Unaccustomed Earth

Hema’s bangle symbolizes both the inexorable forward-march of time and the irresistible siren call of the past. It is the one piece of jewelry that she has kept since her childhood, and she has even gotten it re-sized to fit her adult wrist. During her reunion with Kaushik in Rome, he playfully hooks his finger into it and pulls him toward her, clearly symbolizing the call of her past and present passion for him. However, after Hema rebuffs Kaushik’s request that she abscond with him to Hong Kong, she accidentally leaves the bangle at airport security, and it becomes irretrievable. From that point on, she embraces the forward motion of her own life, without Kaushik. The symbol of the bangle resonates with many other characters in the collection, although it is not an explicit part of any other character’s narrative. Through it, Lahiri investigates the ways that people are irresistibly moved, changed, and touched by the passions that aroused them in their youth—and also that they must sometimes silence or leave parts of themselves behind in the name of progress.