Short Story Essay - When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine
Jhumpa Lahiri’s short story “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine,” is a beautiful story narrated by Lilia, an Indian American girl who is born and raised in the United States where people are sheltered from foreign affairs. The story takes place in 1971 in New England where Pakistan is in the process of civil war. Mr. Pirzada is a Pakistani man who visits Lilia’s family every night to have dinner with them and watch the news. Mr. Pirzada and Lilia’s family are from different countries, but they are all the same in nature. Lahiri gives us an elegant story about people of different cultures who are greatly alike in so many ways, but is also very different. She also gives us example to contrast American and Indian/Pakistani culture.
Mr. Pirzada came from Pakistan to study leaves in New England. And after Lilia’s parents recognized last names through the university directory that are “familiar to their part of the world,” they invited Mr. Pirzada to come and visit their home. Lahiri enlightens us about the kindness of Lilia’s parents to somebody they do not really know. The act of inviting someone to our home whom we hardly know is so uncommon for us Americans because we are not accustomed into doing something like this. Lilia’s family knew nothing about Mr. Pirzada but they still invited him to come and visit their home after talking to him over the phone. Mr. Pirzada’s visits establishes a bond of affinity with Lilia’s parents.
Mr. Pirzada comes from Pakistan; whereas, Lilia’s parents are from India. But both the food that they relish and their actions show that they are similar. As Lilia tells us in the story,
They ate pickled mangoes with their meals, ate rice every night for supper with their hands. Like my parents, Mr. Pirzada took off his shoes before entering a room, chewed fennel seeds after meals as a digestive, drank no alcohol, for dessert dipped austere biscuits into successive cups of tea.
At first, Lilia thought that Mr. Pirzada was Indian just like them, but his father told her that he is no longer considered Indian. The country was divided in 1947. “For many, the idea of eating in the other’s company was still unthinkable.” This made no sense to Lilia. “Mr. Pirzada and my...