Lahiri: When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

In this specific story of Jhumpa Lahiri's the question of logistical borders and the difference between people on both sides of those borders is the question in mind of ten year-old girl Lilia. In her own words, Lilia describes her confusion by listing the things that she notices are similar between her parents and Mr. Pirzada, "It made no sense to me. Mr. Pirzada and parents spoke the same language, laughed at the same jokes, looked more or less the same," (Lahiri). In this excerpt, Lilia only sees the cultural similarities that her parents and their guest share, so when her father insists that they are different she does not believe how. In order to show her the difference, Lilia's father "insisted that [she] know the difference, and he led [her] to a map of the world taped to the wall over his desk," (Lahiri). The reason behind Lilia's lack of understanding between the logistical borders between India and Mr. Pirzada's home country of Pakistan is because of her youth. She becomes more knowledgeable of the logistical difference of India Dacca as she participates in the viewing of the evening news with her family and Mr. Pirzada, but as for the cultural differences, she sees no difference other than the pocket watch that her parents' guest carries with him. Although there are no significant cultural differences between her parents and Mr. Pirzada, she begins to understand the logistical border differences as she sees Mr. Pirzada miss his family in Dacca and see the worry in his eyes because of the violence occurring when they see the evening news at dinner.