Multiple Choice
What does Mr. Das do for a living?
(a) Graduate student.
(b) Museum guide.
(c) Professor.
(d) Science teacher.
(d) Science teacher.
What do Elliot and his mother usually have for dinner?
Pizza
Why isn’t Mrs. Dalal pleased with what Mr. Dalal does for her when he gets a promotion?
Mrs. Dalal complains to Mr. Dalal who just got a promotion that she has no need for two basins
in their two-room apartment. She wants the fridge he promised her when they married. Their
the argument is loud and long enough to attract the neighbors and lasts through two rains.
What did Twinkle find on the first day at her new home? How does Sanjeev’s reaction to these newly found items differ from Twinkle’s?
Twinkle finds a vinegar bottle and Christ figure that she kisses and places on top of the dusty mantel. Sanjeev is irritated by having to remind her that they’re not Christian and other self- evident things. Twinkle finds more Christian items and places them on the mantel. She wonders if the previous owners are born-again or trying to convert others. Twinkle is intrigued by them and looks forward to finding more.
How old was Mr. Kapasi’s son when he died in his mother’s arms?
(a) Newborn.
(b) Five.
(c) Seven.
(d) Two.
(c) Seven.
What city in India is Mrs. Sen from?
Calcutta.
What are the national distinctions between Pakistan and India that Lilia is unaware of?
Lilia is unaware of national distinctions until she asks about setting a glass for the Indian man.
They speak the same language, share the same customs, and look similar, but her father says he
is not Indian. He explains the British gave independence to India in 1947 and divided the
country by Hindu and Muslim sects. Her father shows a map displaying Pakistan and India, one
yellow and the other orange.
What does Twinkle find in the yard of her new house, and how did their reactions to this item once again differ?
Twinkle and Sanjeev are raking leaves when he hears Twinkle screech. He runs to her thinking she needs help. He finds her on the ground laughing silently at the waist high Virgin Mary statue she finds in the bushes. She wants to clean and display it on the lawn like the neighbors. Sanjeev says they will think we’re insane. She says it is bad luck not to display it.
What is the subject of Shukumar’s dissertation?
(a) The India-Pakistan War.
(b) Agrarian revolts in India.
(c) Farm policy in India.
(d) The American Revolution.
(b) Agrarian revolts in India.
What does Mrs. Sen hope to find in the mailbox each day?
A blue aerogram.
What devastating secret does Shukumar tell Shoba during the telling game to hurt her?
Shukumar tells Shoba something they think neither knows. They agreed the doctor would not
tell the baby’s gender. It is the one thing she wants to be a surprise. Shukumar tells Shoba he held their five-pound, dead, boy before his cremation. Shukumar goes to the window and sees the neighbors. Shoba turns off the light. They sit down to cry for telling what they know.
What does Sanjeev think of Twinkle as he gets to know his new wife?
Sanjeev reflects on Twinkle’s girlish qualities that he does not understand. Small things excite and delight her. She crosses her fingers at unpredictable things. She is childlike with an endearing quality and named after a nursery rhyme. This is their second month of marriage and only their fourth since meeting each other.
What is Sanjeev listening to as he unpacks boxes?
(a) Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.
(b) Mahler’’s Overture.
(c) Bach’s Overture.
(d) Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.
(a) Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.
Who died in Mrs. Sen's family?
Her grandfather.
What happens to Boori Ma when the wives of the building decide to make improvements while the Dalals are out of town?
The wives decide to make improvements to the building. Workmen come and go all day long.
Boori Ma cannot sweep the stairwell, watch the gate, or sleep under the letterbox. She moves
to the roof to sleep on newspapers. Boori Ma walks through the neighborhood in the day and
spends what little money she has. At the market someone steals her life savings and skeleton
keys. She returns to the building to find the basin is gone and there is a hole in its place. The
residents take Boori Ma to the roof and scream at her for not guarding the gate.
How do Sanjeev and Twinkle meet and end up marrying each other?
Twinkle's parents live in California and Sanjeev's in Calcutta. Their parents are old friends and arrange the meeting at a party when Sanjeev is on business in Palo Alto. They sit next to each other at dinner and share similar likes and dislikes. They call and then visit one another back and forth between Stanford and Connecticut. She is twenty-seven and has just been abandoned by an American. He is lonely and makes far more money than he needs. They marry in India among friends and family at Christmas.
Who does Boori Ma say her third daughter married?
(a) A landowner.
(b) A toilet salesman.
(c) A school principal.
(d) A professor.
(c) A school principal.
What do Mrs. Sen and Elliot eat at the cafeteria the afternoon they spend exploring the university?
French fries.
What are the rituals Mr. Pirzada follows nightly?
Mr. Pirzada usually arrives at six for dinner and shakes hands with Lilia’s father. Lilia takes his
coat. He dresses well in suits of matching ensembles and maintains a good posture. He walks to their house, which is about twenty minutes away, although Lilia’s father offers him a ride. Mr.
Pirzada follows a nightly ritual of giving Lilia little candies. Mr. Pirzada takes out a band-less
watch he holds to his ear, winds, and puts on the table while they eat. The watch is set to the
time in Dacca, eleven hours earlier.
What is found during the housewarming party Sanjeev and Twinkle have for Sanjeev’s Friends? AND Describe who is invited to Twinkle and Sanjeev’s housewarming party.
Twinkle finds a thirty-pound silver bust of Christ in the attic. She wants to put it on the mantle just for the night. Sanjeev admits he hates it, and says Its value makes him hate it all the more. He says nothing more as he carries it for Twinkle to the mantel.
The housewarming party is planned for October. Guests are friends and associates from Sanjeev’s former bachelor days and his office. Some are Indian couples he hardly knows, but who invited him to dinner when he was single. Twinkle is finishing her master’s thesis in Irish poetry at Stanford. She knows no one in Connecticut but Sanjeev and an old boyfriend.