In January, Mr. Pirzada flies home to what is left of Dacca. Dacca’s new leader is released from prison and must lead its people through famine and unemployment and refugees returning from India. Lilia imagines Mr. Pirzada when gazing at her parents’ now out-of-date map. Months later, Lilia’s family receives a letter from Mr. Pirzada. He is reunited with his family who were kept safe from harm by his wife’s family. He thanks their family deeply for their hospitality. Lilia’s mother makes a special supper that evening, but Lilia does not feel like celebrating. She misses Mr. Pirzada. Since he left in January, she continued to eat a piece of candy in prayer for his family. But now there was no longer a need. Eventually, she throws the rest of the candy away. The stories talk about how we get caught up in our lives and missing out on the genuine pleasures of life which we keep denying ourselves of, immigrants and culture mix, sentiments and emotions, our beliefs and unsettling human nature, marriages and relationships, memories and moments that matter, home and belongingness.

An important aspect to be noted about this story is the fact that the writer’s tone in presentation of this tale of grief, tragedy and deception is in totality neutral. This neutral tone is essentially employed to by the writer as the writer, I believe desires the readers form their own individual perspectives of each character and decide who and why they wish to empathize with. This style of presentation makes provision for an unbiased formation of a point of view on the part of the reader facilitated primarily by the writer. Many a times, writer tend to shadow their narrative with their personal and judgmental opinion which I believe that the writer here has refrained from doing so making this an exemplary work of art. A sudden rush of monkeys excites the children and Mr. Das takes pictures. Mrs. Das paints her fingernails and dismisses Tina when she insists on having her nails done too. She then complains to her husband for not getting an air-conditioned car. When asked, Mr. Kapasi says that being a tour guide is not boring, as he works in a doctor’s office the rest of the week. He works as an interpreter, translating the Gujurati spoken by patients. Mrs. Das declares the work romantic, and offers Mr. Kapasi a piece of gum. Their eyes meet in the rear-view mirror. And that’s exactly what these stories are about; the sense of belonging. Feeling that you belong is as important as the need for food, or sleep, or even breathing. It gives value to your life ; finding a supportive community, or having supportive friends, family or neighbors, and being able to be a supportive member of such a community yourself, helps you to find meaning in your life. The stories are about the lives of Indians and Indian Americans who are caught between their roots and the "New World." This Blessed House is the home shared by newlyweds Sanjeev and Twinkle. Married after only four months of courtship, their moving in process is marred by growing pains. Twinkle's gleeful obsession with the Christian iconography left behind by previous tenants irks Sanjeev. He thinks that she is childish and content in a way that he can not comprehend. They argue about a statue of the Virgin Mary and Twinkle tells Sanjeev she hates him. Though they make up before their housewarming party, Sanjeev is left with lingering doubts of whether or not they love each other. However, her discarded pair of high heels fills Sanjeev with anticipation. Twinkle finds a silver bust of Jesus that Sanjeev knows will end up on his mantle, but he now feels resigned to the idiosyncrasies of his wife.The stage setting employed in each story differs and is highly apt to the story complementing the story and presenting the characters in a comprehensive way. The Temporary Matter, Mrs. Sen, Interpretation of Maladies etc. has stage setting which make the story realistic and not deviate the attention of the writer. This is an important aspect which can be understood in her works. The futility of the relationship the Das family is in is very evident in the action of Mrs Das especially when she fails to offer puffed rice which she was gorging on by herself. The element of family sharing a meal fails to be present. This action of Mrs. Das indicates indifference and an underlying sense of hostility towards her spouse and children. The relationships they share is thus understood as being a futile relationship.

Mrs. Das stays in the car because her legs are tired. She sits in the front seat next to Mr. Kapasi and confesses to him that her younger son, Bobby, is the product of an affair she had eight years ago. She slept with a friend of Mr. Das’s who came to visit while she was a lonely housewife, and she has never told anyone about it. She tells Mr. Kapasi because he is an interpreter of maladies and she believes he can help her. Mr. Kapasi’s crush on her begins to evaporate. Mrs. Das reveals that she no longer loves her husband, whom she has known since she was a young child, and that she has destructive impulses toward her children and life. She asks Mr. Kapasi to suggest some remedy for her pain. Mr. Kapasi, insulted, asks her whether it isn’t really just guilt she feels. Mrs. Das gets out of the car and joins her family. As she walks, she drops a trail of puffed rice. But to Lahiri's credit, her prose is very simplistic and is a pleasure to read, contrary to Roy's. Also, Lahiri's vivid descriptions of life of immigrants in the US is very realistic. But again, I am not sure if I should be giving her too much credit in this regard. She is based out of US and she knows the nuances of life in US (the peanut butter and jelly combination etc.). So, that probably never involved too much research. Real credit goes to authors who write about lifestyles that they are totally unfamiliar with.Take Yann Martel (Yes!He is one of my favorite authors!) for example, his description of life in India in his award winning book, Life Of Pi, is commendable. Unfamiliar with India as he was, he sure did his homework before he wrote the book.

Cite This Work

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine: Mr. Pirzada is a botany professor from Dhaka and is living in New England for the year after receiving a research grant from the Pakistani Government; he has left behind his wife and seven daughters,

Laura Anh Williams, "Foodways and Subjectivity in Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies," MELUS, Saturday, December 22, 2007. Ketu H. Katrak reads Interpreter of Maladies as reflecting the trauma of self-transformation through immigration, which can result in a series of broken identities that form "multiple anchorages." Lahiri's stories show the diasporic struggle to keep hold of culture as characters create new lives in foreign cultures. Relationships, language, rituals, and religion all help these characters maintain their culture in new surroundings even as they build a "hybrid realization" as Asian Americans. [6]

A Temporary Matter:

Noelle Brada-Williams notes that Indian-American literature is under-represented and that Lahiri deliberately tries to give a diverse view of Indian Americans so as not to brand the group as a whole. She also argues that Interpreter of Maladies is not just a collection of random short stories that have common components, but a " short story cycle" in which the themes and motifs are intentionally connected to produce a cumulative effect on the reader: "...a deeper look reveals the intricate use of pattern and motif to bind the stories together, including recurring themes of the barriers to and opportunities for human communication; community, including marital, extra-marital, and parent-child relationships; and the dichotomy of care and neglect." [5] Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri was born in London and brought up in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Brought up in America by a mother who wanted to raise her children to be Indian, she learned about her Bengali heritage from an early age. You went to answer the telephone in the other room. It was your mother, and I figured it would be a long call. I wanted to know if you’d promoted me from the margins of your newspaper.” If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help! Essay Writing Service