother. Her skin still remains darker than her mother's, and her hair wasn't as curly and glossy, but her hair was thick and heavy and fell past her shoulders.
Aru wears her Spider-Man pajamas throughout the whole story of Aru Shah and the End of Time. Her little sister, Nikita gifts her magical yellow pants that are apparently very flattering on her in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes. She prefers to walk around barefoot, but she can fit into her mom's shoes by the time she is 14. Despite the fact that Aru is 15 and has grown-up, her love for her pajamas still remains, as that can be seen when she says that she still likes to spend her entire in her pajamas. On her fifteenth birthday, Aru wears a gorgeous outfit which had been designed specially by Nikita. The top was made of black velvet studded with gold pearls, with ballooned sleeves that secured delicately at her wrists. Her skirt was dark gold and high-waisted, with a pattern of gold-foil lightning bolts.
Personality[]
Throughout the Books, it is said numerous times that Aru is a very imaginative person. At first, it shows that she is lying, but instead of using it in a bad way, she uses her imagination to her advantage, like using it for strategy, empathizing, and breaking through illusions and magic.
Aru is also a really compassionate person and caring person. She puts her friends in front of the Devas and cares for their safety and well-being, far more than her own She even sympathizes with Meenakshi, who is the antagonist in Aru Shah and the Song of Death. Aru is characterized by her sarcastic, smart and sassy sense of humor and playful demeanor. She is also shown to be a practical person, doing whatever it takes to save her friends. Aru also tends to be quite an awkward person as well.
Despite that, Aru is shown to have a more serious, sad and lonely side. In Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, we see a particular memory of Aru at the 6th-grade dance. Aru is extremely excited about the dance, but when the Father-Daughter dance starts Aru freaks & fakes an injury. One of her teachers drives her home, & Aru cries the way home. Growing up, Aru has often been neglected by her mother and has no father, so she hates it when the rich students in her school brag about how their parents are. She even gets angry when Mini asks if her mother really never showed her the Otherworld, because Mini's parents did. In the face of danger, Aru easily takes on the role of the leader, implying that she is a serious person.
Abilities and Tools[]
- Pandava Mind Link: She shares a telepathic mind link with her other Pandava siblings. Originally, she could only communicate with Mini, however, since meeting Brynne, Nikita and Sheela, she is now able to connect with them too.
- Underwater Breathing: Aru can breathe underwater.
- Zoolingualism (limited to Marine Life): She can understand and talk to marine animals like fish.
Her "Enchanted Ping-Pong ball"
- Vajra: It is her main weapon, a lightning bolt from her spiritual father, Indra. She wields it in battle in a wide variety of ways, Vajra having the ability to transform into other lightning-based forms. When she is not using it, she turns it into a bracelet. The bolt always returns to her hand except through divine interference. Celestial weapons can’t fight other celestial weapons.
- Board: She can turn it into a long hover board that multiple people can stand on.
- Javelin: She can throw it like a javelin at her targets.
- Net: She can turn it into a meshing net and use it to capture enemies.
- Light Emission: She can use the ball form of Vajra to emit a bright light to help her see in the dark and stun her enemies.
- Rope: She can turn it into a lightning rope and bind and enemies hands and feet.
- Sword: She can turn it into a lightning sword and fight off enemies with it.
Relationships[]
Friends[]
| “ | I've got Mini, who is the strangest best friend and sister I definitely didn't ask for | ” |
–Aru, talking about Mini in an exclusive interview by ReadRiordan | ||
Mini Kapoor, her soul sister and best friend
| “ | You’re a mess, but you’re still my sister | ” |
–Brynne to Aru, in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Brynne Rao, her soul sister, former antagonist and current best friend
| “ | Why are you like this, Shah? | ” |
–Aiden to Aru, multiple times throughout the books | ||
Aiden, Aru's crush, reincarnated wife and friend
Aiden and Aru had a rocky start to their relationship. Aru, having a crush on him, bumped into him one day, and in their first mutual interaction she word vomits on him and runs away. When they met again in Aru Shah and the Song of Death, he seems somewhat embarrassed when Brynne lets on he talked about that encounter with her in front of Aru. Throughout the Book they become friends. A few times, Aiden says that he obviously doesn’t feel romantic feelings for Aru, and Aru, embarrassed, agrees, and she seems to be over her crush at the end of the Book, although there’s still a possibility they could fall in love. A significant step in their relationship occurs when Aru notices Aiden sulking in his lawn during her birthday party and he brings her along on his mission to Parent Trap his parents; however, Aru helps show him that what he really cares about is whether his mom is happy and loves herself.
