Interpreter of Maladies is a book collection of nine short stories by American author of Indian origin Jhumpa Lahiri published in 1999. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award in the year 2000 and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. It was also chosen as The New Yorker'''s Best Debut of the Year and is on Oprah Winfrey's Top Ten Book List.
The stories are about the lives of Indians and Indian Americans who are caught between their roots and the "New World".
Contents Story Originally published in "A Temporary Matter" The New Yorker "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" The Louisville Review "Interpreter of Maladies" Agni Review "A Real Durwan" Harvard Review "Sexy" The New YorkerThe New Yorker, 28 December 1998 p. 100. This story is not numbered by the book's copyright notes among the previously published stories. "Mrs. Sen's" Salamander "This Blessed House" Epoch "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" Story Quarterly "The Third and Final Continent" The New YorkerThe New Yorker, 21 June 1999, p. 200. This story is not numbered by the book's copyright notes among the previously published stories.
Plot summary
A Temporary Matter A married couple, Shukumar and Shoba, live as strangers in their house until an electrical outage brings them together when all of sudden "they [are] able to talk to each other again" in the four nights of darkness. From Shukumar's point of view, we are given bits and pieces of memory which slowly gives insight into what has caused the distance in the marriage. For a brief moment, it seems the distance is nothing but perhaps a result of a disagreement. However, descriptions of Shukumar and Shoba's changed physical appearances begin to hint at something much more than a lovers’ quarrel. We soon find out that both characters’ worn outward appearance results from their internal, emotional strife that has caused such deeply woven alienation from each other.
The husband and wife mourn for their stillborn baby. This traumatic loss casts a tone of melancholia for the rest of the story. However, there is some hope for the couple to reconnect as during each night of blackness, they confess more and more to each other—the things that were never uttered as man and woman. A late night drink with a friend, a ripped out photo from a magazine, and anguish over a sweater vest are all confessions made in the nightly blackouts. Shukumar and Shoba become closer as the secrets combine into a knowledge that seems like the remedy to mend the enormous loss they share together. On the fourth night, we are given the most hope at their reconnection when they "make love with a desperation they had forgotten."
But just as to be stillborn is to have never begun life, so too does the couple's effort to rekindle their marriage fail at inception. One last confession is given first by Shoba, then another by Shukumar at the end of "A Temporary Matter". In full confidence with one another, they acknowledge the finality in the loss of their marriage. Finally, "[t]hey weep for the things they now knew."
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, who he has not contacted in months. Because his grant does not provide him much for daily provisions, he routinely visits ten-year-old Lilia and her family for dinner, often bringing confectionery for the young girl. When Lilia mistakenly refers to Mr. Pirzada as "Indian" to her parents in private, her father tells her that he is Pakistani, which is puzzling to Lilia because he looks like her parents, eats the same things, and speaks Bengali like them. However, the constant television news of the East Pakistan-West Pakistan War informs her about Mr. Pirzada's differences as well as his current plight. Because of this, she decides one night to eat the candy he gives her, pray, and forgot to brush her teeth so the magic of the candy through prayer remains. She also tries her best to learn as much about Pakistan as possible from her school library. Her curiosity is stunted by her teacher telling her there is "no reason to consult" the book on Pakistan.
During late October, her mother buys a large pumpkin, which Lilia insists she carves. Mr. Pirzada offers his help and ends up doing most of the cutting. When news of a potential war between India and West Pakistan over East Pakistan is reported, the knife slips from Mr. Pirzada's hand and forms an "O" as the jack-o-lantern's mouth. During Halloween, when Lilia and her friend Dora go trick-or-treating dressed as witches, Mr. Pirzada insists that he accompany them for safety purposes; Lilia responds, "don't worry" and soon realizes the irony of her statement. Mr. Pirzada responds, "if the lady insists" and stays with Lilia's parents for the night.
During Lilia and Dora's stroll around the neighborhood, Dora asks why Mr. Pirzada wanted to accompany them so direly. Lilia remarks that "his daughters are missing," which causes her great guilt upon saying it. Lilia then tries to justify to Dora that she misspoke a moment ago and that Mr. Pirzada's daughters are actually fine. That night, upon returning home, she learns of the imminent India-Pakistan War and when it occurs in December, their home is deprived of joy. After the new year, Mr. Pirzada returns home to a new nation, Bangladesh. Soon after when he sends pictures of him and all his daughters, Lilia and her family are relieved. Lilia reveals that she has been eating a piece of Halloween candy and praying for him every day, but when she received the good news, stopped doing so and eventually decided to throw away the candy.
