“I used to think my father had been assigned to us by the government.”
The Mishra family resembles most immigrant families but before they face a lifelong tragedy in the family which gravely affects the dynamic. Ajay’s household is one where the mother is more involved with children while the father is emotionally withdrawn and distant. While still in Delhi Ajay observes this in their home when the father keeps to himself once he is back home from work. Consequently, through humor, he describes his father as a figure who is detached that he might have been assigned to them. It foreshadows the disconnection that further transpires between parent and child when Birja has a fatal accident. Since the father emotionally disengages from the family and falls into alcoholism from the grief.
“I imagined Birju dying; this had to be what would eventually happen. As soon as I imagined this, I did not want him gone. I felt a surge of love for Birju.”
Grief and its impact on the family are explored firmly in the story following the tragedy that befalls the household. It illustrates how parents respond to the misfortune that they cannot solve for their child, in this case, Birja who is permanently brain-damaged. They are both emotionally tortured which they transfer to Ajay who on top of also grieving is neglected by them. But through this, a positive outcome from the negativity emerges in the form of unconditional familial love. Specifically the love Ajay now harbors for his brother that is not dulled by sibling rivalry because his mortality is imminent.
“I thought it would depress you, seeing other’s happiness.”
The tragedy that has befallen the Mishra family has brought grief and a change in their social interactions. Their lives become entirely about Birja’s accident and health which renders the father hopeless and alcoholic and the mother obsessive about a cure. Hence it becomes a household run by sadness and grief even Ajay forgets what it means to be happy. The sympathy extended by the relatives takes various forms such as not including them in joyous events thinking it would be more considerate. This dynamic affects them all particularly Ajay who feels guilty experiencing happiness into his adulthood.
