Status Updates From Interpreter of Maladies

The Third and Final Continent

“Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.”

The Treatment of Bibi Halder

“‘The world begins at the bottom of the stairs.’”

The Blessed House

“She was like that, excited and delighted by little things, crossing her fingers before any remotely unpredictable event, like tasting a new flavor of ice cream, or dropping a letter in a mailbox. It was a quality he did not understand. It made him feel stupid, as if the world contained hidden wonders he could not anticipate.”

Mrs. Sen’s

“‘Eliot, if I began to scream right now at the top of my lungs, would someone come?’”

Sexy

“‘It means loving someone you don’t know.’”

A Real Durwan

“‘Believe me, believe me,’ she said once more as her figure began to recede. She shook the free end of her sari, but nothing rattled.”

Interpreter of Maladies

“It was similar to a feeling when, after months of translating with the aid of a dictionary, he would finally read a passage from a French novel, or an Italian sonnet, and understand the words, one after another, unencumbered by his own efforts... that all was right with the world, that all struggles were rewarded, that all of life’s mistakes made sense in the end.”

When Mr. Pirzada Came To Dine

“I put the chocolate in my mouth, letting it soften until the last possible moment, and as I chewed it slowly, I prayed that Mr. Pirzada’s family was safe and sound. I had never prayed for anything before…That night when I went to the bathroom I only pretended to brush my teeth, for I feared that I would somehow rinse the prayer out as well.”

A Temporary Matter

“Something happened when the house went dark. They were able to talk to each other again.”