The literary term used is epigraph. An epigraph is a saying, phrase, quotation or part of a poem, book, essay, play, etc., that is placed at the beginning of a literary work, or one of its divisions, with the purpose of giving the reader some idea of what the piece is about, or suggest its theme. With this short phrase of Kamala Markandaya, the reader will be able to make an inference of what the following content is about.
