How we cite our quotes: (Abbreviated Title.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I hope you don't mind my asking," Douglas said, "but I noticed the statue outside, and are you guys Christian? I thought you were Indian."
"There are Christians in India," Sanjeev replied, "but we're not." (TBH 91-92)
Douglas' question is probably Sanjeev's worst nightmare. It's exactly the reaction he wanted to avoid, what with all the Christian knick-knacks Twinkle's dug up from around the house. Why is Sanjeev so worried about being seen as Christian? He's Hindu, but so is Twinkle and she doesn't seem to care. Is he worried about appearing non-Indian (even though there are, as he says, Christians in India)? Do he and Twinkle have different views about maintaining their cultural and religious identities?
Quote #8
Like the rest of us, she wanted to serve suppers, and scold servants, and set aside money in her almari to have her eyebrows threaded every three weeks at the Chinese beauty parlor. (TBH 5)
This is a small detail, but it shows how unexpectedly international Bibi's neighborhood is. Her India is a pretty global India already, with a Chinese beauty parlor around the corner. It makes Bibi's world seem a little less small, and maybe even a little more familiar to those of us in the States.
Quote #9
I left India in 1964 with a certificate in commerce and the equivalent, in those days, of ten dollars to my name. For three weeks I sailed on the SS Roma, an Italian cargo vessel, in a cabin next to the ship's engine, across the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and finally to England. I lived in north London, in Finsbury Park, in a house occupied entirely by penniless Bengali bachelors like myself, at least a dozen and sometimes more, all struggling to educate and establish ourselves abroad. (TFC 1)
It's kind of amazing how many borders our narrator has to cross in order to finally end up in America. In London, he seeks out other Bengalis to live with, young men who eat the same food and listen to the same music. This gives him a sense of belonging after having made a pretty daunting move to emigrate.
Because India had been part of the British Empire, England was a common destination for Indian immigrants seeking education and employment. (Source)