Unaccustomed Earth

• Page 4, Ruma’s father seems to have a very distant relationship with her. Is that because he’s only talking through postcards across large distances, or is it because of his grief?
• Page 7, Ruma seems to be struggling with her own grief on top of her responsibilities to her family. She feels like she’s obligated to take care of her father, even if he doesn’t necessarily need it, and it seems like it’s causing a bit of tension.
• Page 14, they apparently wear shoes in the house, which is interesting to me. Ruma says she’d gotten out of the habit of taking her shoes off when she comes in, but that’s not strictly an Asian custom since some people are more comfortable without shoes on inside.
• Page 20, it seems like the Pinocchio marionette’s strings being tangled might wind up being foreshadowing for something? Ruma’s father says that it had “a knot in the center that needed to be undone first.”

Hell-Heaven

• Page 60, I can tell that this was a different time period, because finding out that a random guy had been following a mother and her child all day would be insanely creepy nowadays. I wonder if they had any second thoughts after learning this about him?
• Page 62 – 63, finding out that Pranab is from a wealthy family changes my perceptions of his interactions with them. Since he’s always coming into their apartment and eating their food, it makes me wonder if he’s taking advantage of them, even if they are inviting him in. He definitely comes across as privileged.
• Page 72, even though the narrator’s mother was extremely jealous of Deborah and didn’t want Pranab to marry her, she still tried to defend their engagement to Pranab’s parents. Even though she had not wanted to be around Deborah and tried to make her feel unwelcome, she still cares about Pranab and wants him to be happy.
• Page 83, why was the first instinct of the narrator’s mother to set herself on fire? That’s not a typical method of committing suicide, so is it something to do with Bengali culture, or was it meant to be symbolic of how she felt about Pranab or something?

A Choice of Accommodations

• Page 85, Amit says he splurged on a room at an inn and lists the amenities offered, which for some reason includes a “restaurant with two stars”. That would indicate that the restaurant is not very good, or mediocre at best, so why is that as an attraction given equal importance with a tennis court and a pool?
• Page 89, Amit is reluctant to get ready for the wedding and doesn’t want to see anyone from his past, but on the previous page it’s established that he had been the one who wanted to come and dragged Megan with him. Why would he suddenly be reluctant to come if it was all his idea?
• Page 93, Amit apparently had his hair turn gray very early in life and his narration seems to imply that he doesn’t see a reason for it. Since on the previous pages it was established that he’s a major worrier, this makes it seem like he has an anxiety disorder that is perhaps exacerbated by Megan’s nonchalant approach to parenting and life in general.
• Page 101, when they notice that there are a lot of children at the wedding, I notice a bit of tension between Amit and Megan. Amit is missing their daughters and wishes they were there, but Megan thinks they wouldn’t have enjoyed themselves, possibly because they wouldn’t have been able to drink. Combined with the previous mention of her parenting style, this makes it seem like she doesn’t really like being a parent very much, since she thinks she can only enjoy herself if they’re alone.

Only Goodness

• Page 131, Sudha and Rahul seem to have gone from distant to close and back to distant again. I’m guessing there’s a significant enough age gap between them that there was only a brief period of time where they were in the same phase of life and now that’s passed and they can’t relate to each other again?
• Page 132, I’m sensing some mixed messages from Sudha’s family. First her brother is distant, and then he’s upset that she’s getting another degree, and her parents don’t want her going to another country alone until they’re suddenly excited? What do they want from her?
• Page 136, even though she’s only 6 years older than him, it almost seems like Sudha was more involved in raising her brother than her parents were. This makes their distance from each other confusing, but it also explains the way he takes her for granted because she had previously spoiled him.
• Page 143-144, I know a lot of parents don’t think their kids can be depressed because they have “nothing to be unhappy about”, but it never occured to me that other cultures might think of depression as an American thing. This especially doesn’t make sense to me because I know that things like suicide rates in students are especially high in places like Japan and China which place so much importance on education. Does India have a different perspective on this matter, or are these people just unwilling to admit that their children could possibly have a problem the way so many parents do?

Nobody’s Business

• Page 174, this sounds so invasive, to have a bunch of strangers calling you and not actually knowing anything about you but wanting to marry you. The fact that they never get the details right says to me that they don’t care about her at all and just look at her like a commodity.
• Page 176, Paul was willing to buy expensive designer glasses because a pretty woman told him to, but didn’t actually like them? Not only does this indicate he probably has money to burn, but it makes it feel like he bought the glasses for shallow reasons as though thinking that if he did so the woman would have been obligated to go out with him or something.
• Page 178, they mention that they only have one phone line in the house. I’m surprised that it’s not causing any sort of tension between them if Sang is receiving phone calls from suitors all the time, even if it is against her will.
• Page 185, Sang tells her boyfriend that she only looked at places that didn’t have dogs because of him. Combined with the way he was telling her not to change in front of the windows in her bedroom and berating her for her choice in bedroom, this makes their relationship feel very uneven, as though she’s expected to do everything for him and nothing for herself.

Once in a Lifetime

• Page 224, the narrator mentions being self conscious about a logo on their clothes. Are 6 year olds usually aware of things like that?
• Page 225, the narrator mentions the class differences between their mothers and how it didn’t matter anymore because “they were both equally alone”. I thought this was interesting because I don’t think previous stories in the books we’ve read for this program really addressed things like unlikely friendships being struck up that would never have happened in their home countries due to differing backgrounds.
• Page 227, these people moved from India to America, then back to India, and now they’re moving back to America again? I don’t think any of our previous stories/books have had characters who have moved back and forth like this, and judging by the other characters’ reactions, this isn’t very common at all.
• Page 229, is it actually normal to sleep in your parents’ bed until you’re married in India, or is the narrator correct and it’s not normal? I know it’s not normal in America, and none of the previous stories have mentioned this behavior, but I know from personal experience that it’s possible to grow up thinking a behavior is normal in your culture when it’s not.

Year’s End

• Page 252-253, I’m assuming that the narrator for this story is the boy from the previous story? He mentions his mother dying from cancer and Massachusetts, where the previous story was set (I think?).
• Page 255, it seems like his father wasn’t coping with his grief well, and was doting on his mother in order to compensate? Like he’s suddenly realized how little time they had left together and felt guilty, like they hadn’t had enough time together so now he had to indulge her every whim? That’s the vibe I get from this.
• Page 263, this is the second time I’ve noticed him slipping into second person, and it was only now when he talks about being “refugees in your family’s home” that I realize that he’s “talking” to Hema from the previous story. This makes me think these stories are those two telling each other these stories through letters or something, as it still feels distant like they aren’t telling these stories in person.
• Page 275, why was his stepmother going around looking for pictures of his mother? With the way she hovers over him and tries to do everything for him, I can’t tell if she’s just really insecure or if there’s something else going on here.

Going Ashore

• Page 296-297, she mentions that they’ve only dated for about three weekends in three months, but they’re now engaged to be married? Is this an arranged marriage, and that’s why Navin is being “old-fashioned”, or are they just moving really quickly?
• Page 298, Hema really spent an entire decade believing Julian would leave his wife and children? What kind of mindset do you have to have in order to hang on to hope for that long? Was she just in denial and didn’t want to admit he didn’t actually care about her?
• Page 303, what was going on in Madrid in 1987? The way he’s talking, it sounds like there’s some sort of civil war or something?
• Page 304-305, Kaushik being able to get up close to a dying man to take pictures without anyone saying anything seems odd. Did they not think it was rude at all, or insensitive? Or is that just an American attitude?