Books: “Interpretation of Maladies” by Jhumpa Lahiri
Having just visited Nepal and Bhutan, I observed a different sensibility in this part of the world. People are more thoughtful and philosophical. Pace is more relaxed (Kathmandu being a notable exception). Maybe it’s the Buddhist/Hindu religion. Maybe it’s the fealty to Old World ways.
In “Interpretation of Maladies,” Jhumpa Lahiri’s prize-winning collection of short stories, the Indian diaspora is explored: i.e., when native-born Indians leave the Old World for the New World. In “Mrs. Sen,” a elderly woman serves as a babysitter to an American child, introducing him to Indian cuisine but steadfastly refusing to learn to drive.
In other stories, like “This Blessed House,” a young Hindu couple purchases a home in Boston, only to discover Christian relics hidden by the previous occupants once they move in.
Lahiri writes of marriages still arranged by parents, of Indian women who still wear silk saris and cover their heads in America, and of still other women who buy sexy underwear to entertain married men unfaithful to their wives.
If you haven’t been to India or to that part of the world, put it on your bucket list, even if it’s at the bottom. And if you don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon, reading Lihari’s quiet dreamy prose is the next best thing.