Das neighbours: Alis and Misras

THE MISRAS

The Misras, like the Alis, are the neighbours of the Dast. But friendship between the two families was “formal and never close” (P. 136). They are introduced through music in the novel: “Walking up the Misra’s driveway. They could hear.. . the sounds of the music and dance lessons that the Misra sisters gave in the evenings after their little nursery school had closed for the day” (P. 30). The importance of music in the novel is discussed in detail in Unit 4:2 of this workbook.

The Misras contribute to the novel in important ways. The Misra sisters, Jaya ancl Sarla, act as foils to the Das sisters, Rim and Tm. They are described as. “two greyhaired, spectacled, middle aged women” (P 30). The Misra sisters are a few years older than the Das girls. They all went to the same school and would occasionally do their homework together. Yet, “they had always regarded–or at least Bim had–the Misra girls as too boring to be cultivated” (P 62 j. Tara. unlike Rim, gets drawn ta the hustle and the bustle of the Misra home. Like her brother. Raja who loved visiting Hyder Ali’s home, Tara gets happiness from the Misra home. Theirs was a large family with people in and out of the house: