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English - II

Notes goes sightseeing. Mrs. Das is, with Mr. Kapasi, the most important character in the story, but what
we know of her comes from the fact that she wears sunglasses, wears a shirt with a strawberry on it,
shaves her legs, and carries a large, overstuffed purse. By providing so many small, specific details,
Lahiri vividly portrays Mrs. Das but also allows for some ambiguity. Mr. Kapasi perceives the same
details but misconstrues what they mean about Mrs. Das, mistakenly believing that she shares with
him some problem or connection.
Culture Clash
Central themes of all of Lahiri’s work, “Interpreter of Maladies” included, are the difficulties that Indians
have in relating to Americans and the ways in which Indian Americans are caught in the middle of two
very different cultures. We learn quite a few details about where the Das family fits into this cultural
divide. Mr. and Mrs. Das were both born and raised in America, although their retired parents have
now moved to India to live. The Dases visit every few years, bringing the children with them. They are
Indian but not of India, and their dress and manner are wholly American. Although Mr. Kapasi
recognizes some common cultural heritage, the Dases are no more familiar with India than any other
tourist. Mr. Das relies on a tourist guidebook to tell him about the country through which they are
traveling, and Mrs. Das could not be more uninterested in her surroundings if she tried. Although
India is their parents’ home, Mr. and Mrs. Das are foreigners. Mr. Das even seems to take pride in his
status as a stranger, telling Mr. Kapasi about his American roots with an “air of sudden confidence.”
Though Mr. Kapasi and the Dases do share an Indian heritage, their marriages reveal the extent of
how different their cultures really are. Mr. Kapasi believes that he can relate to Mrs. Das’s unhappy
marriage because he himself is in an unhappy marriage. He seeks this common ground as a way to
find friendship and connection. However, the connection fails because the marriages are so vastly
different. Mr. Kapasi’s parents arranged his marriage, and he and Mrs. Kapasi have nothing in
common. By contrast, Mrs. Das fell in love with Mr. Das at a young age, and although their union
was encouraged by their parents, her marriage was not arranged. Mrs. Das’s comments about her
and Mr. Das’s sexual behaviors during their courtship shock Mr. Kapasi, who has never seen his wife
naked. Furthermore, Mr. Kapasi is offended by the concept of infidelity in Mrs. Das’s marriage. This
lack of understanding reflects a differing understanding of duty and family between the two cultures.
The two marriages may both be unhappy, but the causes, remedies, mistakes, and results of that
unhappiness have no overlap whatsoever. Mr. Kapasi’s fantasy of forging a friendship with Mrs.
Das is shattered even before he sees his address slip away in the wind. The cultural divide between
him and Mrs. Das is, from his view, simply too vast.
Different Interpretations
It is the ambiguity of the ending that leads to different interpretations in ‘A Temporary Matter’ . The
marriage of the young couple, Shoba and Shukumar, has fallen apart after the stillbirth of their son.
As a result of this tragedy, their previously happy relationship has become dysfunctional to the
extent that their marriage seems to be only ‘a temporary matter’. Shoba is unable to deal with her
disappointment and grief at losing her baby, and has projected her anger and frustration onto her
husband because he was absent at the time of her labour. They have lost touch with one another in
their relationship, as Shoba silently blames Shukumar for the tragedy; Shoba’s increasing workload
serves as an outlet for her frustration and further extends the marital discord. Like many mothers in
her situation, she is unable to understand that Shukumar is equally grief-stricken. She has become
sloppy in her appearance and has abandoned her traditional role as an Indian wife. At the same time,
Shukumar, ‘still a student at thirty-five’, has increasingly allowed himself to use the house as a kind
of prison in his despair at both the loss of the child and the breakdown of their marriage. He feels
helpless and lonely. When the couple receive a notice that their electricity will be disconnected every
evening ‘for one hour’ , Shukumar makes an effort to create a romantic ambience by using candles to
illuminate their dinner. They begin to reconnect in the darkness through confessions of ‘the little
ways they’d hurt or disappointed each other, and themselves’. ‘Something happened when the house
was dark’ and by the fourth night they were able, tentatively, to rekindle their relationship.

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