Interpreter of Maladies
Mr. and Mrs. Das, Indian Americans visiting the country of their heritage, hire a middle-aged tour guide, Mr. Kapasi, as their driver for the day as they tour the Konark Sun Temple. Mr. Kapasi notes the parents’ immaturity. Mr. and Mrs. Das look and act young to the point of childishness, go by their first names when talking to their children, Ronny, Bobby, and Tina, and seem selfishly indifferent to the kids. On their trip, when her husband and children get out of the car to sightsee, Mrs. Das sits in the car, eating snacks she offers to no one else, wearing her sunglasses as a barrier, and painting her nails. When Tina asks her to paint her nails as well, Mrs. Das turns away and rebuffs her daughter.
Mr. and Mrs. Das ask the good-natured Mr. Kapasi about his job as a tour guide, and he tells them about his weekday job as an interpreter in a doctor's office. Mr. Kapasi's wife resents her husband's job because he works at the doctor's clinic that previously failed to cure their son of typhoid fever. She belittles his job, and he, too, discounts the importance of his occupation as a waste of his linguistic skills. However, Mrs. Das deems it “romantic” and a big responsibility, pointing out that the health of the patients depends upon Mr. Kapasi's correct interpretation of their maladies.
Mr. Kapasi begins to develop a romantic interest in Mrs. Das and conducts a private conversation with her during the trip. Mr. Kapasi imagines a future correspondence with Mrs. Das, picturing them building a relationship to translate the transcontinental gap between them. However, Mrs. Das reveals a secret: she tells Mr. Kapasi the story of an affair she once had, and that her son Bobby had been born out of her adultery. She explains that she chose to tell Mr. Kapasi because of his profession; she hopes he can interpret her feelings and make her feel better as he does for his patients, translating without passing judgment. However, when Mr. Kapasi reveals his disappointment in her and points out her guilt, Mrs. Das storms off.
As Mrs. Das walks away toward her family, she leaves a trail of puffed rice crumbs, and monkeys begin to trail her. The neglectful Das parents don't notice as the monkeys, following Mrs. Das's food trail, surround their son, Bobby, isolating the son born of a different father. The monkeys begin to attack Bobby, and Mr. Kapasi rushes in to save him. Mr. Kapasi returns Bobby to his parents and looks on as they clean up their son.
A Real Durwan
Boori Ma is a feeble 64-year-old woman deported to Calcutta who is the stairsweeper, or durwan, of an old brick building. In exchange for her services, the residents allow Boori Ma to sleep in front of the collapsible gates leading into the tenement. While sweeping, she narrates stories of her past: her daughter's extravagant wedding, her servants, her estate and her riches. The residents of the brick building hear continuous contradictions in Boori's storytelling, but her stories are seductive and compelling, so they let her contradictions rest. One family in particular takes a liking to Boori Ma, the Dalals. Mrs. Dalal often gives Boori Ma food and takes care of her ailments. When Mr. Dalal gets promoted at work, he improves the brick building by installing a sink in the stairwell and a sink in his home. The Dalals continue to improve their home and even go away on a trip to Simla for ten days and promise to bring Boori Ma a sheep's hair blanket. While the Dalals are away, the other residents become obsessed with making their own improvement to the building. Boori Ma even spends her life savings on special treats while circling around the neighborhood. However, while Boori Ma is out one afternoon, the sink in the stairwell is stolen. The residents accuse Boori Ma of informing the robbers and in negligence for her job. When Boori Ma protests, the residents continue to accuse her because of all her previous inconsistent stories. At last, the residents throw out Boori Ma's belongings and begin a search for a 'real durwan'. Note that 'durwan' means doorkeeper in Hindustani and Farsi.
Sexy
“Sexy” centers on Miranda, a young white woman who has an affair with a married Indian man named Dev. Although one of Miranda's work friends is an Indian woman named Laxmi, Miranda knows very little about India and its culture. The first time she meets Dev, she is not able to discern his ethnicity. However, she is instantly captivated by his charm and the thrill of being with an exotic, older man. Dev takes Miranda to the Mapparium, where he whispers "You're sexy." Miranda buys clothes that she thinks are suitable for a mistress, but feels pangs of guilt because Dev is married. Meanwhile, Laxmi's cousin has been abandoned by her husband, who left the cousin for a younger woman. One day, Laxmi's cousin comes to Boston and Miranda is asked to babysit the cousin's seven-year-old son, Rohin. Rohin asks Miranda to try on the clothes that she bought, and gives Miranda insight into his mother's grief. Miranda decides that she and Dev's wife both "deserve better," and stops seeing Dev.
Mrs. Sen's