2000
- Time for another fast forward. It's the day before Christmas, and Ashima is preparing croquettes for her Christmas Eve party.
- With Ashoke gone, she has sold the house, and will shortly leave for India, where she plans to spend six months out of every year.
- After finishing cooking, she heads upstairs to change clothes. The poor woman weeps at the memory of her dead husband.
- After her shower, she puts on a bathrobe that was a gift from Ashoke, picked out by Gogol and Sonia.
- Meanwhile, Gogol is waiting at the train station to be picked up. He flashes back to Christmas the year before. While on the train, Moushumi had let slip the name Dimitri. Of course this mean she had to come clean and tell Gogol that she had been having an affair. Ouch, that's gotta sting.
- The couple made it through the holidays, but Moushumi left early to clear out her stuff from the New York apartment, and now the marriage is kaput.
- Back on Christmas Eve of the current year, Sonia picks up Gogol from the train station. At home, Gogol, Sonia, and Ben, Sonia's fiancé, set up the Christmas tree and the decorations.
- At 7:30, the party begins and soon enough the house is jam-packed with Bengali families.
- Gogol goes upstairs to find his dad's camera so he can document the evening. Then he has to go to his old room to change the battery and insert a new roll of film.
- In his room, he looks at his books and notices The Short Stories of Nikolai Gogol. He sits down to read.