Penn State Deluge - Vol. 2 No. 1 - Spring 2004

"A Temporary Matter"
Shoba and Shukumar are a couple slowly falling out of love after the death of their child. Shukumar, having been away at a conference, misses Shoba's labor as well as the birth and death of their baby. Since the tragedy, the two have been distant and their relationship strained. Amidst their marital struggles, their electric company notifies them that temporarily, their electricity will be cut off for one hour every night beginning at 8 p.m. It is in this daily hour of darkness that Shoba and Shukumar come together and finally face their issues.

"When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine"
In 1971, Lilia's life changes when a man, Mr. Pirzada, enters her life for six months. The year that a civil war rages in Pakistan between the eastern and western frontiers, Mr. Pirzada has come from the eastern city Dacca to America on an academic grant. Having left his homeland, wife, and seven daughters, he shares food, companionship, and a sense of normalcy with Lilia and her parents, an Indian family that befriends him and invites him over nightly for dinner and to watch the evening news.

"Interpreter of Maladies"
Mr. Kapasi is a tour guide spending the day with the Das family, Indian-Americans vacationing in India. As Mr. Kapasi observes the dynamics of the family, the tense, short interactions between Mr. and Mrs. Das remind him of his own loveless marriage. To Mr. Kapasi's delight, Mrs. Das takes an interest in his second job as an interpreter of maladies—he acts as an intermediary between a doctor and his Gujarati patients. He soon becomes intoxicated by the prospect of a romantic relationship with her only to find out that she has already cheated on her husband and is using him in the hopes that he can offer her an interpretation of her supreme unhappiness.

"A Real Durwan"
Boori Ma is the sweeper of the stairwell for an apartment complex. A permanent fixture of the building, her incessant rambling and exaggerated tales amuse the other residents who look after her and find her presence in the entrance way comforting. When a couple who live on the third floor install two basins in the building for everyone to share, the other residents resent that they must share the basin on the first floor while the second sink is in the couple's sitting room. The other residents soon begin renovations of their own; however, when the basins are stolen one day, the neighbors accuse Boori Ma of tipping the robbers and they drive her out of her home.

"Sexy"
Two extra-marital affairs take place in this story. Miranda's friend's cousin has just found out that the cousin's husband of nine years has fallen in love with another woman, leaving her alone with her son. While Miranda listens to her friend update her on the status of the affair, Miranda herself is seeing a married man, Dev. Miranda tries to justify her relationship with Dev while longing for a more serious, long-term relationship she knows she will never have with him. One day she agrees to baby-sit the cousin's son; spending time with the young boy forces her to reevaluate her affair.

"Mrs. Sen's"
Mrs. Sen is the wife of a mathematics professor who has left her life in India to follow her husband and move to America. As a supplement to their income, she watches Eliot after school until his mother can pick him up. During their afternoons together, Eliot and Mrs. Sen form an unlikely bond—through daily cooking routines and trips to the market, Eliot experiences a sense of comfort and safety unavailable at home as well as an understanding of what loneliness and exile feel like.

"This Blessed House"
Sanjeev and Twinkle are a young couple with a new life and a new home together. While their personalities are polar opposites, the mismatched pair faces their biggest test when Twinkle begins discovering Christian paraphernalia throughout their house. These hidden treasures delight Twinkle while exasperating Sanjeev. Their disagreement over the fate of the artifacts brings out other issues in their relationship, creating a tension that reaches its climax at their housewarming party.

"The Treatment of Bibi Haldar"
Afflicted with an unexplainable and incurable illness, Bibi Haldar seems destined to live out her life under the tyrannical treatment of her elder cousin and his wife. Bemoaning her fate, Bibi Haldar spends her days recording inventory for her cousin's cosmetics shop while complaining to anyone who will listen of her desire for love and marriage. Her wish goes unfulfilled and her condition worsens. However, the equally mysterious pregnancy and birth of a baby boy effectively cure Bibi Haldar of her disease.

"The Third and Final Continent"
The narrator charts his journey from India to England and finally, to America where he has secured a position at MIT's library processing department. His acclimation to America includes a new diet and living conditions; however, the most notable addition is an old woman named Mrs. Croft. The narrator becomes a boarder at Mrs. Croft's home and grows attached to the 100-year-old woman whose eccentricity he finds surprising and endearing. When the narrator's bride arrives in America, this new relationship is another change that the narrator must deal with.

[ Contents | Absract | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | Works Cited | Appendix ]

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