Bandyopadhyay Summary

      Bandyopadhyay assesses the difficulty of safeguarding the Indian Culture when facing contradicting norms, in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies, and The Namesake. Specifically the journal looks at the short stories: “A Temporary Matter”, “This Blessed House”, “A Real Durwan”, “Interpreter of Maladies”, and “Sexy”, to complete the aforementioned task. The article also utilizes research on Lahiri’s short stories to carry out the analysis.

            The first question that characters face when dealing with paradoxical traditions is if to adhere to their own beliefs, or those of the nation they reside in, Bandyopadhyay reasons. This can be seen in The Namesake where Ashima and her children Gogol and Sonali chose to react differently to the American lifestyle and culture. Edward Said notes that such reaction to different cultures is brought about by “multiculturalism”. He argues that Lahiri’s characters are torn between their homeland Indian heritage and that of the USA, which leads both heritages to coexist in their life. Mishra argues that coexistence occurs as characters desire for their homeland, which leads to search for information on it, as is the case in “When MR. Pirzada Came to Dine” where Mr.Pizarda watches the news to hear about his homeland. Together with Lilia’s parents, they yearn to be in their homeland, however they also have to embrace US celebrations for Lilia, such as Halloween, hence both cultures coexist. Bandyopadhyay also argues that Lahiri’s texts portray the differences in life style from the third world and the first world. For example, in “A Real Durwan” Boorima is suffering from hunger, while Shoba buys an extreme amount of food.  Additionally her works also portray the developing nature of the Indian female and male, in comparison to the second generation Indian female and male. Their roles start to develop into things the other would have never done. For example, the male cooks and the woman, Shoba, is able to drive in one story, however in another the female, Ashima, is ignorant of how to many activities which she are new to her such as depositing a check at the bank. Furthermore, the author highlights that Lahiri’s work presents the difficulty and identity crisis, a second generation Indian develops in American society that belittles their Indian heritage, such as Gogol.

            The author concludes that Lahiri’s protagonists characterize a yearning for their homeland. Despite their involvement with the American culture, the characters portray a sense of duty and responsibility inherent of Indian values. Ultimately they will appropriate their Indian homeland and standards, yet will occupy a space between multiple cultures.