There is also a part in Aru Shah and the Song of Death, where Aiden, Brynne, and Aru are discussing what happened previously, with their fight against Takshaka. Brynne and Aru were filling Aiden in, as Aiden had been knocked out. After Aru is done explaining what happened, Brynne says "A boy asked for Aru's number." To which Aiden responds saying, "Why?" Aiden's comment really hurt Aru, but she says sarcastically, "Wow, thanks." Aiden blushes and starts to say something, but Aru cuts him off.
Several times in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, he hints that he might have a crush on her, whether he recognizes it as such or not, like when he stares at her after she gets her new outfit from Nikita, when he implies that she's beautiful when she says Sohail the chakora bird viewed her as hideous, or when after using the key, he openly stares at her for a full second, implying that the key has unlocked a feeling within him.
There is also a part of the beginning of the Book where Sheela tells the story of Princess Draupadi (who was reincarnated into Aiden) and the 5 Pandava brothers. She ends her story with; "The only sad thing was that she loved one brother more than the rest." After she finished her story, her eyes flashed silver, according to Aru, and then said, mostly to herself; "Even lifetimes later?" Aiden then responded and said, "What are you talking about?" Sheela could possibly be referring to Aru (reincarnated soul of Arjuna), but we will have to see in the coming Books. The reason why Sheela would be referring to Aru, and not Brynne, Mini, Nikita, or Sheela herself, is because Aiden only sees Brynne as his best friend, Mini as his sister, and the twins as his friends, leaving the only other person to be Aru. We don't really know how Aiden feels about Aru, but it is implied he has a crush on her.
| “ | Though Aru frequently wanted to kick Rudy, she had no desire to spurn him. Which meant he was the welcome friend | ” |
– Aru, thinking about Rudy, in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Rudy, Aru's friend
Aru first saw Rudy in Aru Shah and the End of Time, when he winked at Mini causing her to walk into a pole. She officially met him in Aru Shah and the Song of Death, when he rescued her, Bynne and Aiden when his grandfather Takshaka was attacking them. She got flustered when he asked her for her number, and initially refused on principal, but gave it to him after some persuasion.
Later in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, he joins Aru and her crew on their unofficial quest to find the tree of wishes, Kalpavriksha. During the book, they become friends with each other, despite Aru initially being annoyed at him. During the book, it might suggest that Rudy has a crush on her, like when he asked her to come to his father's palace, or when he said that she wouldn't like the store they visit.
| “ | Was this what having little sisters felt like? Wanting to scream at them most of the time, but be willing to jump in front of a car for them? If so, they were the worst. | ” |
–Aru, thinking about having Nikita as her little sister in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes | ||
Nikita (on the right), Aru's soul and little sister
| “ | You’re my favorite, Aru. You make me laugh | ” |
–Sheela, to Aru in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Sheela, (on the left), Aru's soul and little sister
Boo, Aru's former mentor and Guardian
| “ | I will always try to protect you. You will always be my Pandavas | ” |
–Boo to Aru (and her sisters) in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Aru likes Boo a lot -- when he was revealed to be Shakhuni, she forgave him quickly, and is quick to jump to his defense. However, she’s not very respectful to him, especially when he forces her to do Pandava training.
Later, in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, she feels betrayed by him.Family[]
Aru has an overall favorable relationship with her mother, who used to tell her bedtime stories and cares deeply about her. Krithika hid the fact that Aru was a Pandava from her. At the start of Aru Shah and the End of Time, Aru isn’t overly close to her mom, but by the beginning of Aru Shah and the Song of Death, they’re closer, talking about feelings a lot, which Aru dislikes, and her mother acting as a mentor to Aru.
| “ | Dad. An ache bloomed inside Aru's ribs as memories from the past day flew back to her. The only time she had ever called the Sleeper 'Dad' was when she'd thought she and her sisters stood no chance against his army. She'd hoped calling him that had hurt him as much as it had hurt her. | ” |
–Aru, about her Dad in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Aru is determined to defeat The Sleeper, although she’s worried that when the time comes, she’ll be too weak. The Sleeper has always known that she is his daughter, but she only realized part way through her first quest. At the end of the first Book, he invites her to join him when she fails to kill him, and then vanishes. He seems to care about her, but he overall cares more about getting revenge on Krithika and whatever other nefarious plans he’s making. He also seemed to be excited to have a child; in the vision Aru saw in the Pool of the Past, he was wearing an I’M A DAD! T-shirt and holding Aru. He doesn’t really know Aru, but that makes sense, due to him never interacting with her for twelve years; he did, however, know her well enough to exploit her insecurities. Aru, on her part, is bitter; when Meenakshi tells her that he misses her, she says he tried to kill her. She also doesn’t see him as a father but as a puppet-master pulling strings. But she also doubts herself when it comes to him. She’s afraid she’ll let him go again, or even join him, and she’s especially worried she’ll turn out like him, a villain.
