Such a Long Journey

Gustad represents tradition, the old ways of doing things. He likewise represents the older generation, as he is part of the last generation born under British rule and came of age in a free India. There are several ways Gustad clings to the past. He has a few significant possessions handed down to him from his family, including his grandfather’s chair. When he looks for a pen with which to write to Jimmy, Gustad rejects a ballpoint for his old-fashioned ink pen. He thinks:

This was the bloody problem with modern education. In the name of progress they discarded seemingly unimportant things, without knowing what they were chucking out the window of modernity was tradition. (61)

As a religious man, Gustad finds the words and rituals of prayer comforting. The words of the Zoroastrian prayers are in the liturgical language of Avestan, which Gustad doesn’t understand, but at Dinshawji’s funeral the familiar but unknown words blend with the sounds of the night to create a music that soothes Gustad’s heart. Adherence to tradition is at the root of Gustad’s conflict with Sohrab and Dilnavaz’s reliance on Miss Kutpitia’s folk magic. Dilnavaz is the one resident of Khodadad Building to have a relationship with the older woman, and it stems from Dilnavaz being taught from childhood to respect her elders.