Lahiri's The Interpreter of Maladies is a collection of short works that explore and examine issues of identity and assimilation between Indian and American cultures. The presence of traditional Indian food and the nuances of its ritualized preparation are woven into and between each story and struggle. It serves as a metaphor for several things interacting with the protagonists of his stories: community, normality, culture, love, etc. The meaning of food, its implications and effects, is most prevalent in "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dinner", "Mrs. Sen's", and "A Temporary Matter". Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dinner” exudes food symbolism from start to finish, even in its title. “Coming to dinner” is, in itself, a social event, a routine gathering to share space and conversation over a meal. Scanning phone books and college directories, Lilia's parents tirelessly search for Indian surnames in an attempt to find dinner company - until they find a Pakistani man named Mr. Pirzada. When he arrives at their house, he presents a portrait of his daughters, "taking out of his wallet a black and white photo of seven girls at a picnic...eating chicken curry with banana leaves." (23) The picnic represents leisure and family bonding, and the fact that it presents them through this particular snapshot of their lives frames them in a context that Lilia can identify with and empathize with. When Lilia's father tries to explain that Mr. Pirzada "is no longer considered Indian," Lilia struggles to recognize the differences between him and her parents, noting that they "both ate pickled mangoes with their meals, ate rice every evening for supper.” with their hands…for dessert, they dipped austere biscuits into successive cups of tea” and interacted like any other Indian. (25) Even at her young age, Lilia understands the meaning of food consumed between people of the same culture, the feeling of security and the shared understanding that results from it. In several scenes, Lilia helps her mother set the table for dinner or places condiments and spices next to their plates, fully aware of the refined blend of tastes usual – even expected – of Indian dishes. She describes her mother's efforts to prepare a meal for her family, bringing a "succession of dishes" into the living room where they sat in front of the television and waited for news from Dhaka. (30) The work provided by her mother is representative of Indian tradition and of women who spend hours in the kitchen every evening concocting elaborate traditional meals for their guests. Taking the food out of the dining room and onto the couch, Lahiri depicts an informal scene; in this way she uses food to break the polite distance between family and guest and creates a smaller, more special space. Sen's,” Lahiri presents the importance of food in a much less communal setting, through the eyes of a young boy – Elliot – under the careful watch of a lonely professor's wife. Separated from her family by an ocean, Ms. Sen uses the ritual practice of cutting vegetables, cooking stews, and hand-picking fish to maintain connections to her ideas of normalcy and sociality. Elliot observes that much of Mrs. Sen's day is taken up with the careful preparation of the grandiose meals she serves toher husband on his return from work. She spreads newspapers in front of the television and sits comfortably with a steel blade, peeling, cutting and chopping an assortment of vegetables for nearly an hour each day. The procedure uses a cultural instrument and reflects, as Mrs. Sen explains to Elliot, a sort of ritual in which the women of the neighborhood celebrated an important event by "[sitting] in a huge circle on the roof of [her] house." building, laughing and chatting.and cutting fifty kilos of vegetables overnight. (115) Her memory of the practice as a social event, a scaffolding for creating bonds between women, juxtaposes her alternative practice, carried out without the need for occasion and with only television to keep her company; this only highlights his estrangement from his family and friends, and reiterates his daily alienation. Ms. Sen's efforts to obtain fresh fish for her dishes, and the precise care with which she portions and fillets each one, are extremely indicative of the importance of cooking good meals for traditional Indian women. She steps out of her comfort zone to go to the beachside fish market, even going so far as to get behind the wheel without a license when Mr. Sen is unavailable (or unwilling) to drive her there. at the end. Lahiri also uses Mrs. Sen to draw a distinction between a traditional Indian woman and Elliot's American mother and how their cooking, or the degree to which they do it, signifies a pronounced difference in culture. Every evening, when Elliot's mother comes to pick him up, Mrs. Sen does him the courtesy of inviting him into the living room and serves him food; she always snacks a little on what she's given, attributes her small appetite to a late lunch, then orders pizza for herself and Elliot when they get home. Mrs. Sen's rigor in preparing home-cooked meals is completely lost on Elliot's mother. As a result, Elliot feels much more involved and important when he observes Mrs. Sen's efforts to prepare and cook dinner for her husband than when his mother orders takeout and leaves him to pack up the leftovers on his own. Hours spent preparing traditional meals demonstrate a sense of appreciation and compassion on the part of Indian mothers towards their children, while fast food seems more indifferent and speaks more to the weaker affection (or l 'absence of affection) between an American mother and her child. explores the ideas of love and compassion represented by food and cooking in “A Temporary Matter” through the experiences of a disjointed married couple, Shoba and Shukmar. After the death of their newborn son, Shukmar witnesses a profound change in his wife: her "intrinsic ability to anticipate", her impulse to prepare and keep homemade meals ready to serve for any possible visitor or occasion , suddenly. disappears. (6) He remembers her ability to "prepare meals that seemed to have taken half a day to prepare...peppers that she had marinated herself with rosemary and chutneys that she cooked on Sundays, stirring boiling pots of tomatoes and prunes” and the gratification it provided him. (7) Shukmar's testimony of his wife's stark contrast before and after their son's death is representative of the heart put into Shoba's traditional family cooking; When her grief presides over her efforts, she completely ceases to even bother warming meals with her prepared broth, leaving Shukmar to heat what was left for both of them and noting that "without him, Shoba would eat." a bowl of cereal for his dinner. (8) He might as well buy microwave-ready meals so Shoba can.