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Publication Date
Spring 2022
Degree Type
Thesis - Campus Access Only
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
English and Comparative Literature
Advisor
Selena Anderson
Subject Areas
Comparative literature
Abstract
Each of the stories in this collection revolves around a scandalous inter-class relationship, examining and weighing the benefits against the often more serious repercussions of entering into that relationship. Many characters reappear across the stories, most of which take place in South India. In “Bleating the Family White,” when a servant girl and her husband owe money to a goonda after a failed marketing scheme, the servant seeks help from an older woman whose house she cleans. In “Gaurav Goes to America,” an Indian office worker accepts a promotion that relocates him to New York, where he is astonished by the exorbitant cost of living but indulges anyway in an expensive date with an American woman. In “School Trip,” a low-income handyman tries to send his younger sister on an expensive school trip, but his plans become confused when her classmate, the son of a wealthy businessman, romantically pursues her. In “A Hungry Crow,” the unfulfilled housewife of an owner-manager suffers for her friendship with a young local handyman. In “Gaurav Returns to India,” an Indian man disabused of his belief in American upward mobility visits an estranged friend who has found financial success without leaving India. In “Pongal,” an eight-year-old boy must come to grips with prejudice and discrimination after befriending a hijra on a train.
Recommended Citation
Chris, Mario J., "Pongal and Other Stories" (2022). Master's Theses. 5255.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.475w-zkhs
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_theses/5255
