Interpreter of Maladies.
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First published in 1999, this book bagged many literary awards while other renowned writers sang praises of it. This is my fourth book by Jhumpa Lahiri and with every single one of it, I fell more in love with what she has to offer. There's something extraordinary about the way all the writers talk about their home, history, family and everything that eventually leads to their roots. Interpreter of Maladies is one such book that makes your feet tingle with anticipation about what it holds within its pages.
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This book encloses nine stories of nine different people while they talk about their lives or of those they know who are from America. Leaving their families behind and coming to a foreign land to study or post getting married, they experience the cultural shift around them as they strive to keep their traditions intact. The stories are beautiful and my personal favourites were When Mr. Pirzada came to dine and Mrs Sen. They ooze warmth and compassion through and through. I'm always enraptured by Lahiri's way of tending to all the minute details that happens in a typical Indian household. Mostly, Bengalis.
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She has a way of making people miss their homes and understand the importance of family with such intensity that it steals my breath. I adore this book and I'd also recommend everyone to read it mostly for the feeling of empathy and love that it leaves us embraced in post finishing it. Such simple words yet so utterly powerful.
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Rating - 5/5.