Interpreter of Maladies

In 1971, when the narrator of this story, Lilia, is a 10-year-old girl, a man named Mr. Pirzada begins to visit the house to eat dinner and watch the international news. He is from Dacca, which at the time is a part of Pakistan and has recently been invaded by the Pakistani army. Mr. Pirzada is a professor in Dacca, and his wife and seven daughters are still there; he is living outside of Boston for a year to study botany on a research grant. Lilia finds nothing strange about the visits—she is used to her family connecting with any Indian people in their neighborhood—but her father points out that since Partition, Mr. Pirzada is no longer an Indian man but a Pakistani. Lilia finds this distinction senseless, as they have so many customs in common, and her American upbringing means she has little context for the differences and the political situation.

Mr. Pirzada refers to himself as a refugee in their home, referencing the people crossing the border into India from Dacca, but he is welcome, and he brings Lilia candy each time he visits. The gesture touches Lilia, but she initially feels discomfort, not knowing how to act around him.