When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

“When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” is a story from Jhumpa Lahiri’s 1999 collection The Interpreter of Maladies. The collection won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2000 and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. This guide refers to the 1999 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company paperback edition.

Content Warning: The story contains references to wartime violence, including genocide and sexual assault.

“When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine” takes place in New England during the autumn of 1971. The story unfolds through the eyes of Lilia, then 10 years old, who is looking back and reflecting on this period of her life. Because her parents miss many aspects of their life in India, they often seek out other Indian emigrant compatriots from the university where her father works. As a result, Mr. Pirzada becomes a frequent guest in their home. A botanist who is in America to study the foliage on a prestigious but low-paying grant from the Pakistani government, Mr. Pirzada has a wife and seven daughters back in Dacca; however, he has not heard from them in months due to the outbreak of civil conflict between East and West Pakistan. Mr. Pirzada regularly eats dinner and watches the news with Lilia’s parents. She notices that he syncs his watch to Dacca time just before the broadcast begins.

Lilia begins to look forward to his visits because he always brings her candy. She greatly treasures these confections and saves them in a special box she inherited from her grandmother. At first, she eats one piece of candy at night before bed, but this ritual changes after she learns more about the nature of Mr. Pirzada’s visits. One day, her father corrects her after she mistakenly refers to Mr. Pirzada as “Indian.” He explains that since Indian Partition, Mr. Pirzada is no longer considered Indian but Pakistani. This greatly confuses Lilia, because he looks like her parents, speaks the same language, and even eats the same meals. During his next visit, Lilia closely watches Mr. Pirzada, trying to ascertain what differences might exist between Indians and Pakistanis. Her father urges her to watch the news with them that night, where she learns of the conflict between East and West Pakistan and sees the thousands of refugees seeking safety. That night, Lilia is sick with worrying that Mr. Pirzada’s family is either in the crowds of wandering refugees, or worse, dead. To distract herself, she eats a piece of candy from her box, but this time, she says a prayer while it slowly melts on her tongue. Lilia has never prayed for anything before and decides not to brush her teeth, fearing that it would wash away the power of the prayer.

At school, no one seems at all concerned about or aware of the conflict her family so closely follows on the news each night. Instead, Lilia learns about American geography and history. One day, when tasked with researching the American Revolution, she instead looks for information about Pakistan and finds a book called Pakistan: A Land and Its People. She feverishly begins to read the book but is soon discovered by her teacher. She is lightly scolded and told there’s no reason to consult the book.

On Halloween night, Mr. Pirzada helps Lilia carve a pumpkin that her mother brought home. While he carves, closely following Lilia’s directions, the news plays in the background. When it is reported that a war may break out between India and West Pakistan over the latter’s conflict with East Pakistan, the knife slips in Mr. Pirzada’s hand and he cuts a large gash into the pumpkin. Lilia’s father corrects it by turning the mouth into a large “O” shape. Lilia then goes out trick or treating with her friend Dora. Mr. Pirzada is worried the girls will not be safe by themselves and offers to go with them, to which Lilia responds “don’t worry.” She feels ashamed because it is the first time she has said these words to him, and it was for her sake rather than his. Before she leaves, she and her father sync their watches so she will not return home late. Lilia dresses as a witch, and while they are out going door to door for candy, several people comment that they have never seen an Indian witch before. Lilia and Dora end their night at Dora’s house, where Lilia notes with some surprise that the news is not playing in the background.

When Lilia returns home that night, her pumpkin has been destroyed, but nobody seems to care. The television is off, and Mr. Pirzada has his head in his hands. Lilia learns that the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 is imminent. For the next month or so their house is devoid of joy. Lilia is no longer allowed to watch the news with the adults, Mr. Pirzada stops bringing her candy, and the house is often silent. In January, Mr. Pirzada returns to Dacca, and Lilia does not see much of him in the weeks before his departure. Several months pass before her family hears from him, but eventually they receive a card and a short letter from him to commemorate the Muslim New Year. He tells them that he has reunited with his family and they are all safe: They survived by staying at an estate that belongs to his wife’s grandparents in the mountains of Shillong. Even though Mr. Pirzada has been gone for months, it is at this moment that Lilia finally feels his absence and realizes she will likely never see him again. She stops eating pieces of candy for his family and eventually throws the rest away.