The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

Sunny tries to read the local newspapers, but struggles to understand their reference points. He manages to comprehend one story about a Mysore man who holds the world record for the longest fingernails. With the Colonel’s help, Sunny arranges an interview for an international news story. The Fingernail Man expresses that he was motivated to do something unique that would make his family proud. He shares his optimism over the challenges in his life, and hopes that the younger generations will share his ambition.

Khansama accepts Babita’s employment offer. Sunny rebukes her for continuing with her plan to hire Khansama, letting slip that he had promised Manav he would not let Babita hire him. This causes Babita to realize that Sunny has been visiting the Shahs to see Sonia. They become combative with one another during the return to New Delhi. Sunny blames Babita for trying to Westernize him. Babita counters that the failure to root himself in his Indian identity is entirely his own.

Back in New Delhi, Satya explains that a meeting with an astrologer serendipitously led him to a woman named Pooja, who has captured his heart. Babita warns Satya against marrying a stranger for love, instead of through an arranged marriage. When Satya affirms his choice, Babita advises going to Goa for their honeymoon.

Before returning to New York, Sunny decides to buy Ulla a pashmina. Babita is thrilled by the implication Sunny still has an American girlfriend, though he remains quiet about her. Babita shares her plans to visit New York later in the year. She encourages Sunny to pursue a green card.

Sunny discovers that Ulla moved out of their apartment while he was away. He ties the reason for her departure to his resentment for Americans and starts experiencing frequent panic attacks.

Sunny feels torn between staying in New York, where he is alone, and returning to India, where he can be with Sonia but will have to reckon with Babita. He reasons, however, that being with the Shahs will bring him back to the past, which he prefers to live in over the present and the future.

Two months later, Sunny asks his boss to sponsor his residency documents. To prove himself after his request is granted, Sunny writes a profile on the Fingernail Man. Satya consoles Sunny over the breakup by inviting him to join him and Pooja on their Goa honeymoon. Shortly after, Sunny receives an angry letter from the Fingernail Man, who claims that Sunny’s profile humiliated him. He calls Sunny an “Outsider pretending to be an Insider” (300).

Sunny moves to Jackson Heights, where he feels a sense of belonging among other immigrants. He still thinks of himself as a hypocrite for having aspired to the kind of life he had with Ulla. Five months later, he emails Sonia to tell her he is visiting Goa.

Khansama does not join Babita’s household after all, following an illness that requires him to seek medical attention. After coming across Sonia’s article on kebabs, Babita is compelled to expedite her trip to New York.

Babita stays in the apartment of a family friend on West End Avenue. She frequently expresses her racist sentiments towards other people of color, which provokes several fights with Sunny. Babita doesn’t understand how her ideas are any different from Sunny’s self-proclaimed superiority over white Americans, but this also affirms how American Sunny has become.

Hoping to see Sunny’s apartment, Babita commutes to Jackson Heights. She is shocked to see that the neighborhood is full of people of color and becomes even more upset when she learns that Sunny no longer has a girlfriend. She urges Sunny to move to a more affluent neighborhood. Sunny argues that moving to the United States to become rich is like trying to become rich through marriage.

Before Babita returns home, Sunny shares that his residency is being sponsored by his boss. Babita steals a bar of guest soap from her friend’s bathroom and becomes conscious of her covetousness on the flight.

Sonia’s kebabs article is published in Kala. Sharing it with everyone he knows, Manav takes credit for the work. When he receives poor feedback on the article, he shifts the blame back to Sonia and the publishers. This adds to Sonia’s frustration with Sunny, who has yet to email her. Seeking vindication, she accepts invitations from other suitors.

Sonia meets with the first match, a divorce lawyer based in Atlanta. When Sonia mentions Manav’s Gujarati heritage, the lawyer speaks poorly of Gujaratis, offending Sonia. The lawyer gives her a list of small-talk questions, which ends with a question asking for her favorite place to be tickled. Sonia cannot help comparing the meeting to her first date with Ilan and withdraws.

Sonia’s second match is a mathematician. It becomes clear that the mathematician is still reeling from the end of his last relationship and that he has no real interest in Sonia.

Sonia receives an email from Sunny informing her of his visit to Goa. To justify meeting him there, she pitches an article on Goa for Kala. As she prepares for the trip, Sonia is haunted by memories of Ilan’s transgressions against her. Manav dramatically loses weight and discovers that he has contracted a parasite.

Returning to Delhi, Sunny tells Satya about his plan to work alongside Sonia in Goa. Satya is bothered that Sunny hasn’t told him anything about Sonia before. On the day of the wedding, Sunny’s jet lag causes him to miss the ceremony. Pooja looks uncomfortable during the reception and the flight to Panjim, which bothers Satya.

At the resort, Pooja is reluctant to choose her dinner, deferring to Satya’s choice. Satya reads through the menu until she expresses assent. Sunny suggests that Pooja is merely being modest.

Pooja is too shy to use the bathroom in Satya’s presence, so she waits for him to step out. Though she believes that Satya is kind, she is unsure why she has married him. When Satya returns to the room, Pooja informs him that Sunny is already awake. She posits that Sunny is intelligent because of his bookishness. She wonders if they will move to New York so that Satya can be closer to Sunny.

Satya angrily tells Sunny to leave, leaving Pooja confused. Privately, she realizes her attraction to Sunny and tries to compensate by serving Satya apple slices. When Babita calls, Satya tells her that Sunny has left to be with a girl.

