Desh magazine”, “the same five Bengali novels”, the wristwatch she wears to record her contractions, the littlest of the little things transport her back to the “kitchen of her parents’ flat on Amherst Street”, where tea and Marie biscuits are being served, and she perfectly imagines a glimpse of her home in that hour. Nostalgia overpowers Ashima the most for she has left behind an unforgettable part of her life in Calcutta and finds it difficult to adjust in an alien place. She seeks to fulfill this emptiness by becoming a part of the Bengali community in America she often hosts parties for. This was the closest alternative she could use. It did not grant her complete solace but a little consolation even if it was just a replica of her original home.
“...For as grateful as she feels for the company of the Nandis and Dr. Gupta, these acquaintances are only substitutes for the people who really ought to be surrounding them. Without a single grandparent or parent or uncle or aunt at her side, the baby’s birth like most everything else in America, feels somehow haphazard, only half true...she can’t help but pity him. She has nev...