The fourth short story is about a poor old woman sweeper, who claims to have been rich once upon a time. Lahiri all of a sudden pushes us into abject poverty and the description of Boori Ma, "sweeper of the stairwell", "mites out of her bedding" and "underneath the letter boxes where she lives" is a bit distasteful, and though we will eventually sympathize with the character, the opening paragraph, prepares the reader for a bleak short story.
Plot-wise, it is the story of a sweeper of a building, who is extremely old and loves to tell stories of her past while cleaning the old building. The residents give her small utilities now and then in return for her services. One of the residents get promoted at work and buys a sink for his home along with one for the building. Then one day when Boori Ma is away indulging in small luxuries ( she was having jalebi at a shop), the sink gets stolen and she is believed to be an accomplice in the crime. When she protests, the residents call her liar, saying she is always making up cock and bull stories(those about her rich past) and throw her out of the building and being looking for a "real durwan".
Although no time-line has been given in the story, but one can guess the setting to be right after independence. Perhaps Lahiri is just telling the story of a poor woman, a poor woman who claims to have a rich before life, but even then one cannot help but notice the sorry plight of "lonely" women in that India. Its not just the women, but perhaps the entire lower strata of the society.
When the sink is stolen, the residents find it very convenient to blame Boori Ma. Instead of taking the blame on themselves, or giving the Dalal's ( who had purchased the sink and were out on a vacation) an honest explanation or looking for a solution, they throw away the durwan who has served them for so many years. This clearly highlights the atrocities committed by the higher classes on the lower ones and the powerlessness of the lower ones. What is Boori Ma to do now? Why should she become a scapegoat for the negligence of the other residents?
Lahiri raise all these questions, very subtly and leaves us with the image of the shallow, hypocritical society looking for a real "durwan".
Plot-wise, it is the story of a sweeper of a building, who is extremely old and loves to tell stories of her past while cleaning the old building. The residents give her small utilities now and then in return for her services. One of the residents get promoted at work and buys a sink for his home along with one for the building. Then one day when Boori Ma is away indulging in small luxuries ( she was having jalebi at a shop), the sink gets stolen and she is believed to be an accomplice in the crime. When she protests, the residents call her liar, saying she is always making up cock and bull stories(those about her rich past) and throw her out of the building and being looking for a "real durwan".
Although no time-line has been given in the story, but one can guess the setting to be right after independence. Perhaps Lahiri is just telling the story of a poor woman, a poor woman who claims to have a rich before life, but even then one cannot help but notice the sorry plight of "lonely" women in that India. Its not just the women, but perhaps the entire lower strata of the society.
When the sink is stolen, the residents find it very convenient to blame Boori Ma. Instead of taking the blame on themselves, or giving the Dalal's ( who had purchased the sink and were out on a vacation) an honest explanation or looking for a solution, they throw away the durwan who has served them for so many years. This clearly highlights the atrocities committed by the higher classes on the lower ones and the powerlessness of the lower ones. What is Boori Ma to do now? Why should she become a scapegoat for the negligence of the other residents?
Lahiri raise all these questions, very subtly and leaves us with the image of the shallow, hypocritical society looking for a real "durwan".
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