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darkness from which nothing could save her’ (Page 187, IoM). The death of his mother had brought relief to the narrator but he mourns. Mrs Croft also contrasts with that of the narrator’s wife, Mala, who, as a twenty-seven-year-old bride, missed her parents. When Mala arrives in America, Mrs Croft called her a perfect woman after seeing her in the Indian sari. This compliment from Mr Croft evokes sympathy and love in his mind for Mala, because until then, he had an aversion to the idea of an arranged marriage. Although he has adapted to the British way of life as a student, it is not a true cultural integration as ‘he lives in a house occupied entirely by penniless Bengali bachelors like him’ (Page 173, IoM). He attempts to keep his cultural identity intact by keeping the most trivial of Indian traditions alive, such as eating ‘egg curry’. Mala is completely dependent on her husband in an alienated social and cultural environment. However, the narrator was able to find time to accompany Mala and ‘together’ they ‘explored the city and met other Bengali’s discovered that a man named Bill sold fresh fish took pictures of her so that she could send them to her parents and discovered pleasure and solace in each other’s arms’ (Page 196, IoM). The story talks about his lifestyle and him incorporating both Indian and American values into his life. The narrator thinks that he and his wife became Americans but still attached to Indian food tradition. The narrator wants his son to retain his Indian culture. Eating rice by hand and speaking Bengali are two important symbols in this story, which proves the importance of original nationality. In the next story, “When Mr Pirzada Came to Dine,” cultural hybridity is clearly shown. The story talks about Mr Pirzada, a well-educated, upper-middle-class Muslim, settled in the US. Mr Pirzada is homesick and is suffering from the pain of separation from his wife, seven children and his homeland, Dacca. His homesickness is seen in his dinner with Lilia’s parents as he keeps his pocket watch, as the text describes; ‘set to the local time in Dacca, eleven hours ahead,’(Page 30, IoM), ‘on his folded paper napkin on the coffee table’ (Page 30, IoM). It is deftly demonstrated how Indians and Pakistanis stuck in the US are able to find “acceptance and solace beyond the barriers of nations, cultures, religions and generations. The story brings forth the aspect of departure into a perso