Fasting, Feasting

Chapter 10 is divided into the following episodes: Mrs. O’Henry’s invitation and coffee party and Arun’s education and life in Massachusetts. Mama and Papa make every attempt to quash Uma’s enthusiasm for the invitation to Mrs. O’Henry’s coffee party. Suggesting that the party is not only frivolous but freighted with an agenda: to convert Uma to Christianity. Mama and Papa make every effort to illustrate their disapproval of the party, and their reluctance to let Uma attend a rare social outing. Uma, lamenting her lack of social outlets and frustrated by her inability to explain her need to attend the coffee party and her desire for a social life beyond the home, storms away to her room, refusing to accept her parents’ disapproval and opinion of Mrs. O’Henry’s motives.

In the next scene, Uma attends the coffee party with a small gathering of local women. While the other women giggle at the food, Uma, who attended the convent school and is more aware of Western codes of conduct, makes an effort to be polite, pretending to enjoy the food. Mrs. O’Henry talks of a beautiful summer retreat held in the mountain town of Ladour for missionaries across India every June.