Mariam hears the word harami

Mariam, at five years old, accidentally breaks her mother Nana's cherished Chinese tea set. Nana, in a fit of rage, calls Mariam a harami, a word meaning bastard. This moment marks Mariam's first encounter with the stigma of her illegitimate birth, a label that will define her social standing and self-perception for years to come. The incident establishes the fraught relationship between mother and daughter and introduces the central theme of shame and illegitimacy.