Sunny is taken by a taxi driver named Anand to the mansion where Sonia is staying. Sunny’s interactions with Anand make him conscious of the negative impact that tourists have had on the environment in Goa.

Sonia has told the mansion caretaker, Clayton, that Sunny is her husband to avoid offending him and his conservative employers. Clayton tours them around the mansion, which is heavily influenced by European aesthetics.

Over dinner, Sunny and Sonia are reluctant to ask each other any questions, fearing they will evoke difficult topics of conversation. Instead, Sunny recalls Sonia’s observation about American individualism, causing them to discuss the different things that Americans are expected to do alone. They likewise share a repulsion for Indian collectivism, which makes Indians so dependent on others to survive.

The discussion leads to flirtation, and when Clayton announces that the master’s bedroom is ready for them to occupy, Sunny observes Sonia’s ambivalence and decides that he should stay in the bachelor’s room instead. Later that night, Sunny and Sonia change their minds. Sonia allows Sunny into her bed and they have sex, overcoming their shared awkwardness.

Sunny accompanies Sonia to gather research for her article. She confesses to Sunny that she is trying to return to fiction writing, which she cannot do until she overcomes the darkness of her life. Sunny is content to have Sonia’s company.

Sunny wakes up one night and experiences a panic attack, terrified by the idea of resettling in India to pursue a simple, happy life with Sonia. Shortly after, Sonia wakes up from a nightmare in which evil has murdered her. She declares that the thought of their imminent distance makes her feel lonely.

The next day, they go for one last swim in the ocean. When they emerge from the water, a large white dog suddenly appears and stalks them to their taxi. The dog nearly bites Sonia, but Sunny steps in with his slipper, causing the dog to bite it instead. As they drive away, the dog vanishes.

Sonia and Sunny reassure each other over their fears of loneliness. The following day, they quietly fly together back to New Delhi. Sunny promises to see Sonia before returning to New York. When Sunny reaches Panchsheel Park, Babita immediately rebukes him for keeping his meeting with Sonia a secret from her. She antagonizes him over Sonia, calling her mentally disturbed and materialistic. Sunny hides from Babita in his room.

Later that night, Sunny visits his uncles Ravi and Rana to seek advice. They agree that Babita’s life is centered around Sunny and advise Sunny to escape from his mother. They add that Babita needs to sell her share of the house so that they can escape her too.

The next morning, Sunny encourages Babita to sell the house. When Babita remains resistant, Sunny shifts tactics and tries to appear obedient to her role as his provider. Sunny learns that Babita is withholding Vinita and Punita’s wages, supposedly to teach them the importance of banking. He rebukes her for exploiting them, though he refuses to contribute to their wages. Babita reaffirms her promise to take care of the two girls. Vinita pleads with Sunny to take her to the United States.

Sunny fulfills his promise to visit Sonia at her house before he leaves. He urges her to come to New York. With the time they have left together, they have sex.

Sonia’s neighbor, Mrs. Sharma, spies Sonia and Sunny having sex. She immediately informs her husband, who asks Manav to punish Sonia for disturbing the decency of their neighborhood. Manav is outraged, but cannot do anything as Sunny is already leaving for New York.

Sometime later, Sonia’s visa is denied at the US embassy because she has nothing to prove her intent to return to India. She emails Sunny to tell him the news, reluctantly including the detail of their discovery by Mrs. Sharma. She longs for Sunny and wonders about Badal Baba’s whereabouts.

Sunny misses Sonia and wonders how to resolve her visa issues. He tries to remedy his emptiness in New York by immersing himself in the stories of its marginalized citizens. He starts taking Spanish language classes.

After watching a documentary about Ernest Hemingway, Sunny is inspired to write an essay entitled “Reading Hemingway in Allahabad, Reading Hemingway in Jackson Heights.” The essay critiques the American journalism industry as a mechanism that projects the United States’ idealized vision of itself. This projection draws immigrants from around the world, which further destabilizes the precarious American nation. Sunny figures himself into this mechanism, representing the Western press as he reports the West’s perspective of India.

Sunny submits the essay to a writing competition sponsored by PEN International. Shortly after, he receives the notification that his green card has been approved. He feels the relief of his newfound freedom and goes to Central Park, where he chats to a South African man who tells him that he is at risk of losing his understanding of the people he needs to advocate for. Sunny resolves to withhold the news of his green card from Babita for fear that she will immediately try to follow him.

Sonia urges Sunny to make plans for their reunion, believing that the world will try to keep them apart because of their happiness. Sunny suggests meeting somewhere else, like Portofino. Sonia recommends Venice instead.

At Cloud Cottage, Sonia writes her Goa article and looks forward to her Italy trip with Sunny. Seher shows her a translated passage from Siegfried’s diary, which narrates his first encounter with Badal Baba. The passage suggests that Siegfried invented Badal Baba and mythologized its discovery.

Sonia tells Seher about her upcoming trip. Seher thinks that Sonia’s devotion to Sunny is premature, since she is still trying to establish her career. Sonia admits that she is afraid of being lonely, but Seher argues that there are fates worse than loneliness. Eventually, Seher relents, encouraging Sonia to travel.

Sonia finishes her Goa article. Looking up from Siegfried’s desk, she sees a photograph of Seher and her sister, Meher, with a dark shape in the background. Seher explains that Siegfried always felt like an elusive snow leopard was stalking him. Sonia looks closer at the eyes of the shape and decides it is either a cat or a hound. This calls to mind the ghost hound that attacked her and Sunny in Goa. Sonia fears that the dog has followed her to Cloud Cottage.