In Search for a Home

Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies is collection of short stories revolving around Indians and Indian Americans who seek belonging in a foreign land, society, or relationship. 

I have been a big fan of Jhumpa Lahiri from the time I read ‘The Namesake.’ Since then, I have read ‘In Other Words’ - an ode to learning a new language, Italian. However, I never got a chance to read her debut novel, Interpreter of Maladies, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. So when I saw the book on my friend’s bookshelf while visiting New York, I immediately borrowed it as my travel companion for my bus ride back to DC.

The book is a collection of nine short stories that revolve around the lives of Indians and Indian Americans. The author has an incredible ability to capture the nuances of a relationship, be it couples, spouse and the ‘other’ person, landlord and tenant, or immigrant and the new country. The stories are varied and engaging, and the characters are relatable to the readers.

Three short stories discuss the relationship between couples. In one story, a couple, at the cusp of ending their marriage, play a game to remember their nostalgic past - a time when they were in love. Another story talks about a young couple who recently got married. In getting to know each other, the signs of their marriage deteriorating are apparent but not explicit. The third story is about a traditional Bengali couple. The wife, unable to adapt to life in the US, narrates the stories of her past life to a boy whom she babysits. Ultimately, the simmering anger against the foreign land leads her to take a dramatic measure.

Some stories focus on the relationship between the spouse and the ‘other person.’ The first story is a namesake (no pun intended) titled, Interpreter of Maladies. It is an intriguing title - and you are likely to explain, "Ah" after reading what Interpreter of Maladies means. The story revolves around an Indian American couple who hire a middle-aged tour guide to show them around the heritage sites in India. In another story, Sexy, a young American has an affair with a married Indian man. The story brilliantly captures how her thoughts, actions, and preferences change after she is infatuated with a man who hails from a region foreign to her and how she attempts to fit in.

The third type of relationship is between an immigrant and their residing country, the United States. Some characters try to hold onto the past while others shed their skin like a cobra to embrace the new land. Both of them fail miserably. While many characters from different stories exhibit this trait, there is one story that focuses on the migrant experience in the US. The story, The Third and Final Continent, follows the story of an Indian librarian who moves to the US and settles with his wife and children. It is obvious the book, The Namesake, is inspired by this short story.

All the books that I have read from Jhumpa Lahiri follow a similar pattern - the characters struggle to fit into a world around them, most likely a foreign land. Since humans innately seek a place of comfort that is provided by a sense of belonging, Jhumpa Lahiri’s characters and their journey are relatable to readers. As the Mole from the book, The boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse says - “I guess everyone is just trying to get home.” In other words, one who has left home seeks home in a new house and no one captures the struggle better than Jhumpa Lahiri.