Later, in Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, Aru sees that he did actually care about her, but makes the choice to defeat him.
| “ | But now it was Indra, the god of thinder, who looked down at her. And his expression had changed from indifferent to... amused. As if he had just realized who Aru was. His daughter. She, Aru Shah, was the daughter of Indra, king of the heavens. | ” |
– Aru, after Indra claimed her in Aru Shah and the End of Time | ||
| “ | Part of her couldn’t fight the instinct to trust Kara. There was something about her that really did remind Aru of her sisters. | ” |
–Aru, thinking about Kara in Aru Shah and the City of Gold | ||
Kara, Aru's maternal biological sister and half soul sister
Etymology[]
- Arundhati means the morning star. Arundhati is a Sanskrit/Hindi name of a star which was named after a type of climbing plant, possibly meaning “not restrained” in Sanskrit. Her name is the same as the sage Vashista's wife: Arundhati. Vashishta was the priest and preceptor of the Ikshvaku Clan, the clan of Lord Rama.
- Shah is another term used for 'king' in Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Persian language.
- Aru's name derives from the Sanskrit word aru (अरु), meaning sun.
- Her surname, Shah is derived from the Sanskrit word sadhu (साधु), meaning saint.
Trivia[]
- Aru's mother speaks Gujurati, and Aru’s picked some up from her, particularly swear words and names of different Gujarati food items
- Aru owns Spider-Man pajamas.
- Her favorite color is green
- Her favorite dessert is tiramisu
- Her favorite superhero is Spiderman.
- Her birthday is February 15, making her an Aquarius (♒️), which is an air sign and fixed sign associated by the water-bearer. This suits her personality as Aquarian’s are known for their leadership skills and imagination as well as their tendency to lie.
- Aru leads the afternoon visitors’ tour every Saturday; she wears a crisp scarlet vest with its three honeybee buttons and imitates her mom’s museum-curator voice
- Aru grew up reading and doing her homework beneath the giant stone elephant at the entrance of the museum
- She often falls asleep in the theater, and wakes up just before the crackling self-guided tour recording announces when India gained independence from Britain
- She regularly hides a stash of candy in the mouth of Steve, the four-hundred-year-old sea dragon statue in the west wing of the museum.
- A month before the events of Aru Shah and the End of Time, Aru moved to Augustus Day School, which is costing her mom a lot, which does not help Aru’s nerves at tests in addition to her horribly unfashionable shoes
- Aru is excellent at chess, does choir, and can remember facts she heard just once
- Aru lit the Lamp of The Sleeper at 4PM
- She named the stone elephant Greg after Mini’s suggestion
- Her name was chosen by The Sleeper
- Her birthday, February 15th, is one day after Roshani Chokshi's (the author) birthday, which is February 14th
- The covers of the Books and official art are not representative of what the text describes her as looking like
- Aru is the first protagonist of a Rick Riordan Presents Book.
- Her favorite superhero is Spider-Man, though starting with Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes she is more into Iron Man.
- She also loves movies, quoting and referencing them many times, such as her telling The Sleeper to not say he's Inevitable, as that is Thanos' line. She also references movies such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.
- Aru would never wear denim on denim
- When Aru was 11 or 12, she went to a school dance, but only stayed for twenty minutes before demanding that her mom take her home
- Two years before the year Aru turned 13, Aru started staying at the museum's annual fundraising project during Halloween instead of trick-or-treating. She dressed up as a flying-blue-monkey, which took three weeks to put together. Unfortunately, her effort was not appreciated by most, seeing as her costume hadn't dried in time and she got paint all over the patrons. This would be forever known in museum circles as the "Blue Monkey Scandal"
- In the bonus scene (happening sometime before Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes but after Aru Shah and the Song of Death, Aru dresses up as Winnie Sanderson from Hocus Pocus when she attends an Otherworld Halloween party, expecting to be in a trio with Brynne and Mini; unfortunately, Mini was allergic to her wig and Brynne thought Aru was joking, so Aru was alone in her costume
- Aru is an Aquarius Sun and Aries Moon.
- She visited Oakland Cemetery once, and said she loved it.
- She tried to electrocute herself with her lightning bolt and woke up 6 hours later with a splitting headache, a twitch in her left eye, and a serious case of frizzy hair.
ReadRiordan's Articles On Her[]
“A 12-year-old Indian American girl who has a special gift for bending the truth, Aru is determined, brave, and tragically underdressed for adventure. .. Aru Shah lives in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture in Atlanta, Georgia, where her mother works. She has a vivid imagination and a tendency to stretch the truth, but she never would have dreamed that she is a reincarnated Pandava and the daughter of a god."
"Aru Shah is a 14-year-old Indian American girl who just happens to be the reincarnation of Arjuna, one of the five heroic Pandava demigods from the Mahabharata. As such, it’s her destiny to save Otherworld, the home of the Hindu gods, from the wrath of the evil Sleeper."